Tag: The Black Keys

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May 10, 2014 – Charlize Theron / The Black Keys (S39 E20)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

A MOTHER’S DAY MESSAGE FROM MICHELLE OBAMA AND HILLARY CLINTON
Michelle Obama (SAZ) & Hillary Clinton (VAB) spar before Mother’s Day

— (*sigh*) One of the last times we’ll ever hear Don Pardo’s voice introducing a sketch.
— Speaking of lasts, this ends up being the last time Vanessa plays Hillary Clinton.
— Some funny tension between Sasheer’s Michelle Obama and Vanessa’s Hillary.
— This is the most front-and-center we’ve ever seen Vanessa’s Hillary (all of her previous appearances were rather brief), giving me a better chance to assess her impression. I see what she’s going for in the voice she’s using, but something just feels wrong with how the voice is coming out, especially when her voice starts getting gradually loud and shouty halfway though this cold opening. I can understand why SNL would re-cast this role the following season.
— Great slam from Vanessa’s Hillary to Sasheer’s Michelle regarding childhood obesity being the “toughest” issue Michelle has tackled as First Lady.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
TAK, CES, KAM, SAZ, BEB, KET sing, which is the one thing host can’t do

— Ugh, there’s the use of that tired “Carlin line” (a.k.a. when a host sarcastically says a variation of “I did such a great job hosting [insert large number here] years ago that they couldn’t wait to have me back”, which originated with George Carlin in his season 10 hosting stint).
— I love that they show a clip of the Gemini’s Twin sketch from Charlize Theron’s first episode, because 1) I always like whenever a new SNL episode shows a clip from an older episode, and 2) Charlize’s first episode is a very significant one for me, as it’s the very first SNL episode I ever reviewed, during my original 2000-2014 stint as a reviewer of newly-aired episodes. Currently reviewing this season 39 Charlize Theron-hosted episode is very significant for me, too, because it’s the second-to-last episode I ever reviewed during my aforementioned original stint as a reviewer. (Yes, Charlize Theron indeed hosted both the first AND penultimate episode of my original reviewing stint. A crazy coincidence. Imagine if a similar coincidence ends up happening when I complete my current SNL project. The only realistic scenario I can see for that is if Paul Simon, who hosted and musical guested SNL’s second-ever episode, which, obviously, is the second-ever episode I reviewed in my current SNL project, hosts and/or musical guests one of the last episodes I review in this project. In fact, that would actually be two full-circle endings for me, because, believe it or not, Paul Simon also happened to be the musical guest in Charlize’s first episode, which is, again, the first episode I ever covered in my original stint as a reviewer. So many eerie coincidences.) Reviewing this season 39 Charlize Theron episode right now is honestly giving me an emotional and nostalgic feel, remembering the special, huge feeling I had back at this time in 2014 when I was about to retire from reviewing after 14 long years. This also makes me realize just how far I’ve come along in this current SNL project of mine.
— An okay premise for a musical monologue, but I don’t care for the style of the monologue song itself, and there’s not much funny stuff happening during it.
— Okay, the quick bit with Beck right now is pretty solid.
STARS: **


COME DO A GAME SHOW WITH YOUR MOM, IT’LL BE FUN, YES IT WILL!
(KAM) hosts a Mother’s Day game show with her kids (BRW), (KYM), (host)

— When Kate’s kids are all saying their opening greetings in unison, I laughed at how Kyle’s line during that is a quickly-delivered, whiny, monotone “I don’t wanna be heeerrre.”
— Just a mildly funny sketch so far, but it’s relatable and Kate is doing a very solid job in the lead role.
— A funny side role for Aidy.
— A good comically-brief appearance from Bobby as the father.
STARS: ***


GIRLFRIENDS TALK SHOW
passionate drama teacher (host) coaches Morgan

— Blah, there goes the obligatory, very tired “Aidy and the guest each say a different thing in unison when revealing a topic on the show “ trope.
— I’m really enjoying Charlize’s drama teacher performance here. I’m finding it amusing AND very believable.
— A very weak “My boyfriend’s crazy” story from Cecily tonight.
— Aidy doesn’t have as many funny moments as she usually does in this recurring sketch, though I do like her character’s wild, desperate delivery when trying to say “Well, that’s our sexy show” in a sexy manner during the conclusion of this sketch.
STARS: **


