Tag: Nelly

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October 2, 2004 – Ben Affleck / Nelly (S30 E1)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
first George W. Bush (WLF) vs. John Kerry (SEM) debate covers Iraq policy

— A decent opening spiel from Chris’ Jim Lehrer about the presidential candidates wearing a collar to keep them both from walking to the other’s podium.
— To quote something I said in my review of the Bush Sr./Dukakis presidential debate sketch from the season 14 premiere: “The gag with Bush being on a higher platform than Dukakis as they shake each other’s hand after making their entrance would later be copied in a George W. Bush/John Kerry debate sketch in 2004. The gag didn’t even make sense in that context! It made sense here because Dukakis is much shorter than Bush Sr., whereas neither Kerry nor Bush Jr. are short.” It really irks me that they ripped off that Bush Sr./Dukakis height difference gag in tonight’s debate sketch. I know both debate sketches were written by Jim Downey (or at least, I’m assuming they were), but that doesn’t excuse him recycling his own gag, especially since, as I said in the quote, it makes no sense in this context.
— We get the debut of Will’s whinier version of President Bush, which would go on to be the most remembered aspect of Will’s impression.
— Oof. I am now SEVEN MINUTES into this debate sketch, and I have not been laughing much. Bush’s repeated “We’re workin’ haaarrrrrd” has literally been the ONLY part of this very long debate sketch that resonated with me over the years, and that has not changed so far during my current re-watch. And even that “We’re workin’ haaarrrrrd” aspect of this is relied on way too heavily here, as if that’s the only hook Jim Downey could come up with for spoofing Bush here, besides the short bit with Bush praising Saddam Hussein.
— There are absolutely no “Strategery”-esque legendary moments to be found in this presidential debate sketch. No “I can’t believe I’m losing to this guy”-esque legendary moments”. No “It was my understanding that there would be no math”-esque legendary moments.
— Oh, man, this cold opening is just going on and on. Sure, SNL’s presidential debate sketches are typically very long, but more often than not, they’re consistently funny enough to excuse the length and make the time pass by fast. With a dull, lacking debate sketch like tonight’s, on the other hand, the long time length is fully felt.
— Seth and Will seem to be tripping over some lines throughout this.
— I finally got one other good laugh besides Will-as-Bush’s first “We’re workin’ haaarrrrrd” (before that line got run into the ground), and it’s from Seth-as-Kerry’s “That is not flip-flopping, that is pandering! And America deserves a president that knows the difference!”
— Oh, god, I swear, if Will’s Bush says “Workin’ haaarrrrrd” one more time, I’m going to fucking snap. This sketch has gotten to the point where the “Workin’ haaarrrrrd” stuff has become literally the ONLY material they’re having Will’s Bush do anymore. They took a once-funny line and completely ruined it over the course of a single cold opening.
— 13 minutes. This cold opening is just now concluding, after 13 minutes. 13 fucking minutes, people. Not even the first Bush/Gore debate cold opening was that long, and THAT cold opening had actual funny things to say.
— Overall, my god, what a huge disappointment this debate sketch was. A rare flop at this point in SNL history for such a big presidential debate sketch.
STARS: *½


OPENING MONTAGE
— New montage.

— The SNL logo is still the same from the past 9 seasons, but it’s been slightly modified to have far more spacing between the letters (as seen in the second above screencap for this montage).
— Speaking of the SNL logo, there surprisingly isn’t a number 30 added to it to commemorate the 30th season. I wonder why, considering SNL has added an anniversary number to the SNL logo for every other anniversary season ever since season 15.
— After the very unique, fun, and memorable music video style of the preceding season’s opening montage, SNL has gone back to a more standard style. Despite the standard, generic style of this montage, I actually really like the aesthetic of it, with the dark motif and very “late night” feel.
— Fred Armisen has been promoted from featured player to repertory player.
— When announcing Will Forte’s name, Don Pardo mistakenly says “Will Ferr–”, then suddenly cuts himself off and never corrects himself. Don obviously almost called Will Forte “Will Ferrell” before catching his mistake. This is reminiscent of a moment from an episode in the preceding season, where Don mistakenly announced Chris Parnell as “Chris Kattan”, but at least Don corrected himself during THAT particular goof.
— Rob Riggle has been added to the cast tonight.
— This overall montage feels A LOT shorter than the preceding season’s montage.


