Tag: Jimmy Fallon

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April 15, 2017 – Jimmy Fallon / Harry Styles (S42 E18)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

OVAL OFFICE
Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) picks Jared Kushner (JIF) as his top advisor

— Ugh.
— Boy, that “If these walls could talk” bit was so groanworthy.
— Self-aware Trumpwin lines like the “me in my golf clothes” one in this cold opening doesn’t work with the angle that SNL previously established with the Trumpwin portrayal.
— I’m not too crazy about how they gave the Jared Kushner impression to Jimmy Fallon tonight, given the fact that, in the preceding episode, Alex had a big showcase as Kushner in a cut-after-dress-rehearsal sketch that sounded good from the description I read years ago (my memory of the description is very fuzzy by this point, but the sketch had to do with Kushner as an adventurous secret agent or something like that). Yet another example in this era of someone who’s not even a current cast member taking a Trump-related role away from the current cast (even if this Kushner impression doesn’t end up becoming a role that Jimmy ends up regularly playing).
— The turn with the reality show elimination is lame.
— Was it necessary to reuse the gag from an earlier Trumpwin sketch, where Trumpwin goes to his real desk and plays with that sphere toy?
— Ugh at that “twink” line from Trumpwin to Jimmy’s Kushner.
— Overall, in a word: oof. I did not enjoy a single thing in this cold opening. Man, it feels like these Trumpwin cold openings are getting worse and worse by the week.
STARS: *


MONOLOGUE
JIF leads caravan backstage as Nile Rodgers [real] performs “Let’s Dance”

— No jokes at all in this monologue, but this around-the-studio musical number is a fun, infectious, and charming way to celebrate SNL having their first live coast-to-coast episode.
— This musical number is also a good use of Jimmy’s solid David Bowie impression.
— I like the shot of EVERYBODY on the home base stage in the conclusion of the musical number. That may be the most crowded I’ve ever seen the home base stage in a regular SNL episode (meaning I’m not counting anniversary specials).
STARS: ***½


FAMILY FEUD
1977 & 2017 versions of John Travolta (JIF) compete

— This time-travel concept is an interesting oddball change of pace for a Celebrity Family Feud sketch.
— Second consecutive Family Feud sketch with a cast member playing a then-recent SNL host (Alex as Casey Affleck last time, Kate as Kristen Stewart this time). I’m liking Kate’s Kristen Stewart impression.
— After Harry-Styles-as-Mick-Jagger’s mostly-incoherent line about engaging in hanky-panky, I like Kenan’s Steve Harvey slyly responding “I don’t know what’choo sayin’…but I know what’choo sayin’!”
— Oh, I love the concept of Jimmy having to go back and forth playing 1977 John Travolta and 2017 John Travolta, especially when Kenan’s Harvey begins comically milking that. Very impressive fast costume changes from Jimmy as well.
— Jimmy’s mic noticeably sounds very muffled right now, presumably due to his latest hasty costume change.
STARS: ***½


BEFORE THE SHOW
middle schoolers overrate quality of their Legally Blonde musical staging

— Our latest of this era’s “Back-and-forth cutting between tender and chaotic scenes” shorts.
— So far, this is more low-key than the previous “Back-and-forth cutting between tender and chaotic scenes” shorts, and the “chaotic” scenes here aren’t particularly hilarious to me compared to the ones in previous shorts of this ilk, but this is still working well. However, much like the Crucible Cast Party short from earlier this season, I’d probably be higher on this short if I could relate to the “theater kids” premise as much as some other viewers might.
— Okay, the “chaotic” scenes are having a solid escalation at the end, when Aidy gets raised in the air on wires. I wish they didn’t wait until the end, though, to go all-out on the humor like that.
STARS: ***½


TAKE ME BACK
(CES)’s ex (JIF) tries winning her back by singing “Truly Madly Deeply”

— A decent laugh from Jimmy breaking out into a badly-sung “Truly Madly Deeply” in an attempt to win Cecily back.
— An absolutely hilarious reveal of Jimmy being the man responsible for dragging a man off a plane, from a major news story that week.
— Yet another hilarious reveal at the end, with Beck revealing he recently directed a certain Pepsi commercial. This is also a fantastic callback to Beck playing that Pespi commercial director in the preceding episode.
— I love how short they kept this overall sketch, making it a blackout gag that you rarely see in this era.
STARS: ****½


A MESSAGE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE EASTER BUNNY
during Passover, Sean Spicer (Melissa McCarthy) retracts Hitler comment

