Tag: Sarah Michelle Gellar

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October 12, 2002 – Sarah Michelle Gellar / Faith Hill (S28 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
George W. Bush (CHP) notifies Saddam Hussein of impending regime change

— Parnell has now officially succeeded Will Ferrell as SNL’s Bush impersonator, after Darrell’s failed attempt at a Bush impression in the preceding episode’s dress rehearsal was given a hard pass by Lorne and got cut from the live show.
— The copy I’m reviewing of this episode is missing the first minute or so of this cold opening, which includes, at one point, SNL lampshading the new casting of Bush by having Parnell’s Bush say “I know what you’re thinking: I do look different. One word: Botox.”
— I believe this ends up being the only Parnell-as-Bush sketch in which Parnell wears a prosthetic nose. Not sure what the point of the prosthetic nose is anyway, as it adds nothing to the resemblance to Bush.
— Darrell’s Dick Cheney only seems to be there as security for viewers while we witness this debut of a new Bush impression. You know, I don’t know about other viewers, but I certainly don’t need Darrell’s Cheney as a security blanket to help baby-walk me through the “frightening” experience of seeing a new Bush impression. I’ll be just fine, thank you.
— Not too bad of a Bush impression from Parnell, though it certainly doesn’t make you forget Will Ferrell’s impression. Parnell’s impression is a bit more loose and less stiff than I had remembered it being.
— Cheney’s line about Cheech Marin being a Saddam Hussein lookalike is pretty funny.
— Parnell’s Bush has some okay lines throughout this. Nothing particularly noteworthy or memorable, but passable.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
vampires (CHK), (RAD), (AMP) are offended by host’s joke about slaying

— Amy’s vampire daughter character whining “I wanted to bite the Jimmy Fallon!” is pretty funny.
— A few chuckleworthy lines from Kattan throughout this, but a lot of this monologue isn’t anything special.
— This overall monologue was a complete waste of Sarah Michelle Gellar. Sure, the same could be said for Sarah’s season 24 monologue (and I did say that in my review of it), in which she just stood there while cast member after cast member hit on her, but at least that was still a funny and somewhat memorable monologue nevertheless. Tonight’s monologue, on the other hand, was nothing special at all, and, aside from the Buffy The Vampire Slayer connection, could’ve been done with ANY generic female host. Why have Sarah Michelle Gellar up there onstage doing pretty much nothing while the audience vampires get all of the “funny” material? Sarah has proven in the past that she’s perfectly capable of carrying great material on SNL.
STARS: **


SWIFFER SLEEPERS
kids in dirt-collecting pajamas clean by sliding around

— Blah, a weak, cheesy, and unfunny visual gag to base an entire fake ad around.
— This ad is way too cutesy for my likes, and the alleged “comedy” isn’t enough to balance out the saccharine cutesiness.
— I know Amy’s just imitating the general demeanor of moms you see in typical real commercials of this type, but there’s something sad about watching her overly-cutesy, cloying performance in this. I remember how, at this time, this commercial was one of the first things that made it sadly official to me that UCB-era Amy Poehler was a very different performer from SNL-era Amy Poehler.
— This fake ad ends with absolutely NO applause from the audience. If it’s because they didn’t like this ad (I certainly don’t recall hearing them laughing at ANY point during this), then I 100% support them on that.
STARS: *


SAFETY DAY
Be-Safe Gang’s (FRA), (AMP), (host) supposed street smarts are bad advice

— Due to the fact that the preceding fake ad went into this sketch with no audience applause, Parnell seemed a little hesitant and unsure of when to start delivering his first line. However, his first line, “And that was why the Indians deserved it”, was great, but, again, got NOTHING from the audience.
— Fred Armisen playing a character with his own first name. That may be because this sketch is based off of a comedy bit that Fred used to do pre-SNL.
— Amy’s whole sponge/ecstasy bit is hilarious.
— I like the obviously made-up terms that Sarah claims to the students that they can supposedly catch, such as “genital diabetes” and “crotch botchulism”.
— Fred bitterly telling Rachel “I hope you get assaulted every day for the rest of your life” is very funny.
— Fred’s bad demonstrations of “safe” ways to protect yourself against attackers are fantastic, particularly the pen-in-the-trigger bit. You can tell that the material he’s performing in this sketch is something he’s honed in his comedy act prior to SNL, because his execution of his portions of this sketch are coming off more polished and assured than than Amy and Sarah’s are (though they’re both fine in this).
STARS: ****


DENTIST
music enraptures inept romantic as he fantasizes about being a dentist

— A variation of Kattan’s Masseuse sketch from the preceding season’s Derek Jeter episode. Speaking of the Masseuse sketch, I forgot to point out in my review of it that Kattan’s character in it was apparently the same character he played in the seductive dancing/music sketches from the Teri Hatcher and Renee Zellweger episodes. The SNL episode guide that I borrow my sketch synopses from call this recurring character “inept romantic”. SNL Archives, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to think Kattan’s characters in these sketches are the same.
— I didn’t care for the Masseuse sketch, and so far, I’m not caring for this Dentist sketch either. In fact, this dentist sketch is coming off even worse to me.
— The fantasy-within-a-fantasy twist ending was very weak, and (rightfully) received absolute silence from the audience (once again tonight).
— A surprisingly fairly short sketch, but I’m certainly glad it’s over with, because I didn’t enjoy a moment of this.
STARS: *