MONOLOGUE
Alec Baldwin [real] warns host against stealing his moves

— Right out of the gate, Ben Affleck immediately addresses how unusually soon he’s hosting after his last episode, by saying “You’re not watching a rerun. Yes, I did host just five minutes ago.”
— Oh, is that Alec Baldwin’s voice I’m hearing from off-camera?
— Yep, there he is.
— Some good laughs from Alec’s comparisons between himself and Ben.
— Great delivery from Ben of the line “Those aren’t moves, Alec. They’re just the slow-motion trainwreck I like to call my life.”
— Alec to Ben: “Don’t jerk me around, Gigli!”
— I’m finding Alec to be an absolute RIOT in this monologue.
— Alec: “Mike Myers will suck your soul out, then complain about how bad it tastes.” Haha, goddamn. IIRC, Tina would later disclose the fact that she ended up getting chewed out over the phone by an angry Mike Myers, who called up SNL to complain about that soul-sucking line in this monologue. This whole incident is very reminiscent of the notorious Eddie Murphy/David Spade incident. Unlike that, however, where David’s mean-spirited comment about Eddie is still left intact in reruns, SNL would be forced to remove the Mike Myers slam from reruns of this monologue.
— Just now, Alec brags to Ben that he’s hosted 9 times. Odd, considering it’s actually 11 times Alec has hosted up to this point.
— Alec to Ben: “Don’t get too comfortable. Me and Goodman are constantly circling the building every five minutes.”
— An overall strong monologue, with a great performance from Alec.
— At dress rehearsal, Darrell played Alec instead of Alec showing up as himself. I even recall seeing a publicity photo years ago at NBC.com from this version of the monologue (the photo can probably currently be found at GettyImages), and in the photo, Darrell’s not even wearing a wig or anything to look like Alec! Darrell just has his normal slicked-back gray hair, which looks nothing like how Alec’s hair looks at this time. I wonder if Alec not being able to show up for dress rehearsal was perhaps something that happened on VERY short notice, and so SNL was forced to just throw Darrell out there in Alec’s place at the last minute to read off his lines for this monologue, with SNL not even bothering to put him in costume. If so, I’m morbidly curious to see just how bad this monologue HAD to have been with an out-of-place Darrell delivering Alec’s funny dialogue.
STARS: ****


DR. PORKENHEIMER’S BONER JUICE
Dr. Porkenheimer’s Boner Juice emphatically reverses erectile dysfunction

— Meh, a juvenile concept, and not a particularly funny one.
— A particularly cheap attempt at laughs right now, with the ending shot of a satisfied Rob Riggle “pitching a tent” under the bedsheets. I remember that made me laugh a lot when this originally aired, but I can’t even so much as crack a smile at it today. I may be biased, though, because, after the entirety of this SNL season originally aired and I walked away from it feeling the season was a quiet disaster, I would go on to look at this commercial as an embodiment of the bad and lazy humor that dominated this frustrating season.
— This commercial would go on to be re-aired in a few episodes, and IIRC, the aforementioned ending shot of Rob “pitching a tent” under the bedsheets would be replaced by various new and far tamer alternate endings that changed EVERY time this commercial was re-aired in a new episode. Am I remembering correctly? I recall there being at least two different alternate endings used in future re-airings. I guess I’ll see for myself when I cover the episodes that this commercial is re-aired in.
STARS: *½