— Interestingly, Melissa McCarthy isn’t actually in the studio during this sketch, nor is she even in New York. This sketch is being broadcast live from, I think, L.A. That explains certain things, like why this sketch has an odd visual quality, and why McCarthy delivers lines during the long applause break that her entrance receives.
— Feels a little odd not seeing McCarthy’s Spicer interacting with reporters for once.
— A pretty good laugh from McCarthy-as-Spicer’s United Flight faux pas.
— Some funny comments and the usual great commitment from McCarthy, though this sketch doesn’t measure up to the previous two Spicer sketches.
— Good ending.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Sign of the Times”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Jacob delineates the significance of traditional Passover foods

over-the-hill Bruce Chandling drifts from unfunny comedy into pathos

— I absolutely love Michael’s “First of all, you don’t know what cakes I’ve seen!” response to a Trump clip.
— This is the first Jacob appearance in two years, and this also ends up being the final Jacob appearance. This almost ended up being Vanessa’s send-off, given the fact that this was the final episode before a potential writers strike, which, if it happened, would’ve made this the final episode of this season. As we know now, the writers strike ended up not happening, and this season got to end on its originally-scheduled date.
— So far in tonight’s Jacob commentary, we’re getting the same-old, same-old repetitive beats that appear in every single Jacob commentary. As I always say, those beats only worked for me in the first Update appearance this character made. The extremely repetitive nature of Jacob’s routine doesn’t work for me in multiple commentaries.
— This was pointed out by some people on an SNL message board back when this episode originally aired: when Jacob is concluding tonight’s commentary by giving special thanks to some of his friends & family members, the names mentioned of those friends & family members are the first names of SNL writers that Vanessa has worked with over the years (I don’t think I caught all of the names in my current viewing, but some of them are Zach, Marika, Seth, and John, a reference to Zach Kanin, Marika Sawyer, Seth Meyers, and presumably John Mulaney), which was a huge sign that not only was this Vanessa’s way of giving official closure to this Jacob character, but that Vanessa was aware that this Jacob appearance might end up being her SNL swan song, due to the aforementioned possible writers strike coupled with the fact that she was planning on leaving SNL at the end of this season. Thankfully, the writers strike doesn’t happen and Vanessa gets three more episodes to add closure to her SNL tenure (including debuting one of her most beloved recurring characters). At least if this Jimmy Fallon episode DID end up being the final episode of this season, Vanessa would’ve had a swan song in this Jacob commentary, unlike her also-about-to-depart castmate Bobby, who gets no lead roles AT ALL in this episode (a sad sign of how underutilized he’s been this season). Thus, it would’ve been a shame if this ended up being Bobby’s final episode. I recall an online SNL fan who was in the audience for the live version of this episode saying that, at the end of the goodnights, after most of the people onstage made their exit, Bobby and, I think, Kate were the only two people left onstage, and Bobby was in tears while Kate consoled him. Presumably, the reason for Bobby being in tears was because he was aware that this might end up being his final episode. It was also revealed sometime that a second installment of the Broderick & Ganz lawyers sketch from the Aziz Ansari episode got cut after this episode’s dress rehearsal, and I guess that would’ve been Bobby’s swan song had this ended up being the final episode of the season.
— Two “down south” sexual jokes in tonight’s Update alone (one from Colin, and the other from Bruce Chandling).
— I’m getting the usual big laughs from Bruce Chandling.
— I love Michael’s off-camera “Ohh, god” when Chandling, while in his depressed mode, is about to spout off another bad catchphrase when transitioning back to his upbeat mode.
— As a great callback to a joke he did in the preceding episode, Michael is seen starting to eat the butt end of a chocolate Easter bunny at the very end of this Update (seen in the last above screencap for this Update). Nice to see that this is actually the second callback that this episode has made to the preceding episode (the first callback being the Pespi commercial director one).
STARS: ****


CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS
Civil War soldier (JIF) adds bouncy hook to morale-boosting Union song

— This sketch is getting increasingly fun the more the other characters get into the comically-anachronistic hook that Jimmy keeps adding to the traditional war song.
— Bobby revealing that he was just pretending to be the angry dad in the song is very funny.
— I love the detail of a backflipping dancer passing by the screen at the end of the final singalong of the hook.
STARS: ***½


TURTLE SHIRT
the Turtle Shirt is a garment into which embarrassed people can retract

— I like Bobby and Vanessa’s (a significant pairing, by the way, given how this almost ended up being their final episode) very somber reveal to Pete that Vanessa was “capped “ by an orangutan.
— I have extremely mixed feelings on this commercial. Half of me feels that this commercial’s idea is dumb (and not the fun kind of dumb) and that the head-sinking-in-shirt visuals have gotten old fast, while the other half of me feels that there’s kind of a self-aware “So dumb, it’s funny” charm to this, and that the use of the song “Turn Down For What” whenever someone’s head sinks into their Turtle Shirt adds to the humor. I’m very conflicted on how I feel about this commercial.
STARS: **½, I guess, though I may eventually change my mind if I ever develop a definitive opinion of this commercial


HARVARD TOUR
Sully & Denise join their Harvard-accepted daughter (KAM) on campus tour