TRANS AMERICAN AIRLINES
Trans American Airlines is proud to ensure security via racial profiling

— A lot of laughs from this airline proudly touting their new racial profiling procedure as their way of screening passengers.
— The way this is being played so perfectly straight and dry makes the brilliant and funny material even more brilliant and funny.
— Tracy, on the claim that the terrorists have won when airlines use racial profiling: “Why would terrorists want racial profiling? That’s how you catch ’em.”
STARS: ****½


CORONA
Corona drinker Craig (JIF) is full of beer & Miles Away From Sober

— An odd and unfunny commercial so far. I remember the Corona commercials that this is spoofing, but this spoof isn’t working at all.
— What makes this commercial even odder is the fact that Jimmy’s girlfriend is voiced by Amy but is physically played by a female extra (only shown from the back). I don’t understand that AT ALL. Why not have Amy physically playing the role? Or if you’re gonna have a female extra play the role, then why not have her saying her own dialogue instead of inexplicably dubbing Amy’s voice in for her?
— Overall, boy, was this lame. I went through this entire commercial without a single laugh. The audience apparently agrees with my negative opinion once again tonight, as I didn’t hear a single laugh from them during this commercial either, for the billionth time tonight.
STARS: *


LOOKALIKES
Saddam Hussein (DAH) seeks self-preservation by sacrificing look-alikes

— Darrell has become SNL’s new Saddam Hussein impersonator in the post-Ferrell era. That doesn’t last long, though.
— Kattan has been all over tonight’s episode so far. Maybe SNL felt bad about how very little he did in the preceding week’s season premiere, and are trying to make up for it tonight.
— Horatio’s walk-on as an extremely slobbish, morbidly obese Saddam “lookalike” is cracking me up.
— Horatio milks his exit by trying to make Jimmy laugh as usual.
— I could do without this turning into a cliched parody of the “How am I funny?” Goodfellas scene. Pure laziness.
STARS: **½


CORONA
Corona drinker Craig once again throws a bottle into the ocean by mistake

— (*groan*) A second one of these?
— Yikes, this already-dead commercial is made even more awkward by a bad technical error early on, in which Jimmy’s attempt to answer his phone gets interrupted by an accidental cutaway to a plain black screen with the words “Corona #2” (screencap below), producing a few seconds of dead air. Awkward as hell.

— Oh, how utterly hilarious. Jimmy drunkenly throws his beer bottle into the ocean AGAIN, because it was such a laugh riot when he did it in the first Corona ad. [/end sarcasm]
— Overall, this ad was even less funny than the first Corona ad, if that’s even possible . The complete lack of audience laughter during these Corona ads, as well as the lack of actual funny material, make me forget I’m watching a spoof and feel more like I’m watching the actual Corona commercials it’s spoofing.
STARS: * (If I could give out negative stars, I would here)


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Cry”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Dell Computer dude Steven’s (SEM) chipper demeanor belies his depression

TIF celebrates the blow dealt to the Jewish Federation Of Greater Seattle

Ramada sisters (MAR) & (host) describe life in the B-list celebrity scene

 

— As someone who used to absolutely HATE those “Dude, you’re gettin’ a Dell” commercials back when they originally aired, I remember how excited I was during the original airing of tonight’s episode to see SNL portraying the guy from those commercials and skewering his annoyingness and camera-mugging.
— Pretty good turn during the Dell Computer Guy’s commentary, with his doctor showing up and informing us of the Dell Computer Guy’s many psychological disorders.
— Tina’s overall rant about the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle did not work for me AT ALL. Unlike most of her traditional Update rants, this one was way too silly and exaggerated for my likes, and most importantly, it wasn’t the least bit funny.
— Jimmy occasionally doing a Norm Macdonald-type delivery and punchline to a joke seems to be a new thing this season, as his yodelers joke tonight was another Norm-esque bit, much like Jimmy’s smallpox joke in the season premiere. I don’t know if these Norm similarities from Jimmy are intentional or not, but I’m liking it. Jimmy continues to show early signs of improving as an Update anchor this season, while Tina continues to show early signs of going downhill as an Update anchor this season.
— Oh, god. As if I didn’t have enough complaints about the preceding season’s Hilton Sisters bit on Update from the Kirsten Dunst episode, now they do a variation of it by having Maya and Sarah play the fictional Ramada Sisters. Again, I ask, what is with SNL’s early obsession at the time with the Hilton Sisters, who weren’t even universally known yet?
— At one point in the Ramada Sisters commentary, Tina asks the sisters about Paul Thomas Anderson, which is interesting in retrospect, given the fact that Maya herself would later marry Anderson. I’m not sure if she was in a relationship with him yet at the time of this episode.
— The entire Ramada Sisters commentary went by without a single laugh from me (BTW, how many times have I said that about something in this episode?). A complete waste of time.
STARS: **½


MAKING THE VIDEO
grimy Christina Aguilera (host) likes getting “Dirrty”

