Tag: Vampire Weekend

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May 11, 2013 – Kristen Wiig / Vampire Weekend (S38 E20)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

BENGHAZI HEARINGS
Jodi Arias (NAP) testifies at Benghazi hearings as a ratings stunt

— A fairly amusing concept of having Jodi Arias testify at the Benghazi hearings.
— Wait, what the hell? Why are the names that are displayed for the representatives on their respective desk nameplates completely different from 1) the names that Bill refers to them as, and 2) the names that are displayed for them respectively on a chyron on the bottom of the screen?
— I got a pretty good laugh from the lack of an answer when Nasim’s Jodi Arias asks why they’re holding these Benghazi hearings if we already know who the culprit of the Benghazi attack was.
— Nasim-as-Arias’ “You and the jury” line was kinda funny, but I didn’t find it to be anywhere near as clever as SNL wanted me to.
— I remember some online SNL fans considering it ballsy for SNL to spoof Ariel Castro. Too bad what SNL does with it here is absolutely nothing to write home about.
— What the fuck?!? Why in the world does Bill refer to Bobby’s Ariel Castro as “Mr. Ramsey”?!? Man, what is HAPPENING to this cold opening?
— Overall, aside from a laugh here and there, this cold opening didn’t work, the various attempts at topical satire felt tepid, and things were way too sloppy with the aforementioned confusing gaffes. Felt like this was thrown together a half-hour before airtime or something.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
KRW goes backstage & sings “I’m So Excited” variant; Jonah Hill & MAR cameos

— I’ve said this about some other former cast members when reviewing their monologues, but it sure feels odd to see Kristen Wiig standing on that home base stage as the host. Perhaps one of the reasons this feels odd is because a full season hasn’t even passed since Kristen left the cast. Practically yesterday, I was still reviewing her as a cast member.
— Meh, didn’t care for the very random joke with a photo of David Spade being shown as a younger version of Kristen.
— Ugh, several cast members playing backup singers, a known pet peeve of mine regarding musical monologues.
— I know I said in previous reviews that I’m always a sucker for former cast members doing monologues where they go around the studio and backstage while singing, but damn, does it have to become a requirement for EVERY former cast member to do that in their monologue in these early 2010s years? In just a year-and-a-half, we’ve had that type of monologue from Jimmy Fallon, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, and now Kristen Wiig. The novelty has completely worn off by this Wiig episode, sad to say.
— Yeah, so far, I’m finding that this monologue is lacking the fun and exciting feel that former-cast-member-goes-around-the-studio-and-backstage-while-singing monologues typically have. Aside from maybe one or two things, I’m not all that crazy about anything that’s been going on in tonight’s monologue so far.
— Hmm, a rare instance of someone actually interacting with the Abraham Lincoln who’s traditionally seen in the background of SNL’s backstage pieces.
— Fred’s entrance as himself receives a big applause break from the audience, despite the fact that he’s, you know, STILL IN THE CAST.
— At least tonight’s Gilly appearance isn’t in a full-fledged sketch, even if I’ve surprisingly developed a modicum of tolerance towards Gilly in her last few appearances prior to this episode. (The actual final full-fledged Gilly sketch, from the preceding season’s Sofia Vergara episode, was actually perfect closure for that character.)
— I do at least like seeing the entire cast dancing together onstage at the end of this monologue (Taran in particular is doing some absolutely priceless dancing in the background), even though it’s a knock-off of the ending of Jimmy Fallon’s far-superior aforementioned monologue.
STARS: **


1-800-FLOWERS
1-800-Flowers mediates love-hate relationship between (KRW) & mom (KAM)

— Interesting pairing of Kristen and Kate, especially given the constant comparisons people made between them in Kate’s early days. Also interesting is seeing Kristen playing straight man to Kate.
— This commercial is showing how woefully underrated Kristen’s straight man skills are, and how much better she generally is at performing low-key stuff like this.
— Kate: “God, I wish I was a lesbian so I didn’t have to carry a purse.” An ironic line, given the performer who delivered it.
STARS: ***½


THE CALIFORNIANS
back-from-the-dead Karina (KRW) meets pregnant (MAR)