— Surprising that tonight’s big return of the Boston Teens is buried towards the end of the show.
— Interesting seeing Jimmy and Rachel Dratch playing these characters while looking a lot older than they did as cast members.
— I like how, much like the Boston Teens reprisal from Jimmy’s season 37 hosting stint, SNL continues to age and modernize these characters, this time by having them be parents to a college-aged girl, and having them substitute their usual use of the “r” word with “intellectually disabled”.
— A good laugh from Jimmy’s line about calling paint chips “radiator nachos”.
— Two Chipotle diarrhea jokes in the same episode (one on Update and one in this sketch).
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Ever Since New York”


BASKETBALL SCENE
spastic extras (JIF) & (MID) are distracting during basketball film shoot

— Increasingly funny distracting background antics from Jimmy and Mikey.
— A particularly good laugh from Jimmy and Mikey knocking down the boom mic guy.
— A very funny reaction from everyone when Jimmy’s character miraculously and unintentionally kicks the basketball into the basket behind him while facing away from it. I especially laughed at an excited Mikey thrusting his fists and furiously chanting “Yeah!” in an over-the-top manner.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A good episode, even if it felt like there weren’t many segments that stood out to me. Jimmy Fallon did his usual good job of hosting and adding a fun-loving vibe to the episode.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Take Me Back
Weekend Update
Basketball Scene
Family Feud
Civil War Soldiers
Harvard Tour
Monologue
A Message From The White House Easter Bunny
Before The Show
Turtle Shirt
Oval Office


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Louis C.K.)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Chris Pine

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December 21, 2013 – Jimmy Fallon / Justin Timberlake (S39 E10)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

WRAPPINVILLE
singing & dancing mascot & gift bag (JIF) contend with a wrapper (AIB)

— Pretty funny singing from Aidy early on in this cold opening.
— (*groan*) Yet another one of Justin Timberlake’s tepid Dancing Mascot sketches. On the bright side, 1) this thankfully ends up being the final one, and 2) at least there’s a slither of a change of pace by having Jimmy Fallon partnered up with Justin. Having Jimmy in this actually makes sense, given the fact that the style of the typical song parodies in these Dancing Mascot sketches is similar to the song parodies Jimmy often used to do on Weekend Update while playing the guitar. (In fact, one of the songs he and Justin spoof in tonight’s Dancing Mascot sketch, Ludacris’ “Rollout”, was even previously spoofed by Jimmy in one of his Update song parodies.)
— What in the WORLD is with that off-camera female audience member who keeps interrupting this sketch by shouting a very annoying cheer like a lunatic (“AY-YA-YA-YA-YAAAA!”) whenever Aidy tries to speak each time after a Timberlake/Fallon musical number ends? At one point, that audience member’s shouting forces poor Aidy to basically drop character while in the middle of delivering a line, and, in a taken-aback manner, briefly acknowledge the audience member’s yells before going back on-script. Shortly after one of those yells from the audience member, Justin also ad-libs, “Quiet, mom.”
— Meh at Justin and Jimmy’s homoerotic “deck-sacking” disclosure.
— I am at least finding some of the hit songs being spoofed here to be catchy, especially “Somebody That I Used To Know”, “Thrift Shop”, and the aforementioned “Rollout”.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
JIF & Paul McCartney [real] sing “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”

— I got a laugh from Jimmy bluntly disclosing, “Unfortunately, they can’t be here”, after getting the audience’s hopes up by telling them which legendary singers he’s supposed to do a musical number with.
— A fairly fun format with Jimmy having to run from mic to mic while imitating the legendary singers who he was supposed to do this number with, even if most of these are impressions that we’ve previously seen Dana Carvey do either just as well or better. Jimmy at least does a better David Bowie than I think I’ve ever seen anyone on SNL do.
— It’s getting less and less surprising to see Paul McCartney show up on SNL, given the frequency of his SNL appearances, but I guess it’s still pretty nice seeing him assist Jimmy here.
STARS: ***


CELEBRITY FAMILY FEUD
CBS & NBC network stars do battle

— The first of many Steve Harvey-hosted Celebrity Family Feud sketches.
— Pretty solid Jim Parsons impression from Jimmy, even nailing the mouth movements.
— A meta aspect with Justin (who’s starting to feel like a co-host of this episode) playing Jimmy. Even if this feels very inside joke-y between Justin and Jimmy (you can tell this is designed to make the easily-breakable Jimmy break hard), I’m finding Justin’s impression of Jimmy to be pretty good.
— Lots of very funny lines from Kenan’s Steve Harvey throughout this sketch.
— Hilarious Ice-T impression from Jay.
— Speaking of meta, we get a very memorable meta bit with Brooks randomly playing himself as one of the contestants on the NBC team, and making fun of his own lack of screentime at SNL. I remember loving this meta bit when it originally aired. I don’t know if Brooks eventually getting fired after this season now casts a pall over this meta bit in hindsight or not, but it still works for me, and it adds to how likable and relatable Brooks typically is as a performer.
— There’s our obligatory breaking from Jimmy in response to Justin’s impression of him when both of them are up at the main podium together. When Jimmy turns his head away from the camera to hide his giggling, I do kinda like how Justin actually imitates that head-turn, keeping up the impression he’s doing.
— I generally like Noel as an impressionist, but something about her Alyson Hannigan impression here feels like she’s trying too hard to be funny.
— During our second obligatory display of breaking from Jimmy in response to Justin’s impression of him, Jimmy literally DUCKS BEHIND HIS PODIUM to hide his laughing from the camera (the last above screencap for this sketch). I remember hearing about something similar once happening at a party that both Jimmy and Ben Affleck were at. (This was many years ago, I think back when Jimmy was still a cast member on SNL.) At one point during that party, Ben suddenly pulled out an impression of Jimmy to impress the other partygoers, and that made Jimmy get so shy and embarrassed that it resulted in him immediately dashing out of the room (while giggling, of course) and hiding in another room.
STARS: ***½