DRAGON BABIES
retired police officer (MOB) voices animated protagonist of Dragon Babies

— The most in-character we’ve ever seen Mike. He’s doing such a great job here, and his cop voice is fantastic.
— Very fun chemistry between Mike and Cecily.
— Great understated, controlled frustration in Taran’s director character during his interview portions of this short.
— I love the comically-uncomfortable moment with Mike somberly disclosing a story about once shooting an unarmed guy. Yet another Mike O’Brien short that adds in a comedic sense of melancholy.
— Overall, Mike does it once again with yet another very strong short. His shorts are so damn good that there’s no wonder why SNL let him continue doing them and starring in them the next few seasons when he’s not even in the cast anymore.
STARS: ****½


DATING SEMINAR
pelvic thrusts & sound effects accompany dating advice of Heshy & (host)

— The second and final appearance of this character of Nasim’s.
— For some reason, they changed Heshy’s surname. In this character’s previous sketch, her surname was Al-Fahi, and now it’s Farahat.
— Like last time, Nasim’s timing is excellent when making gestures to the various sound effects right on cue.
— Pretty fun addition of Charlize, playing against type as a frumpy character. I remember that, when this originally aired, I interestingly got a Mo-Collins-from-MADtv vibe from Charlize’s characterization here. I still kinda see it a little during my current viewing of this.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Fever”


WEEKEND UPDATE
retiring SNL lampoonee Barbara Walters [real] gives tips for success

this year’s crop of graduates leads Drunk Uncle to fear for the future

— On a related note to me saying earlier in this review that I always like whenever a new SNL episode shows a clip from an older episode, I love the montage of SNL’s Barbara Walters impersonators over the years. Sadly, Michaela Watkins gets snubbed from this montage, for obvious reasons.
— A laugh from Barbara Walters demonstrating her “real voice”.
— I can’t find anything at all to say about the rest of Barbara Walters’ commentary. She’s at least coming off likable here. At certain parts, her timing is slow, awkward, and frail, but I can cut her some slack for that, given her age.
— A rare interaction piece between Cecily and Colin.
— The extremely random “Breaking Nudes” segment was a very funny little piece of absurdity.
— Drunk Uncle, in a random non-sequitur grumbling: “Jew Kids On The Block!”
— Ugh, is it necessary to have Colin carry on Seth Meyers’ tradition of always responding “That’s not anyone” whenever Drunk Uncle says “That’s not me”? It was tired enough when Seth did it.
— I love Drunk Uncle’s “What do you call a fish with no eyes?” joke. No idea if that’s an original joke from SNL or not (that joke is probably an oldie that I had just never heard before), but Drunk Uncle’s delivery of it was very fun.
— Drunk Uncle’s singing of “I Believe I Can Fly” is probably my favorite out of all the “Drunk Uncle butchers a hit song” moments that have occurred over the years.
— Some SNL fans seem very confused as to why Cecily says “No, no noooo!” to Drunk Uncle in a weird, growly voice towards the end of his “I Believe I Can Fly” singing, but I’m pretty sure that Cecily was imitating one part of the real “I Believe I Can Fly” song. I honestly don’t remember that song having a growly “No, no noooo!” part in it, but I’m guessing it’s in there.
STARS: **½


BIKINI BEACH PARTY
dead whale explosion interrupts teen fun of Bikini Beach Party movie

— I have mixed feelings towards the conversation between the girls. There’s some funny lines in that conversation, but some of the other lines in it that are intended to be funny are typical James Anderson/Kent Sublette-style bad randomness.
— A very memorable and priceless visual of the dead whale exploding an insane amount of blood and guts all over Charlize and Taran. I remember how much this visual absolutely FLOORED me when it originally aired.
— Kenan’s at the point of his SNL tenure where he can do almost no wrong for me, but his appearance in this sketch is unfortunately one of the instances where him hammily chewing the scenery actually doesn’t work for me. I really dislike that voice and delivery he’s using here, and it feels completely wrong for this sketch.
— Blah, it’s very unnecessary and harmful to this sketch to repeat the “blood-and-guts explosion” gag right after the first one. The second instance of that gag got nowhere near as many laughs from me nor the audience.
STARS: Very difficult for me to figure out what rating to give this. The first “blood-and-guts explosion” gag ALONE deserves a high rating, but 1) the scenes prior to that were iffy for me, 2) I hate how they repeated the “blood-and-guts explosion” gag to far less comedic effect, and 3) Kenan annoyed the living hell out of me. For now, I’ll rate this ***, but I might change my mind later on.


