Tag: Jon Hamm

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October 30, 2010 – Jon Hamm / Rihanna (S36 E5)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

A MESSAGE FROM THE VICE PRESIDENT
Joe Biden (JAS) thinks we should emulate Chilean miners’ good attitudes

— A coincidence I’ve noticed: every single episode hosted by one of the main stars of Mad Men (Jon Hamm in each of his three hosting stints, and January Jones in her one hosting stint) has had Jason’s Joe Biden appear in the cold opening.
— A big laugh from the “Are you above ground?” question in the Joe Biden Checklist, and how that’s the ONLY question.
— Jason’s Biden is getting his usual laughs here.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host improvises ad slogans for products suggested by audience members

— Two consecutive monologues that rely on audience interaction? Are we in the 1993-94 season again?
— Why’d SNL officially stop using their writers as fake audience members ever since the late 2000s? It used to always be pretty fun seeing writers in these audience monologues.
— Jon Hamm is fantastic in his “on-the-spot” ad slogans that he comes up with after each audience suggestion.
— Andy’s always funny as this type of smarmy, smug character.
— Great sly delivery from Bill of the line “I mean, hey…it’s Jon Hamm.”
STARS: ****


RONNIE AND CLYDE
Shy Ronnie & musical guest are 1930s bank robbers

— This Bonnie & Clyde setting is an interesting and creative concept for a Shy Ronnie sequel.
— The usual laughs from Andy’s Shy Ronnie routine, and his “Ha-HAAAAA!”s in particular always slay me.
— Funny bit with Rihanna briefly returning to the bank just to bring a random Jon Hamm with her to have sex.
STARS: ****


VINCENT PRICE’S HALLOWEEN SPECIAL
in 1960, Liberace (FRA) taints Vincent Price’s (BIH) Halloween special

— This ends up being the final Vincent Price Special sketch. I recall this installment being VERY disappointing. We’ll see how I’ll feel about it now.
— This must be by far the earliest spot a Vincent Price Special sketch has ever aired in an episode. These usually air much later in an episode.
— As an unintentional full-circle aspect of these Vincent Price Special sketches, Kristen plays the same celebrity in tonight’s installment that she played in the very first installment: Judy Garland.
— Jon reprises the John F. Kennedy impression he did in the Barack Obama Variety Half Hour sketch from Jon’s first hosting stint.
— This sketch is going particularly heavy on the sexual innuendos, more than previous installments of this sketch did.
— Even for this sketch’s standards, the running gag with Kristen’s Garland popping pills seems too touchy. It’s rubbing me the wrong way.
— I did get a cheap laugh from the “sausage” gag at the end.
— Overall, meh. My recollection of this installment being disappointing was sadly right, though I don’t dislike it quite as much as I did when it originally aired. But between the still-good-but-not-as-strong-as-usual penultimate installment of this sketch from the preceding season’s James Franco episode and now tonight’s fairly mediocre installment, it’s probably for the best that they stopped doing this sketch after tonight’s episode.
STARS: **½


BACK TO THE FUTURE 25TH ANNIVERSARY DVD
unsuccessful screen tests on Back To The Future anniversary DVD

— Ah, a piece in the tradition of SNL’s legendary Star Wars Screen Tests from the season 22 Kevin Spacey episode.
— A nice way to work Jay’s great Eddie Murphy impression into the show.
— Lots of Colin Jost sightings all throughout this, as he plays the marker (as seen in the third above screencap for this segment).
— I’m surprised at how strong Jon’s Robin Williams impression is, even though Robin Williams impressions are probably very common.
— As expected, a fun piece, even if it doesn’t measure up to the quality of the aforementioned Star Wars Screen Tests.
STARS: ****


AUDITION
at an audition, (KRW) specifies what she is willing to do for a part

— A lot of laughs from the absurd things a deadpan Kristen lists off that she is and isn’t comfortable doing in the role she’s auditioning for.
— Ooh, even though it’s just a very small and minor part of an otherwise solid sketch, I did NOT like Kristen’s sudden loud, angry, over-the-top “NOOOOOOOO!!! GIVE IT TO MEEEEEEEEE!!!” outburst when she’s told she didn’t get the part. Her delivery of that outburst felt strangely forced and too out-of-place for the tone of this sketch. This is the second consecutive episode that I noted Kristen coming off too forced in her execution of an over-the-top bit. I wonder if this is a sign that she’s become very tired of the loud, over-the-top things the writers keep having her do in sketches, when, as most of this sketch is proving, she’s far better at lower-key, deadpan stuff.
— Jon’s absurd rant is very funny.
— Love the whole ending gag with Jason jumping out the window, revealing they’re on the first floor as he lands safely on his feet right outside the window, dusts himself off, then nonchalantly walks away.
STARS: ****


