Tag: Melissa McCarthy

Posted on

May 13, 2017 – Melissa McCarthy / HAIM (S42 E20)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

TRUMP INTERVIEW
Lester Holt (MIC) questions Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) about James Comey

— Ugh.
— Not only do I dislike whenever SNL has Trumpwin deliver uncharacteristic pop culture-centric lines, such as the Beyonce-playing-her-hits-at-a-concert one in this cold opening, but Alec butchered that Beyonce one with his stumbly delivery.
— After having Trumpwin admit to obstruction of justice, I like Michael’s Lester Holt looking around in surprise and asking, “So, wait – did I get ‘im???”, and then, after being told something over his earpiece, responding “So…absolutely NOTHING matters anymore? Okay.”
— Feels a little odd seeing Mikey doing a Paul Ryan impression, given the fact that it was a role that the then-recently-fired Taran Killam used to regularly play.
— The Anderson Cooper eye-roll bit gave me a laugh.
— While the running gag with Trumpwin always referring to Michael’s Holt as other famous black people isn’t doing anything for me for the most part, I did laugh at the meta bit with him referring to Michael’s Holt as “Kenan” at one point.
— Overall, not as awful as some of the last few Trumpwin cold openings, but still blah as a whole, mainly Trumpwin’s lines.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
host shows backstage SNL to a mom; Ryan Reynolds & Blake Lively cameos

— A sweet bit with Melissa McCarthy making every mother in the audience stand up to receive applause, in honor of Mother’s Day.
— I recall hearing that Joan, the audience member who McCarthy is giving a tour of the studio to, is writer Sarah Schneider’s mother. Joan does mention the name Sarah here when telling McCarthy the names of her two kids.
— A fun, charming, and different approach to the usual “around-the-studio monologue” trope.
— A rare instance of someone calling attention to the traditional backstage llama. Coincidentally, one of the only other occurrences I can remember of the llama being acknowledged by someone happens to be in another Melissa McCarthy monologue: her season 39 one.
— As I sorta mentioned in my review of Emily Blunt’s monologue from earlier this season, McCarthy calls Kyle “Mike Mooney” here in a genuine accident, and doesn’t seem to realize her mistake.
— At one point, right before McCarthy introduces Joan to HAIM, McCarthy’s mic cuts off for a few seconds while she’s in the middle of a sentence.
— It’s fascinating seeing some portions of SNL’s backstage that we usually never see, including the area behind the entrance door of the home base stage. The only other two times I remember seeing the latter in an actual episode (meaning I’m not counting behind-the-scenes videos) is the cold opening of Bruce Dern’s season 7 episode and, most memorably, the monologue from Danny DeVito’s season 14 episode.
— Interestingly, when Joan’s name is announced right before she enters the home base stage like a host, not only is that not Darrell Hammond’s voice doing the announcing (because he didn’t do his announcements live for most of [if not all of] this season, and thus, I guess SNL didn’t have enough time between the writing of this monologue and the airing of this episode to get Darrell to tape an announcement of Joan’s name), but whoever that is doing the announcing is doing a Don Pardo impression.
— I like how the SNL Band replays the opening theme music when Joan enters the home base stage.
STARS: ***½


JUST DESSERTS!
unlucky contestant (host) gets pies & cakes in the face

— I love Kenan’s voice-over cheesily exclaiming “PIE!” whenever McCarthy gets hit with a pie. By the way, for the longest time, I had remembered that voice-over shockingly being Kenan’s ONLY involvement in this entire episode, before I recently remembered that he also appears in a pre-taped commercial later in this episode.
— I haven’t been caring for where this sketch has been going.
— McCarthy’s starting to worry me with that unscripted(?) coughing and hacking sound she keeps doing off-camera, which seems genuine. When she got sprayed with sprinkles earlier, did some of them go down her throat and get stuck in it?
— The extended clean-up sequence is kinda funny, at least.
STARS: *½


AMAZON ECHO SILVER
Amazon Echo Silver is tailored to respond to old folks’ verbal inquiries

— Very relatable humor here, and it’s being executed perfectly.
— Excellent use of Cecily’s always-reliable voice-over work.
— Feels rare seeing Kyle play this type of role.
— The “black jazz” bit is particularly hilarious.
STARS: *****


PRESS CONFERENCE
Sean Spicer (host) explains Russia investigation with matryoshka dolls

Sean Spicer (host) drives podium to confront Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin)

— The debut of Aidy’s Sarah Huckabee Sanders impression.
— Our obligatory Sean Spicer sketch of the night.
— What in the world does McCarthy say after using a fire extinguisher on Mikey’s pants? I could make out a lot of that line, but most of the last third of it completely lost me. Here’s a quote of the line: “You know why I had to put your pants out? ‘Cause your (something something) lyin’ in there!” The “(something something)” part is the words that I can’t make out. Back when this sketch originally aired, I remember rewinding this part over and over again trying to understand the “(something something)”, to no avail. And in my current viewing four years later, I still can’t understand the “(something something)”. She seemed to mess something up in that line, as she half-heartedly adds “Pants lyin’” afterwards in what appears to be an ad-lib, as if she’s correcting herself. If anyone reading this review can help me figure out what the “(something something)” part of the afore-quoted line that I’m confused about is, thanks in advance.
— Another odd gaffe, this time when McCarthy is showing the various Russian dolls. The wrong doll seemed to be included at one point when McCarthy meant to show the Slimer-from-Ghostbusters doll, resulting in initial awkwardness from McCarthy when realizing the error, but she recovers well by humorously blaming Bobby’s Glenn Thrush in an ad-lib, which is followed by the camera doing a hilarious brief cutaway to Bobby slyly shrugging his eyebrows repeatedly in an ad-lib of his own.
— Good bit with the pillar that McCarthy’s Spicer throws at Vanessa.
— A fun and well-filmed outdoors sequence with McCarthy’s Spicer driving his motorized podium across the city.
— Feels a little odd seeing Trumpwin in this sketch.
— Somebody seemed to forget a line just now during the Trumpwin/Spicer conversation, resulting in a stretch of awkward silence.
— A very weak ending with the Trumpwin/Spicer kiss.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Want You Back”


WEEKEND UPDATE
rehab got PED sober & also revealed that he’s allergic to horses

Cathy Anne recognizes evidence of junkie-grade paranoia in Donald Trump

— Michael has a very distracting smudge of light makeup on his forehead (seen in the second, fifth, and sixth above screencaps for this Weekend Update), left over from his portrayal of Lester Holt earlier tonight. The smudge almost looks like a band-aid.
— I’m kinda surprised Michael’s not doing his usual “Trump voice” when reading all of those Trump tweets.
— I like how the running gag with a record-scratch sound effect and James Brown’s “I Feel Good” playing whenever Michael points out how a crazy thing Trump has done sounds like something from a wacky movie trailer is bringing to mind that fantastic Loews Theater sketch from the season 23 Garth Brooks episode.
— I couldn’t find anything to say about Pete’s overall commentary while watching it just now, but it was okay as a whole, and had some decent lines and interesting anecdotes.
— The makeup smudge on Michael’s forehead is finally gone. Somebody at the show must’ve noticed and had somebody come over and remove the smudge while Pete’s commentary was going on.
— Lots of very strong jokes from Colin and Michael tonight.
— Nice recovery from Michael when stumbling during his introduction of the next guest commentary.
— Good to see another Cathy Anne commentary.
— Meh, I could’ve done without Cathy Anne’s preachy, clapter-bait non-comedic lines during one portion of her commentary.
— Lots of good interplay between Cathy Anne and Michael here.
— This overall Cathy Anne commentary was good, though not quite as strong as usual.
STARS: ****


FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER
Debette Goldry & fellow veteran actress (host) describe sacrifices made

— Oh, I forgot until now that there’s a Debette Goldry sketch with Melissa McCarthy playing a similar character to Kate’s.
— I’m not too crazy about the voice that McCarthy’s using here.
— The usual hilarious lines from Kate’s Debette (even if there’s nothing here that I’m bothering to quote in this review). McCarthy’s character, on the other hand, feels unnecessary.
STARS: ****


KYLE AND LESLIE
relationship of KYM & LEJ grows more complex via marriage & parenthood

— Ah, our second entry in the great Leslie/Kyle saga.
— I love the footage of Leslie and Kyle’s wedding inside the SNL studio.
— A great reveal that Leslie and Kyle now have a son, and that they named him after Lorne (even if SNL already used that joke years prior in a cameo that Jimmy Fallon made during a Fey/Poehler-era Weekend Update, where it was revealed that Jimmy and Tina Fey are the parents of a young boy named Lorne.)
— I like the usage of various TV/movie clips of Leslie and Kyle, respectively, to show how the past year of their careers have been.
— Love the mock-dramatic depths that the Leslie/Kyle relationship is being taken in this short, such as them speaking to a marriage counselor, only for us to eventually see that the “marriage counselor” is an unwitting Melissa McCarthy, who’s just trying to read a script.
— An absolutely hilarious part with Kyle angrily shooting Colin in the leg.
— When everybody in the studio is running away in a panic after Kyle fires the gun, I got a huge laugh from the camera zooming in past those running people to show Lorne just standing there in a deadpan manner, followed by a very funny confessional of him where he explains that Kyle’s shooting of Colin was justified because “Colin can be annoying”.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Little of Your Love”


FIRST BIRTHDAY
fellow moms usher in (MEV)’s requisite selection of a theme animal

— I believe this is the first big role Villasenor has gotten in months.
— A variation of the Baby Shower sketch from the previous Mother’s Day, when Brie Larson hosted.
— Much like in the aforementioned Baby Shower sketch, Sasheer is coming off very natural here, presumably because she co-wrote this (and the Baby Shower) sketch, which I recall someone online once claiming.
— Also much like in the Baby Shower sketch, Vanessa’s delivery of her disclosure of how she received her calling is particularly strong.
— When the ladies are making aggressive animal sounds in unison, I laughed at Leslie’s very calm, spiritual delivery of “I’m an angel.”
— The ending felt rushed.
— Overall, not as strong as the aforementioned Baby Shower sketch, but still good.
STARS: ***½


PRODUCTION LOGO
production company logos proposed by designer (BEB) are all unpleasant

— Oddly, this sketch opens with a disclaimer stating “Promotional consideration for SNL furnished by Apple”. This is a serious, non-comedic disclaimer, but you can tell the audience is unsure, as two(?) female audience members are heard laughing out loud during it.
— Well, I guess that Apple laptop Beck’s using explains the Apple disclaimer at the beginning.
— Funny running bit with Beck’s “Feast your ass on this” lines.
— A good, different approach to the usual “Melissa McCarthy plays a weirdo who other characters react in confusion to” trope, which is more than I can say for McCarthy’s previous episodes, as those episodes had a number of “Melissa McCarthy plays a weirdo who other characters react in confusion to” sketches that left me cold.
— The McCarthy-holding-a-knife-while-screaming-at-the-camera production logo gave me a particularly good laugh.
— A technical error, as the screen is stuck on the final shot of the previous production logo (the aforementioned McCarthy-holding-a-knife one) when the next production logo is supposed to be shown. Bobby, who’s mic is turned off during this moment, can faintly be heard off-camera ad-libbing “No, that was the one before”, which made me chuckle. Another example tonight of Bobby smoothly ad-libbing his way out of somebody else’s gaffe. Man, this is just one of the MANY reasons why I’m going to miss him after his upcoming departure.
— Good ending.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS
Steve Martin [real] presents Five-Timers jacket to host

— A great callback to the Leslie/Kyle short from earlier tonight, by having Colin in a leg cast & crutches during these goodnights. Numerous examples of continuity like that is just one of the things that makes this season so fun. I also like how Colin’s leg cast is never pointed out in these goodnights, just keeping it a nice background gag.
— Ah, we get a special moment right now, with Steve Martin showing up to give McCarthy her Five-Timers jacket. McCarthy and one of the members of HAIM both looked genuinely surprised when Steve first showed up, as if they truly didn’t expect him, but after a while, I’m feeling more and more that they were probably just acting.
— I love how this Five-Timers induction for McCarthy even works in the Steve Martin/Alec Baldwin rivalry storyline. How often do you see this type of “scene” being performed during the goodnights of recent eras like this one? I like how the vibe of this “scene” feels like a throwback to some of the goodnights from the 70s and 80s.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— I feel like I’m running out of things to say in this portion of my reviews lately, given how consistently good (for the most part) the quality of this season’s episodes as a whole have been, but yeah, this was yet another good season 42 episode. There was especially a nice consecutive string of great segments from Amazon Echo Silver to the Leslie/Kyle short, minus the Sean Spicer sketch (which I still liked).


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Kyle and Leslie
Amazon Echo Silver
Film Society of Lincoln Center
Weekend Update
First Birthday
Production Logo
Monologue
Press Conference
Trump Interview
Just Desserts!


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Chris Pine)
about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 42 comes to an end, with host Dwayne Johnson, another host who is entering Five-Timer status. It’s the final episode for Vanessa Bayer, Bobby Moynihan, and Sasheer Zamata.

Posted on

February 13, 2016 – Melissa McCarthy / Kanye West (S41 E13)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

HILLARY FOR PRESIDENT
Hillary Clinton (KAM) sings “I Can’t Make You Love Me” to Bernie Sanders backers

— Pretty funny turn with how the restaurant patrons’ conversation about how they’re no longer voting for Hillary Clinton is followed by Kate’s Hillary slowly being lowered on a seat from above while singing “I Can’t Make You Love Me”.
— The usual funny addition of Darrell Hammond’s Bill Clinton in these Kate-as-Hillary pieces, and I love him saying to the camera, in regards to him playing the piano, “Guess what? I’m not even playin’ this thing.”
— Funny appearance from Beck as a pathetic Jeb Bush, and him getting called out by the restaurant patrons on what he’s doing.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host prematurely celebrates Five-Timer status with “Born To Be Alive” variant

— Interesting conceit of Melissa McCarthy incorrectly claiming this is her fifth time hosting and launching into a celebratory song about now being a Five-Timer.
— Despite my usual fatigue over musical monologues in this era, I’m actually finding this particular song to be pretty fun and catchy. Come to think of it, that’s actually been true for most of this season’s musical monologues.
— There’s Kenan pointing out the inevitable: that this is, in fact, Melissa’s fourth hosting stint, not fifth.
— Pretty funny visual of Melissa’s “4 & One/Sixteenth” glasses after Kenan points out that Melissa’s appearance at SNL’s 40th Anniversary Special doesn’t count as a legitimate full-on hosting stint, but rather just 1/16th of a hosting, if anything.
STARS: ***½