— A promising idea to spoof the making of Christina Aguilera’s then-new “Dirrty” music video.
— The outlandish and insane things being added to this video to make it “dirrty” and skanky were really funny at first, but have kinda lost their luster after a while.
— Sarah’s performance is solid in this, and reminds me why she was such a well-liked host in her first two SNL episodes. She sadly hasn’t been getting many opportunities to shine in tonight’s episode. This reminds me that Sarah did an interview during the week of this episode, in which she expressed excitement and optimism over potentially becoming a five-timer in the future and potentially doing a monologue similar to Tom Hanks’ legendary Five-Timers Club monologue. It’s sad to think back on that interview in retrospect, as tonight would end up being Sarah’s last time hosting. She never got to reach that coveted fifth hosting stint, or even a fourth hosting stint.
— Something seemed to go horribly wrong during Dean’s portion of this sketch as Redman. He delivers his whole spiel EXTREMELY awkwardly and hesitantly, with lots of unsure pauses and painful dead air, as if he’s lost and has no idea what the hell he’s supposed to say. When I later saw a re-airing of this sketch in an E! rerun of this episode (NBC themselves never re-aired this episode, presumably because of how poorly received it was), they used the dress rehearsal version of Dean’s scene, in which he delivers his lines absolutely perfectly, with no hesitation or awkwardness. His lines in that version were also a bit different from his lines in the live version of the sketch. So what went wrong with Dean during the live version? Did SNL re-write his dialogue right before air, and he perhaps didn’t get to see the changes until doing the sketch on live TV? (Even if so, that’s still no excuse for him looking so lost and reading his lines so terribly and awkwardly. Lots of cast members over the years have had to deal with last-minute line changes on the air, which is part of the nature of SNL, and those cast members have handled it very smoothly.) Or did the cue cards accidentally get dropped during Dean’s scene, forcing him to awkwardly make up some dialogue?
— I like how Sarah and all the other performers hold a frozen pose for a long time during the sketch-ending audience applause.
STARS: ***


ARLI$$
(host) watches Arli$$ to avoid laughter-induced loss of bladder control

— The premise of using a DVD set of the supposedly unfunny comedy show Arli$$ as a form of bladder control is okay, but not particularly creative. Also, I can’t help but find it kinda hypocritical that this sketch is coming from such a troubled SNL episode like tonight’s. Judging from how dead the audience has been during a lot of portions of tonight’s episode, the audience would probably argue that tonight’s episode could be used as a form of bladder control just as much as an Arli$$ DVD set would.
— This overall piece was surprisingly very short and straightforward. No clever additions or anything. Pretty bland.
STARS: **


NO WRESTLING
TRM & LOM fail in their attempt to get host & musical guest to wrestle

— Ah, the return of the Tracy-chats-with-the-host-after-a-sketch bit, after the Garth Brooks and Jamie Foxx episodes from season 25.
— An okay reveal of Tracy attempting a ploy to get Sarah and Faith Hill to wrestle each other, but I prefer the previous Tracy-chats-with-the-host sketches that mostly just feature Tracy rambling and ranting about stuff in his trademark manner.
— Lorne, to Tracy, when finding out about his Gellar/Hill wrestling ploy: “I thought we had this discussion after the Reese Witherspoon/Alicia Keys episode.”
— Meh, a very predictable and cliched turn with Lorne following his scolding of Tracy by trying his own ploy to get Sarah and Faith to wrestle.
— Ah, it turns out that Lorne’s scolding of Tracy and then trying to get Sarah and Faith to wrestle was all part of Tracy’s plan.
— I love Tracy harshly telling Lorne “You can’t do nothin’ right!” and “I don’t know why I keep you around here!”, as if Tracy’s the boss and Lorne is working for him.
— We get a variation of the legendary one-liner “Go get me a soda… BITCH!” by having Tracy now tell Lorne “Go get me a Pepsi, biotch!”, which is certainly nowhere near as funny as the original one-liner, but I guess it’s a better choice than just repeating the original one-liner, which only worked really well the first time in the Garth Brooks piece and suffered diminishing returns when Tracy repeated it in the Jamie Foxx piece.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Free”


MY LOVE
(MAR)’s dedication to offering herself to her man (TRM) overexcites him

— Our second edition of the series of Tracy/Maya semi-dramatic slice-of-life pieces.
— Turns out that this particular Tracy/Maya semi-dramatic slice-of-life piece is more comedic than the other ones, as Tracy has lots of funny one-liners about Maya’s breasts in between her serious, deep, straight-to-camera poetic speech about her man.
— Funny ending punchline, with Tracy following the end of Maya’s speech by saying “I creamed my jeans back when you said ‘breasts’.”
STARS: ***½


CORONA
police pursue Corona drinker Craig after he beans a waiter with a bottle

— Aw, geez, I forgot about this horrible runner. Enough with these Corona ads already!
— Okay, I finally got an actual laugh in these Corona ads, with Jimmy beaning the waiter with a beer bottle. Not sure that cheap punchline was worth such a horrible set-up with the first two insufferable Corona ads, though.
— Once again, absolutely NO applause from the audience at the end of this ad. I lost count long ago of the number of segments in this episode that ended with no applause.
STARS: **½


BLAME SADDAM
Americans’ economic discontent is incongruously aimed at Saddam Hussein

— I’m enjoying all the serious testimonials, with Americans inexplicably blaming Saddam Hussein for personal issues they’re struggling through. Some pointed satire here.
— Even among these serious testimonials, Tracy (who’s been getting tons of airtime tonight, BTW) manages to get a huge laugh with his hobo character saying a very angry and pride-filled “You can’t threaten my way of life anymore, Saddam!” while searching for food in a trash can.
— Maya’s ending voice-over: “Saddam, America is pissed off. Maybe not at you, but you’ll do.”
STARS: ****


SEXUAL HARASSMENT SEMINAR
loutish Merv The Perv (CHP) undermines goal of sexual harassment seminar