(DO IT ON MY) TWIN BED
sex during the holidays is awkward in women’s childhood rooms

— Our very first of many instances of the female cast starring together in a music video. And what a very famous first instance this particular one is.
— And with this being the first female cast-starring music video, we get our very first mention of Aidy’s classic moniker, “Lil’ Baby Aidy”.
— A perfect mixture of both an excellent song and subject matter, and the female cast is great in this.
— Very funny bit from Aidy regarding “a whole thing with Jean”.
— Great small appearance from Beck as Noel’s uncle.
— One of my absolute favorite parts of this has always been the sequence in which we see a childhood photo of each of the girls and Jimmy. I always find it so fun seeing what cast members looked like as kids, which reminds me that Reese Witherspoon’s Mother’s Day-themed season 40 monologue is coming up soon, and if you remember that monologue, you’ll know why I’m reminded of it and why I’m looking forward to covering it.
— Overall, a true classic. I recall SNL having a fairly hit-and-miss track record with their subsequent female cast-starring music videos, but this one definitely still holds up for me.
STARS: *****


THE BARRY GIBB TALK SHOW
Madonna & Barry Gibb [real] take part

— (*groan*) Much like with the cold opening earlier in this episode, I’m sure you readers know how I feel about seeing this sketch return.
— At least it was refreshing to get a much-needed break from this sketch the last time both Jimmy and Justin each hosted (separately). And, much like the Dancing Mascot recurring sketch, this thankfully ends up being the final time this sketch appears (at least as of 2020).
— So are we just supposed to ignore the fact that the real Robin Gibb had been dead for a year-and-a-half by this point? They don’t even try to acknowledge that in this sketch, not even in a humorous way like they memorably did in one brief point of the Joan Allen-involved Space The Infinite Frontier sketch that Will Ferrell did not too long after the real Harry Caray’s death. (Joan Allen: “Please forgive me for asking this, but didn’t you die?” Harry Caray: “Yes I did. What’s your point?”)
— Random Madonna.
— Hmm, a change of pace with Madonna actually standing up to Jimmy’s Barry Gibb, and taming him. As much as I appreciate them trying something different with the formula for once, I’m still left a little underwhelmed by this confrontation between Madonna and Jimmy’s Barry. And whatever Madonna was attempting with that grille she put in her mouth during the confrontation didn’t land with me nor the audience.
— Some of Jimmy-as-Barry’s typical angry rants at the guests are coming off hard to decipher here.
— A sudden cameo at the end from the real Barry Gibb, hopefully there to intentionally give this sketch its official sendoff so we can NEVER SEE IT AGAIN FOR THE REST OF HUMANITY.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Only When I Walk Away”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Billie Jean King (KAM) relishes bringing gayness to the 2014 Olympics

JIF, SEM, Michael Bloomberg [real] will soon be leaving their jobs

— Another then-innocent Donald Trump joke that’s interesting to hear years later in hindsight (for obvious reasons), this particular joke being about Trump’s announcement that he’s considering running for governor of New York (wait, what???): “Explained Trump, ‘If I’m not constantly in the news, I will die.’”
— I like Cecily’s little “I’m from Chicago, I can do that” ad-lib after her Kim Jong-Un/Dennis Rodman joke. These past two Updates, I’ve gradually been warming up to Cecily as an Update anchor.
— Tons of cliched lesbian jokes in Kate’s Billie Jean King commentary, and there have been funnier “Kate McKinnon plays a brash hardass” bits elsewhere on SNL. Probably not a good sign that Kate doing this type of “brash hardass” characterization is ALREADY starting to feel stale and cliched when she had only been on SNL for a little over a season-and-a-half by this point. Because of how somewhat-new she still is by this point, and knowing in hindsight that the upcoming 2014-2017 years would be Kate at the peak of her strength as a performer (or at least, that’s how I felt at the time; we’ll see if that opinion of mine holds up in my re-watch of those years), I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt here and assume that it’s just the tepid writing that’s to blame for her “brash hardass” characterization feeling stale and tired here. That being said, I’m actually still getting a few laughs from her in this commentary.
— Meh, I’m not caring much for this Jimmy Fallon/Michael Bloomberg commentary.
— At one point during the Fallon/Bloomberg commentary, the choked-up voice Jimmy uses when comically holding back tears sounds JUST LIKE Mike Myers whenever his Linda Richman character would get “a little verklempt” in Coffee Talk sketches. Possibly another sign of how much Jimmy idolized that early 90s era of SNL. (In the “SNL In The 90s” documentary, Jimmy talks about how exciting it was for him to watch the Bad Boys years in the early 90s, because, as he says, that was the first SNL era to speak to his generation. Plus, you can see some Adam Sandler and Mike Myers influences in some of Jimmy’s character work during his SNL years.)
— For the third consecutive Update, an Update guest gets sentimental when bringing up Seth’s soon-to-come departure from SNL. I do like how Jimmy mentions here that he got to introduce Seth the very first time Seth ever did an Update commentary. (Just for kicks, below are a few screencaps of how young Jimmy and Seth looked during that very first Update commentary of Seth’s.)