MUSICAL GUEST INTRO

— Not only is it fun how a blood-soaked Charlize from the preceding sketch carries over into this musical guest intro, but this is actually the second consecutive year in which something like this occurred in the penultimate episode of a season. Season 38’s penultimate episode had Kristen Wiig (that night’s host) and Aidy both introducing the musical guest while still covered in blood from the Acupuncture sketch that preceded it. At this time in 2014, I wondered if SNL was intentionally trying to make this a new annual tradition for every penultimate episode of a season. That could’ve been fun. But alas, the “tradition” stops here. I can’t remember if the following season’s penultimate episode (Reese Witherspoon / Florence + The Machine) has any sketches that involve blood in any way, but either way, that episode doesn’t contain any instances of a sketch carrying over into the host’s introduction of the musical guest.


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Bullet in the Brain”


WHISKERS R’ WE
Barbara (KAM) & (host) show cats available for adoption

— This soon-to-be recurring sketch makes its debut.
— Charlize again playing against type tonight as an unattractive character.
— A good offbeat performance from Charlize.
— Some funny lines from Kate when disclosing each cat’s strange quirks.
STARS: ***½


TOURISTS
in NYC, foreign visitors ask passers-by for assistance

— I love the exaggerated American accent that Kyle’s foreigner character tries to say American expressions in.
— I’m loving the low-key approach to this, and I like the format with the cutting from one foreigner’s scene to another’s, and how each foreigner’s scene differs from each other’s.
— Funny subversion in Bobby’s scene, regarding directions to Arbalato Street.
— Charlize once again playing against type as a frumpy character, this time going the whole nine yards by donning a fat suit.
— A very funny initial facial reaction from Beck when finding out he’s in New York instead of Chicago.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

— Much longer goodnights than usual tonight. Probably one of the longest the goodnights have gone on in an episode from recent years.
— Poor John Milihiser is getting far more facetime during these goodnights than he regularly gets in actual episodes. (He was nowhere to be seen in tonight’s episode prior to these goodnights, and, showing how good-natured and likable he apparently is, he doesn’t even look upset by that, and is instead looking like he’s genuinely having a lot of fun interacting with others onstage during these goodnights, as seen in the third above screencap for these goodnights.)

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An okay episode, though it’s yet another season 39 example of pre-taped shorts standing out far more than the actual live segments. Also, reviewing this episode just now felt significant, emotional, and nostalgic for me, for reasons mentioned in my review of the monologue. And this hosting stint of Charlize Theron’s was an improvement over her previous one, which typecast her in an awful lot of “Hot girl gets lusted after by horny men” roles.


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

plus the first instance of this:


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Dragon Babies
Tourists
Whiskers R’ We
Come Do A Game Show With Your Mom, It’ll Be Fun, Yes It Will!
Bikini Beach Party
Dating Seminar
A Mother’s Day Message From Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton
Weekend Update
Monologue
Girlfriends Talk Show


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Andrew Garfield)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 39 comes to an end, with host Andy Samberg. It’s the final episode for five-year cast member Nasim Pedrad, the final episode for first-year featured players John Milhiser, Mike O’Brien, Noel Wells, and Brooks Wheelan, the final episode that Cecily Strong co-anchors Weekend Update, the final episode for announcer Don Pardo, and the final episode I reviewed during my original 14-year reviewing stint.