BACK TO THE FUTURE 25TH ANNIVERSARY DVD
more Back To The Future screen tests have actors not chosen for the film

— The debut of Bill’s freakin’ SPOT-ON Alan Alda impression. That voice is so damn impressive, almost eerily so. The voice also makes his already-humorous dialogue even funnier.
— The vibe of this second Back To The Future screen test piece feels even more fun than the first one. I also love how many SNL cast members from the 80s are being impersonated in these two BTTF pieces: Eddie Murphy, Gilbert Gottfried, and Joan Cusack.
— A decent Gottfried impression from Taran (Jimmy Fallon did a better one on SNL in the past, though), but it’s his Pee-Wee Herman at the end of this piece that’s far more dead-on and impressive.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “What’s My Name?”


WEEKEND UPDATE
James Carville (BIH) assesses Tea Party’s impact on midterm elections

SEM groans as Garth & Kat think up & perform disjointed Halloween songs

— The usual laughs from Bill’s James Carville.
— (*sigh*) Get this Garth & Kat mess the fuck off my screen.
— I probably said this before, but I cannot believe the freedom Fred and Kristen are given to waste airtime doing this lousy and self-indulgent improv bit on live TV. And not just mere airtime, but LOTS OF airtime. Tonight’s Garth & Kat commentary feels like it’s going on forever.
— While I’m still ranting about this Garth & Kat trash, let me just disclose the pure, genuine joy it brought me to see these two characters absolutely BOMB with the audience when they would later perform in SNL’s 40th Anniversary Special. Unlike SNL’s usual easy-to-please studio audiences filled with regular people, SNL’s celebrity-and-alum-filled studio audience in that 40th Anniversary Special was NOT having this Garth & Kat shit, and their un-amusement towards it brought such a perverse smile to my face. I had the same delighted reaction when that Californians recurring sketch also bombed (to a lesser extent) with the audience in that same anniversary special. So happy to see that it’s not just internet nerds like me who can’t stand such frustrating, self-pleasing Fred Armisen/James Anderson-written nonsense like Garth & Kat and The Californians, as I was always baffled by their popularity.
STARS: **½ (that overlong and unbearable Garth & Kat segment alone made me dock half a star from this otherwise-extremely-average Update)


I DIDN’T ASK FOR THIS
viral video victims don’t like being laughed at

— For someone who got promoted to a repertory player at the beginning of this season, it feels like we haven’t been seeing much of Bobby this season. Because of this, it’s refreshing seeing him star in this sketch.
— Bobby’s reaction to the screamer video is freakin’ priceless.
— So many laughs from Jon’s ridiculous stretched-out cry, spoofing a real-life viral video from the reality show Intervention.
— The clip of Jon crying has gotten even funnier when an autotuned version of it is playing on the screen behind him while he’s sincerely pouring his heart out in a message he’s delivering into the “Serious Cam”.
— All of the other characters trying to stifle their amusement after the autotuned clip of Jon was shown is very funny.
STARS: ****


HIGHWAY COPS
motorcycle-sharing (JAS) & (host) prefer gayety to policing

— Where is this sketch GOING?!? I’m currently over two minutes into this sketch, and the closest to a “comedic” conceit I can find is homoerotic implications with Jason and Jon’s friendship, and lots of hamminess from Kenan. (*groan*) I admit, though, that some of Kenan’s lines regarding his dead wife are making me chuckle.
— Why does it sound like Jon and Jason are cracking up off-camera during the close-up of Kenan in one of his many phone conversations right now?
— What’s with the use of Nasim in every photo of Kenan’s various love interests? Is it because Nasim’s the only non-white female cast member this season?
— Aaaaaaaaaaand now we have a “hilarious” man-on-man kiss between Jason and Jon, as a cheap attempt at a “funny” punchline. THAT’S what all of this was leading up to? Fucking oof.
STARS: *½


DARLIQUE & BARNEY
the lounge act of Darlique (KRW) & Barney (host) comprises fake arguments

— I don’t like how this sketch is immediately reminding me of the bad lounge singer sketches that Maya Rudolph often starred in back in season 30, but I’ll try to keep an open mind.
— Jon’s performance is at least fun, as is the interplay between him and Kristen.
— Overall, a little meh, but I didn’t hate the overall sketch as much as I was worried I would.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Only Girl (In The World)”


AMERICAN AMERICA PRESENTS: DOG IN PURSE WITH DAVID SPADE
by FRW- in a club, an irked chihuahua (DAS) dishes on celebrities