— The debut of what would go on to be Parnell’s ONLY big solo recurring character, Merv The Perv.
— Unlike subsequent Merv The Perv sketches, this first one doesn’t feature an opening title sequence.
— When this originally aired, I recall this felt like Parnell was playing a character originally written for Will Ferrell. Watching this sketch again now, I can still see some Ferrell in Parnell’s characterization here, but I’m enjoying his performance nonetheless.
— Speaking of Ferrell and Parnell, Parnell has been VERY dominant in tonight’s episode, starring in tons of important lead roles, just like Ferrell used to. As I said in my last episode review, Parnell’s increased post-Ferrell airtime in the first two episodes of this season had me thinking back then that Parnell was taking over as SNL’s new utility star, which made me very eager, especially as someone who’s always felt that Parnell is criminally underappreciated and underutilized. Sadly, this spotlight that Parnell’s been receiving on SNL so far this season does not last. As early as the very next episode, he goes back to mostly being underutilized, pushed into the background, and relegated to lots of thankless straight roles. (*sigh*) Well, it was nice while it lasted, folks. I’ve heard some online SNL fans at the time theorize that, due to the very poor reception the first two episodes of this season got, SNL perhaps figured that Parnell’s Ferrell-esque airtime and Ferrell-esque roles was one of the reasons why this season was being negatively perceived by viewers, and thus, one of SNL’s ways of trying to “fix” this season was to go back to status quo with Parnell, by using him the same way he was used in his previous seasons. We may never know if that theory is true or not, but it is something to think about. I’d like to think the theory isn’t true, but you do have to wonder why Parnell’s airtime suddenly gets scaled back after the first two episodes of this season seemed to be pushing him hard as the new leader of the show.
— I like how snappy and fast-paced Merv The Perv’s constant skeevy one-liner responses to Sarah’s lines are. Solid delivery from Parnell here.
— The mock-PSA ending with Sarah and Parnell wasn’t anything special.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very mixed and shaky episode, with a bit more bad than good. Even most of the good stuff was merely average or pretty good, with barely anything in the show standing out as great (which is especially a shame considering the VERY LARGE number of segments this episode contained). Most of the bad stuff, on the other hand, wasn’t just bad – it was worryingly terrible. This episode contained quite a number of what’s sure to be some of my least favorite pieces of this entire season. And not just sketches and commercials; even some individual moments within otherwise okay segments were particularly awful, such as Tina Fey’s Seattle rant and the Ramada Sisters commentary, both on Weekend Update, and Dean Edwards’ painfully awkward moment in the Making The Video sketch. I believe this episode has long had a negative reputation and I remember made lots of SNL fans at the time (including me) become very worried about the quality of this new season, and made us wonder if we were in for a disaster year on the level of season 20.
— Also, the studio audience of tonight’s episode needs to be addressed, because, my god, were they one of the toughest crowds SNL has ever had. So many moments in this episode were met with eerie silence in the studio, and a countless number of segments ended without ANY of the usual sketch-ending applause, as if the audience was flat-out REFUSING to applaud what they had just sat through. I recall an alleged audience member from this episode claiming online how, at one point in this episode, during a commercial break, the audience was so miserable that a large group of them started a “We want Ferrell!” chant. No idea if that’s true or not. I’ve always leaned towards it not being true, but who knows?


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Matt Damon)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
John McCain

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May 15, 1999 – Sarah Michelle Gellar / Backstreet Boys (S24 E19)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

GRADUATION MEDLEY
recent car wreck victims Marty & Bobbi perform at high school graduation

— The Culps make their very first cold opening appearance.
— Interesting detail of the Culps’ neckbraces, which we’re eventually told is from a car accident that they go into humorous detail about.
— A laugh from Bobbi Mohan-Culp pronouncing Tommy Hilfiger’s last name as “hil-fye-jer”.
— Marty Culp: “They gave me Tylenol 3, and boy, I keep alternating between wanting to cry and having a violent orgasm.”
— This is the second episode in a row parodying Sugar Ray’s “Every Morning”, after Jimmy’s Weekend Update guitar song medley in the last episode.
— Funny in retrospect hearing Will Ferrell singing Blue Oyster Cult’s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” in this, considering a certain legendary sketch involving a cowbell that Will would soon do in the upcoming season 25.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host rebuffs CHK, TIM, MOS, WIF, JIF after they each hit on her

— I like Kattan’s line about borrowing mood-enhancing videos from Colin.
— After getting rebuffed by Sarah, I love the little turn with Kattan beginning to ask about a certain Backstreet Boys member, implying that Kattan’s going to try flirting with him next. Between Colin’s gay joke about Kattan in the last episode’s Weekend Update and now this monologue bit, I see SNL is starting to go all in on the already-existing rumors about Kattan’s sexual orientation. At least he has a sense of humor about it.
— Funny turn with Molly slowly starting to hit on Sarah, then using Sarah’s girl-on-girl kiss in the recently-released Cruel Intentions movie as proof that Sarah is into chicks.
— A hilarious quick bit with Sarah IMMEDIATELY shutting down Will’s Hugh Hefner-esque attempt to hit on her.
— At the end of the long line of guys with flowers, I love the camera slowly zooming in on Horatio staring awkwardly into the camera while eating the chocolates he intended to give Sarah.
— While this was a pretty fun monologue overall, it felt like it really wasted Sarah, who’s proven in her last episode to be a very capable host, yet was relegated tonight to the type of monologue that’s usually given to much more generic pretty girl hosts who SNL knows are iffy at live sketch comedy.
STARS: ***½