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December 3, 2011 – Steve Buscemi / The Black Keys (S37 E8)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

OBAMA IN ONE
Barack Obama (FRA) is number 11 on his list of America’s Most Powerful

— Surprisingly, this is the first time Fred has played Obama all season. Even more surprising, it’s the first of only THREE times this entire season that Fred plays Obama, before the Obama impression gets handed to Jay the following season. I wonder if they were intentionally phasing Fred’s Obama out this season while waiting for Jay to get promoted to repertory player the following season (they presumably didn’t feel comfortable giving the Obama impression to a featured player, especially not one as green a live performer as Jay sometimes tends to be in his early seasons). The lack of appearances from Fred’s Obama this season could also do with the fact that a lot of this season’s cold openings focus on the republican presidential candidates.
— An actual amusing line from Fred’s Obama regarding consumer confidence and people pepper-spraying each other for an Xbox on Black Friday.
— At least we get a bit of a change of pace from the usual boring-as-hell Fredbama-speaks-straight-to-the-camera-from-behind-the-desk cold openings, with Fred’s Obama breaking down an “America’s Most Powerful” list with a Wayne’s World-esque Top 13 board.
— Another surprisingly amusing line from Fred’s Obama, with him sarcastically asking us “How many of you out there have a Fantasy Congress League?” and then proudly saying “Thank you for that joke, Joe Biden!”
STARS: **½


MONOLOGUE
supporting characters ask host how he made the leap to a leading role

— A laugh from the way Steve Buscemi points out that he tends to get typecast in movies as creepy characters.
— Second consecutive episode with Jay dressing in drag. I remember someone on the now-defunct saturday-night-live.com message board asking, back when this episode originally aired, “Is putting Jay in drag some kind of hazing process?”
— Some fun character work from the cast as cliched supporting character archetypes from movies. My favorites are Kenan as the magical African-American and Bill as the guy in war movies who “you just KNOW is gonna die!” All that being said, it kinda bugs me that they’re wasting Steve Buscemi on a monologue like this. How do you give a man as reliably funny and lovably offbeat as him a monologue where he plays a non-comedic straight man to a whole bunch of comedic characters?
— There’s our obligatory Kristen Wiig hammy camera-hogging moment at the end of this monologue (the last above screencap for this monologue).
STARS: ***½


FROZEN MEXICAN DINNER
Frozen Mexican Dinner instantly cures musician’s (PAB) constipation

— Good to see the underused Paul having the lead role in a commercial.
— A pretty solid reveal that the constipation medication that Fred suggests Paul take is a frozen Mexican dinner. The way such a silly and somewhat juvenile concept is being played so tenderly and dramatically is adding to the humor.
— Very funny shot of Paul shaking maracas in an over-excited manner during band practice after he’s finally cured of his constipation.
STARS: ***½


THE MILEY CYRUS SHOW
Whitney Houston (MAR) is a cautionary drug tale to Miley Cyrus (VAB)

— The weed-smoking angle is at least adding a bit of a different flavor to the overly-formulaic Miley Cyrus Show sketches.
— Right before the camera cuts away from a laughing Jason-as-Billy-Ray-Cyrus after he tells Vanessa’s Miley “You’re like a funny little Cheech Marin, baby!”, Jason, still seemingly acting in character, suddenly stops laughing and looks forward with an overly serious, almost-mesmerized look on his face, as if he had an epiphany. What was THAT all about? Was that implying Jason’s Billy Ray suddenly started having second thoughts about being okay with his daughter smoking weed?
— Speaking of oddities in Jason’s performance, he’s added a new mannerism to his Billy Ray Cyrus impression tonight, where he takes the time to toss his head and hair back in a mock-poignant manner before delivering certain lines. Not sure why he’s doing that, as it’s not really adding to the comedy of this sketch.
— A funny and pretty fitting character for Steve to play.
— Some pretty good laughs from the trippy music video.
— Out of absolutely nowhere, we suddenly get a Maya Rudolph cameo (which, as I said in a recent episode review, is something modern-day SNL viewers in 2020 are all too familiar with seeing), reprising her Whitney Houston impression.
— In a somewhat similar vein to the infamously unfortunate timing of Abby once doing a Brittany Murphy spoof in what ended up being two weeks before Murphy’s untimely death, Whitney Houston would end up dying just two months after the original airing of this sketch, a sketch that makes fun of Whitney’s drug use. Yikes. IIRC, this episode would end up never getting an NBC rerun, and people have speculated that it’s because of Whitney’s death. However, couldn’t SNL have just replaced this Miley Cyrus Show sketch with something else in reruns, perhaps a sketch cut after this episode’s dress rehearsal?
— Blah, I don’t like how Maya’s one-note, somewhat-played-out Whitney shtick has completely taken over this sketch, nor do I like how it’s completely sidelined Steve Buscemi, who barely got to say anything before Maya’s Whitney suddenly hijacked this sketch. Between the monologue and this sketch, tonight’s episode so far hasn’t exactly been utilizing Steve to his full potential.
— This ends up being the last Miley Cyrus Show sketch we’ll be seeing for quite a long while. The next one, which also ends up being the final one, doesn’t appear until well over a year later, and it spoofs Miley’s then-new, more-adult image and hairstyle.
STARS: **