— Wow, I had forgotten all about this until now. SNL starts what ends up being a short-lived attempt at a new run of cartoons, American America Presents, years after Robert Smigel’s long and successful run of TV Funhouse cartoons on SNL. These American America cartoons are made by former SNL writer (and short-lived featured player) Fred Wolf (listed as “FRW” in the above synopsis for this cartoon). Only two of these American America cartoons end up making it on the air; there are others that would never make it past dress rehearsal.
— The American America cartoons also usually feature the voice of a former SNL cast member as the main character. In tonight’s case, it’s David Spade.
— Some funny snarky and sleazy comments from the Spade-voiced dog, and it’s certainly nice hearing David’s voice on SNL again.
— Overall, not a bad debut for this American America series.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty good episode as a whole, though as a Jon Hamm episode, this did not live up to the phenomenal quality of Jon’s previous two episodes. He was still a great host tonight as usual, however. A damn shame this ends up being his final hosting stint, as of 2020. It makes no sense why he suddenly stopped hosting, especially after his first three hosting stints were all in back-to-back seasons. He seemed to be quickly on the way to becoming a five-timer.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Back To The Future 25th Anniversary DVD (Part 2)
Monologue
Ronnie And Clyde
I Didn’t Ask For This
Back To The Future 25th Anniversary DVD (Part 1)
Audition
A Message From The Vice President
American America Presents: Dog In Purse with David Spade
Weekend Update
Vincent Price’s Halloween Special
Darlique & Barney
Highway Cops


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Emma Stone)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Scarlett Johansson

Posted on

January 30, 2010 – Jon Hamm / Michael Bublé (S35 E13)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

STATE OF THE UNION 2010
Barack Obama (FRA) scapegoats Martha Coakley & lays out his policy agenda

— SNL’s State Of The Union cold openings have a reputation for being very long, which makes me very nervous about this particular one, given how bad “Fredbama gives a speech or an address” cold openings typically are.
— There’s the SNL State Of The Union tradition of constantly doing cutaways to real footage of certain politicians in the crowd.
— Some really tepid humor here, such as Fred’s Obama complaining about the horrible condition the Bush family left the White House in when the Obamas took over.
— I got a pretty good laugh from the cutaway to a famous clip of Brendan Fraser laughing in an odd, seemingly-drunken manner at an awards show.
— An actual strong gag, with the cutaway to footage of stone-faced military generals being the only ones in the crowd who aren’t standing up and applauding when Fred’s Obama announces he will end the ban on gays in the military.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
host channeled Don Draper in his TV appearances predating Mad Men

— Pretty much right out of the gate here, Jon Hamm is coming off as his usual charming and funny self.
— I love the clip of Jon as a Don Draper-esque new “kid” in a Saved By The Bell-esque 90s teen sitcom.
— The other clips of Jon doing his Don Draper shtick in out-of-place settings are also very funny, especially the Def Jam scene with Jon apparently channeling Martin Lawrence’s infamous feminine hygiene SNL monologue.
— I like how obvious it is that Jon is performing the various “taped” clips live, as he can be seen straightening his suit and/or walking back onstage whenever the camera cuts back to him on the home base stage after the respective clips have ended.
STARS: ****


1920’S PARTY
at a 1928 party, Lilia (KRW) contrives to sing but then fails to do so

— Yet another display of Fred’s gay stereotype routine.
— I never cared AT ALL for these Don’t Make Me Sing sketches (as little as they appeared) back when they originally aired, and I recall dismissing them as typical annoying, one-note Kristen Wiig sketches that were dominating the show at the time. With this being the debut installment, I’ll try to go into my current viewing with an open mind.
— The countdown bit Kristen does during the Bill Bailey song made me laugh.
— I love Jon’s delivery of “That was it, you missed it.”
— Despite the aforementioned highlights, I’m not caring for the actual main conceit of this sketch.
— Overall, meh. Still not a big fan of these sketches, though I found a few more merits than I did in previous viewings.
STARS: **


SERGIO
sexy shirtless saxman Sergio (host) haunts hexed (ANS)

— Hilarious sudden initial appearance of Jon as Sergio (who’s apparently based on a character from the movie The Lost Boys) during Andy’s business presentation.
— I love the “Sergio” title screen showing up at the end of Sergio’s first appearance, and how the camera quickly cuts away from that title screen right after it first shows up. I also love the audience reaction to that.
— Funny wild dancing from Jenny during Sergio’s second appearance.
— Great fake-out with the wind that starts blowing during the therapy session turning out to just be from an open window instead of another Sergio appearance, and then Jason, after closing the window, suddenly explodes (literally) and turns into Sergio.
— Even though the ending gag with the “baby” who Kristen births turning out to be Sergio was rather predictable, it was made absolutely hilarious by the excellent detail of Sergio being covered in…uh…birth goo (whatever the technical name for that is).
STARS: *****