— I never realized until now that Michael Bloomberg’s voice sounds kinda John Malkovich-esque at times.
STARS: **½


WAKING UP WITH KIMYE
Kimye’s Christmas message is similar to “Bound 2” video

— Jay’s overdoing the “HEHH!” exclamations as Kanye West in tonight’s installment.
— The spoof of Kanye’s “Bound 2” music video is very funny. Unfortunately, that’s the only real standout part of this sketch. The rest of this hasn’t been anything special.
— A rare post-2010 live sketch to not have the host in it. Jimmy actually was originally going to appear in this as Ed Sheeran, but he got cut from the live version. Not sure if he would’ve given this sketch a much-needed boost, but I am a little curious what his take on Ed Sheeran was like.
STARS: **½


NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL CHRISTMAS
Shakira (KAM) & others do covers on CD

— Interesting how Jimmy is playing Michael Bublé here, given the fact that Jimmy’s previous hosting stint not only had Bublé as the musical guest, but at one point in that episode, Bublé starred as himself in a Christmas album ad that’s similar to this one.
— Noel’s Zooey Deschanel scene was way too brief compared to most of the other scenes in this commercial (perhaps yet ANOTHER sign of how much Noel keeps getting screwed over by SNL). I wanted to see a little more of her take on Deschanel, as that’s an impression she was born to do.
— Boy, that is a TERRIBLE Axl Rose impression from Kyle. I love Kyle, but impressions have never been his niche, which SNL refuses to believe, for some reason. A year after this, in another one of these “Christmas duets” album ads, I recall Kyle doing a Macklemore impression that’s laughably bad.
— Funny scene with Bobby as Andrea Bocelli.
— Solid Billie Joe Armstrong impression from John.
— I don’t get what Kate’s going for AT ALL in her Lorde impression. She couldn’t sound less like Lorde if she tried.
— An overall fairly fun piece, but was nowhere near as strong as the aforementioned “Christmas duets” album ad from Jimmy’s previous hosting stint.
STARS: ***


A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Ebenezer Scrooge (TAK) realizes his homosexuality outweighs miserliness

— Oh, I don’t like where this is going…
— Yep, this is just a lame and hacky “What if young Ebenezer Scrooge was gay?” sketch. Are we really still doing “It’s funny because it features a man acting gay!” humor in 2013? Did James Anderson pull this out of his old “cut-after-dress-rehearsal sketches I wrote in season 30” file? This sketch would’ve felt right at home with James Anderson-written horrific gay-themed duds that dominated season 30 like Gay Frankenstein and Gays In Space. I almost included the equally-horrific Gay Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde sketch in there, before I remembered that was actually from season 35, in the notorious January Jones episode.
— Not a single redeeming moment to be found here, overall.
STARS: *


BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE
(JIF) & (CES) reverse roles in second verse of “Baby It’s Cold Outside”

— Hmm, this appears to be an interesting and out-of-the-ordinary piece for this SNL era, and I like how it’s set on SNL’s home base stage.
— I really like the conceit of this, theorizing what Baby It’s Cold Outside possibly went like AFTER the song ends.
— A really nice, sweet turn this sketch takes at the end.
— Overall, a strong, well-done, and refreshing piece. I also like how old-school this felt in a positive way, as this is one of those sketches that I can easily picture appearing on SNL in the 70s and 80s (the aforementioned fact that this sketch was set on the home base stage adds further to the “70s/80s SNL” feel), and is the type of thing I wish recent SNL eras would try more often.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Pair of Wings”