DEBBIE DOWNER
Debbie Downer kills the festive mood at (host)’s birthday party

— Oh, god. This sketch has officially become recurring, a decision I strongly disagree with, for reasons I explained at the end of my review of the legendary first Debbie Downer sketch.
— Okay, after not laughing for tonight’s Debbie Downer sketch so far, I do kinda like the part right now with the camera doing several mini-zoom-ins on Debbie Downer as she lists off the name of each of the latest tropical storms.
— After being into this sketch at first, the studio audience is noticeably laughing less and less as this sketch progresses. Man, this sketch is dying. Without the performers’ epic laughing meltdown from the first Debbie Downer installment, this sketch’s formula is exposed for how weak and annoyingly repetitive it is.
— Did they have to repeat the “It’s the number one killer of domestic cats (*meow meooooowwww*)” line from the first Debbie Downer installment?
— Overall, boy, this sketch did absolutely NOTHING for me, aside from the aforementioned tropical storms bit. Why couldn’t SNL have just left a classic one-off sketch alone? This reminds me a lot of how, 10 years earlier, the season premiere of the notorious season 20 made the mistake of doing a second installment of the classic first Buh-Bye sketch, and even placed it in an early spot in the show, expecting it to be another hit, only for it to fall HORRIBLY flat and die a painful death. At least in that case, however, SNL learned from their mistake and didn’t do any more Buh-Bye installments after that. With Debbie Downer, on the other hand, I have god-knows-how-many more installments to put up with after this episode.
— This sketch would later be replaced with the dress rehearsal version in reruns, which is even prefaced with a disclaimer stating, from what I can remember, “The following sketch is from dress rehearsal, simply because it worked better”, which is noteworthy, as I don’t think there have been any other instances in SNL history where a rerun actually pointed out a dress rehearsal substitution for a sketch. The reason for a dress rehearsal substitution of this particular Debbie Downer sketch is because the dress version features a lot of breaking from the performers (though definitely not as much as the famous first Debbie Downer sketch), which the audience, of course, loved. The use of the dress version of this sketch in reruns and it actually being pointed out with a disclaimer is clearly SNL fully admitting how much of a failure the live version of this sketch was. IIRC, the dress version of this sketch shown in reruns is also (rightfully) moved to a much later spot in the show than the live version of the sketch was.
STARS: *½


SWIFT BOAT VETERANS FOR TRUTH
Swift Boat Veterans expand their list of John Kerry’s deficiencies

— The unnecessary reliance on a gay marriage reference for a cheap laugh is so sadly typical of this era, and an unfortunate harbinger of how particularly heavy this season will be relying on hacky, gay-stereotype humor.
— This commercial is slowly getting funnier and funnier as it goes along.
— I love the little detail of how Will’s only credential listed on the bottom of the screen is “saw ‘Platoon’”. That makes me wonder if the guys who were shown being interviewed before him also had a funny credential listed on the bottom of the screen, and I just didn’t notice.
— A priceless dry delivery from Will of the word “catsup”.
— Overall, this was a good political piece, but it wasn’t quite as strong or as smart as I had remembered.
STARS: ***½


CAMPAIGN STOP
James Carville (host) wants John Kerry (SEM) to go on the offensive

— The two sketches in tonight’s episode that have Seth playing John Kerry end up being Seth’s ONLY appearances all night, which is surprising, especially knowing in retrospect how hard this season is going to be pushing Seth as the new male star of the show in light of Jimmy Fallon’s departure.
— Oh, no. Maya’s Theresa Heinz-Kerry breaking out into a brief song was just plain unnecessary and unfunny. This is yet ANOTHER unfortunate harbinger of what’s to come this season, as this season is going to be relying particularly hard on Maya singing in sketches, much to my chagrin back when this season originally aired.
— James Carville to John Kerry: “You beat George Bush in a talking contest. That’s like Wilt Chamberlain playing basketball against Stephen Hawking and beat him by ten points. The man can’t talk, John!”
— Ben is fucking fantastic as James Carville. He is slaying me all throughout this sketch. I think I like his impression even more than Bill Hader’s Carville impression from years later, and that’s saying something, as Bill’s Carville is great in its own right.
— I remember it being pointed out by several online SNL fans back when this originally aired that Seth can be seen mouthing Ben’s lines throughout this sketch.
— I know I said in a recent episode review that I’ve gotten burned out on Darrell’s Bill Clinton, but it’s winning me back over here, now that they’ve finally taken him out of the Weekend Update setting he was stuck in during the preceding season.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Jaheim [real] perform “My Place”


WEEKEND UPDATE
New Jerseyan Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) on Jim McGreevey resignation