THE DAY BEYONCÉ TURNED BLACK
a post-“Formation” horror film for whites

— A priceless overdramatic reaction white people are shown having to finding out Beyonce is, in fact, black. I particularly love the well-filmed visual of everybody in the streets panicking.
— Love Vanessa’s delivery of “I know he’s black” when Sasheer points out a random black citizen on the street.
— Great exchange between Kate and Kenan.
— Hilarious bit with Cecily nervously rocking back and forth and denying what she hears when it’s revealed on the news that Kerry Washington is also black.
— Great fake-out with a horrified Aidy initially thinking her daughter turned black, only for it to be revealed that that’s Leslie’s daughter. I also love Leslie being offended by Aidy saying a relieved “Thank God!” when seeing that her own daughter hasn’t turned black.
— Strong ending with Kate getting ready to smother her son with a pillow.
— Overall, SNL knocks it out of the park with another brilliant, epic pre-taped Beyonce-themed masterpiece, after their Beygency short from two seasons prior. It’s hard for me to pick which I prefer out of the two shorts, as I love both of them so much, but I think I’d give the edge to this one.
STARS: *****


TEST SCREENING
(host) assaulted fellow audience members in test screening of scary movie

— The pre-taped, night-vision footage is a bit of a refreshing way to change up the overdone “Melissa McCarthy plays a weirdo who other characters react in confusion to” trope that this sketch is relying on.
— Pretty funny reaction shots from Melissa in the pre-taped footage, especially her randomly punching Vanessa in the face, and the whole bit she does with Pete.
— Great shot of Leslie laughing and saying, “Man, this bitch is pissing on herself!”
STARS: ***½


MOVIE NIGHT
awkwardness grows as (PED) & parents (BOM) & (host) watch Terminator sex scene

— Much like Pete’s character in this sketch, I surprisingly had absolutely no prior memory of a sex scene in the first Terminator movie when I first saw this sketch during this episode’s original airing.
— A lot of good laughs from Pete’s way of “lightening up” the awkward situation by blurting out all of the absolutely worst things he could possibly say in this situation.
— Good use of pre-taped audio of characters’ inner thoughts.
— After Bobby’s own inappropriate way of “lightening up” the awkward situation, we get a great cutaway to him with a self-satisfied grin while his inner thought says “Heh heh heh heh, nailed it!”
— Great delivery from Pete on his run of embarrassing statements before his abrupt exit.
— An overall refreshingly relatable and solid sketch.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest, Kelly Price, The-Dream, El DeBarge, Young Thug [real] perform “Highlights”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Rachel Green (VAB) is still living in an episode of Friends

Super Bowl MVP Von Miller [real] covers gravitational waves via football

hater of flowers & avocados LEJ lists her perfect man’s characteristics

— For the second consecutive episode, Weekend Update shows clips from a GOP debate that happened just hours prior.
— Good rant from Michael about the “outrage” over Beyonce’s Super Bowl halftime performance.
— Wait, that infamous, controversial “BILL COSBY INNOCENT!!!!!!!” tweet of Kanye West’s was made this same week he was on SNL?!? Wow. For some reason, this also reminds me that he had an angry backstage meltdown between this episode’s dress rehearsal and live show, due to SNL changing up the musical guest stage without asking him first. Audio from that angry meltdown of his would be leaked online shortly after this episode’s original airing. (I think Aidy also disclosed in an interview that there was another off-putting incident with Kanye that same night, where, during the goodnights at dress rehearsal, he tried to bring Kim Kardashian up onstage when she clearly didn’t want to do that, or something like that. Of course, that’s small potatoes compared to what Kanye would do during the goodnights of his following SNL appearance.)
— Ah, Vanessa’s Jennifer Aniston/Rachel Green impression makes its first Update appearance, continuing the amazing season Vanessa’s been having.
— Like the last time Vanessa did this impression (in the Jennifer Aniston Lookalike Contest sketch from a few seasons prior), Vanessa is astonishingly spot-on and funny here.
— Hilarious bit with a Friends-esque scene transition happening right in the middle of Vanessa’s commentary.
— I like Colin pointing out how Vanessa’s Aniston/Green always sounds surprised, and that being followed by her immediately proving his point.
— Despite one flubbed line (which is expected for an athlete), Von Miller is coming off likable enough here.
— Surprised by how short the overall Von Miller commentary ended up being, but that’s probably for the best.
— Another Norm Macdonald-esque O.J.-is-a-murderer joke from Michael.
— Feels like Leslie’s on Update every two episodes this season. I can’t remember the last time prior to this that a cast member regularly appeared this frequently as themselves as a guest correspondent on Update. (I guess A. Whitney Brown in the late 80s?) That’s certainly not a complaint, though, as Leslie always kills it on Update.
— The style of tonight’s Leslie commentary is a very interesting change of pace from her usual commentaries, and an interesting change of pace for Update in general.
— I particularly like the part of Leslie’s commentary with her harping on how she equates flowers with dead bodies.
STARS: ****


PICK-UP ARTIST
in a bar, (host) clumsily practices pick-up techniques on target (KYM)

— Meh, seems like I’m in for exactly the type of “Melissa McCarthy plays a weirdo who other characters react in confusion to” live sketch that the Test Screening sketch earlier tonight was a refreshing change of pace from.
— This sketch seems like it was partially designed to make Leslie crack up. If that’s the case, it’s succeeding with flying colors. Her constant amusement in this is somehow providing most of my only amusement. While I’m not HATING the main Melissa portions of this sketch, they’re not doing much for me.
— Beck made me laugh out loud appearing at the very end of this sketch in a bizarre brief walk-on role that allowed him to ham it up.
STARS: **


KYLE VS. KANYE
KYM’s delusion of rap greatness withstands verbal rout by musical guest

— At first, I thought that this was going to be the debut of the Kyle/Leslie backstage relationship shorts, until I remembered that those don’t debut until the following season’s Dave Chappelle episode. This short I’m currently reviewing is done in the same style as those Kyle/Leslie shorts, though.
— I’m liking how extensive this short is, even going through the lengths of having Kyle film an interview on Today.
— Love seeing the real-life home movies and photos of Kyle rapping and breakdancing when he was much younger.
— I like how Kyle saying he has no idea what he’s doing out there on SNL is accompanied by a clip of him dressed in a cereal box from a sketch in the season 39 Edward Norton episode.
— The sketch that’s shown being rehearsed at one point, where we see a lot of male cast members dressed for what appears to possibly be a wedding, doesn’t make it to the live show.
— Kanye’s extremely deadpan facial expression while speechlessly staring at Kyle awkwardly rapping insults at him is cracking me up.
— Great ending.
STARS: ****


BUS
on a bus, (host) annoys (LEJ) with attempts to be hip to black experience

— Lots of airtime for Leslie tonight, especially in the second half of this episode starting with Update.
— I’m liking how this quirky character of Melissa’s is a lot more subtle, low-key, and realistic than her usual characters in “Melissa McCarthy plays a weirdo who other characters react in confusion to” sketches are.
— Some laughs from Leslie’s desperation to get away from Melissa, even asking the bus driver to just open up the door as the bus is driving on a highway.
— The sudden out-of-left-field turn at the end with this sketch becoming a Speed spoof didn’t do it for me.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest, Kelly Price, The-Dream, Kirk Franklin, Chance the Rapper [real] perform “Ultralight Beam”


WHISKERS R’ WE
Barbara & new gal (host) plug Valentine’s Cat Giveaway

— Blah, this again. So tired of this recurring sketch.
— Oh, wow, what a huge surprise: the character played by the female host feels up Kate’s breast while pretending they think they’re petting a cat. We’ve NEVER seen that happen in multiple Whiskers R’ We sketches in the past. [/end sarcasm]
— Quite a lot of O.J.-is-a-murderer jokes throughout tonight’s episode, with this being the third segment tonight to include one.
STARS: **


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A good episode, and far more consistent than the previous episodes Melissa McCarthy hosted. It also helps that the way she was utilized in this episode felt less redundant than the way she was utilized in her prior episodes.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
The Day Beyoncé Turned Black
Kyle Vs. Kanye
Movie Night
Weekend Update
Test Screening
Hillary for President
Monologue
Bus
Pick-Up Artist
Whiskers R’ We


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Larry David)
a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Jonah Hill. Interestingly, this is his second consecutive hosting stint in which he and Melissa McCarthy host back-to-back episodes.