TIGER BEAT’S ULTRA SUPER DUPER DREAMY LOVE SHOW
teen idols David Boreanaz, Seth Green, Howie D. [real] fear agent (DAH)

— The return of a sketch from Sarah’s last hosting gig.
— When each of the girls are detailing what kind of drink they would buy for their favorite star, I love Ana’s disturbing bit about how she’d buy a bottle of Drano for Neil Patrick Harris so they can both drink it and live in heaven together forever, which is followed by uncomfortable silence between the girls.
— Darrell’s star manager character pales badly in comparison to the one that Norm Macdonald epically played in the last installment of this sketch.
— Seth Green makes his first SNL appearance since appearing in a pre-taped “SNL Newsbreak” (the name for Weekend Update in season 7) segment as an unknown child actor in 1981. (side-by-side comparison between him in 1981 and 1999 below)

— I like the choices of random audio sounds used to cue each segment of this show.
STARS: ***


SPARKS
Zimmermans’ sexcapades trap couple looking to rent a cabin (CHP) & (host)

— “John”? Why’d they change the first name of Kattan’s Zimmermans character to that? It used to be Jack. Hell, at one point in the timeline of this recurring sketch, I think his name is also Josh, though I can’t remember if that’s already happened by this point, or if happens in a later Zimmermans sketch.
— Parnell, after seeing a typical display of the Zimmermans’ raunchy passion: “I see the deer’s not the only one who’s horny in this cabin.”
— The dress rehearsal version of this sketch had a blooper where Kattan accidentally exposed Cheri’s bare breast when mounting her on the wall. A clip of that blooper is reportedly shown in the “dress rehearsal outtakes” feature of either Cheri or Kattan’s “Best Of” DVD, though I’ve never seen the clip for myself.
— During the usual bit with the host starting to aggressively flirt with the Zimmerman member of the opposite sex, I like the sudden turn with it being Cheri who Sarah’s now aggressively flirting with.
— Hilarious bit with Parnell desperately de-pantsing himself to join in on the others’ raunchiness, resulting in Kattan initially mistaking Parnell’s apparently-small penis for a vanilla Tootsie Roll. Kattan’s “OH MY GOD!” outburst when realizing that’s Parnell’s penis absolutely slayed me, as did Sarah asking “That’s what it looks like in the light?!?”
— Overall, a bit better than the usual Zimmermans sketches, due to the whole bit mentioned right above this sentence.
STARS: ***½


GET ON THE BAG!
(WIF)’s exhortations to little leaguer son appall other parents in stands

— Ah, a variation of “Get off the shed”, though it’s kinda weird how they’re doing this THREE YEARS after the season that the “Get off the shed” sketches appeared in. “Get on the bag” is a decent variation, and a good spoof of hostile parents in the stands at children’s sports games.
— A good laugh from how Will’s “snow cone” is a can of beer. I also like Parnell’s line pointing out how Will is drinking beer at 10:30 in the morning.
— Will: “I WILL DOWNSIZE YOUR FACE WITH A SHOVEL IF YOU DON’T GET ON THE BAG!” Until recently, I always thought that great “downsize your face with a shovel” threat was from “Get off the shed”, not this sketch.
— Overall, a funny sketch, but doesn’t compare to the first “Get off the shed” sketch, in my opinion. However, it’s a step up from the second “Get off the shed” sketch, as tonight’s version thankfully didn’t have Christine Baranski grating on my nerves in her poor attempt to imitate Will’s comical screaming.
STARS: ***½


TV FUNHOUSE
“The Ginsburg Gang” by RBS- Lewinsky lawyer show inspired by Scooby Doo

— Funny idea for a Lewinsky scandal-related Scooby Doo parody.
— I like the quick visual gag of William Ginsburg revealing a microphone implanted deep into his chest skin. During that part, a man in SNL’s audience can be heard loudly saying a quick “Ew.”
— This overall cartoon ended up going a little over my head due to being perhaps too topical. However, it seemed well-done, I still got some laughs, and I liked the parody of various Scooby Doo cliches.
— This was rumored at the time to be Robert Smigel’s final TV Funhouse. I’m glad that didn’t end up being the case.
STARS: ***


SHAME ATTACK!
(CHK) & (MOS) embarrass selves & each other in game show

 

— Kattan’s “cool” poser character is making me laugh.
— A crazy, nasty, and silly sketch, but I’m enjoying it, and it’s a pretty fun and spot-on parody of these types of MTV shows from this late 90s era (just watching this parody is kinda bringing me back to my high school years from this era), though I can’t remember if “Shame Attack” is a show just made up for this sketch or if it was a real MTV show at the time.
— After Molly gets covered in slime, some of the performers are having a hard time keeping a straight face while delivering their lines. That’s no surprise in Molly’s case, who’s devolving more and more into a giggly performer as we get closer and closer to the end of her SNL tenure. As I hinted in an earlier review, her frequent giggliness gets even worse the following two seasons.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Want It That Way”


WEEKEND UPDATE
now out of prison, Amy Fisher (CHO) is still edgy & jealous
Billy Dee Williams (TIM) doesn’t like that he’s not in The Phantom Menace