host points out hypocrisy of Matt Damon’s call for integrity in acting

Elton John’s (HOS) songs fail to make amends for his behavior in Taiwan

— A new Weekend Update era has begun, with Amy joining as Tina’s new co-anchor.
— I like the new Update opening title sequence.
— Just-departed cast member Jimmy Fallon does the voice-over in the new Update opening title sequence (probably because Amy previously did the voice-over for the Update opening title sequence during most of the Fallon/Fey era), and him doing this voice-over in the style of “hyper young cool dude” instead of “professional news broadcast voice-over” is SO WRONG for Update. Hell, he even literally shouts an excited “Yaaaay!” at the end of his voice-over here! I kid you not, folks. WTF??? Thankfully, SNL would remove that “Yaaaay!” from the title sequence of all subsequent Fey/Poehler Updates.
— They’re still using the Update set from the Fallon/Fey era, but something about it’s color has definitely changed. It looks…I don’t know, glossier? A different shade of brown? SOMETHING looks different about the coloring of the set, but I can’t put my finger on what exactly it is.
— A terrible opening Bush joke from Tina. As I said in a review from late in the preceding season, Tina’s developed a bad habit lately of using her worst and most desperate joke of the night as her opening joke.
— Amy’s very first Update joke just now wasn’t bad, but she kinda ruined it for me by making an out-of-place cutesy, hammy big smile at the camera immediately after she finished the joke.
— Oh, god, and now, right after what I said above about Amy’s first joke, Amy actually interrupts Tina’s next joke to giddily cheer “That was my first joke!”, which Tina then responds to by joining in on Amy’s giddiness and motioning the audience to actually APPLAUD Amy for doing her first joke. Are you fucking kidding me?!? In all my years of watching SNL, I’ve never seen a new Update anchor basically BEG the audience to freakin’ applaud the fact that they got through their very first Update joke, as if they’re a child. Ugh, this new Fey/Poehler Update team is already starting off very worrisome for me.
— The use of clips of real footage from the presidential debate feels unusual for Update at this point of SNL’s run, but would go on to be a semi-regular aspect of Fey/Poehler Updates. I remember how some online SNL fans back at this time in 2004/2005 complained about SNL trying too hard to be like The Daily Show with their new gimmick of commenting on clips of real news footage. I think SNL fans would later go on to get used to seeing that more often on Update nowadays, with Colin Jost and Michael Che often playing clips of Trump saying stupid shit.
— Nice surprise appearance from James Gandolfini as “a New Jersey resident”. I’m enjoying his performance here.
— I like Tina’s remark after Gandolfini leaves: “That is the scariest man…I have ever been attracted to.”
— Amy seems to be trying way too hard in her delivery of some jokes.
— Just now, Tina has mentioned her former co-anchor Jimmy Fallon in a jokingly unflattering manner, when telling Amy she thinks things are going to work out well between her and Amy as a new Update duo.
— A rarity to see a host do an Update commentary as themselves, or, as Ben’s billed here in a tongue-in-cheek manner, “a Hollywood actor”. Between Gandolfini being billed as “a New Jersey resident” and now Ben being billed as “a Hollywood actor”, are none of the Update guests going to be using a name anymore in this new Update era?
— I liked Ben’s self-deprecating joke about making movies with his girlfriend.
— I’m surprised Ben’s commentary is ALREADY over, after only about one minute. Most of his commentary surprisingly didn’t do much for me.
— Ugh, Horatio’s Elton John.
— Another acknowledgment of Jimmy Fallon’s departure, with Horatio’s Elton John starting his commentary by looking around confusedly and asking “Where’s my Jimmy boy?”
— Blah, these Elton John songs from Horatio are not working for me AT ALL. Just typical self-indulgent hammy Horatio Sanz crap with bad writing.
— Overall, all I can say about this inaugural Update of the Fey/Poehler era is: oof. Normally, if a new Update duo has a rough start, I’d think “Maybe they just need time to grow.” But I’ve already seen all of the Fey/Poehler Updates back when they originally aired, and I recall their Updates drawing A LOT of ire from me in how weak, annoying, frustrating, and unprofessional they were. So, yeah, I don’t think things ever get better for this Update duo, but I’ll see as I go through this era.
STARS: **


ESCALATOR
stalled mall escalator proves disastrous for overly dramatic shoppers

— Good mock-dramatic, over-the-top, disaster-movie-esque performances from the cast in the way their characters are overreacting to a simple broken-down escalator.
— They’re overdoing Ben’s slaps to Rachel WAY too much. It was only funny the first time.
— I love Chris giving up and committing suicide by jumping off the escalator.
— Rachel’s long, exaggerated yell of “NO!” causes Ben to break character by laughing. This has made me realize that we’ve gotten little-to-no instances of breaking from Ben before this point in tonight’s episode compared to his episode from the preceding season, in which he laughed in practically every single sketch.
— Ben’s Spanish conversation with Maya is pretty funny.
— I got a good laugh from Will’s fireman character accidentally falling from the rope holding him.
— An overall solid and fun sketch. Much better than I remember it being in my past viewings.
STARS: ****