NEW SENATOR
visions of alluring Scott Brown (host) scotch Democrats’ strategy session

— Oh, gee, what a surprise – Fred not only playing yet another gay role, but his second gay role in tonight’s episode alone.
— Some good laughs from almost all of the thought bubble fantasy sequences each democrat is shown having of Jon’s charismatic Scott Brown. Bill’s Robert Byrd having a fantasy of Jon’s Scott Brown as a black-and-white 1920s flapper girl is particularly funny, as is the look on Bill’s face during that (the last above screencap for this sketch).
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Haven’t Met You Yet”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Sonia Sotomayor (NAP) laments the Supreme Court’s lack of diversity

Snooki (BOM) has leveraged Jersey Shore’s popularity into a new contract

— I’m enjoying Nasim’s laid-back, streetwise portrayal of Sonia Sotomayor.
— The return of Bobby’s Snooki. Very big and energetic applause from the audience upon Bobby-as-Snooki’s entrance tonight.
— As usual, Bobby’s fun performance as Snooki is better than the actual written material he’s given.
— Jenny makes what I believe is her only Weekend Update appearance during her entire short-lived SNL tenure, still beating out one of her predecessors, Casey Wilson, who sadly got zero Update appearances during her year-and-a-half on the show.
— I admit to getting a cheap laugh from Bobby’s Snooki explaining why her nickname is Spalding (“Because I’m orange, leathery, and I get passed around by sweaty dudes!”).
STARS: ***


GAME TIME WITH RANDY AND GREG
alien Greg assimilates Frank Reich (host) & starts multiplying

— The third and final appearance of this recurring sketch.
— That voice Bill uses as Greg never fails to amaze and amuse me.
— Hilarious abrupt ending of Greg’s interview of Jon’s Frank Reich, with Greg suddenly attacking him.
— Excellent turn with Jon’s Reich now having become a Greg-like alien.
— The usually-Weekend-Update-only Seth Meyers continues his tradition of playing the voice of a caller in every single installment of this recurring sketch.
— Funny bit with the two Gregs muttering to each other while analyzing a globe.
— Oh, hell yes! Now Greg is multiplying more and more over the course of the sketch, with the multiple Gregs played by various SNL cast members and writers. Classic.
STARS: *****


HAMM & BUBLÉ
musical guest is host’s unwilling partner in Hamm & Bublé eatery venture

— A brilliant way to do a sequel to/variation of the Jon Hamm’s John Ham sketch from Jon’s first episode.
— I love Jon sternly explaining to Michael Bublé that, for the sake of this restaurant, Bublé’s last name is now pronounced “bubbly” because the true pronunciation of Bublé doesn’t work in this context.
— The menu items are hilarious, especially the drink with chunks of ham in it.
— Fantastic turn with Bublé musically disclosing to us viewers the dark backstory of how this restaurant came to be, whenever Jon steps away.
— Jon’s sternness towards Bublé continues to be great, especially him telling Bublé, “You are on the thinnest of ice.”
— Jon to us viewers: “If you can find a better place for pork and champagne…..keep it to yourself.”
STARS: *****


CLOSET ORGANIZER
Closet Organizer (WLF) doesn’t really handle everything thrown at him

— A very well-loved piece among SNL fans.
— Priceless concept to this commercial.
— Such a fantastic sequence with one crazy thing after another being thrown at Will as the Closet Organizer, in rapid succession.
— Very funny little gag thrown in with the Closet Organizer secretly stuffing the pair of panties into his pocket.
— Jon’s testimonial is absolutely HILARIOUS, especially how it has absolutely nothing to do with the topic of this commercial. Hell, even just Jon’s mere look in that wig and goatee is hilarious in itself.
— An overall absolutely perfect commercial.
STARS: *****


COURT STENOGRAPHER
incompetent court stenographer Elinda Nade (FRA) interrupts proceedings

— OHHHHHH GOD. Leave it to motherfucking Fred Armisen to ruin the streak of perfect segments tonight’s episode had going with the three segments that preceded this sketch.
— With the debut of this horrible, annoying-as-hell character, Fred lately seems to be getting to the point of his infamous “bad years” (2009-2013) where he’s literally getting worse and worse with each passing episode. How much further can this man sink on a week-to-week basis?
— Fred: “I can’t find my crackers”, repeated 100 painfully unfunny times. Fucking kill me.
— Kenan’s spiel about people not being good at their jobs provided my first (and what will probably remain my ONLY) chuckle of this entire sketch.
— (*deep sigh*) Now we get a callback to the earlier aforementioned irritating “I can’t find my crackers” catchphrase, with Fred now repeating it even more times. This is…just…(*sigh*) I no longer have any words for the awfulness of this sketch.
STARS: *