— (*groooooaaaaaaaan*) The first of what I’m sure will be various instances of me groaning at the return of a Wiig-involved terrible recurring sketch.
— Aaaaaand there goes the obligatory breaking, with Bill setting off a giggling fit for Kristen. Come to think of it, Kristen never could get through these Californians sketches without laughing her way through them, which I almost forgot until now, given the fact that Kristen previously only appeared in the first two installments of this sketch.
— Aaaaaaaaand we end with an extremely hammy, over-the-top, and unfunny mug-off between Maya Rudolph and Kristen. Ugh
— Overall, not a single redeeming factor to be found. Usually, I can find ONE very mild highlight in each Californians installment. No such luck here.
STARS: *


AW NUTS! MOM’S A GHOST!
Korean horror meets Disney Channel sitcom

— The basic style of this is a spot-on spoof of typical Disney Channel shows.
— The Korean water ghost thing is an interesting and unusual concept that I’m onboard for.
— Pretty funny how the very disturbing things Kristen’s Korean water ghost mom character is doing are being presented in such a lighthearted, corny-sitcom manner.
STARS: ***½


THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW
Dooneese goes after (JAS) on the beach

— (*groooooaaaaaaaan*)
— I think this is the latest slot in an episode that a Lawrence Welk Show sketch has ever aired. IIRC, all previous installments of this sketch were either the first post-monologue live sketch or the cold opening.
— Ugh, there goes the obligatory lame, juvenile finger joke from Fred’s Lawrence Welk.
— Yeah, as usual, I have absolutely NOTHING to say about the same-old same-old Dooneese portion of this sketch, except that it somehow feels even more tired than usual.
— The bit with Dooneese’s arm appearing on the opposite side of the screen feels like a knock-off of a gag used in a few Herb Welch sketches.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Diane Young”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Anthony Crispino raises his voice while propagating incorrect information

Garth & Kat offer characteristically-extemporaneous Mother’s Day songs

— Yikes, Seth’s voice sounding VERY hoarse tonight.
— I like the fun exchanges Bobby’s Anthony Crispino and Seth are having regarding Crispino always asking “Did you hear about this one?”
— Hmm, now they’ve begun using a vocal modulator on Crispino’s constant “I’m pretty sure”s, which would become a running gag in his subsequent Update commentaries. While I love the silliness of these Crispino commentaries in general, the vocal modulator gag may be a little TOO cartoonish for my likes.
— Tonight’s overall Crispino commentary was okay, but nowhere near as strong as usual. None of his false stories tonight stood out to me.
— Seth, when delivering a sincere Mother’s Day message towards his mother while looking into the straight-ahead camera: “Mom, I just wanted to let you know……..THAT GARTH AND KAT ARE HERE!!!” Oh, damn you, Seth. DAMN YOU. You might as well have introduced this Garth and Kat commentary by just saying, “Hey, happy Mother’s Day, mom, hope ya like crap!”
— Oh, and to continue the theme of this episode review of mine, let me greet tonight’s Garth and Kat commentary with a (*groooooaaaaaaaan*), with a side of (*Stooge grabs a blowtorch and burns the laptop he’s watching this on to ashes*)
STARS: **


TARGET
Target Lady takes pleasure in processing cash register transactions

— Yet another Wiig-involved recurring sketch tonight, but I won’t greet this particular one with a “(*groooooaaaaaaaan*)”, because, as I’ve previously disclosed, Target Lady has surprisingly grown on me towards the end of her original run, and, underneath her overly-broad and cartoonish voice, tics, and catchphrases, I’m finding a strangely endearing and human quality to her (which a lot of Kristen’s recurring characters lack big-time). But, damn, we’re more than halfway through this episode and Kristen has yet to do a single live sketch tonight where she plays an original character. The specific recurring characters this episode has been filled with are exactly some SNL fans’ worst nightmare on what a Kristen Wiig-hosted episode would look like.
— At least we get a change of pace at the beginning of this, regarding Target Lady starting her shift.
— No matter how much I come around on Target Lady, I’ll NEVER like that regular gag where she walks away from her cash register to get something while in the middle of ringing up a customer.
— Another change of pace in tonight’s Target Lady sketch, with her actually telling a customer, “Void” for once, instead of her usual “Approved!”
— Funny bit with Target Lady explaining why she cuts out the eyes from photos of models in issues of Sassy Magazine.
— Vanessa, when Kenan suggests they go to Kohl’s: “Kohl’s??? Who are you, Donald Trump???”
STARS: ***


