Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
Paul Ryan (TAK) & vice president Joe Biden (JAS) debate; Usain Bolt cameo
— Already, Jason’s Joe Biden is a blast in this debate sketch, during Taran-as-Paul-Ryan’s opening statement.
— A big laugh from Kate’s Martha Raddatz telling Biden and Ryan, “Then don’t try and f(*bleep*)k me like I’m Jim Lehrer.” Also, that shot of her saying that was actually pre-taped, surprisingly. You can tell by the sudden change in audio quality, as well as the sudden change in the way Kate’s hair looks. Seems odd to pre-tape that small portion of this sketch just because it required a bleeping-out of a swear word. Was SNL afraid they’d mess up the timing of the bleep if they did it live? They’ve certainly done bleeped-out swearing in live sketches before, but the timing of the bleeps in those sketches sometimes got messed up and revealed that the performer was saying a fake swear word (e.g. “frick” instead of “fuck”), so maybe SNL didn’t want to risk that happening for what was supposed to be a big laugh line from Kate in tonight’s cold opening.
— Are Jason-as-Biden’s disparaging remarks about Scranton, Pennsylvania a callback to him previously doing that in the VP debate sketch from 2008? If so, I love that callback.
— The camera accidentally catches Jason putting fake Biden teeth into his mouth at one point (screencap below).
— Fantastic comment from Jason’s Biden detailing his workout routine involving an Amtrak.
— I love the non-sequitur of Kate’s Raddatz bringing up the baseball playoffs, then suddenly turning that into an unrelated question asking Biden and Ryan their thoughts about abortion.
— Jason continues to absolutely kill it throughout this debate sketch.
— Taran doesn’t have as many standout great moments here as Jason or Kate do, but he’s still doing a fine job.
— A laugh from Usain Bolt being brought out just to clarify a ridiculous lie Taran’s Ryan makes up about winning the Hundred Meters at the London Olympics.
— A priceless ending, with Jason’s Biden wiping off Taran-as-Ryan’s widow’s peak.
— An overall very fun, well-written, and underrated debate sketch, made even more entertaining by a fantastic Jason Sudeikis performance. Compared to some other debate sketches from over the years, this particular one never got the attention and acclaim that I feel it’s always deserved.
STARS: ****
MONOLOGUE
host sings about how she’s happy that the holidays aren’t here yet
— I like that Christina Applegate brings up her last hosting stint from all the way back in 1993, and mentions that was the first appearance of the Matt Foley character, a mention that’s accompanied by a screenshot of that legendary Foley debut. I also like how we’re subsequently shown a screenshot of Christina, in a very 90s outfit, introducing one of the musical performances in that 1993 episode. Feels like it was just yesterday when I was reviewing that SNL era.
— (*groan*) A musical monologue. I do kinda like the conceit of this one, though, with Christina saying this is her favorite time of year because there are no holidays yet, as it’s shortly before the bombardment of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. As someone who also, at the risk of sounding like a grouch, doesn’t care much for the Thanksgiving/Christmas portion of the year (I have no issues with Halloween) and doesn’t care much for how those two holidays are bunched so close together, I can relate to this premise, especially since, as of the writing of this review, we’re currently in that portion of the year.
— A fairly fun appearance form the “Fruppets”, and Bill further proves that he can perfectly imitate almost any voice (Kermit, in this case).
— The return of Jason’s spot-on and funny Dane Cook impression!
— Despite the aforementioned highlights and how much I can relate to the premise of the song, I’m still not all that crazy about the actual singing portions of this monologue, and I always hate when SNL has cast members play corny backup dancers in musical monologues like this.
STARS: **½
GILLETTE
razor-free Jerry Sandusky (JAS) uses the Gillette Fusion ProGlide Styler
— A hilarious disturbing reveal of Jerry Sandusky randomly being one of the celebrities shown using the Gillette product in this suavely-filmed commercial.
— Adding to the humor of the Sandusky reveal is the dopey overbite facial expression Jason perpetually makes as him.
— I like that they kept this overall commercial short and simple, and didn’t hurt the Sandusky reveal by belaboring the point.