Posted on

February 1, 2014 – Melissa McCarthy / Imagine Dragons (S39 E13)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

HALFTIME SPECTACULAR
Broadway performers are last-minute Super Bowl halftime show replacements

— Kyle’s delivery in the beginning of his appearance cracked me up.
— Funny how the preceding episode’s cold opening had a gentle, fancy sport (ice skating) being presented in an uncharacteristically masculine way, while tonight’s cold opening has a masculine sport (football) being presented in an uncharacteristically gentle, fancy way.
— It’s sadly on-brand for SNL that they don’t even bother putting any lighting on poor, neglected John Milhiser in the close-up of him during his brief appearance (the fifth above screencap for this sketch).
— Meh, I’m finding myself losing interest in this as it goes on. This Broadway Super Bowl halftime show concept would’ve been funnier as some kind of quick cutaway gag rather than an actual full-length cold opening.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
host & BOM settle an old score by fighting while suspended from wires

— A funny backstage pre-tape of Melissa McCarthy and Bobby, and I like how we get a rare instance of the traditional backstage Abraham Lincoln, showgirls, and/or llama actually being acknowledged by someone, with Melissa rudely shoving Lincoln and randomly taking the llama with her as she exits the building.
— Boy, was that cutaway back to Bobby live in the studio after the pre-tape really awkward.
— Ooh, I like this out-of-the-ordinary monologue concept, with Melissa and Bobby engaging in a battle while raised in the air on wires. Some pretty fun visuals and humor here.
STARS: ***½


CVS
girlfriends hate Some Dumb Little Thing From CVS for Valentine’s Day

— Am I crazy, or can you hear a crying baby in the background when Taran realizes at CVS that he forgot Valentine’s Day?
— A solid spiritual successor to the Teddy Bear Holding A Heart commercial from season 31.
— I love Bobby’s smug, shameless delivery of “One minute ago” when Aidy asks him, regarding her cheap Valentine’s gift, “When did you get this?”
— Good voice-over work from Cecily throughout this.
— Absolutely fantastic delivery from Aidy when frankly telling Bobby, “You have hurt me today.”
STARS: ****


DELAWARE 1 NEWS SPECIAL REPORT
newscast airs video of congresswoman Sheila Kelly’s arrogant rampage

— I like that they’re trying to make it a running thing in Melissa McCarthy-hosted episodes to spoof a male figure currently in the news for aggressive, abusive behavior by using Melissa’s Sheila Kelly character as the female version of that figure. This running theme stops after this episode, but in a lot of ways, the Sean Spicer sketches that Melissa would later do are like a repurposed version of these Sheila Kelly sketches.
— Funny escalation to this with the succession of different types of cameras filming Sheila Kelly.
— According to the Camera Blocking Rundown sheet shown during the teaser in the middle of the preceding commercial break (screencap a little below), Melissa was originally going to make a live appearance at some point in this sketch (Melissa and Taran are the only people in the Camera Blocking Rundown sheet’s cast list, which means that the cast list was excluding the pre-taped portions of this sketch, which had various cast members), but her planned live appearance seemingly got scrapped after dress rehearsal.

— Overall, this wasn’t quite as strong or memorable as the basketball coach version of this sketch from Melissa’s season 38 episode, but this was still fine and enjoyable.
STARS: ***½


WOMEN’S GROUP
(host)’s vengeful goals are out of place at housewives’ group meeting

— A huge rarity in recent SNL eras for two full-length live sketches to air back-to-back without a commercial break separating them (even if a majority of the preceding sketch was pre-taped).
— A laugh from how the darkness of Melissa’s character’s opening reveal about herself contrasts with the other women at this group meeting.
— Very funny part with Melissa randomly having yogurt as part of her disturbing, violent collage, like Nasim did.
— Melissa is selling this dark humor well with a solid understated performance.
— I love the reveal from Melissa that the box she brought to the meeting consists of “mostly ears and one penis”
— Melissa, to Vanessa: “How do you feel about gunfire in your home?” Vanessa: “Well…I asked you to take off your shoes, so…”
— A questionable decision to end this sketch by immediately following Melissa jumping through the living room window by showing the same exterior shot of the house that this sketch opened with (a staple of director Don Roy King), where we can clearly see that there’s no shattered living room window.
STARS: ****


PROMO

— Well, this may be a first in SNL history: the “Next live episode” promo just has “SNL” listed in place of a host or musical guest. Obviously, the show must not have had the next host or musical guest booked yet by this point, and I guess the only reason they’re showing this promo tonight is to have Don Pardo’s voice-over let us know the date that SNL returns live after the month-long hiatus they’re about to take due to the Winter Olympics.


GUESS THAT PHRASE!
weird contestant (host) completely fails at game show

— Meh, not caring for this character piece for Melissa, basically being one of the lesser-quality instances of the all-too-familiar “Melissa McCarthy plays an awkward weirdo” trope that dominated her previous two hosting stints. Quite a number of these “Melissa McCarthy plays an awkward weirdo” showcase pieces tend to blend together way too much, as is the case here.
— Beck is a solid straight man game show host here.
— Vanessa, in a consistently cheery manner, regarding what letter she’s picking: “Well, my daughter’s name is Erica, so I’ll pick ‘e’. (a beat) Uh, screw my daughter! ‘T’!”
— I did get a laugh from Melissa discreetly disclosing to Beck the dirty meaning behind the “Pass the mash” phrase.
STARS: **


28 REASONS
high school Black History Month report has slavery rebuke

— A huge laugh from how, after the very lighthearted first reason to hug a black guy, reasons 2-28 are a very-bluntly-and-sternly-delivered-by-Jay “SLAVERY.”
— Between the Resolution Revolution short from two episodes prior and now this short, SNL seems to be trying to make it a regular thing for Sasheer to sing the chorus of their music videos.
— A hilarious twist to the “Raise your hands in the air” part, with Kenan suddenly changing his tune and sternly telling the hands-still-raised-in-the-air white students, “Keep ’em up if your ancestors OWNED US.”
— Great part with a stiffly-rapping Bobby starting to play devil’s advocate, only for Kate to immediately put an end to that.
— I’m loving the cutaways to Kate’s various non-verbal reactions to the song.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Kendrick Lamar [real] perform “Radioactive”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Buford Calloway (TAK) dramatically recalls two inches of Atlanta snow