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Sharon Jones [real] perform “Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes)”


BAR
in a bar, Closet Organizer bristles when patron (host) pigeonholes him

— So many hilarious non-sequiturs and bizarre one-liners in Will and Jon’s conversation so far.
— Ha, an excellent sudden callback to an earlier piece in this episode, with Jon recognizing Will as “the freakin’ Closet Organizer guy”! Fantastic. It’s a rarity to see SNL segments overlap like this, especially in more recent decades.
— Even the names of Will and Jon’s characters are hilariously bizarre (Tarkey Fensington, Resden Bonure).
— I love Will lightheartedly re-enacting the Closet Organizer commercial to Jon’s amusement.
— A solid angry rant from Will when he gets fed up after Jon hesitantly requests Will organize his closet.
STARS: *****


AMERICAN ENTERPRISE
Barnes & Noble started with just homeless bathrooms

— A funny dignified conversation about bathrooms for homeless people, made even funnier by Bill and Jon’s solid professional delivery.
— Hilarious reveal that Barnes & Noble’s decision to fill their store with books was a complete afterthought after accomplishing their goal of building a store for homeless people to go to the bathroom.
— Even the random ending reveal of the female voice-over of this whole sketch (Kristen) turning out to have been Madonna the whole time is funny.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— SNL knocks it out of the park with another VERY strong Jon Hamm episode. Ignoring a few things I didn’t care for, particularly an absolutely dreadful Fred Armisen showcase, this episode has plenty to love, including a few universally-praised classics. The post-Weekend Update half of the show was ESPECIALLY fantastic, with so many segments receiving a perfect 5-star rating from me, including three consecutive segments at one point (Game Time With Randy And Greg, Hamm & Bublé, and Closet Organizer), which must be a rarity in this SNL project of mine, as I can’t remember many other reviews in which I gave a 5-star rating to three or more consecutive segments (the only thing that immediately comes to mind is my review of the Candice Bergen episode from season 2). By this point, two hosting stints in, Jon Hamm has cemented himself as one of the most reliable recurring hosts in SNL history.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Closet Organizer / Bar
Hamm & Bublé
Sergio
Game Time With Randy And Greg
Monologue
American Enterprise
New Senator
Weekend Update
1920’s Party
State Of The Union 2010
Court Stenographer


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Sigourney Weaver)
a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Ashton Kutcher

Posted on

October 25, 2008 – Jon Hamm / Coldplay (S34 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

BIDEN/MURTHA RALLY
dumb statements of Joe Biden (JAS) & John Murtha (DAH) imperil campaign

— A new impression from Darrell in this late stage of his SNL tenure. I can’t judge the accuracy of his John Murtha impression, as I have no real familiarity with Murtha, but Darrell’s impression is coming off pretty funny.
— Some laughs from Jason’s Joe Biden making a bold, suspiciously specific prediction that Barack Obama will be tested by a huge crisis early in his presidency.
— Some of Darrell-as-Murtha’s ignorant, rude comments are making me laugh.
— Seems pointless to have all those cast members (Kenan, Andy, Bobby, Casey) playing supporters in the background, when they don’t have anything to say or do in this.
— Jason’s Biden: “Gird your loins! By the beard of Jupiter, GIRD! YOUR! LOINS!”
— The fact that, after the Jim Downey-voiced “Next on C-SPAN” bit towards the end, the camera cuts back to Jason and Darrell’s Biden and Murtha just to show Jason setting up and saying a tacked-on-seeming LFNY, makes it obvious that this wasn’t the original choice for the cold opening tonight. Indeed, the cold opening in this episode’s dress rehearsal was the Barack Obama Variety Half Hour sketch we’ll be seeing later in tonight’s episode. In fact, in the syndicated 60-minute version of this episode shown on cable channels, this Biden/Murtha cold opening is replaced with the original dress rehearsal version of the Barack Obama Variety Half Hour sketch, complete with the original LFNY. What’s interesting and odd about that is the NBC rerun of this episode didn’t do that, IIRC. The NBC rerun still left in the live Biden/Murtha cold opening and still kept the live version of the Barack Obama Variety Half Hour as a sketch placed later in the show.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Some pretty funny outlandish lies Jon Hamm is making up about what Mad Men contains, in an attempt to help the show’s ratings. Reminds me a bit of Robert Hays’ monologue from season 6, though I feel this is being executed a lot better.
— I particularly like the mention of John McCain freaking out from supposedly smoking weed on Mad Men.
— Ignoring Oliver Stone’s brief and pointless cameo in Josh Brolin’s monologue in the preceding episode, this is the fourth consecutive episode with a real monologue that only involves the host. I’m really liking this trend.
— Jon is already showing lots of promise as a host. He handled this host-only monologue well for a first-time host.
STARS: ***½