STARS: ****
THE CALIFORNIANS
Stuart (FRA) maps out his impending marriage to (host)
— (*groooooooooaaaaaaaaaaan*)
— If I was watching this sketch with my eyes closed, I’d swear that was the no-longer-on-the-show Kristen Wiig I was hearing every time Christina Applegate spoke. The Californian voice Christina’s using here sounds EXACTLY like that of Kristen’s from previous installments of this sketch.
— Boy, this endless back-and-forth between Fred and Bill is not only unfunny and overlong, but it’s melting my brain.
— Christina even seems to be imitating some physical Wiig mannerisms here.
— Not even good ol’ Bobby can save this mess of a sketch in his walk-on.
— They’re even getting Usain Bolt involved in this?
— As much as I hate to admit it, Usain Bolt doing the typical camera mugging during the mock-dramatic close-up actually made me laugh. Maybe it’s funnier seeing him do that close-up camera mugging than it is seeing others in this sketch do that because it’s Usain Bolt, of all people. Plus, perhaps that shot of him mugging got in my good graces subconsciously when it was shown during the “athletes on SNL” highlight reel in SNL’s 40th Anniversary Special.
STARS: *½
TECH TALK
Chinese workers’ woes eclipse first-world problems of iPhone 5
— Maybe it’s because I just came from a sketch where I had to hear performers talk in exaggerated Californian accents non-stop for 5 minutes, but it sounds like Bill used a silly Californian accent when saying his opening greeting in this Tech Talk sketch.
— Okay, as Bill continues speaking, I now see he’s just doing a bit of a silly, nerdy voice, not a Californian voice.
— A good sudden turn with Christina bringing out the Chinese sweatshop workers who designed the iPhone 5, to come face-to-face with the guests on this show who expressed shallow complaints about the phone.
— A lot of strong lines from Fred, Nasim, and Cecily’s Chinese worker characters in their sarcastic remarks to the guests. It’s just too bad those strong lines have to be delivered in such broad, stereotypical Asian accents. I could see this strong material actually coming off MORE effective and maybe even more biting if the accents were downplayed to an extent. However, I sure as hell don’t consider this sketch itself to be “racist”, like I once saw someone on SNL’s Reddit claim. Obviously, the Asian characters in this sketch are the ones who get the upper hand on the American characters, and deservedly put the Americans in their place.
— Cecily’s handbag line has always been one of my favorite lines in this sketch.
— Oh, I love Nasim performing a slow motion sarcastic dance while Kenan is expressing more shallow complaints about the phone.
— Christina’s ending line seemed like it should’ve been funnier.
STARS: ***½
GIVE US ALL OUR DAUGHTERS BACK!
stars work the phones in revenge movie
— That opening shot of masked gunmen entering a daycare and pointing guns at frightened children reminds me that, IIRC, this entire pre-tape would later be removed from at least one NBC rerun of this episode after the Sandy Hook school shooting in December of this year (2012). Similarly, an Obama/Romney presidential debate sketch in the very next episode I’ll be reviewing has a small portion that would be removed from reruns for reasons related to the Sandy Hook shooting, as we’ll see when I review that sketch.
— Very funny and spot-on Liam Neeson impression from Taran.
— A pretty funny spoof of this prevalent movie trope.
— Jay-as-Denzel-Washington’s whole “Are you a sheep or a wolf? etc.” rant is fantastic.
— Bill’s Arnold Schwarzenegger voice is cracking me up, though his scene itself is nothing special.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Take A Walk”
WEEKEND UPDATE
Arianna Huffington (NAP) reviews Martha Raddatz vs. Joe Biden & Paul Ryan
Lance Armstrong doping scandal inspires a stand-up set from Jean K. Jean
— I love Nasim-as-Arianna-Huffington’s bit about likening a debate between two men to a penis-measuring contest, mainly because of her humorous, accented pronunciation of “penis” (“pennis”).
— Some really good comments from Nasim throughout this Arianna Huffington commentary. These Huffington commentaries of hers seem to get better and better with each passing appearance. I’m glad I’m now appreciating them, because when these originally aired, I think I unfairly dismissed them simply because Nasim wasn’t Michaela Watkins (who originally did an Arianna Huffington commentary on Update during her sole season on SNL).