AMP, Stefon, ANS, David Paterson (FRA) wish SEM farewell on his last SNL

— Seth’s final Weekend Update, after a whopping 8 years behind the desk.
— Taran is always killer in his Update appearances around this time.
— I like Taran’s Southern gentleman character referring to Seth as “Sethory” throughout this commentary.
— I absolutely howled at “Obama’s white friend” being one of the names Taran’s Southern gentleman calls snow.
— Taran’s delivery is tickling the HELL out of me throughout this commentary. He is priceless here.
— Ah, Seth’s final Update joke, which Cecily acknowledges right afterwards. Speaking of which, Seth actually kinda flubbed that final joke of his, mistakenly pronouncing “police” as “poluce”, but I’m glad he didn’t acknowledge that minor flub (or maybe he didn’t even catch it), as acknowledging it would’ve put a damper on the special-ness of it being his final Update joke.
— The initial transition to Seth’s special farewell segment feels kinda awkward and forced, though I know SNL means well here.
— Bill Hader in his very first cameo after leaving the cast.
— I like Stefon’s callback to the club name “…………..(*looks around in a concerned manner*)…………Kevin????”, originally mentioned in one of Stefon’s previous appearances.
— I love Stefon’s various catty, jealous outbursts towards Cecily.
— Andy Samberg out of nowhere, joining in on the Seth farewell.
— Andy’s innocent “It’s your last show???” question after singing a brief farewell song to Seth gave me a pretty good laugh.
— A nice heartfelt goodbye speech that Seth delivers into the camera, and I like the continuity of him referring in passing to Stefon as his husband.
— Amy’s voice is noticeably very hoarse all of a sudden when it’s her turn to say her sign-off at the end of Seth’s goodbye speech. That speech of Seth’s must’ve made Amy get choked-up. I know she and Seth are close friends, which could account for her emotions here, but I wonder if a bigger reason for her getting choked-up is because she and Seth joined SNL together, and, for that reason, perhaps she feels a special connection to Seth saying goodbye.
— And we close out Seth’s farewell by having Fred Armisen’s David Paterson showing up out of nowhere, doing his usual “pop up lost in front of the camera” bit right before the screen fades to black. A very random but decent way to get Fred’s Paterson involved without giving him any actual lines, and this is probably the only one of Fred’s many season 39 cameos that I’ll be tolerant of.
STARS: ***


IN MEMORIAM
a photo of Pete Seeger marks his passing

Not included in the copy I’m watching of this episode


ART EXHIBIT
museum technician (host) disrupts Frida Kahlo portrayer (NAP) in live art exhibit

— Ooh, I recall this being a notorious, absolutely dreadful sketch. A part of me is morbidly fascinated to review this.
— Yikes, the awkwardness of Melissa’s entrance is ALREADY setting a bad tone for this sketch, as SNL keeps mistakenly cutting to the wrong camera, causing Melissa to not even be visible onscreen for the entire first 15 seconds she’s in this sketch while angrily ranting to someone.
— This tense back-and-forth between Nasim and Melissa is going absolutely NOWHERE and isn’t remotely funny. In fact, a lot of it isn’t even coming off like it’s intended to be comedic, though I’m sure it IS intended to be. I will say, though, that I did like Nasim’s very pissed-off delivery of “I’m Frida Kahlo, you FULL IDIOT.”
— Not only is Nasim and Melissa’s back-and-forth bickering continuing to be comedy poison, but something about the raw tenseness of it is getting downright uncomfortable to watch.
— What is with all of Melissa’s damn references to this mysterious “Danny Tranz” character? That’s yet ANOTHER aspect of this sketch that’s going absolutely nowhere and is resulting in zero laughs.
— And now this sketch has progressed to Nasim and Melissa’s characters physically fighting each other? In a non-comedic way, to an uncomfortably dead audience? Man, this sketch just gets harder and harder to both figure out AND sit through. I also recall one online SNL fan being under the impression that this physical fight between Nasim and Melissa was actually REAL, instead of being part of the sketch. You see, shortly after the next new episode, when some people on IMDB’s (now-defunct) SNL message board were wondering why Nasim made only a brief, non-speaking appearance that entire night, and some people speculated that that brief, non-speaking appearance of Nasim’s may not have even been live (she was said to be busy that week filming the pilot of John Mulaney’s doomed then-upcoming sitcom, which Nasim would soon leave SNL altogether for after this season ends), the aforementioned online SNL fan said the reason for Nasim making her only appearance of the night in a possibly-pre-taped brief shot was because SNL was punishing her for getting into a real fight with the preceding episode’s guest host, Melissa McCarthy, on live TV. Wow. I know that Nasim/Melissa fight had an uncomfortably believable vibe in how straight and humorless it was being played, but geez, it actually made an SNL fan think that it was REAL? That two utmost professionals like Nasim and Melissa got so angry with each other during a sketch that they came to GENUINE BLOWS on live TV? Heh, I find it far more amusing than anything in this actual sketch that an SNL fan took this obviously-scripted fight as being 100% real, almost like SNL was trying to pull some Andy-Kaufman-on-“Fridays” mess.
— And mercifully, this utter trainwreck of a sketch is now over, and absolutely lived up to my horrible memory of it. I’d really like to know what the flying fuck whoever wrote this sketch was attempting with this.
STARS: *


GIRLFRIENDS TALK SHOW
Morgan’s divorcee friend (host) has Hawaiian beau

— Huh? What’s this recurring sketch doing on so late in tonight’s episode? All of the previous installments of this sketch aired in the very cushy, coveted post-monologue lead-off spot. Now, all of a sudden, it’s thrown on around the 12:40 timeslot, just 20-25 minutes before the show ends? Perhaps a sign that even SNL themselves are aware that this recurring sketch has lost the promising steam it started out with in its first two or so installments. Pretty telling for this recurring sketch that not only is it being buried unusually late in the show tonight, but that even the “Danny Tranz” debacle of a sketch somehow got a better timeslot in this episode than Girlfriends Talk Show did. Ouch!
— Ah, at least we get a change of pace with Aidy’s character finally getting to be the one to choose the guest, instead of being blindsided ONCE AGAIN by Cecily’s character choosing the guest without her knowledge. Not only that, but the guest Aidy’s character brings on is Donna, the adult divorcee character who was mentioned in previous installments of this sketch as someone Aidy’s character frequently hangs out with. Nice continuity. All that being said, I’m still very wary on know this sketch will turn out, given the fact that the last installment of this sketch prior to tonight’s episode tried to change up the formula a bit, and that still didn’t stop the sketch from feeling stale and old hat.
— (*sigh*) And, just as I predicted above, the “change of pace” in tonight’s installment ends up going the same damn direction this recurring sketch always goes in.
— Ugh, and there’s goes yet another beyond-tired staple of this recurring sketch, with Aidy and the guest each saying a different thing in unison when revealing what today’s topic is.
— I do like Aidy’s delivery of “That gay silver fox is miiiine!”, regarding her bedroom poster of Anderson Cooper.
— Solid ad-lib from Melissa when she has a hard time getting one of her lines out.
— Geez, did we need TWO instances tonight of the “Aidy and the guest each say a different thing in unison when revealing a topic on the show” trope?
— A good “5-0” double entendre from Melissa.
— Cecily’s obligatory “My boyfriend’s crazy” story is somewhat of a step up from the weak one she had in the last installment prior to this.
— Blah, unlike the aforementioned “5-0” double entendre, Melissa’s second double entendre, the “lei” one, was lame and cliched.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Demons”


SUMMER IN A DAY
(BOM) romanticizes brief park bench encounter with obnoxious Diane (host)

— Meh, yet another “Melissa McCarthy plays a disgusting, awkward weirdo” sketch. I do kinda like the unusual format of this particular sketch, though.
— Bobby’s narration is decent, though the sketch itself isn’t making me laugh all that much.
— Melissa: “Watch my shit, I gotta pee.” Well, oooookay. A very casual and random s-bomb from a three-time host. I remember there was a little debate on SNL boards regarding whether Melissa said the actual ‘s’ word or just a similar-sounding substitute. Although she said it in a fairly mush-mouthed manner, due to having food in her mouth, that word sure sounds like “shit” to me, no matter how many times I watch it.
— Weak ending.
STARS: **½


SUPER CHAMPIONS WITH KYLE
in Times Square, doubletalking KYM interviews Super Bowl fans