ACUPUNCTURE
acupuncturists (KRW) & (AIB) cause blood to gush from (JAS)’s back

 

— Finally, a non-recurring live sketch tonight.
— Ah, a sketch in the tradition of SNL’s projectile bleeding sketches.
— Jason’s overly-calm, unaware reactions while bleeding profusely are very funny, as are Kristen, Aidy, and Kate’s various panicked reactions and resorts.
— I love Bobby’s off-camera yell of “Who’s blood is this?!?”, as well as Aidy passing it off to Jason as being cool street talk, “You know, like, ‘What’s up, blood?’”
— Absolutely hilarious how Kristen’s character is now desperately resorting to making Jason unwittingly drink a vase of his own blood to keep him from getting suspicious.
— I got a good laugh from how, when asked “Anything you’d like to contribute?” while he’s seeing the madness that Kristen and Aidy have created, Fred just grabs his hat & suitcase and casually dives out of the window.
— Another funny line from an off-camera Bobby: “Yo, man, who the hell this Chinese dude?!?”
— Aidy’s character attempting to deliver the term Shamwow in a fancy manner is very funny.
— Solid visual of a flesh bubble inflating out of Jason’s back, then exploding a spurt of blood. Man, this sketch is a riot.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL GUEST INTRO

— Very nice and rare how the end of the preceding Acupuncture sketch carries over into this musical guest intro, with Kristen and Aidy still being in their wigs and blood-drenched costumes. It’s also a rarity to see a current cast member in a musical guest intro, not counting episodes where the musical guest is also that night’s host. Rather significant that the cast member in this particular musical guest intro is a first-year featured player. I remember some online SNL fans who, at the time, felt Aidy might end up a one-season wonder took her appearance in this musical guest intro as a sign that perhaps she might make it to a second season after all. As I mentioned in a previous episode review, those concerns some online SNL fans had at the time about Aidy supposedly not doing too well in her first season and having a chance of getting fired over the summer don’t hold up well, as I’m finding in my re-watch of this season that Aidy actually had a low-key impressive first season.
— This season’s been having some creative fun with a few of their musical guest intros, between Stefon introducing one of Bruno Mars’ performances, Justin Timberlake introducing one of his own performances, the Three Amigos introducing the other Timberlake performance that same night, and now this.


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Unbelievers”


DOUBLE DATE
on a double date, (KRW) & (CES) flirt with sixth graders (BOM) & (TIR)

— Hmm, not too excited about this premise.
— Bobby and Tim are at least convincing and cute in their portrayal of little boys.
— A laugh from Kristen’s out-of-nowhere dickhead line about her husband.
— Cecily is really solid here.
— I’m starting to love the voice Tim’s using. Sadly, this ends up being the final lead role he would ever get as a cast member.
— After my iffiness towards this sketch in the first minute-and-a-half or so, this sketch has really been growing on me. There’s actually an interesting tone to this sketch. Almost slice-of-life-ish, in fact, though nowhere near as low-key as SNL’s slice-of-life sketches typically are. All the performances are adding to the refreshing realism of this sketch, Cecily’s performance in particular.
— Pretty funny exaggerated laughter from Taran’s character in reaction to a very mild anecdote from Bobby.
STARS: ***½