TRICK OR TREAT
trick-or-treater Jeff Montgomery (WLF) may or may not be a sex offender

— Ah, a Will Forte classic.
— This was previously cut after dress rehearsal from the preceding season’s Brian Williams episode.
— I love the very random, playful “You’re the bitch, bitch! WHAAAAAAT?” bit from Will’s Jeff Montgomery character at the beginning.
— An absolutely classic turn right now. Jon: “What exactly IS your Halloween costume?” Jeff Montgomery: “(matter-of-factly) I’m a sex offender.”
— Hilarious part where, as supposedly part of his Halloween costume, Jeff Montgomery both recites a court-ordered “I’m required to inform you that I’m a sex offender and I’m living in…. etc.” statement and tries to get Jon to sign and date a legal form.
— Such a perfect display of the ballsy humor Will is so good at pulling off.
— So many laughs throughout this sketch, especially how Jeff Montgomery keeps trying to downplay the fact that he’s a real sex offender.
— A great absolutely speechless reaction from Jon when Montgomery reveals that the crime he’s guilty of is “only” sexually assaulting five teenagers.
— A very funny terrible segue with Montgomery asking Jon if he’s looking for a babysitter.
— Overall, simply perfect.
STARS: *****


RAS TRENT
dreadlocked collegian poseur (ANS) is a wannabe Jamaican

— A very catchy song. Even Andy’s intentionally-horrible singing is catchy as hell.
— This short is a lot of fun, and we’re getting lots of amusing little visuals and actions from Andy throughout the song.
— A particularly hilarious part with Andy suddenly mumbling his song in a low volume when walking past actual Rastafarians.
STARS: ****


MAD MEN / TWO A-HOLES AT AN AD AGENCY IN THE 1960S
Roger (John Slattery) & Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) vet A-holes pitch

— Funny line from Elisabeth Moss’ Peggy about how she’s not allowed to own a watch because she’s a woman.
— Great bit with Casey as Joan.
— Ha, this turns into a Two A-holes sketch out of nowhere! A fun turn in this Mad Men parody. This ends up being the final appearance of the Two A-holes, despite Jason and Kristen both remaining in the cast for several years.
— I love the little “Yes, I HEARD HER!” bit when Jason keeps telling Jon’s Don Draper what Kristen said in regards to her meal request.
— Great bit with the Two A-holes licking all the sandwiches on the platter and saying “These are ours.”
— Funny bit with the hula-hoop suspenders.
— A very strong mock-dramatic speech from Don Draper about hula-hoops and suspenders, and it’s hilarious how it moves Bobby’s Harry to tears.
STARS: ****


THE BARACK OBAMA VARIETY HALF HOUR
confident Barack Obama (FRA) will do his infomercial as a variety show

— Maya Rudolph makes her first SNL appearance since leaving the cast. SNL having to resort to bringing her in a cameo to play the role of Michelle Obama is yet another painfully obvious sign that SNL’s then-current cast doesn’t have a black woman. Since I couldn’t stand Maya back in these days (I’ve come around on her in more recent years), I remember being worried back at this time in 2008 that SNL would have to bring her back in a cameo every single time they needed to do a sketch involving Michelle Obama (gee, it’s a good thing we don’t have to worry about anything like that on SNL in our current times, RIGHT?!?!?!?!?!? [/end sarcasm]), but it would turn out that the only other time Maya ends up playing Michelle Obama again after tonight’s episode is when Maya hosts years later in season 37.
— Fun concept of Fred’s Barack Obama using his half-hour infomercial time to do an old-timey variety show.
— Apparently, SNL’s crew members forgot to give Fred a hand-held microphone before this sketch, as he’s awkwardly forced to lean into Maya’s microphone when they’re both singing.
— The “Our House” musical number with Kristen’s Nancy Pelosi, Andy’s Rahm Emanuel, and Bobby’s Barney Frank is hilarious.
— A fun and fitting “Don’t You Forget About Me” number with Darrell’s Bill Clinton.
— I love the Obama/JFK/Clinton mini-sketch.
STARS: ****


DON DRAPER’S GUIDE TO PICKING UP WOMEN
Don Draper’s (host) guide to picking up women suggests you act like him