BATMAN
commissioner’s (host) privacy is sneakily invaded by Batman (ANS)

— Some chuckles, but the “An Andy Samberg character keeps unexpectedly popping up wherever a certain person goes” concept is too “old hat” for Lonely Island, and was done better in some of their previous shorts.
— I did get a pretty good laugh from Andy’s Batman taking a photo of Steve’s prostate exam, complete with Jason as a doctor cheerfully posing for the photo.
— A very meh and half-assed ending.
STARS: **½


DATELINE
Keith Morrison (BIH) gets off on murderer’s (host) deeds

— The final Dateline sketch with Bill’s Keith Morrison.
— As usual, this is using the same basic concept from the previous Dateline/Keith Morrison sketches, but Bill’s Morrison and his delighted, creepy vocalizations never fail to crack me up.
— Funny line from Bill’s Morrison about how they have to stretch out this murder story because Dateline’s an hour-long show, and how they only have one photo of the murderer, which they keep showing repeatedly.
— A memorable visual of Bill’s Morrison snacking on popcorn while eagerly listening to grisly details of a murder. I’ve often seen that visual used as a GIF on Twitter.
— Bill-as-Morrison’s reactions to Kristen’s “I would let him stick his dong right up in my dumphole” confession is hilarious, with him first reacting with a frozen, speechless face, then saying a poignantly-delivered “I must paint you”, then proceeding to create a painting of Kristen. Even funnier about that last part is that, before the camera cuts away from Bill’s Morrison beginning to paint Kristen, we see that he’s just painting a simple circle for the head and a bigger simple circle for the body (the sixth-to-last above screencap for this sketch).
— Even though the part with Steve joining Bill’s Morrison in his usual delighted, creepy vocalizations is just a copy of what Tracy Morgan did in a previous Dateline sketch, it’s still making me laugh.
— A good offbeat, random ending with Bill’s Morrison imitating a drowning clown in a pool.
STARS: ****


COACH BERT
investigation clears creepy college coach (host) of pedophilia suspicions

— Ah, an all-time classic, and one of the ballsier things SNL has done in this era.
— A lot of priceless taken-aback reactions from Steve’s Coach Bert when Jason says Coach Bert came to mind when wondering if anyone at this college could potentially be a sexual predator.
— I love Jason’s “I know, I’m as surprised as you are!” when reporters are in disbelief upon being told that no evidence of Coach Bert being a pedophile could be found.
— Coach Bert, when wondering why he’s suspected of being a pedophile: “Is it the mustache?!? ‘Cause I can shave the mustache!”
— A great violent outburst from Kenan towards Coach Bert when Kenan expresses disgust over Coach Bert never being seen washing his hands at any point during the investigation of him.
— The escalation to this sketch is fantastic, with us now getting an appearance from Bill as a NAMBLA member, an appearance that’s hilarious right from his opening line about how great it is to be back in a school.
— When the reporters applaud Bill’s NAMBLA character as he leaves, I love an outraged Coach Bert saying “You’re clapping for him?!? Don’t clap for him!”
— Jay, after revealing that the only bad thing Coach Bert did to him during their private meeting was make him listen to a tape of the horrible Bert Man song: “He never molested me…but at times, I would’ve preferred if he had.”
— Excellent ending with the Coach Bert flyer Jason holds up.
— Overall, this sketch was just as incredible as I had remembered.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Lonely Boy”