CLASSY SEXY ELEGNACE
CD features autotuned reality show housewives

— Another sketch this season with a whole bunch of unfortunate James Anderson-isms jumping out in your face right from the start. Kristen’s first musical number in this sketch even feels a little reminiscent of typical musical performances in Deep House Dish (complete with two model-looking men as backup dancers), a recurring sketch written by James Anderson. I swear I recall there also being another sketch Anderson wrote that had someone saying, as one of the lyrics of a song they’re singing, “Did I already say (insert word here that they already said)?”, like Kristen does here.
— Aidy’s performance is at least funny (which, once again, continues this quietly solid first season of hers), though the actual lines/lyrics she’s been given here aren’t funny in the slightest.
— Overall, way too much of this sketch went by without a single laugh from me. Aidy’s performance and delivery during her solo number provided the only amusement I got from this whole thing.
STARS: *½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— One of this season’s lesser episodes. As feared, quite a large chunk of this episode was filled with tired returning Kristen Wiig favorites (certainly not my favorites), most of them lousy as always. Some of the non-recurring stuff in the pre-Weekend Update half didn’t work, either, such as the cold opening and monologue. Thankfully, after this episode finally got all of the recurring stuff out of the way, there was a big upswing in quality towards the end of the show, with the funny and original Acupuncture and Double Date sketches, but that upswing in quality was short-lived, as things unfortunately bottomed-out again with the final sketch of the night.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Acupuncture
Double Date
1-800-Flowers
Aw Nuts! Mom’s A Ghost!
Target
Monologue
Weekend Update
Benghazi Hearings
Classy Sexy Elegnace
The Lawrence Welk Show
The Californians


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Zach Galifianakis)
a big step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 38 comes to an end, with host Ben Affleck. It’s the final episode for veterans Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and Jason Sudeikis, as well as the final episode that newbie Tim Robinson spends in the cast before moving to the writers’ room.

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March 6, 2010 – Zach Galifianakis / Vampire Weekend (S35 E16)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

HEALTH CARE REFORM
Barack Obama (FRA) thinks Harry Reid’s (WLF) Senate seat is in jeopardy

— Out of the following two things, I don’t know what I’m more tired of seeing in a cold opening in this SNL era: a Jim Downey-voiced C-SPAN intro, or a Fredbama address to the nation. Here, we get BOTH.
— Yeesh, Will screwed up one of his ONLY lines in this long, laughless, insufferable cold opening.
— Will-as-Harry-Reid’s little head nod when Fred’s Obama says maybe they could do without him is the closest to a smirk I’ve gotten in this cold opening so far, and that’s still not saying much.
— Overall, what a horrible way to start an episode.
STARS: *


MONOLOGUE
host plays piano & does stand-up on various topics

— In true Zach Galifianakis fashion, he even manages to make his monologue entrance funny, by patting the SNL Band’s bass player on the butt when passing by him.
— Even Zach’s opening statements are great: yelling an angry “Stop clapping!”, and saying “It’s great to be back hosting Saturday Night Live” before being told by someone off-screen that he’s never hosted before.
— A hilarious “Oh, you’re out of that one?” sequence, with Zach telling us the many looks he asked the SNL stylist to give him for this monologue (e.g. “Oh, just give me the lighthouse attendant”, “Just give me Vice President of Ultimate Frisbee”, “Just give me Wolf Blitzer at Burning Man”).
— Every single line from Zach is absolutely slaying in this.
— Great detail with Zach calling the Canadian version of Miles Davis “Kilometers Davis”.
— Zach: “I like dark comedies. That’s why I like the Wayans Brothers.”
— The piano-playing that Zach’s now doing is a great accompaniment to his jokes.
— The “spouting off random one-liners” format of this monologue is my personal favorite style of stand-up comedy, as I’ve said in some of my earlier episode reviews, such as when I covered Steven Wright’s various stand-up guest spots in the 80s, and when I covered George Carlin’s various stand-up segments in the very first SNL episode.
— Even the “We got a great show for you tonight” sign-off of this monologue is killer, with Zach’s random “Hoobastank is here!” announcement.
STARS: *****


AFFECTIONATE FAMILY
at a funeral, the Vogelchecks grieve by kissing family members & mourners