— Colin’s gun control joke (in the wake of the notorious Columbine school shooting tragedy from a month earlier) comes off particularly interesting to watch in retrospect, given the climate nowadays in regards to gun control.
— As usual whenever Cheri appears on Update, we get a flirty interaction between her and Colin at one point.
— I got a pretty good laugh from Cheri’s Amy Fisher sternly asking “Where does she live?” after being told by Colin that he has a girlfriend.
— Tim reprises his Billy Dee Williams impression for the first time since way back in SNL’s early 90s era.
— A great line from Tim’s Billy Dee Williams, about how he gradually realized while watching the new Star Wars movie that he’s not in it.
— A lot of funny comments from Tim’s Billy Dee.
STARS: **½


DUSTY’S LOVE
blind girl (host), monster (HOS), Paul Williams (WIF) in really bad movie

— I love the odd little detail of Parnell having dark hair on his head but a red beard on his face.
— Parnell, on the reason why Sarah is blind: “If only I hadn’t been so drunk and so damn proud of my new flare gun.”
— Another great Parnell line, before he makes his exit: “I’m gonna go have some PCP and show mom my new spirit gun.”
— Very funny inclusion of Will as a superimposed transparent Paul Williams head singing a tender song during Sarah and Horatio’s odd face-touching sequence.
— What a hilariously bizarre and random sketch. By far, one of the strangest sketches SNL has ever done. As I’ve said in an earlier review, this SNL era is great at pulling off this type of random, absurdist humor.
— Freakin’ priceless how the sex scene between Sarah and Horatio is being censored by a “Humping Sequence Edited For Television” disclaimer screen that has a strange-looking photo of a man with his mouth open orgasmically while we hear a voice-over repeatedly singing “Doot doot dooooo”. This already-random sketch is increasingly getting even more random, and I love it.
— Haha, did Parnell’s red beard somehow get longer in the few minutes he was gone? (side-by-side comparison below)

— Solid ending with the TV station voice-over apologizing for letting this bizarre movie slip through.
STARS: ****½


PRESS CONFERENCE
Britney Spears (host) & others answer questions after Kids Choice Awards

— Jimmy’s whole bit as MTV VJ Jesse Camp probably goes over a lot of viewers’ heads nowadays, as I doubt many people today remember Jesse Camp or were ever aware of him to begin with. I remember him enough, and Jimmy’s impression of him is spot-on and perfectly captures what an oddball that guy was.
— Sarah is very funny as Britney Spears.
— The debut of Parnell’s Eminem impression, which I’ve always found funny.
— Even though this is 1999, seeing a Britney Spears and Eminem impression side-by-side makes me feel like I’m already in the 2000s.
STARS: ***½


HOLDING YOUR OWN BOOBS MAGAZINE
host & WIF solicit subscriptions to Holding Your Own Boobs Magazine

— I love the audience’s initial reaction to the surprising opening shot of a topless Sarah Michelle Gellar holding her own boobs.
— Funny concept of a magazine dedicated to holding-your-own-boobs photos, made even funnier by how this sketch is being played so seriously.
— Great inclusion of Will also holding his own “boobs” and proudly displaying photos of famous men doing the same. The Dave Thomas photo is particularly funny.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “All I Have To Give”


BRIAN FELLOW’S SAFARI PLANET
supposed animal expert Brian Fellow doesn’t know much

— Tracy’s Brian Fellow character, who debuted earlier this season in a Weekend Update commentary as a VERY different type of person than who we’re now familiar with, does his very first Safari Planet sketch.
— Much like Wayne’s World and Pumping Up With Hans and Franz (among some others that I can’t remember right now), Brian Fellow’s Safari Planet is on the list of popular recurring sketches that surprisingly debuted in the 10-to-1 slot.
— This 10-to-1 sketch is Tracy’s first and only appearance all night. Sadly, that’s business as usual for the underused Tracy Morgan, but I guess it can be considered somewhat of an honor to star in the final sketch of a season.
— Tracy’s updated characterization of Brian Fellow tonight is a huge improvement over that aforementioned Weekend Update commentary he did. Brian Fellow’s incompetence and oddness throughout this sketch are very funny, and Tracy has a good handle on this character, which would only improve even further over time as this becomes an established recurring sketch.
— I love Brian Fellow’s worries about getting bit by the turtle.
— For some reason, at the end of this sketch, the studio light in the window behind Tracy’s Brian Fellow turns off while he’s delivering his sign-off to the camera.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A consistently good episode, and a pretty satisfying way for this season to end, officially making this what I feel is a season with a perfect streak of episodes ranging from so-so to fantastic, with no bad episodes in the bunch. While there wasn’t much in tonight’s episode that stood out as particularly great, the show flowed really well and had no sketches that underwhelmed me (unless the Colin Quinn portions of Weekend Update count). Despite a monologue that wasted her, Sarah Michelle Gellar had her moments tonight that showed what a good recurring host she is.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Cuba Gooding Jr.)
about the same


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS ENTIRE SEASON, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS (Note: These picks were hastily made off the top of my head and will naturally be missing some deserving sketches. I don’t have enough time to do full, thought-out “Best Of” picks for this whole season)


HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1997-98)
a mild step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
SNL’s milestone 25th season begins, with host Jerry Seinfeld

Posted on

January 17, 1998 – Sarah Michelle Gellar / Portishead (S23 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

SELF DEFENSE TEST
Unabomber’s (WIF) pitch to represent himself in court is unconvincing