— Yesss!!! Kyle doing his “awkward man-on-the-street interviewer” routine that he used to do pre-SNL on shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live and Sports Show With Norm Macdonald. Those shows were where I originally discovered Kyle, how I instantly became a fan of his oddball comedy, and why I was so happy a year or so later when it was announced he was joining the SNL cast.
— Kyle’s awkward mumbliness and bizarre interactions with people on the street are hilarious.
— A very funny touch with the incredibly bad, low-budget computer graphics shown during scene transitions, which also used to be a staple of this man-on-the-street routine of Kyle’s in the aforementioned shows he originally did it on.
— All of this is a true riot so far.
— I love Kyle’s “That’s not what he sounds like!” response in regards to the voice that the guy in the Super Mario costume speaks in.
— Unless I’m forgetting something, this is the first Good Neighbor SNL short to not have Beck in it.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A mostly good pre-Weekend Update half, though not without its problems. But the show’s quality took a real dive in the post-Weekend Update half, including one of the most uncomfortable, unfunniest sketches (Art Exhibit) I’ve ever had to sit through for this SNL project of mine. And some of the same-ol’ problems that plagued the previous two Melissa McCarthy-hosted episodes crept up tonight, in which there’s an overabundance of “Melissa McCarthy plays an awkward weirdo” showcase pieces, which I always run extremely hot-and-cold on, and SNL having a night full of them starts feeling too same-y and tired. If those “Melissa McCarthy plays an awkward weirdo” showcase pieces at least had consistently good writing instead of being so wildly hit-and-miss, maybe I wouldn’t complain much about them dominating Melissa’s episodes.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Super Champions with Kyle
CVS
28 Reasons
Women’s Group
Delaware 1 News Special Report
Monologue
Weekend Update
Summer in a Day
Girlfriends Talk Show
Guess That Phrase!
Halftime Spectacular
Art Exhibit


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jonah Hill)
a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Jim Parsons hosts. We also get the addition of a new cast member/Weekend Update co-anchor.

Posted on

April 6, 2013 – Melissa McCarthy / Phoenix (S38 E17)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

KIM JONG-UN ADDRESS
Kim Jong-un (BOM) lifts ban on same-sex marriage; Dennis Rodman cameo

— DAMMIT! After I was pleasantly surprised in the preceding episode that what initially seemed to be a translator cold opening ended up going a completely different route, the very next episode does end up having a full-fledged translator cold opening. Just my motherfucking luck.
— What in the world is the audience laughing so much at? Nothing intentionally comedic has even been said yet. Are they laughing at just the fake Korean gibberish that Bobby’s speaking in under the audio of Nasim’s American translation? Geez, is the audience that easily amused?
— Yeah, so far, this is just as awful, droning, and laughless as these crappy Jim Downey-written translator snoozefests typically are. Thankfully, this may be the last time I ever have to review one, given the fact that Downey leaves the writing staff at the end of this season.
— This even has Bobby’s Kim Jong-un asking himself, “Let’s see, what else, what else?” at one point, which was already done in a previous translator cold opening, the one with Fred as Moammar Gadhafi in the season 35 premiere.
— At least we get something kinda interesting with Dennis Rodman making his first SNL appearance since way back in 1996.
— Ha, my only laugh of this entire cold opening ends up being from something that wasn’t even in the script, nor was intended to be comedic: Rodman mush-mouthing his delivery of LFNY, rendering it unintelligible (“LOVE AND NEW YORK, IT’S SOLLDIE NAAAAUUUGHT!”).
STARS: *


OPENING MONTAGE
— After being out for three consecutive episodes due to an injury he suffered at home, resulting in a few people (Bill Hader, Darrell Hammond) filling in for him as SNL’s announcer, Don Pardo has returned.


MONOLOGUE
host’s platform heels leave her unable to walk, much less dance with TAK

— Wow, a huge change of pace for a monologue entrance in this SNL era, with the premise of Melissa McCarthy not being able to walk down the stairs on the home base stage, due to the pair of high heels she’s wearing. I love this. It feels like something from early SNL eras (70s and early-mid 80s), which weren’t afraid to occasionally play around with the formula of stuff like monologue entrances. I also love how Melissa makes the SNL Band play the ending portion of the theme music a second time, which is also something that hadn’t been done in ages.
— Some good physical work here from Melissa in her struggles to get to the front of the home base stage.
— When laying flat on the floor by the SNL Band, I like Melissa saying, “This smells like a lot of musicians.”
STARS: ***½


OUTSIDE THE LINES
coach Sheila Kelly (host) abuses basketball players

— A promising, fun, and topical idea to have Melissa play a female equivalent to infamous college basketball coach Mike Rice. Melissa was born to play this role.
— I’m loving the pre-taped footage of Melissa’s character physically and verbally abusing her basketball players, especially the shot of her using a t-shirt cannon to shoot a t-shirt up at the frightened team, who’s collectively bunched together in a corner at top of the bleachers.
— Now this is getting even funnier with the absolutely insane pre-tape of Melissa violently interrupting her players in their classroom. I especially like her occasionally using a taser on Bobby as the teacher.
— Good shot of Melissa in the window behind Bill, non-verbally threatening Jay during his interview.
— Funny little touch at the very end with Bill’s character giving a little hearty chuckle after announcing the horrifying sports story they’ll be covering next.
STARS: ****


THE VOICE
unlike celebrity coaches, singer (host) knows she lacks talent

— Fairly funny impressions of The Voice judges.
— When Melissa discloses the fact that she lives in a basement with no roof, I like Jason’s Blake Shelton responding “So, you…you’re talkin’ about a hole.”
— Despite some laughs, something about this sketch is leaving a little to be desired for me.
STARS: **½


HONEY BAKED HAM BAKE-OFF
at an annual ham bake-off, perennial also-ran (host) adds choreography

— A fun sudden turn with the ham-themed dance number Melissa, Bobby, and Taran do.
— Oh, I absolutely love when the music in the dance number suddenly turns to Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It”. As I said in a previous episode review (when covering one of the Spartan Cheerleaders sketches, I believe), I’m always a sucker for “Push It”.
— This sketch continues to be a lot of fun, and Melissa is great here.
STARS: ****


BATHROOM BUSINESSMAN
the Bathroom Businessman in-stall office setup evokes a plea for decency

— Kenan’s intentionally cheesy delivery  of “I’m flushing my career down the toilet!” cracked me up.
— Blah at that fart gag & sound effect.
— A good comedic conceit with the long, complex set-up of the Bathroom Businessman product while Kenan desperately has to go to the bathroom.
— The sudden “Decency” bit at the end was a pretty solid surprise twist.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Entertainment”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Jacob’s scripted account of Passover includes lighthearted family foibles

the Final Four has contributed to Charles Barkley’s (KET) gambling debt

Drunk Uncle bemoans tax season with his brother-in-law (Peter Dinklage)

— Wow, feels kinda surprising and unexpected in 2020 seeing a 2013 mention on Weekend Update of “California attorney general” Kamala Harris.
— I love Vanessa-as-Jacob’s Jewish-accented pronunciation of “rock music”.
— With this being only Jacob’s second Update commentary, I’m not QUITE as sick of the very thin formula of his Update commentaries as I know I’m eventually going to be. However, I’m already beginning to really hate that repetitive gag with him always going back to reading from his speech whenever Seth asks him a question. They don’t need to repeat that gag 100 freakin’ times in every single Jacob commentary.
— A pretty funny passing mention of Jacob’s cat being named David Ben-Purrion.
— Hmm, I have no memory of this episode having a Kenan-as-Charles-Barkley commentary on Update.
— Kenan-as-Barkley’s line about Michael Jordan being the Michael Jordan of gambling too much was pretty funny.
— I laughed at the long, awkward pause between Kenan and Seth after Kenan’s Barkley mentions one basketball player recently broke his leg simply because “………….he jumped………….”
— Drunk Uncle: “Huey Lewis and the Jeeewwss!”
— Drunk Uncle, after making an offensive comment towards Native Americans: “You’re welcome, Chief Pays-No-Bills!”
— Nice to see a cameo from Peter Dinklage as Drunk Uncle’s brother-in-law Peter Drunklage, as what ends up being the first of several instances of a guest star or host playing a relative or friend of Drunk Uncle’s.
— Peter Dinklage is fantastic here. You’d think he’d been playing this character for a good while like Bobby has.
— I love the “Marco?” “Rubio!” bit between Drunk Uncle and Drunklage.
STARS: ***