— Kenan’s Jean K. Jean makes his first appearance in what feels like a long time. This also ends up being his final Update commentary, though he has one appearance remaining: a minor, non-speaking appearance he makes among many Update characters/impressions who are celebrating Stefon’s marriage to Seth in this season’s finale.
— As usual, some pretty good laughs and fun delivery from Kenan as Jean K. Jean. Also as usual, I could do without those dance breaks Jean does after some of his jokes, but at least this is the last time I’ll have to deal with that (until it’s repurposed years later for Kate’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg commentaries on Update, and I care for the dance breaks even less there).
STARS: ***
THE SIRENS
Sirens (host), (CES), (KAM) tempt Odysseus (JAS) with hits from the 1990s
— Meh at the comedic conceit of this sketch with the Sirens’ songs being hit 90s female-sung songs. That type of humor just isn’t for me, plus it feels like SNL already used a premise like this before, but I can’t remember when. Maybe I’m actually thinking of a sketch that would be done sometime after this: the Little Mermaid sketch with Anna Kendrick the season after this one, but, IIRC, that sketch actually works, for various reasons.
— Not even Jason’s giddy reactions to the girly songs can get me into this sketch, and I usually always love Giddy Jason Sudeikis.
— Okay, Jason’s giddiness towards the songs is now finally starting to get me smiling, though I’m still not caring at all for the main concept regarding the songs the Sirens are singing.
— I got a chuckle from Bobby saying “I do what everyone else dooooeees!” while flinging himself off of the ship like the other sailors did.
STARS: *½
HALLOWEEN BALL
Principal Frye reproves unruly students at literacy-themed Halloween ball
— I don’t seem to like these Principal Frye sketches quite as much as other people do, but I certainly have no problems seeing it return again.
— There goes Jay’s obligatory break that seems to happen at least once in these sketches.
— A bit of an awkward and confusing line flub from Jay at the end, where he starts addressing what he calls “a young woman who came dressed up as a leprechaun”, and then, after going on a little about said leprechaun-dressed student, suddenly refers to that student as “son”, then ad-libs “excuse me, it’s a boy”, which is an acknowledgment from Jay that he genuinely messed up his line when calling that student “a young woman” earlier. Despite that confusion, I still laughed at the punchline of the leprechaun bit.
— I can’t find anything else to say about tonight’s overall installment of this recurring sketch, except that I had my usual reaction to it that I always do. However, I didn’t like Christina’s character quite as much as I liked Josh Brolin’s character in the last installment of this sketch prior to tonight’s.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Carried Away”
DANCE STUDIO
dance instructor (host) ultimately imbues students with Bob Fosse gestalt
— Another sketch tonight where, if I didn’t know any better, I’d swear Christina is intentionally doing a Kristen Wiig imitation. The similarities Christina’s character voice and mannerisms in this sketch have to a typical Wiig character are downright UNCANNY.
— I’m currently more than halfway through this sketch, and I’ve yet to get a single laugh. Typical James Anderson-written material that’s a complete chore for me to watch. Kenan’s character is humorous-seeming, at least, but I’m still not finding myself actually laughing at him.
— Geez, Christina even did a Wiig-like wheezing laugh just now. Yeah, I’m starting to wonder, did writers James Anderson and/or Kent Sublette sit Christina down and have her study a whole bunch of old Kristen Wiig tapes or something? Do Anderson & Sublette miss Kristen that much?
— Such a corny and unfunny turn with all the students, one-by-one, suddenly “getting” how to do Christina’s confusing dance moves.
STARS: *
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty good first half, but a disappointing second half. Even what I found to be the only good sketch in the second half (Halloween Ball) was merely average to me. Tonight’s episode also ends this season’s impressive streak of episodes that contain very few things I disliked. However, despite containing more lows than any of the prior episodes this season did, at least tonight’s episode contained better highs than the forgettably-average preceding episode with Daniel Craig did.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Vice Presidential Debate
Gillette
Tech Talk
Give Us All Our Daughters Back!
Weekend Update
Halloween Ball
Monologue
The Sirens
The Californians
Dance Studio
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Daniel Craig)
about the same
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Bruno Mars