WEDDING
obnoxious deejay’s (host) inappropriate tunes derail a wedding reception

— Not too crazy about this cliched “obnoxious DJ at a dignified gathering” concept.
— Rob Riggle’s been stuck in nothing but dull straight roles for the entirety of this first episode of his. An unfortunate harbinger (which is something I’ve been saying A LOT in this review) of things to come for him in what would end up being a short-lived SNL tenure.
— A good laugh from Ben playing the song “Sister Christian” during the priest’s speech.
— Ben to the priest: “Alright, father, stay away from the kiddie tables, alright?”
— Despite my dislike of this cliched premise, Ben’s giving this his all as he always does, and there are a few laughs.
— When Amy and Rob complain about Ben playing “Who Let The Dogs Out” instead of the slow song they wanted to dance to, I like Ben complying by slowing down the tempo of “Who Let The Dogs Out”.
— This sketch is going on too long, and should’ve ended earlier.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Na-Nana-Na”


A NIGHT AT CAMP DAVID
by Alison Jackson- a dramatization of Bush substance abuse at Camp David

— Much like the “Adventures of Harold” short film in the preceding season’s finale, we get a huge change of pace for this SNL era, with another out-of-the-ordinary film that involves no recognizable performers. This particular film is by Alison Jackson, who was hired to be SNL’s regular filmmaker of this season. However, tonight’s film ends up being the ONLY film of hers to ever make it on the air, aside from a pre-taped Weekend Update mini-piece that airs later this season. Most of Jackson’s attempts to get films on the air this season end up not making it past dress rehearsal.
— I really like the unique aesthetic of this, as well as the music, but I have not been enjoying this film itself all that much.
— Overall, I give SNL credit for trying something completely unlike anything they had ever done before, and I liked certain individual aspects of this film, but the film as a whole didn’t really entertain me like it should’ve. I think I can see why Alison Jackson’s attempts to be SNL’s regular filmmaker of this season ended up failing, but I still say SNL should’ve aired a second film of hers, just so we could judge the quality of her as an SNL filmmaker more fairly.
STARS: **


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A weak and disappointing season premiere, immediately showing signs of how troubled this infamous-among-hardcore-SNL-nerds-but-forgotten-among-general-SNL-fans season is going to be. That interminably dull and one-note Bush/Kerry debate cold opening already got the night off on the wrong foot, and the episode as a whole never fully took off, despite some solid bright spots here and there. A very tepid and worrisome debut of a new Weekend Update era also didn’t help. Ben Affleck was a strong host once again, but he’s definitely been given much better episodes before and after this.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (2003-04)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Queen Latifah

Posted on

November 16, 2002 – Brittany Murphy / Nelly (S28 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

THE CHANUKAH SONG
ADS & The Drei-Dels [real] perform “The Chanukah Song, Part 3”; ROS cameo

— Yes! The return of Adam Sandler and the Chanukah Song! I still remember the pure excitement I felt watching this cold opening when it originally aired.
— Great lyric about how “Tom Arnold converted, but you can have him back”.
— Hell yeah, now Rob Schneider joins in! I love how his and Adam’s mere appearance is giving this cold opening such a nostalgic vibe, making me feel like I’m reviewing the early 90s era again.
— After revealing he’s a Filipino Jew, Rob leaves to go home and “light the first pig”. The dress rehearsal version of this cold opening that’s shown in reruns doesn’t feature that exit from Rob. He instead stands with the choir and sings with them for the rest of this cold opening. I think I recall him also putting on a long blond wig when joining the choir, but I may be mistaken.
— This song is so much fun, and I like how the usual melody of Adam’s Chanukah Song is being given a more epic sound tonight, especially with the use of a choir.
— A fantastic “Live from New York…” delivery from Adam. This has always been one of my personal favorite LFNY deliveries of all time. Adam’s LFNY delivery in the aforementioned dress rehearsal version of this cold opening shown in reruns isn’t quite as good.
— Overall, what an incredible way to start off tonight’s episode.
— In this episode’s dress rehearsal, Adam made a second appearance later in the night, reprising Cajun Man on Weekend Update. It got cut from the live show.
STARS: ****½