WEEKEND UPDATE
aura of adultery surrounds suspension of Herman Cain’s (KET) campaign

the holidays find Drunk Uncle (BOM) unhappy with the direction of society

— Kenan’s Herman Cain telling Seth, immediately after handing him money, “Now, you know that money ain’t free”, made me laugh just due to Kenan’s delivery.
— A predictable but amusing “Why don’t you bend over for Herman Cain?” motto that Kenan’s Cain leads up to.
— Ladies and gentlemen, we have a major recurring character debut!
— Right out of the gate in his debut, Drunk Uncle is coming off very funny in his griping about modern societal and technological norms, and his sloppy use of popular slogans. Bobby already has a solid handle on this character.
— I got a particularly big laugh from Drunk Uncle randomly growling the word “iiiimmigrants!” into his drink.
STARS: ***


SURPRISE
co-worker’s (VAB) pending promotion overstimulates surprise-loving Sue

— (*groan*) The return of Surprise Sue. At least we got a long break from her. Her last appearance prior to tonight was as far back as two seasons ago. I’m not 100% sure, but I think I recall Kristen announcing sometime during that two-year gap that she retired Surprise Sue along with another character or two, because she was sick of playing them. No idea why they un-retired Sue tonight, but this ends up being her final appearance during Kristen’s tenure as a cast member. (Sue gets brought back many years later in a season 42 episode hosted by Kristen.)
— I hate myself for chuckling at the fact that Steve’s character is named Artie Anal, especially since I usually hate when the regular writer(s) of this sketch (either Kent Sublette and/or James Anderson) throws gag names like that into sketches as a random non-sequitur that’s unrelated to the sketch’s premise (a HORRIBLE trademark of many of the sketches that Sublette and/or Anderson are known to have written). I think the only reason this particular Artie Anal name made me laugh was just because of Steve’s affable delivery of it.
— Now Steve has a genuinely funny line, where he says a shocked “God, Sue, you’ve got some knockers!” when seeing Surprise Sue in her bra.
— I saw it coming from a mile away that Sue would eventually end up inside that vending machine in the background.
STARS: **


“SEX” ED VINCENT’S COUPLES WORKSHOP SEX INTENSIVE
erotic chef (host) contributes to Ed Vincent’s tepid Couples Workshop

— Yet another sketch/character tonight that’s making its final appearance, as this is our second and final edition of Paul’s Sex Ed Vincent bit. Good to see this back, and I’m happy that this is the second lead role that the underused Paul has gotten in tonight’s episode alone.
— Like last time, Paul’s giving a strong performance as this character.
— Ha, Steve Buscemi as a character called “The Erotic Chef”. You can already tell this is gonna kill.
— As expected, Steve’s overly-simplistic erotic food routine is great.
— Some very funny sex moves that Paul demonstrates for same-sex couples.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Gold on the Ceiling”


ORNAMENTS
(host) unpacks & comments on Christmas ornaments for Sheila (KRW) to hang

— The first of an occasionally-appearing recurring holiday piece. I love all the ones I’ve seen (I’ve yet to watch the cut-after-dress-rehearsal-but-posted-online Kristen Wiig-starring one from the season 42 episode that Kristen hosts), but to me, none of the follow-ups top this original one.
— I love Steve’s affably-delivered “I’m fully kidding” comment after claiming the snowman ornament had just bit him.
— Every single comment from Steve about each ornament is absolutely slaying me.
— Steve, leaning discreetly into the camera after a loopy moment from Kristen’s side character: “This broad is tryin’ to gaslight me!”
— Steve, regarding one particular ornament: “This one’s been up my butt. Not just a little bit…all the way.”
— All the random and offbeat side actions from Kristen’s tree-decorating character are adding to the humor for me, especially when the tree she’s decorating has inexplicably disappeared out of nowhere.
— After Kristen repeats Steve’s “Merry Christmas, Sheila”, we get a great reveal from the ending title screen that Steve’s character is indeed named Sheila.
STARS: *****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A bit of an up-and-down episode, but the highs made it worth it. In particular, we got TWO all-time favorites of mine (and certain other SNL fans): Coach Bert and Ornaments. The poor utilization of Steve Buscemi in his first two appearances tonight was worrisome, but his utilization got better as this episode progressed.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Coach Bert
Ornaments
Dateline / “Sex” Ed Vincent’s Couples Workshop Sex Intensive (tie)
Frozen Mexican Dinner
Monologue
Weekend Update
Batman
Obama In One
The Miley Cyrus Show
Surprise