MILLION DOLLAR WHEEL
awful fill-in letter turner (host) wrecks game show

— I love Bill’s cheery delivery of “Suzette left because of an alcohol problem – MINE!”
— I remember an online SNL fan back at this time in 2013 pointing out how Victoria Jackson-esque Melissa’s voice and characterization came off here. Yeah, I can see it.
— An extremely thin sketch so far, like some Melissa-plays-a-wacky-character sketches tend to be.
— Yeah, as this sketch goes on, it’s becoming more and more clear that this ain’t working for me. Melissa’s been given practically NO material here, like that awful Turner Classic Movies sketch from her previous episode where she played an actress who kept falling down the stairs over and over and over and over.
— I did get a laugh just now from how, after Melissa has revealed all of the letters on the puzzle, Fred (in his first appearance all night, by the way, which is yet ANOTHER obvious sign that he’s on his way out this season) says “I’d like to solve the puzzle”, only to foolishly end up getting the answer completely wrong.
STARS: *½


PIZZA BUSINESS
loan officer (JAS) denies funding for (host)’s pizza eating business

— Some of Melissa’s characterizations tend to come off awfully similar to each other. Her character in this sketch, for example, feels like a hybrid of her character from the ham sketch earlier tonight and her character from the (overrated, in my opinion) Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing sketch in her preceding episode.
— I like the running gag with Melissa offering Jason a pen when he already clearly has one.
— Despite Melissa giving a very lived-in, established performance as usual in her character pieces (which is something I can often admire about a lot of her characterizations, even when some of them come off too similar to each other and/or don’t make me laugh all that much), and despite me getting a laugh here and there, her constant ramblings in this sketch are becoming white noise to me, which was one of the problems I think I recall having with the aforementioned Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing sketch.
— I actually love the ending, with Melissa returning to the room in slow motion to grab the pizza box after the realization Jason just had. I’ve heard a theory from an SNL fan that Jason truly wasn’t expecting Melissa to do that, because the dress rehearsal version of this sketch reportedly ended differently (with a screen crawl epilogue, I believe), and the shocked & gleeful reaction Jason had to Melissa’s slow motion return in the live version of this sketch looked genuine to that SNL fan.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Trying To Be Cool” & “Drakkar Noir”


THE ART OF THE ENCOUNTER
videos depict strategies for landing Mr. Right

— So far, this is filled with typical James Anderson/Kent Sublette tropes, especially the very questionable gag names all the characters have (ugh).
— Melissa has an ability to get the audience so on her characters’ side that the audience collectively goes “Awww” whenever her characters experience a letdown. This sketch contains the third separate instance of that happening in this episode alone.
— Despite all the Anderson/Sublette-ness of this sketch, the absurdity and comical awkwardness in this sketch is starting to work for me more and more.
— I love the odd way Taran “gets into place” for Melissa to do the splits on his face.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very mixed episode. As you can see from my reviews of the two episodes Melissa McCarthy has hosted by this point, I run extremely hot-and-cold on the sketches that are a big showcase piece for her. That was especially on display in this episode, where I seemed to find tonight’s big Melissa showcase pieces to be either a blast (Outside the Lines, Honey Baked Ham Bake-Off) or a repetitive bore (Million Dollar Wheel, Pizza Business). There was almost no middle ground for me. Her sketch comedy seems to be very polarizing among people in general (which is something she has in common with her friend and Bridesmaids co-star Kristen Wiig). Some of the big Melissa showcase pieces that I liked in these first two episodes she hosted, I’m sure quite a number of people dislike, and I’m sure quite a number of people like some of the big Melissa showcase pieces in these two episodes that *I* disliked. Of all the episodes Melissa has hosted (as of 2020), I personally prefer her final two (2016 and 2017), because, IIRC, SNL moves away a little from focusing so heavily on one-note Melissa-plays-a-wacky-character sketches. My memory of the sketches those two episodes actually contain is admittedly very fuzzy, so I might feel a bit differently about those episodes when I eventually review them. We’ll see.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Outside The Lines
Honey Baked Ham Bake-Off
Monologue
The Art Of The Encounter
Bathroom Businessman
Weekend Update
The Voice
Pizza Business
Million Dollar Wheel
Kim Jong-Un Address


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Justin Timberlake)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Vince Vaughn

Posted on

October 1, 2011 – Melissa McCarthy / Lady Antebellum (S37 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW
Dooneese has a muscle-bound sister (host)

— (*groan*)
— A funny and solid cheesy performance from Taran, at least.
— We get the addition of Melissa McCarthy as a Dooneese-like fifth sister to the group. Meh. However, I do kinda like the detail of Melissa having huge He-Man doll arms as a contrast to Dooneese’s tiny baby doll hands.
— Taran’s solid straight man performance is now starting to come off quite Will Ferrell-esque, definitely a good thing.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
supposed dance experts host & KRW never actually show off their steps

— Maybe it’s because it’s been a while since I’ve last seen Melissa McCarthy, but her voice sounds different here than how I recall it sounding in her later SNL appearances.
— (*groan*) Our first musical monologue of the season. My typical aversion to musical monologues has recently become heightened due to how extremely oversaturated the preceding season was with them. (Literally 40% of that season’s monologues were musical, and that’s not an exaggeration.)
— Two segments into tonight’s episode, and we’re already getting lots of pairings of Melissa and her close friend and then-recent Bridesmaids costar Kristen. Feels a little odd in retrospect seeing Melissa so closely connected with Kristen in this episode, given how we would get so used to seeing Melissa without Kristen in Melissa’s subsequent hosting stints. Also, I remember how, when this episode originally aired, the cold opening and monologue made me worried that practically every sketch was going to have Kristen and Melissa paired together as annoying characters. Instead, as it turns out, Kristen surprisingly ends up being almost completely non-existent for the remainder of the episode.
— The running joke of Melissa acting like she and Kristen are about to start dancing, only for Melissa to immediately refrain because “Haw haw, she’s overweight!” is getting old quickly.
— The silhouette dancing gag is kinda amusing, at least.
STARS: **


LIL POUNDCAKE
doll injects girls with human papilloma virus vaccine

— The disturbing HPV twist is a very funny contrast to the upbeat aesthetic of this spot-on spoof of little girls’ dolls commercials.
— A good unsettled facial reaction from Kristen when she sees a doll in the biohazard trash bin creepily turning its head toward her.
STARS: ****


OFFICE FLIRT
(host) generates no sparks during sexual harassment of co-worker (JAS)

   