MONOLOGUE
east coast & west coast castmembers settle comedic feud with a rap-off

— I love how this is setting up an East Coast/West Coast comedy war between the SNL cast. The whole initial confrontation between Parnell and Tracy is hilarious.
— Great addition of East Coast and West Coast cast members backing Tracy and Parnell, respectively. I also like how all the cast members on the West Coast side are Groundlings alums (Parnell, Kattan, Will, and Maya).
— Fuck yeah! A Chris Parnell rap! Always an epic treat.
— So many fantastic and hilarious lyrics in Parnell’s rap, especially “Lorne likes me so much, he hired me twice”, him name-dropping recent SNL hosts he’s slept with, and him dissing Tracy by telling him “You play Brian Fellow. Bitch, I’m PRESIDENT BUSH!”
— Ah, now Amy is about to showcase great rapping skills of her own, for the first time in her SNL tenure.
— Damn, and I thought Parnell’s lyrics were amazing. Amy’s lyrics are fucking KILLER, especially her great Corky Romano diss to Kattan, her Laraine Newman reference, and the “Say my name, Don Pardo” part. All of the inside/meta SNL jokes in both Parnell and Amy’s respective rap are perfect for SNL nerds like me.
— Aaaaaand Brittany Murphy now proceeds to kill all the great momentum, by stepping to the front of the stage and doing a “rap” of her own, complete with the less-than-pleasant visual of her flailing around her scarily skinny bare arms. Ehh, I’m probably being too harsh on Brittany’s rap, but still, it’s needless to say that her rap does not hold a candle to Parnell’s or Amy’s, and ends this monologue on kind of an anticlimactic note. I guess SNL had to give Brittany a rap of her own here, though, considering this is her monologue (though you sure wouldn’t know it, from how extremely heavily it’s focused on Parnell, Tracy, and Amy).
— Overall, such an epic, almost-perfect monologue. Between the Chanukah Song cold opening and this, tonight’s episode has been on FIRE. This has got to be one of the most exciting one-two punches an SNL episode has ever opened with in regards to cold openings and monologues.
STARS: ****½


WELCOME BACK, POTTER
grown-up Harry Potter (WLF) teaches Sweathogs at Hogwarts

— Hilarious twist with this Harry Potter piece unexpectedly turning into a random Harry Potter/Welcome Back, Kotter hybrid. The Kotter-esque opening credits are very funny.
— I like how the only cast members in this are all five of this season’s featured players (Fred, Dean, Will, Seth, and Jeff).
— Ending voice-over: “Due to legal action, Welcome Back, Potter may be called Honky In The Hood.”
— Back when this originally aired, I remember being disappointed that this Welcome Back, Potter bit ended after the opening credits, as I was anticipating those opening credits leading into a full-fledged Welcome Back, Potter sketch. In retrospect, I now realize that disappointment of mine was foolish, because a full Welcome Back, Potter sketch probably would’ve belabored the point, and the premise probably doesn’t have enough legs to sustain a full sketch. SNL made the right decision keeping this down to just an opening credits sequence.
STARS: ****


THE LEATHER MAN
The Leather Man sells pants to (host) as Choo-Choo (HOS) chases a snake

— Hoo, boy. THIS is our lead-off sketch tonight? Way to piss all over the great mood this episode had put me in before this point.
— Odd how the two episodes this sketch has appeared in were hosted by someone named Britney/Brittany.
— What the hell is with all the awkward long pauses between lines?
— And thus begins the obligatory gigglefest from Fallon & Sanz.
— Brittany’s acting in this is… rather odd, which is probably putting it kindly.
— I remember how much online SNL fans at this time kept raving about how supposedly hilarious the portion of this sketch with a screaming Horatio running around and destroying the set while having a snake biting his crotch was. Meh. To me, it’s half-funny and half-annoying. I’d probably find it much funnier if Horatio wasn’t so damn amused by himself during it, laughing at his own antics just as much as the audience and Jimmy is.
— Blah, the punchline at the end, with Jimmy calling 911 to report Horatio’s crotch snake bite and then responding to 911, “I have to put my mouth where?”, then telling Horatio, “Looks like you’re gonna die”, is one of the oldest jokes in the book. I remember how some of my fellow SNL reviewers back in 2002 gave credit to SNL for that “killer” punchline, apparently not being aware that SNL just took that punchline from an ancient, well-known joke.
— I still shudder at the fact that the great Tom Davis is the writer responsible for these Leather Man sketches. Come on, Tom, you’re much better than this. I can’t picture this being a sketch he would’ve had Aykroyd and Belushi doing back in the day.
STARS: **