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jason Segel)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Katy Perry

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January 8, 2011 – Jim Carrey / The Black Keys (S36 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

A MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR
Michael Bloomberg (FRA) details lazy NYC workers’ inept blizzard response

— A decent Michael Bloomberg impression from Fred.
— A pretty good spoof of 1) the overreaction from New Yorkers to the big blizzard that had recently hit the city, and 2) the slow response NYC workers had to said blizzard. As a New Yorker myself, this is bringing back a lot of memories of this time.
— Funny reveal from Fred’s Bloomberg that the reason for a certain New York area being cleared of snow was just because of a gas explosion.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
unworried by the looming apocalypse, host wants to wed an audience member

— Jim Carrey jokingly calls the then-recently-ended year 2010 a nightmare and says we wouldn’t want to go through it again. Uh, Jim, I know you’re just kidding, but I got bad news for you regarding what’s in store for us 10 years after 2010.
— This “doomed year” stuff is a bit of an odd and unexciting topic for a Jim Carrey monologue, but he’s making it work, in his usual way.
— Some laughs from the examples Jim gives for how he always makes the best out of dire situations.
— A pretty fun interaction between Jim and a female audience member.
— A nice deviation from the usual “Stick around, we’ll be right back” monologue tagline.
STARS: ***½


BOSLEY HAIR RESTORATION
Rerun from 9/25/10


BLACK SWAN
Nina’s (NAP) mannish rival Lily (host) is more adept at Black Swan role

— Despite the tired man-in-drag trope, Jim seems like he can definitely make this role fun, and I like how it, in some ways, feels like a slight throwback to his Vera De Milo character from In Living Color.
— I like a lightly-dancing Taran feeding Jim bread crumbs.
— A big laugh from Jim’s fist-in-mouth bit.
— I bet it took Bill everything in him not to crack up when Jim screamed in his face twice while “flashing” him.
— Good pre-taped ending shot of Jim.
STARS: ***½


FINDING YOUR POWER
hidden-camera footage belies self-assertion claims

— The name of Jason’s character, Zach Twinefeld, made me chuckle more than it probably should’ve.
— Pretty funny turns with hidden camera footage revealing how each guest didn’t exactly stand up for themselves like they claimed to.
— I can’t help but hear Vanessa’s Miley Cyrus in Vanessa’s crying rant.
— Hilarious turn with the quick “Well, we put a camera in your wife’s mouth. Roll it!” “What?!?” exchange between Jason and Jim, followed by a P.O.V. camera angle from inside Jim’s wife’s mouth while Jim’s tearfully pleading to her. You also have to imagine how silly the wife must’ve looked standing there with her mouth wide open like that the whole time while secretly filming Jim.
STARS: ***½


GRADY WILSON’S TANTRIC ‘N TASTY
guru (host) adds Eastern skill to Grady Wilson’s Tantric ‘n Tasty sex DVD

— The final Grady Wilson sketch. For some reason, unlike the previous installments of this sketch, this entire installment is pre-taped. I have no idea why.
— As I said in my review of the last installment of this sketch prior to this one, this recurring sketch has been getting less and less funny with each passing installment.
— At least we now have Jim to hopefully milk some laughs from this tired format.
— Meh, it turns out that not even Jim can help this tired format all that much. Good riddance to this recurring sketch. It started out strong and fun in its very first installment, but probably never should’ve become recurring.
STARS: **


THE WORST OF SOUL TRAIN
the ’70s & ’80s were full of awful musical acts

— Already a laugh just from the initial sight of Bobby, as well as him introducing himself as Smokey Robinson’s white half-brother, Coughy Robinson.
— A fairly fun and promising sketch concept of a collection of horrible Soul Train performances.
— I love Bobby’s explanation that Triangle Sally died halfway through her performance, “and we did NOT edit it out!”
— A funny comically brief song from Taran and Paul’s bizarre robotic singing duo.
— After a somewhat slow first two minutes, this sketch has gotten increasingly funnier starting with the Triangle Sally scene. I particularly love the scene happening right now with Jason’s Billy Ocean-esque “Get out of my car, get into my trunk” song.
— Jim’s “one titty” song is absolutely priceless, and a strong way to end this sketch.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Howlin’ For You”