— A good laugh from Kristen saying “Marry me, I wanna have your children!” in reaction to Jon’s Don Draper staying silent whenever she asks him a question.
— Here we have Amy, in pre-taped form, making her only appearance of the night, because she went into labor during afternoon rehearsals the same day of tonight’s episode, and subsequently gave birth at the hospital.
— Great ending to Amy’s scene, with her reacting to Don Draper telling her his name by looking into the camera and sultrily saying “Let’s get me out of this skirt.”
— A very well-executed piece so far.
— Excellent delivery from Jon during his whole fast-paced rundown at the end, regarding what to do to be like Don Draper.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Viva La Vida”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Robo-Call (WLF) is ashamed he’s being used to impugn Obama’s character

Ralph Nader (BIH) wrongly expects to supply unneeded campaign excitement

yet again, Nicholas Fehn doesn’t manage to gain any rhetorical ground

KET & MAR sing “We Love You Amy” in support of absent new mother AMP

— Ah, here we go. Seth’s very first solo Weekend Update, a few months before that would become a regular thing. I remember how eager I was to see tonight’s Update back when it originally aired, as I was very curious to see how Seth would handle anchoring Update alone, and was also very curious to see SNL’s very first solo-anchored Update since all the way back to May 2000.
— Just as I was expecting, it feels odd seeing Seth do Update by himself. Doing these daily reviews of mine has gotten me SO used to seeing Amy as Seth’s co-anchor.
— Will is very funny as Robo-Call.
— I love the detail of Robo-Call drinking from a flask of oil.
— Didn’t care for the corny, predictable joke of Robo-Call’s older brother being RoboCop.
— Robo-Call: “Next week, Robo-Call supposed to tell black people, election canceled.”
— It’s starting to feel kinda lonely and empty seeing Seth as the sole anchorperson, but not lonely and empty in a bad way, if that makes sense. And Seth is doing fine by himself, handling his first solo Update well.
— Bill’s Ralph Nader commentary was previously cut after dress rehearsal from a Weekend Update Thursday special that aired just two days before this.
— Bill’s doing a good vocal impression of Nader, though he’s not even bothering to imitate Nader’s facial mannerisms, mainly the twitchy eye. Jimmy Fallon previously nailed the facial mannerisms when impersonating Nader in a season 26 sketch.
— OH, GOD. Nicholas Fehn ONCE AGAIN. However, I’ve always had a theory that, if it’s indeed true that these Nicholas Fehn commentaries are always improvised, then SNL’s decision to have a Nicholas Fehn commentary in tonight’s Update probably wasn’t made until just hours before the show, when SNL realized that they needed to fill in some extra time left over in this Update due to Amy’s sudden absence. So they asked Fred if he could do a Nicholas Fehn commentary, knowing he can easily make up stuff on the fly as this character. If this theory of mine is correct, I guess I can cut SNL some slack for dragging this character out once again tonight. NEVER AGAIN, though, SNL.
— Just like the last appearance Nicholas Fehn made earlier this season, I’m stone-faced during his shtick tonight. The novelty of this character, and what made him work so well the first two times, are long gone by this point.
— A nice, sweet musical number from Kenan and Maya, honoring Amy.
STARS: ***


VINCENT PRICE’S HALLOWEEN SPECIAL
in 1959, Vincent Price’s (BIH) Halloween Special isn’t family-friendly

— Wow, this is the first time this recurring sketch has appeared in THREE SEASONS. I think I recall hearing new writer John Mulaney is the one responsible for bringing this recurring sketch out of the mothballs.
— Funny opening bit with Bill-as-Vincent-Price’s malfunctioning rising chair.
— Kristen’s voice as Gloria Swanson is a riot, as is her whole “I’m a pirate, arrr” spiel.
— I am absolutely loving Jon’s brash one-liners as James Mason, as well as Bill-as-Price’s reactions.
— Here we have the first inclusion of Fred’s Liberace impression in a Vincent Price sketch. This impression of Fred’s would go on to be a staple of this recurring sketch.
— Vincent Price to Liberace: “Save your sassy asides for your windowless bars!” That’s actually a clever, well-written, and interestingly-detailed line. So, naturally, it receives DEAD SILENCE from the audience.
— Jon continues to absolutely kill it in this sketch. His performance here is even more impressive when you’re aware of the backstory. I can’t remember all the exact details of the story, and I may have my facts about it wrong, but, IIRC, the story is that Jon played Dean Martin in the dress rehearsal version of this sketch, but he struggled badly through the impression. After talking it over with Lorne and company after dress rehearsal, it was decided that he would play James Mason instead of Dean Martin, and he ended up knocking it out of the park.
— This sketch has gotten me in such an upbeat mood that even the token gay jokes from Fred’s Liberace are making me laugh. We’ll see if my lenience towards the gay Liberace jokes will hold up in subsequent installments of this sketch, because, from what I’ve heard from some other fans fairly recently, the abundance of gay Liberace jokes supposedly really drags down the later installments of this sketch.
— Though it’s just a little thing, I love Bill-as-Price’s pronunciation of “tissue”.
STARS: ****½