DONAHUE
nonexistent viewership points to the death of liberalism

— This is the first time we’ve seen Darrell’s Phil Donahue impression in ages. Good to see it again, this time making fun of Donahue’s doomed MSNBC show.
— I like the Phil Donahue/Michael Moore conversation, with Jeff’s Michael Moore being asked details about his bathing and clothing habits. I’m especially laughing at Moore’s description of a “Mexican Shower”.
— Funny graphic of the lowest-rated shows in prime-time.
— I’m already laughing at the initial visual of Tracy as Al Sharpton.
— A good laugh from the entire commercial break only consisting of an MSNBC “Advertise your product here” graphic.
— The soft focus screen effect used on Maya’s Barbra Streisand is funny.
— The pre-taped scene with Darrell’s Donahue taking questions from a mostly-empty studio audience appears to have been taped in Conan O’Brien’s then-current Late Night studio (the last above screencap for this sketch). Also, the joke of Donahue taking questions from a mostly-empty studio audience was originally used in a brief piece from season 15, with Dana Carvey playing a German version of Donahue, named Donheiser.
— This sketch is starting to kinda run out of steam. The constant “People don’t like you” lines are too redundant, even if that’s the point.
STARS: ***


JARRET’S ROOM
fellow student (host) is wired on stimulants

— Jesus Christ, a SECOND Fallon/Sanz sketch tonight, and merely 10 minutes after we just had a Fallon/Sanz sketch? Speaking of which, why does Jarret’s Room always have to appear in the same episode that a Leather Man sketch appears in?
— The 80s bit with Seth’s DJ Jonathan Feinstein character is pretty funny.
— I guess Horatio hasn’t finished getting all of his giggles out from the Leather Man sketch earlier tonight, as his Gobi character is even more giggly tonight than he usually is. At least Horatio’s giggliness blends in well with his Gobi character, unlike his character in the Leather Man sketches.
— In light of the way that Brittany Murphy would tragically die in real life, it feels kinda disturbing now to look back on her playing such a “wired” character in this sketch, especially the part where her heart flat-out stops for a few seconds.
— Overall, a subpar Jarret’s Room installment, and one that aged poorly, due to the stuff with Brittany (though I don’t remember finding her appearance in this sketch funny even when this sketch originally aired).
STARS: **


PRESS CONFERENCE
Princess Di’s former butler Paul Burrell (SEM) denies he’s a homosexual

— This sketch appears to be live, but it was taped at dress rehearsal. One of the dead giveaways is that this is airing immediately after the preceding Jarret’s Room sketch, with no commercial break in between. It’s obviously not humanly possible for Seth to have changed from his DJ Jonathan Feinstein costume to his Paul Burrell costume in just 15 seconds.
— I sense a whole bunch of bad, hacky, stereotypical gay jokes coming up.
— Something about Steve Higgins’ whispery, professional voice-over is making me laugh, despite his weak dialogue making fun of Paul Burrell’s gayness.
— I like the “stuffy British person” facial expression that Rachel has throughout the entire sketch.
— Yep, this sketch is just going through a whole bunch of stereotypical gay cliches. Yawn. I do admit, though, to chuckling in spite of myself at the professional caption on the bottom of the screen that stated Seth’s Paul Burrell “received bad news from a drag queen”.
STARS: **


TENNIS TALK WITH TIME TRAVELING SCOTT JOPLIN
Scott Joplin (MAR) offers racquets & ragtime

— What an absolutely insane, oddball, and creative premise. I love it.
— Dean gets his first comedic role in ages, and of course, it’s just a drag role. Then again, Tracy and Maya are in drag too. Brittany’s the only performer in this sketch who’s playing a role that’s their own gender.
— I love the running bit with Maya’s Scott Joplin smugly playing a brief ragtime tune on the piano each time after he delivers a zinger to Brittany’s Anna Kournikova.
— Maya’s delivery and dialogue are fantastic here.
— Scott Joplin, after Anna Kournikova has angrily used the word ‘antiquated’: “Antiquated? That’s a big word, Russian Barbie.”
— Great sketch overall. As strong as this was, the second installment of this sketch that would appear the following season is even better, in my opinion.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Kelly Rowland [real] perform “Dilemma”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Drunk Girl fails to address link between memory & alcohol consumption