GOODNIGHTS
CSR joins JIF & cast members onstage

— Chris Rock out of absolutely nowhere. I like how even he’s doing comical “Hey, I don’t know why I’m here, either!” gestures.
— Mike O’Brien noticeably looking quite sullen and lonely during these goodnights, while everyone around him is in a jolly, Christmas-y mood. You can just hear Mike sadly thinking in his head, “This cast member gig isn’t working out for me, is it?” He made no live appearances in this episode (besides these goodnights, obviously, which don’t count), and, in fact, hasn’t gotten ANYTHING significant to do in a live sketch in…what, two months? I think the Edward Norton episode was the last one in which Mike got a meaty role in a live sketch, and that was all the way back in October! Geez. Plus, I’m sure he’s aware of how painfully awkward he tends to come off whenever he gets a speaking role in a live sketch. Looks like SNL has already given up on him as a live performer and has begun phasing him out of live sketches by this point. By the final quarter of this season, in April and May, Mike’s practically relegated to only appearing in his own short films. That would eventually lead to him continuing to appear in his own short films the next few seasons even after being fired from the cast and returning to the writer’s room.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An episode that was all over the place, and sadly didn’t come REMOTELY close to measuring up to the fantastic Christmas episode that Jimmy Fallon previously hosted in season 37. Two strong pieces tonight, including one beloved classic (Twin Bed), and there were also a few okay sketches, but we also got quite a number of sketches I really could’ve done without.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
(Do It On My) Twin Bed
Baby It’s Cold Outside
Celebrity Family Feud
Now That’s What I Call Christmas
Monologue
Weekend Update
Waking Up With Kimye
The Barry Gibb Talk Show
Wrappinville
A Christmas Carol


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (John Goodman)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
We enter the year 2014, with host Drake. We also get the new addition of a black female cast member, in response to the public outcry for one.

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December 17, 2011 – Jimmy Fallon / Michael Bublé (S37 E10)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

WINTER FORMAL
Sully & Denise see friend (AMP) while crashing old high school’s formal

— Good to see both the return of the Boston Teens and (especially) Rachel Dratch.
— Ah, Rachel-as-Denise’s fake ID has the name Evelyn Chang, which is actually a callback to the fake ID Denise used in some of the previous Boston Teens sketches from back in the day. Nice continuity, which is one of the things I’ve always liked about this recurring sketch. The continuity these Boston Teens sketches typically contain also add to their realistic, almost-slice-of-life-ish atmosphere.
— I like that SNL has appropriately aged these characters tonight instead of keeping them the same age they used to be.
— These characters are coming off as funny as ever tonight, and the fun vibe of this revival of them is so infectious, which is raising the quality of the sketch.
— Amy Poehler cameo. Now it’s truly starting to feel like the early 2000s again.
— We even get a “Nomaaahhh!” callback.
— An excellent energetic LFNY delivery from Jimmy.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
JIF sings “Christmas Baby Please Come Home” variant to mark return to SNL

— You can tell how much it genuinely means to Jimmy that he’s standing on this home base stage as the host. Again, much like with the cold opening, there’s a very infectious feel here.
— Jimmy: “So many memories: Barry Gibb Talk Show…Debbie Downer…Cowbell. (a beat) I laughed and ruined all of those sketches.” A great self-deprecating line, though to nitpick, he never laughed during any of the Barry Gibb Talk Show sketches. He gets so deep into character in those sketches that he refrains from his usual habit of cracking up.
— The infectious fun feel continues as Jimmy takes his Christmas song backstage. A rare instance of me being fine with this era doing a musical monologue.
— I love Jimmy calling attention to the still shots of two SNL Christmas classics on the monitors: Merry Christmas Dammit and Schwetty Balls.
— After Andy and Vanessa’s scene, there’s an unintentional laugh and charm from seeing Andy and Vanessa in the background quickly rushing past the camera in hopes that we can’t see them, as they get into place for their next bit in this monologue.
— Good gift exchange bit with Lorne, or, as Jimmy calls, “the white-haired gentleman”.
— Oh, as if this couldn’t get any more fun, now this ends with the entire cast energetically dancing onstage behind Jimmy.
STARS: ****½


TODAY
Regis Philbin (JIF) walks on set to join Kathie Lee Gifford (KRW)

— Surprisingly, this is the first appearance this recurring sketch has made in two seasons. This also ends up being its final appearance.
— Nasim takes over the seemingly-cursed Hoda Kotb role, and breaks the curse by not getting fired after this season like the previous two Hoda impersonators, Michaela Watkins and Jenny Slate, got after their respective one season on the show.
— Hoda, regarding the fake applause that Kathie Lee played from a tape recorder: “Okay, that was fake.” Kathie Lee: “So was your boyfriend.” Hoda: “No, I mean it was an electronic device.” Kathie Lee: “So was your boyfriend.”
— Nasim is fine in the Hoda role, but I still feel that Michaela did it the best.
— Interesting seeing Jimmy doing a Regis Philbin impression. He’s doing a solid job, as no surprise, as I’ve always found him to be a good impressionist.
STARS: ***


MICHAEL BUBLÉ CHRISTMAS DUETS
musical guest performs Christmas duets with Sting (JIF) & other artists

— Hilarious turn during the Bublé/M.I.A. duet, with Nasim’s M.I.A. suddenly pulling out a gun and firing gunshots in the air in time to the music.
— I love that Jimmy’s doing impressions of various celebrities in this. His Russell Brand impression is particularly spot-on.
— Fred’s Thom Yorke impression is easily one of the funnier things he’s done in this rough season of his.
— Such a fun impression showcase, and a big improvement over both of the impression showcase sketches from the preceding episode.
STARS: ****