— Always good to see Will’s Unabomber.
— Funny reference to a real-life then-recent incident where the Unabomber tried to hang himself with a pair of underwear.
— I love the reveal of the Unabomber’s law degree just being a Denny’s placemat with “I’m a lawyer” written on it.
— Unabomber: “I miss the old days when I had it all: a shack. A bucket. That was pretty much it.”
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host tries to improvise reciprocation when castmembers give her gifts

— A big deal right now: Norm makes his first live appearance since the Weekend Update firing fiasco, to thunderous applause from the audience. Very nice to see this.
— After the thunderous applause ends, Norm humorously says to the audience “I gotta do this skit now.” That, combined with the lit cigarette in his hand, show that ever since his Update firing, he’s in FULL-ON don’t-give-a-fuck mode, and I love it.
— Norm, to Sarah: “I’ve watched All My Children, you know, never since you left.”
— I feel sorry for Darrell having to follow Norm’s epic appearance.
— I’m liking the increasingly over-the-top nice gifts Sarah is being presented with by the cast, as well as Sarah’s desperation to find something to give back to them.
— I love Sarah giving Darrell a bag of pot from a purse that she snatched from an audience member (Paula Pell).
STARS: ****


AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT SMALLPOX
Spice Girls (MOS), (host), (ANG), (CHO), (CHK) speak out about smallpox

— Oh my god, Chris as Scary Spice? Not that I want to see Tim or Tracy thrown in drag once again, but is throwing Chris in brownface drag any better? Granted, the brown make-up he’s wearing is light (so much so, that I’m not even sure if he’s wearing it), but still…
— I gotta say, as questionable as the decision to cast Chris as Scary Spice is, I’m finding myself laughing at his mannerisms and facial expressions in this. It’s so silly that it’s funny.
— An overall short and fairly thin bit, but pretty funny for what it was.
STARS: ***


THE VIEW
Glenn Close (ANG) visits; Debbie Matenopoulos (host) is chided

— Speaking of Tracy in drag…
— I absolutely love how Cheri’s Barbara Walters is upping the ante on her singing of The View theme song in the last View sketch, by now singing the theme in German.
— A good laugh from Sarah’s Debbie Matenopoulos saying “If I had a clone, I’d make out with myself.”
— Spot-on casting of Ana as Glenn Close, as I can see a pretty strong resemblance. It’s something about the eyes.
— When all of the women are talking over each other while greeting Ana’s Glenn Close, I like Tracy’s Star Jones being heard telling Glenn “You are one of the whitest women I ever seen.”
— As good as Claire Danes was as Debbie Matenopoulos in the first View sketch, I’m liking Sarah’s take on Debbie even more.
— Very funny ending with Barbara Walters forcing Debbie to stand in the corner after one particularly idiotic statement she made.
STARS: ****


MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS
counselor Dr. John Gray (NOM) doesn’t fit his own gender stereotypes

— I have no familiarity with what John Gray acts or sounds like, but I’m loving Norm’s performance as him. He is giving this his all and is consistently cracking me up. And knowing his knack for good impressions, I’m sure his take on John Gray is spot-on.
— A big laugh from Norm’s Gray unconvincingly talking about how men love women’s “big wonderful fannies”.
— I like Will’s constant confusion during his and Sarah’s various testimonials.
STARS: ***½


AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
Spice Girls (MOS), (host), (ANG), (CHO), (CHK) nix rheumatoid arthritis

— Ah, this is a runner.
— A technical glitch, in which the ending voice-over says “To learn more about smallpox, visit…. etc.”, despite the fact that the topic the Spice Girls covered in this particular sketch was rheumatoid arthritis, not smallpox. They must’ve mistakenly played the ending voice-over from the first Spice Girls sketch by mistake, which I can’t understand, considering both Spice Girls sketches are pre-taped.
— Overall, it wasn’t necessary to make this a runner, but I still got some amusement from this. There better not be a third edition of this tonight, though. (I am aware, however, that they later do another one of these in the Cameron Diaz episode from the following season.)
STARS: **½


DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY DINNER
irritable patriarch (WIF) fumes during a hypersensitive family dinner

— Oh, I had completely forgotten about this sketch until now. This is a well-liked sketch among SNL fans, and has been a favorite of mine.
— I love the portions of the sketch with the long, tense stretches of non-dialogue among the family while we hear their utensils loudly clanking on the dinner plates.
— Great delivery from Will with his stern “Can I finish the story?” when Ana asks an innocent question in the middle of his story.
— Some really funny vicious lines that Sarah delivers to her parents throughout this sketch, especially “Shut up, you drunken witch!”
— Funny how this is the second sketch tonight to have a running gag where various people talk in unison, and then, as their simultaneous talking dies down, one of them is heard saying an absurd statement. (The other sketch that happened in tonight is The View.) During one of the times in this sketch that the family’s yelling in unison dies down, Will delivers the classic line “I DRIVE A DODGE STRATUS!”
STARS: *****


ROAD TO NAGANO
at a pre-Olympics competition, bad girl Tara Lipinski (host) skates angry

— Haha, Chris as Kerri Strug, basically just doing his Kippi Strug bit from an earlier Weekend Update commentary (which has grown on me since I originally reviewed it about a month ago).
— Good brash portrayal of Tara Lipinski from Sarah.
— Some funny rude actions from Sarah’s Lipinski while skating, such as drinking beer and giving someone the finger.
STARS: ***½