— (*grooooooaaaaaaaannnnnnnn*)
— At least they changed the setting of this recurring sketch, not that that’ll magically make this recurring sketch funny all of a sudden.
— Two-and-a-half minutes into this unbearable sketch, and I’m wondering to myself, where the fuck is Zach Galifianakis? Then again, maybe I should be happy to not see him get mixed up in this unfunny Vogelchecks mess.
— What was with the really awkward stalling and out-of-character mild giggling from Bill and Fred right before Zach appeared? Did somebody forget their line?
— Aaaaaaand there’s Zach, and, of course, he’s unfortunately getting mixed up in in this everybody-kissing-each-other mess. Yeah, I’m starting to think it would’ve been better if Zach sat this sketch out. I do at least kinda like the detail of his character being named Father Yankovich.
— Assuming Will is playing the same Grandpa Vogelcheck he played in the James Franco installment of this sketch earlier this season, where’s Grandma Vogelcheck, played by Nasim in that Franco installment? Wouldn’t she attend her own husband’s funeral? Or are we supposed to assume she died off-camera sometime between the Franco installment and tonight’s installment? Geez, both Grandma AND Grandpa Vogelcheck dying within just three months after the previous installment of this sketch? Must’ve been all that spit-swappin’ with James Franco that killed them.
STARS: * (This may be the first time in my SNL project that a segment I gave a perfect five-star rating to [the monologue] was sandwiched between two segments I gave a lowest-of-low one-star rating to [the cold opening and this sketch].)


BIDET
all of hotel guests’ (host) & (KRW) questions are related to the bidet

— I recall hearing this got cut after dress rehearsal from the preceding season’s Will Ferrell episode.
— A simplistic sketch, but Kristen and Zach’s overly specific questions about the bidet are funny.
— I like Andy’s unfazed reactions to all the odd bidet questions he’s being bombarded with.
— I love Zach’s question of if there would be a gap “bidet-wise” between the hotel and the hospital in the event that either he or Kristen suffer a bidet-related injury.
STARS: ***½


ZACH DROPS BY THE SET
host has been crashing video shoots for years

— Ooh, just from the opening title sequence, you can already tell this is going to be a blast.
— Priceless background sighting of Zach behind Brian Williams in the first scene.
— Such a great use of Zach and his comedic style.
— I love how they’re even doing a 30 Rock scene, which is giving this short even more of a special feel.
— Lots of SNL cameos from Jack McBrayer these past two seasons.
— When this originally aired, my local NBC affiliate in New York accidentally cut to a blank screen for several seconds right when the camera was panning over to Zach at the children’s birthday party. Then when the screen came back on, the sound wasn’t working until the Law & Order scene began. I recall later finding out that the reason for this gaffe was because of some kind of HD switchover by the network at midnight, but I can’t remember the specifics.
— Oh, hell yeah! Now this is getting meta, by cutting to a Robin Williams monologue from a 1984 Dick Ebersol-era SNL episode! As an SNL nerd, words cannot express how much I love this meta-ness, as well as this shoutout to such a neglected SNL era.
— Perfect ending with a bearded kiddie Zach Galifianakis in the 1984 SNL audience.
STARS: ****½


TODAY
wine-addicted Kathie Lee Gifford (KRW) helps host drop by the set

— This would end up being Jenny’s final time playing Hoda Kotb before suffering the same fate of SNL’s previous short-lived Hoda Kotb impersonator, Michaela Watkins, by getting fired after this season, sparking a famous theory among online SNL fans that the Hoda Kotb role on SNL is cursed. Nasim would end up breaking this curse, as she takes over the Hoda role in the next Today sketch, which (surprisingly) isn’t until two seasons later. Then again, that ends up being the final Today sketch, so maybe that’s why Nasim doesn’t suffer “the curse” after playing Hoda in it.
— I’m getting my usual mild laughs from Kristen’s Kathie Lee shtick, ever since I’ve surprisingly developed some goodwill towards it starting with the preceding season’s Zac Efron episode, after absolutely HATING Kristen’s Kathie Lee shtick prior to that. (Maybe the change of heart I’ve had towards Kristen’s Kathie Lee is a case of Stockholm Syndrome.)
— As usual, Jenny’s not doing it for me in this Hoda role compared to how masterfully Michaela Watkins played such a thankless role.
— Ha, we suddenly get a continuation of the Zach Drops By The Set gag, with a creepily-smiling Zach appearing in the background! I absolutely LOVE this rare case of sketches overlapping. And just three episodes after a brilliant case of sketches overlapping (Closet Organizer).
— This sketch, which was only mildly funny and rather forgettable before Zach’s part, has taken such a good turn, and I love Zach being brought into the Today studio after declaring his unsettling love for his “Egyptian goddess” Hoda Kotb. Even Jenny’s Hoda performance is now working for me in this portion of the sketch.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Cousins”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Mo’Nique (KET) won’t limit her Oscar acceptance speech to 45 seconds