DRESSING ROOM
JIF mulls upcoming onstage moves while talking to self (ANS) in mirror

— A sketch in the vein of the Mick Jagger mirror sketch that Jimmy and Mick Jagger once did 10 years prior.
— I think I recall hearing that Andy did this Jimmy Fallon impression in his SNL audition. I recall hearing that Taran also did a Fallon impression in his audition, but we end up never seeing it on SNL.
— Andy’s impression of Jimmy is far from spot-on, but it’s still acceptable, and it’s helped by Jimmy exaggerating his own voice to sound like Andy’s impression. I wonder if Jimmy learned that move from what Jerry Seinfeld did with him when they did a Point/Counterpoint together, with Jimmy doing his Seinfeld impression. As I mentioned in my review of it (seen here), Jerry let Jimmy know beforehand that he would exaggerate his own voice during the Point/Counterpoint to match Jimmy’s over-the-top impression of him.
— Speaking of Seinfeld, I like the bit with Andy’s Jimmy not being able to do the Jerry Seinfeld voice that Jimmy just did.
— Andy’s Jimmy: “We’re not doing [The Barry Gibb Talk Show], ’cause Timberlake couldn’t make it.” PRAISE THE LORD.
STARS: ***½


1920’S HOLIDAY PARTY
at a 1928 party, (JIF) is as reluctant to dance as Lilia is to sing

— Our first speed bump that tonight’s great episode hits, as we get the unnecessary return of the weak Don’t Make Me Sing sketch from two seasons prior. Did Jimmy request this sketch when he came in earlier this week, because I can’t think of any other reason why they’d randomly bring this one-off sketch back after a two-year absence.
— As a strange coincidence, the only two episodes this sketch has appeared in (the season 35 Jon Hamm episode and this) both happen to be episodes that Michael Bublé is SNL’s musical guest in.
— Jimmy’s performance is fun here, at least, though I don’t care for the “Don’t make me dance” conceit of his character, much like how I’ve never cared for the “Don’t make me sing” conceit of Kristen’s character.
STARS: **


HALF JEWISH HALF ITALIAN COMPLETELY NEUROTIC
Tommy Palmese’s (FRA) amateurish one-man show is self-centered

 

— Fred previously did a fantastic one-man-show bit in the Morning Announcements sketch from the season 31 Dane Cook episode, and even wore what appears to be the same wig he’s wearing in this commercial (screencap of him in the Morning Announcements sketch below), but that Morning Announcements sketch was years prior, back when Fred was still in his prime, long before he became stale. We’ll see how tonight’s one-man-show bit goes.

— The interaction between Fred and an uncomfortable Bill is making me laugh.
— Spot-on bit regarding Fred’s character opening his play in a corny manner by casually pretending to be a janitor onstage.
— Good bit regarding the bathroom behind the stage.
— I love the brief part with Fred inappropriately pointing a fake gun at the audience and yelling a threatening, psychotic “You think I’m losin’ my mind NOOOOOOWWWWW?!?!?!”
— Overall, for late-era Fred Armisen standards, I found this to be surprisingly pretty good. Between the Thom Yorke bit and this, Fred’s having one of his better nights in these later seasons of his SNL tenure.
STARS: ***½


SEASON’S GREETINGS
upon returning to SNL, HOS, CHK, TRM, JIF perform a happy Christmas ditty

— Hell yeah! I absolutely love seeing the return of this. If you remember my reviews of the early 2000s era, I was always a sucker for these bits.
— Tracy! Chris! A thin Horatio! Speaking of Horatio’s leanness, boy, does it feel weird to now see him 1) as thin as his good friend Jimmy, and 2) thinner than both Tracy and Chris are at this point.
— I was going to say it feels a little odd seeing this bit being performed on SNL’s 2003-present home base stage for the first time, after all of the previous appearances of this bit were performed on SNL’s 1998-2003 home base stage, but then I remembered we previously saw them do this bit on SNL’s 2003-present home base once, in the season 29 Janet Jackson episode. (Twice if you count the installment of this bit that Horatio did with the Muppets in the season 30 Robert DeNiro episode).
— Overall, this was just as much of a blast as this bit always was, especially after such a long absence.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Holly Jolly Christmas”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Jude Law [real] learns Nicolas Cage (ANS) isn’t selective regarding roles

Weekend Update Joke-Off- JIF & TIF battle SEM & AMP on lap dance topic

 