WEEKEND UPDATE
ousted Nancy Pelosi (KRW) easily triggers John Boehner (BIH) crying jags

Anthony Crispino’s supposed scoops are based on things that were misheard

Arkansan red-winged blackbird (ANS) & fish (TAK) ponder animal die-offs

— Bill’s deep-voiced, cartoonish, Cowardly Lion-esque crying as John Boehner is making me laugh out loud.
— This has to be the funniest Anthony Crispino commentary by this point of his run. A lot of his false info here is giving me big laughs.
— A variation of Andy’s Larry The Goose. As an odd coincidence, the only times Andy has played Larry The Goose and tonight’s similar character have all been in January episodes.
— Fairly fun to see Taran get involved in Andy’s commentary.
— Given the fact that SNL doesn’t have a black woman in the cast this season, I wonder who that was doing the Oprah voice-over during the “Oprah-calypse” bit in Andy and Taran’s commentary.
— A pretty fun dumb, silly conceit to Andy and Taran’s commentary.
STARS: ***


MERRYVILLE TROLLEY RIDE
sinister Merryville animatrons (host), (TAK), (BIH) unsettle (KET)

— Ah, here comes an absolute favorite of mine, and an important moment for Taran as a cast member.
— Taran and Jim’s robotic movements as the animatrons are absolutely SPOT-ON (almost eerily so) and hilarious. Very impressive, especially from Taran. Who knew before this sketch aired that he was capable of something like this? I remember being so wowed by him when this sketch originally aired.
— Bill’s animatron character occasionally popping up just to ding the triangle (there seems to be a triangle-dinging theme in this episode, between Triangle Sally and this) while having a creepy smile is a great example of Bill’s ability to get laughs out of the smallest things.
— I love the animatrons’ increasingly creepy and sinister actions towards Kenan.
— Hilarious when Bill’s animatron character pops up with his head missing and wires poking out of his neck.
— Great ending visual of a Kenan mannequin.
— Overall, a classic in my eyes, and a huge turning point in Taran’s SNL tenure. Back when this episode originally aired, this sketch was what led to me and many others to start becoming a big fan of Taran’s work on the show, and he would go on to build on the great progress he showed in this sketch.
STARS: *****


PSYCHIC MEDIUM
psychic (host) channels his previous career as a celebrity impressionist

— A very fun excuse to have Jim showcase his underrated knack for doing great celebrity impressions.
— I like the running gag with Vanessa calling out Jim’s lack of hygiene from his bathroom break.
— I particularly love Jim’s Alan Thicke impression, as well as Jason having an over-excited foot-stomping reaction to that and then yelling “No one does a Thicke!”
— Great ending with Jim doing a Sammy Davis Jr. impression while using the crystal ball as a glass eye.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Tighten Up”


A TASTE OF NEW YORK
grubby trio (host), (FRA), (KRW) sings to tourists about NYC’s underbelly

— Geez, Abby is making her first and ONLY appearance all night in the final sketch of the episode, playing a very small straight role where she only has one or two lines. I feel for her.
— A very blah reveal of the comedic conceit of the song that Fred, Jim, and Kristen’s homeless group sings.
— Not a single laugh from me so far. Not even Jim can save this.
— Overall, an awful sketch, and such a poor note to end this episode on, especially after the extremely fun two sketches that preceded this. I guess we can consider this YET ANOTHER of many wretched Fred Armisen-starring sketches this season. The man continues to be the bane of this season.
STARS: *


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— While this comes absolutely nowhere close to measuring up to the beloved first Jim Carrey-hosted episode (continuing this season’s frustrating failure to produce a standout strong episode), this was an overall pretty good episode, and hit a big peak with the first two post-Weekend Update sketches. Jim Carrey was his reliably hilarious self as expected.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Merryville Trolley Ride
Psychic Medium
Black Swan
Finding Your Power
Monologue
The Worst Of Soul Train
A Message From The Mayor
Weekend Update
Grady Wilson’s Tantric ‘N Tasty
A Taste Of New York


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jeff Bridges)
a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Gwyneth Paltrow