WLF is mad high schools won’t buy his sketchy song about women’s history

— Kenan In A Dress alert.
— Ugh, in true Kenan In A Dress fashion, he’s not even attempting to imitate Mo’Nique’s distinct voice, instead just doing a generic “confident black woman” voice that sounds nothing like Mo’Nique’s voice. He also, at one point, for whatever reason, slipped into his Googie Rene character by throwing in a “Sheeyeah!” utterance.
— A traditional Will Forte Update song! And, sadly, it’s the last one we’ll ever see during Will’s tenure as a cast member.
— As expected, Will’s fast-paced Herstory song is fantastic. I especially got a big laugh from the lyric “Helen Keller said ‘Waaauuugh’”.
— Seth has some really solid jokes tonight.
— The “(insert crazy action here) is the (insert state here) state flag” punchline has become a recurring joke these past two Updates.
— I recall hearing that a David Paterson commentary got cut after this episode’s dress rehearsal. If that’s true, THANK GOD. I like Fred’s Paterson more than most people seem to, but Jesus Christ, why the fuck is SNL going so heavy on it in the second half of this season? Hell, Fred’s Paterson just did an Update commentary in the preceding episode. Were they seriously going to have a Paterson commentary on Update TWO WEEKS IN A ROW?!? That’s insane. To those of you who don’t like Fred’s Paterson, you dodged a bullet with tonight’s Paterson commentary getting cut.
STARS: ***½


WHAT UP WITH THAT?
Paul Rudd & Frank Rich [real] don’t get to say much

— This would end up being Will’s final time playing the announcer of these sketches, which serves as another reminder in this review that the end of Will’s SNL tenure is near.
— As usual, this sketch is very formulaic but a blast.
— A freakin’ hilarious walk-on from Zach as a flute player.
— I’m enjoying the escalation each passing What Up With That sketch is making to the running gag with Kenan trying to get a smile out of Bill’s Lindsey Buckingham, who’s unhappy due to getting bumped once again.
STARS: ****


THE SITUATION ROOM
unvetted viewer-submitted content is unjournalistic

— Feels odd seeing a Situation Room sketch appearing so late in an episode.
— A very funny obscene photo of then-writer Mike O’Brien (the fifth above screencap for this sketch).
— Geez, another sketch tonight in which Zach has yet to be seen when we’re halfway through the sketch.
— Some decent laughs from the juvenile messages submitted to the show.
— Finally, there’s Zach. His appearance is funny, of course, but I’m starting to be bothered by how it seems like, after the Bidet sketch ended, SNL has only been using Zach in non-speaking walk-on roles.
— Pretty funny voice from Nasim as Christiane Amanpour.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Giving Up The Gun”


PAGEANT TALK
contestant (JES) has been coached by her queer dad (host)

— Ha, we suddenly get a beardless Zach! He shaved off his beard after introducing the Vampire Weekend musical performance that preceded this sketch. After this episode’s original airing, NBC.com (I think) would put up a backstage video of Zach shaving his beard behind the scenes during Vampire Weekend’s performance.
— After my complaint about Zach being relegated to nothing but silent walk-on roles in a long string of segments that preceded this, it feels good to see Zach not only in an actual speaking role, but actually front-and-center as the lead in this sketch.
— I got a laugh from the random detail of Kristen having a baggie of Cheetos in her hand during her entrance.
— The lispy gay stereotypes here feel way too typical of this SNL era (I don’t need to ask which writer penned this sketch), but the performances are at least fun (including one of Jenny’s better performances in her short-lived SNL tenure) and are elevating the material.
— I see Kristen’s apparently playing a variation of her cigarette-smoking, ashtray-throwing character from the notorious Biker Chick Chat sketch from this season’s premiere.
— Zach’s over-the-top delivery of “If I see one more updo pouf, I’m gonna have to jack myself down in a hot shower!” was hilarious.
— A rare-feeling instance of Zach breaking, as he helplessly cracks up after one of (several) line flubs he makes in this sketch.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