JON HAMM’S JOHN HAM
host endorses bathroom-based meat dispensing system

— A questionable concept on paper, but you can already tell from the start that Jon’s performance expertise, natural funniness, and charm is going to sell this in spades.
— Hilarious visual of the toilet paper-esque ham dispenser.
— As expected, Jon’s execution of this is simply fantastic.
— Jon’s ending line, when quoting the slogan of his product: “If it feels like a slice of ham, don’t wipe your ass with it.”
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Lost!”


PAT FINGER
Pat Finger (host) seeks votes to be on city council of Butts, New York

— Wow, two consecutive sketches featuring only Jon Hamm? When this episode was originally airing, I took the fact that the last 25 minutes of this episode oddly consisted only of solo Jon Hamm sketches and Coldplay musical performances as a possible sign that the SNL cast wasn’t even in the building anymore by that point. I wondered if, after the Vincent Price sketch, the cast went to the hospital to visit Amy and her new baby. I even kinda assumed the goodnights were, in a somewhat similar fashion to SNL’s occasional ice-skating goodnights, going to show the cast in the hospital room with Amy and her new baby, with all of them waving to the camera, while Jon and Coldplay wrap up the show in the SNL studio. I’m sure that all sounds silly (and probably corny) to some people. Anyway, those assumptions of mine about the cast turned out to be completely wrong. I guess the fact that the only sketches in the last 25 minutes of the show all featured Jon Hamm by himself is a huge sign of how much trust he quickly earned from SNL as a performer, which is incredible, given the fact that this is his first time hosting, and it wasn’t universally known before this episode how funny this man is capable of being. You can tell he must’ve really impressed Lorne and company over the course of the week.
— Also, the aforementioned fact that the last 25 minutes of this episode consist only of solo Jon Hamm sketches and Coldplay musical performances kinda serves as an interesting glimpse of what an SNL episode would look like without any cast members. Though I guess SNL already sorta did do that with the second-ever episode back in season 1, which consisted almost entirely of musical performances.
— An extremely juvenile sketch, but the amazing Jon Hamm is, once again tonight, selling it, and is making it come off “fun dumb” instead of “bad dumb”.
— I like the little throwaway mention of Jon’s character’s great-grandfather being named E.T. Finger.
— Funny panicked reaction from Jon’s character when realizing how dirty his new last name, Deldeaux, will sound in his campaign slogan, right before the camera cuts away from him.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Yellow”


GOODNIGHTS
musical guest performs “Lovers In Japan”

— A special edition of the goodnights, as Jon throws to ANOTHER Coldplay performance. (I don’t know if this has ever been confirmed, but I’m assuming all of these extra Coldplay performances that we’ve been getting tonight are to fill up the extra time left over from Amy’s sudden absence.) However, as soon as Coldplay begins to play their song for these goodnights (“Lovers In Japan”), the goodnights suddenly get cut off in the original live airing I’m currently watching.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very strong episode, continuing the solid streak that I feel this season has been on ever since the Anne Hathaway episode. Not only did I enjoy every single segment tonight, but, aside from Weekend Update, every rated segment from Trick-Or-Treat all the way to Jon Hamm’s John Ham received a rating from me ranging from 4-5 stars. Very impressive. And Jon Hamm….wow. From the expert way he handled this hosting stint like a total pro and veteran, you’d never guess this was his first time hosting. One of the most incredible hosting performances I’ve ever seen from a first-time host. In fact, back when this originally aired, I remember noticing lots of similarities between the way Jon handled his first hosting stint and the way Alec Baldwin handled his first hosting stint in 1990. And, even though I don’t feel this first Jon Hamm-hosted episode is quite on the same level as that first Alec Baldwin-hosted episode (one of the absolute best SNL episodes of all time), this Hamm episode is still fantastic, and my review of it has probably one of the highest rating averages in this SNL project of mine. Also, even though, in terms of episode quality, I’d give the edge to Alec’s first hosting stint, in terms of hosting performances, I’d give the edge to Jon’s first hosting stint, because of the way he was able to perfectly carry several solo segments.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Josh Brolin)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Ben Affleck