THE GOLORDS
Golords save Super Bowl XXXII from anthrax-wielding Saddam Hussein

— Surprisingly, this is the first Golord short to air since the third episode of this season. I had forgotten about these until now.
— Saddam Hussein’s horniness from seeing an Arabic porn magazine is very funny.
— Some of the dolls seated behind the Golords are noticeably celebrity dolls that appeared in earlier Golord shorts, such as Bill Gates and Bill Clinton. There’s also a Jay Leno-looking doll sitting in the row in front of the Golords, even though we never got a Jay Leno appearance in a Golords short before this (nor am I sure we ever get one after this).
— I love Saddam saying, in reaction to seeing the female Golord naked, “I’d like to launch a scud into her airspace!” It’s also hilarious when that line immediately gets followed by a screen saying “Script repair underway”, which then gets followed by a shot of Saddam saying a much tamer sleazy line about the naked female Golord: “I’d like to spend midnight at the oasis with her!”
— Very funny visual effect of Saddam’s face melting off.
STARS: ****


GOTH TALK
Circe embarrasses her Orlando rival, Countess Cobwella (host)

— Good subplot with Jim’s character being drunk behind the couch. A change of pace from the usual bits with him in these Goth Talk sketches.
— The “lost retainer” bit is funny on paper, but is coming off kinda awkward in the execution.
— I’m liking the negative tension between Molly and Sarah’s characters.
— After it being established right from the very first Goth Talk sketch that the real first name of Chris’ Azrael Abyss character is Todd, I’m surprised it’s taken us this long to find out the real first name of Molly’s Circe Nightshade character: Stephanie.
— Funny video of Sarah cheesily dancing and lip-syncing to Ace of Base. I also like the detail of the 80s vest jacket she’s wearing.
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE
to O.J. Simpson (TIM), all mass killings are crimes of passion

— The title sequence has been slightly modified, as it now ends with a title plate with the words “Weekend Update with Colin Quinn”.

— Colin came off kinda awkward during his sign-on, which was drowned out by the audience’s opening applause.
— Yeah, much like in his Update debut last week, Colin’s attempt at a straitlaced news anchor delivery during his jokes is not working for me.
— I’m noticing that Colin keeps making unnatural pauses in his sentences.
— I love Colin’s “huge balls” joke about two World Trade Center robbers who showed their faces on security cameras.
— Ah, Colin is now using his natural stand-up delivery when doing an addendum to the aforementioned World Trade Center robbers story. Clearly, this is where his niche as an anchorperson is: doing stand-up-style breakdowns of news stories.
— Good rant from Colin about a 13-year-old girl touring with the Allman Brothers, though it had an empty ending, which is a problem with some of the stand-up-style breakdowns and rants he’s been doing tonight.
— I like Tim-as-O.J.’s line about trying to solve the mystery of who bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
— A few other funny comments from Tim’s O.J.., most of which allude to him being a murderer, which proves even further that Norm was, in fact, not fired from Update for doing too many harsh O.J. jokes.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Only You”


THE ROBIN BYRD SHOW
anti-porn crusader (ANG) infiltrates panel

 

— I love Tim’s goofy dancing to “I Like to Move It”.
— Cheri’s overdoing it with the temporary blacking-out moments while she’s in the middle of dialogue.
— Funny reveal that Sarah’s stripper-esque dance was a tribute to Princess Diana.
— Good turn with Ana’s porn protester.
— Overall, this was an improvement over the first Robin Byrd Show sketch.
STARS: ***


BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
plot shift will fill the Seinfeld void

— I’m enjoying this concept, doing a hybrid of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and the about-to-end Seinfeld.
— Will’s Jerry impression is good (though feels a little weird in retrospect, knowing that Jimmy Fallon is only half a year away from joining the show), but Darrell’s George is iffy.
— Very funny Kramer impression from Jim, though he’s nailing the mannerisms better than the voice.
— Much like Ana playing Glenn Close earlier tonight, Sarah playing Elaine is good casting, as she’s a dead-ringer for her in that wig. Come to think of it, even without the wig, there are already some facial similarities between Sarah and Julia Louis Dreyfus.
— In addition to the facial resemblance, Sarah’s Elaine is also a solid impression.
STARS: ***


TIGER BEAT’S ULTRA SUPER DUPER DREAMY LOVE SHOW
teens (host) (MOS), (CHO), (ANG) gab with Jonathan Taylor Thomas’ director (NOM)

— A funny and very accurate parody of teen girl culture from this era.
— A big laugh from Ana’s disturbing comment about Christina Ricci, and how it contrasted against what the other girls were saying in that conversation.
— I particularly like the “future star” segment about a baby actor.
— Good turn with Norm’s out-of-place old man character in such a setting like this.
— An epic Norm blooper now happens, with Norm removing his fake mustache, which had begun slowly peeling off, and telling the girls in a great ad-libbed bit “This is not a real mustache”, proceeding to go on about a guy he bought the mustache from, culminating in Norm saying “I asked ‘Will it fall off?’, he said ‘NO!’”
STARS: ****


THE LOST DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY

— This is the first Lost Deep Thought all season that I feel could roll with the original Deep Thoughts of the early 90s.


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty solid episode. The quality was consistently good, I liked just about every sketch, and the show contained a personal favorite of mine (Dysfunctional Family Dinner). Sarah Michelle Gellar stood out tonight among other young hosts from this era. She did well in every sketch, was likable, and had a few strong moments, proving herself worthy of soon becoming a recurring host.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Samuel L. Jackson)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Our annual John Goodman episode, this time with him again being joined by special guest Dan Aykroyd