— Now that Melissa’s not joined at the hip with Kristen for once tonight, it’ll be interesting to see a display of Melissa’s character work.
— After sadly being shut out of the preceding week’s season premiere, Jay finally makes his first appearance of the season…aaaaaaand it’s a quick non-comedic walk-on where he only has one or two lines, and this ends up being his only live appearance all night.
— A simple and thin sketch, but a strong lead performance from Melissa, who’s going all out here, and is cracking me up. Jason is also a decent straight man to her.
— When Melissa pops the balloons stuffed under her sweater, I love Jason worriedly saying “I hope that was a balloon.”
— This is a very minor thing for me to gripe about, but Jay couldn’t even be bothered to keep up the character voice he was doing, as he went from speaking in an affected nerdy, whitebred voice in his first brief walk-on to speaking in his real-life laid-back, urban voice in his second brief walk-on.
— A pretty good twist at the end with Bill.
STARS: ***½


STOMP
percussive police station guns down Blue Man Group (FRA) & (PAB)

— I like the jolly look on Jason’s face as a handcuffed criminal who’s gleefully dancing to the rhythmic office sounds at the police station.
— An initial laugh from the beginning of the sudden turn with this becoming an extensive Stomp musical.
— Wait, what? Why are we now spending so much time on the VERY extended and unfunny gunning-down of Blue Man Group? What is the the point of this?
— I did at least like Bill and Andy’s quick exchange at the end, after a long pause while they’re staring at the bodies of the two Blue Man Group members they had just killed: “Was that Blue Man Group?” “Yep.” “Sh(*bleep*)t.”
— Overall, after an okay-ish start, this Digital Short really lost its way. It tried too hard to do way too much, and resulted in this being an overall mediocre short. This is our first sign of how troubled the general quality of this season’s Digital Shorts will be without Jorma or Akiva around anymore. I recall some Digital Shorts this season being downright unwatchable, which was practically unheard of prior to this season.
STARS: **


THE COMMENTS SECTION
pathetic online loudmouths lose their anonymity

— A spot-on spoof of the toxic comments section of certain sites, such as YouTube.
— Good turn with Bobby being shocked to find out that the old lady who’s video he left a juvenile, mean-spirited comment on is being brought out to confront him.
— Uh, what??? Was Nasim’s confrontation of Bobby ending with her telling him “I think you’re rotten!” supposed to be lame and THAT was the joke, or was that a genuine cop-out from the writers? Either way, it fell flat for me.
— I like Taran’s uncomfortable reaction when it’s his turn to be profiled, after what had just happened to Bobby.
— Melissa’s toxic online commenter character being named “DaTruf” is a particularly accurate detail of this sketch.
— Jason’s such a likable host of this sketch.
— Good ending with Bill being brought out as some random guy just here to give each guest a much-deserved punch in the gut. IIRC, SNL later does a complete rehash of this gag in another internet-related panel talk show sketch from the season 40 Dakota Johnson episode, only instead of Bill (who was long gone from SNL by that point) punching each guest, it was Taran being brought out to slap each guest in the face.
STARS: ***½


ROCK’S WAY
Chris Rock (JAP) inserts his commentary into Broadway shows

— Jay finally gets his first showcase this season, but of course, it’s just pre-taped. Maybe that’s for the best, though, given how green and stumbly he sometimes tends to be as a live performer in these early seasons of his SNL tenure.
— A fun Chris Rock impression from Jay, right down to the little detail of Jay imitating that thing Rock does with his fingers while speaking.
— Taran’s sassy testimonial-giver character from the preceding season’s Meryl Streep On Ice commercial (in which Taran’s testimonial memorably consisted of him just saying “Um, the bitch can skate!”) returns, this time saying another funny one-liner in his testimonial: “It was…black-tacular!” For some reason, SNL Archives doesn’t count him as a recurring character (and I doubt it’s because he’s nameless, because that site counts certain other nameless characters as recurring).
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “We Owned The Night”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Moammar Gaddafi’s Two Best Friends From Growing Up reveal his character flaws via sotto voce

Tyler Perry (KET) relishes being the highest-paid man in entertainment

— OH NO. The return of motherfucking Gaddafi’s Two Best Friends From Growing Up.
— As much as I despise Garth & Kat (another wretched Fred Armisen-costarring recurring Update duo) with the fire of a thousand suns, at least they, I dunno, sing different songs each time. With the Two Best Friends From Growing Up commentaries, it’s literally the EXACT same damn thing every time, and it wasn’t even funny the first time.
— Not sure we needed Kenan’s Tyler Perry doing his second Update commentary, even though I liked his first one.
— Kenan-as-Tyler-Perry’s “…or you may be white” bit at the end of his opening statement was funny.
— Despite my initial reservations, this second Tyler Perry commentary is actually turning out to be decent.
STARS: ***


TASTE TEST
overeager (host) disrupts Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing focus group

— Probably the most remembered sketch from this episode among SNL fans.
— I recently found out this is a piece that Melissa brought with her from her days at the Groundlings. I even saw a publicity photo of the Groundlings version of this sketch (I can’t look for the photo at the moment, but thanks in advance if anyone in the comments section of this review can find it), and one of Melissa’s scene partners in that photo is none other than future SNL writer & cast member Mikey Day.
— I like Melissa’s vague occasional comments about how the prize money “could really get me out of a couple of jams”.
— Another good performance from Melissa tonight, but the material of this particular sketch is getting too repetitive for my likes, and I’m gradually losing interest.
— An unforgettable visual of Melissa splattering a whole bunch of ranch dressing onto her face from the bottle, which, for me, bumps the sketch’s rating up half a star.
STARS: **½


THE ESSENTIALS WITH ROBERT OSBORNE
stairs-related injuries crippled Mae West knockoff (host)

— Taran’s been getting a lot of airtime tonight for a second-season featured player.
— Boy, I complained that the preceding Taste Test sketch was too repetitive, but THIS sketch takes the cake. And the main joke that this sketch keeps repeating isn’t even all that funny to begin with.
— Yeah, more and more, Melissa’s constant stair pratfalls aren’t doing it for me. Some of Jason’s lines during his occasional scenes as Robert Osborne are providing my only amusement in this sketch.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Just A Kiss”


COMPLAINTS
ex-lovers belie pickup artist’s (ANS) claim of complaint-free intercourse

— After two repetitive sketches in a row starring Melissa as a one-note wacky character, it feels nice to get a change of pace here.
— Feels kinda odd seeing Kristen again, and in a small straight role, after she was absent for so much of this episode after being so dominant in the first 10 minutes.
— I like the structure to this, as well as Andy’s various affable reactions to the complaints of his various ex-lovers, especially him responding to Kristen’s complaint by telling her “Deb, ya get me!”
— Ha, that taser bit came out of NOWHERE. Good way to end this sketch.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fairly mixed episode. Melissa McCarthy made a strong first impression in her hosting debut, being a funny, fearless, balls-to-the-wall performer, and coming off like someone who would’ve been a complete natural as a cast member. However, my problem is that the writing of most of her big showcase pieces tonight left me cold, especially as the episode progressed and there started to be more and more of a one-note feel to her big showcase pieces. In regards to that, I’m not sure I can put all of the blame on the SNL writers (even though they’re certainly guilty of often giving a very talented female comedian bad, one-note writing, as seen with Kristen Wiig in these later years of her SNL tenure), because, as mentioned earlier, one of Melissa’s big showcase pieces that I wasn’t crazy about (Taste Test) was actually something that Melissa brought with her from the Groundlings (though perhaps SNL’s writers helped carve it out into a scripted sketch this week), and I don’t know how many other Melissa McCarthy character pieces in this or her other hosting stints also happen to be Groundlings pieces she brought to the show.


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

plus this visual:


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Lil Poundcake
Office Flirt
The Comments Section
Complaints
Rock’s Way
Weekend Update
Taste Test
Stomp
Monologue
The Lawrence Welk Show
The Essentials with Robert Osborne


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Alec Baldwin)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Ben Stiller