David Gest (CHK) & Liza Minnelli (MAR) explain reality show cancellation

— Tina, when realizing she has to introduce Drunk Girl: “Oh, no. Really? Okay.” That kinda matches my attitude towards the about-to-appear Drunk Girl, as so many of Drunk Girl’s Update appearances are the exact same as each other.
— Yep, so far, the same old Drunk Girl shtick. Not a single new thing to be found here. They might as well just play a video of one of her previous Update appearances. I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
— A funny and accurate prediction from Tina on how Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s marriage will be the last marriage for neither.
— Haha, boy, Jimmy’s Richard Gere gerbil joke got a HUGE audience reaction.
— Another Phil Collins bit between Jimmy and Tina, in the same vein of the one they did a few episodes prior. I still feel like I’m not quite in on the joke, but I laugh anyway at the sheer oddness of these bits.
— Maya and Kattan’s Liza Minnelli and David Gest impressions have returned. All I can say is, they’ll never top the solid Tony Bennett Show sketch they first appeared in.
— Yeah, this Minnelli/Gest commentary isn’t really working for me. That makes two subpar guest commentaries tonight.
STARS: ***


ASTRONAUT JONES
Astronaut Jones, (GAM), (musical guest) meet Queen Of The Zorgons (host)

— And I thought the Sandler/Schneider cameos earlier tonight were a treat. Now we get a very random, shocking, and awesome return of Garrett Fucking Morris! Amazing. I think this is the first time I’m reviewing Garrett since I last covered season 5, his final season on the show. I don’t think he’s ever made a cameo in a regular episode before now (not counting SNL’s anniversary specials or anything like that).
— A modification to the usual Astronaut Jones theme song has been made, as we now have a new addition of female backup vocals. Not sure what the point of that new addition is.
— The usual “Astronaut Jones makes dirty brief statements throughout the female alien’s long speech” gag is made even funnier tonight by Garrett and Nelly joining in on the dirty statements.
— Tracy kills as always when delivering his big punchline after the alien has finished her speech. His punchline tonight is possibly his dirtiest one yet in these Astronaut Jones sketches.
STARS: ****½


TV FUNHOUSE
“Religetables” by RBS- anthropomorphic plants show religion’s nasty side

— This is such a spot-on and funny Veggie Tales parody, with Robert Smigel using his cutting humor to skewer the way Veggie Tales presents religious events.
— So many funny little details, such as a potato baby being “circumcised” by having the potato skin around its crotch area be sliced off with a food knife, and an ear of corn falling into “hell”, which is just a cooking grill.
— A particularly funny part with a pickle priest holding a conference in which he admits to sexually abusing gherkins.
STARS: ****½


MY BIG THICK NOVEL BY JACK HANDEY
a square dancing mishap in chapter 589


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hot In Herre”


SHE’S THE GIRL WITH NO GAYDAR!!!
Nicole, The Girl With No Gaydar meets lesbian counterpart (host) at party

— (*groan*) A third installment of this should’ve-stayed-one-and-done sketch? At least this thankfully this ends up being the final installment.
— I see that Maya has replaced Ana Gasteyer as the best friend of Rachel’s character.
— Blah, so far, tonight’s installment is the same old tired routine these Girl With No Gaydar sketches always do.
— Okay, I actually like the different direction this is now going, with Rachel’s character getting hit on by a lesbian.
— Ehh, the lesbian bit ended up not saving this sketch like I thought it would.
— Much like Maya replacing Ana’s role in these Gaydar sketches, I see Darrell has replaced Will Ferrell’s recurring role as the guy the camera cuts to at the end of these Gaydar sketches when Rachel asks “If these guys are gay, then what’s my (insert person she knows here) doing here?” Darrell seems out of place in this role. He’s no Ferrell when it comes to having the ability to steal sketches in a brief cutaway shot.
STARS: **


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— This episode had a very impressive number of absolutely fantastic things that are sure to make it into my end-of-season “Best Of” picks. However, this episode also had quite a number of misfires, which will surely drag down the rating average. However, the absolutely fantastic things in this episode were definitely strong enough to make up for the misfires.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Nia Vardalos)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Robert DeNiro makes his then-highly anticipated hosting debut, and proceeds to let the entire SNL fandom down HARD