— Kinda interesting seeing Andy’s Nicolas Cage impression tonight, given the fact that, earlier tonight in the Dressing Room sketch, both Andy and Jimmy were doing some of the same celebrity impressions in unison. If it weren’t for this Get In The Cage segment, Nicolas Cage might’ve been one of the impressions Andy and Jimmy did together in the Dressing Room sketch, given the fact that Jimmy previously did a Nicolas Cage impression in a Celebrity Jeopardy sketch.
— Funny reveal from Andy’s Cage that he never reads the scripts of his movies beforehand, and thus, he finds out about the surprises in his movies at the same time as the audience.
— The return of the Weekend Update Joke Off segment, and with it, we get Jimmy, Amy, AND Tina Fey returning to their old Update stomping grounds.
— The WU Joke Off segment between the Fallon/Fey & Poehler/Meyers duos is so fun. I even love the little detail of Seth, Amy, Jimmy, and Tina each making various fake buzzer sounds whenever they ring in.
STARS: ***½


BEETHOVEN
Beethoven (JIF) introduces orchestra members at Ninth Symphony premiere

— A very fun and solid premise of Jimmy’s Beethoven introducing his orchestra the way a hip, more modern singer would introduce their band.
— Great bit with Paul as a Hitler ancestor.
— Jimmy’s Beethoven, on one of his orchestra members: “Funny story – his mother was killed by an ox.”
— Jimmy is navigating this sketch so well.
— There’s our obligatory Fallon/Sanz interaction, of course resulting in a little bit of giggling from Jimmy. Even that feels surprisingly nice to see again after a long absence.
— Ha, Triangle Sally out of nowhere.
— A solid inclusion of Kenan as B.B. King.
STARS: ****


WAR HORSE
low-budget War Horse (JIF) production confuses theatergoers (BIH) & (KRW)

— A promising concept with Jimmy ridiculously having to act out the part of a horse during a War Horse play.
— Jason’s old-timey song is hilarious, made even funnier by Jimmy incongruously doing The Robot in the background during it.
— I love the voice Bill’s using.
— Now this sketch has gotten even funnier with the boy in the play now being played by a hand puppet.
— A delightfully stupid sketch so far.
— A very funny little bit with Taran making his voice exaggeratedly fade as he walks away while saying “Good luck, English booooyyyyyy…”
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”


LOCKER ROOM
Jesus (JAS) accepts Tim Tebow’s (TAK) credit for the Broncos’ win streak

— Good premise, even if it feels a little derivative of the premise of the sketch where Phil Hartman as Jesus visited a constantly-praying housewife played by Sally Field.
— Something about the deep voice Kenan’s using is tickling me.
— Andy’s Matt Prater, to Jesus: “Wow, you pray to me? I didn’t know that.” Jesus: “Well, yeah…that’s ’cause I’m not in everyone’s face about it. (*stares down Taran’s Tim Tebow*)”
— Jason’s casual, laid-back portrayal of Jesus is absolutely top-notch.
— I like Taran-as-Tebow’s various overexcited reactions to Jesus.
— A funny parting line from Jesus: “By the way…uh, Mormonism: all true, every single word.”
— It’s fairly rare to see a host-less live sketch like this in this era. I think I recall hearing Jimmy was originally supposed to play Jesus in this sketch, but at some point during the week, he stepped down from the role for reasons I can’t remember. I can’t picture Jimmy making this Casual Jesus characterization anywhere NEAR as great as Jason did. Jason was just perfect for this characterization.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS
JIF, musical guest, special guests & cast members end the show from Rockefeller Center skating rink

— Ice skating goodnights, for the first time in several years! Always fun to see.
— I absolutely love how Jimmy’s wearing a bee costume, as an homage to the original SNL era. Given the scope of this SNL project of mine, I love whenever something on the show gives me a throwback to when I reviewed the original era, back when my SNL project first started. It makes me realize just how far I’ve come within this project. At this exact same time two Novembers ago, I was reviewing the original era, and now, in what feels like no time, I’m already reviewing episodes from as recent as 2011. Wow.
— This is actually the second time Jimmy closed an episode by wearing a bee costume, as an original SNL era homage. The first time was not during a regular episode, but rather a Fallon & Fey-hosted John Belushi tribute special that aired sometime in March 2002 (back when Jimmy and Tina were current SNL cast members), around the 20th anniversary of John’s death.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fantastic episode, and is one of the most consistently solid episodes I’ve ever reviewed. Even though no segments in this episode got a perfect five-star rating from me, a lot of segments got an impressive high rating, particularly in the post-Weekend Update half of the show, where nothing got a rating below four stars. And there was only one segment all night that I didn’t like (1920’s Holiday Party). Adding to the strength of most of the segments was the infectiously fun, Christmas-y, feel-good vibe running all throughout the night, helped a lot by Jimmy Fallon’s very energetic presence. Even Michael Bublé’s musical performances went along nicely with that fun, Christmas-y, feel-good vibe, with the traditional Christmas classics he performed.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Monologue
Locker Room
Beethoven
Winter Formal
Michael Bublé Christmas Duets
War Horse
Season’s Greetings
Dressing Room
Weekend Update
Half Jewish Half Italian Completely Neurotic
Today
1920’s Holiday Party


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Katy Perry)
a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
We enter the year 2012, with host Charles Barkley