— Amusingly, Zach’s clearly wearing a fake beard for these goodnights.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty good episode. Certainly better than I had remembered it (I feel like I’m saying that quite a lot this season). When this episode originally aired, the “poor” quality of most of the material and the aforementioned fact that Zach Galifianakis was relegated to too many non-speaking walk-on roles made many online SNL fans (including myself) consider this episode to be a HUGE letdown for a Zach Galifianakis episode, after how highly we were anticipating his hosting stint. The perceived disappointment of this episode even led to some of the staunchest season 35 defenders having an epiphany and realizing “All of the complainers are right: this season does suck.” I’ve recently come to realize in my coverage of this season in my SNL project that this season isn’t quite as bad as I and others made it out to be back when it originally aired. It’s more bland than outright bad. Aside from January Jones and Taylor Lautner, there haven’t been any episodes that I felt were awful (and even the January Jones episode was a little less dreadful than I had remembered). “Mediocre” or “Meh” is how I would describe the other episodes I didn’t like from this season so far. (Then again, we haven’t gotten to the Gabourey Sidibe episode yet, which I remember being very poorly received among SNL fans back in 2010.) Speaking of which, in my original 2010 review of this Zach Galifianakis episode, I was so disappointed in the outcome of this episode that I went into a HUGE rant about the poor quality of this season (seen here, in the “Final Thoughts” portion towards the end of the review). Looking back on that rant, some of what I said about this season doesn’t hold up well, now that I find this season more bland than outright bad. The blandness of this season, while certainly still a problem, doesn’t warrant such an angry, long rant like the one I gave in the link above. I was also dead wrong in my prediction in that rant that the following season (season 36) would be the next 1994-95 in terms of being a disastrous, notorious season.


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

 


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Monologue
Zach Drops By The Set
What Up With That?
Bidet
Today
Weekend Update
The Situation Room
Pageant Talk
Health Care Reform
Affectionate Family


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jennifer Lopez)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Jude Law

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March 8, 2008 – Amy Adams / Vampire Weekend (S33 E7)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

CALL DRAMATIZATION
panicky president Barack Obama (FRA) calls Hillary Clinton (AMP) at 3am

— Interesting format for a cold opening, with most of this being a pre-taped attack ad consisting only of still photos and voice-overs. I like this change of pace for a cold opening.
— Some pretty good laughs from Fred-as-Barack-Obama’s angry, bleep-filled rant.
— I love Fred’s Obama asking “The wwwwwhat treaty?!?” in response to Poehler’s Hillary Clinton mentioning the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
— Fred’s Obama voice still isn’t good, but at least it’s better than that ridiculous, Hanna-Barbera cartoon-esque voice he used in the preceding episode.
— The advice Poehler’s Hillary is giving Fred’s Obama on increasingly minor things is pretty funny.
— The live, post-ad message from Poehler’s Hillary feels kinda unnecessary and a little overlong, despite a few laughs.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host & KRW sing “What Is This Feeling?” to voice their sisterly loathing

— I see SNL is addressing the Amy Adams/Kristen Wiig facial resemblance that I remember people used to point out in Kristen’s first few seasons on SNL.
— Oh, no. This turns into a musical monologue, just when I was kinda liking where this monologue was going.
— Not caring at all for this musical number.
— At least the slapping/punching bit during the mid-song interlude is pretty funny.
STARS: **


MIRROR IMAGE
identical twin teens’ (host) & (KRW) identity ruse unravels

— Right out of the gate after the monologue, we already get a sketch pairing Adams and Kristen as twins.
— Pretty funny premise of the bad attempt to pass Kristen off as Adams’ twin.
— I’m so tired of the constant winking gag throughout this.
— Something about Kristen’s pratfall through a breakaway table came off hacky here.
— The goofy, juvenile atmosphere of this sketch isn’t quite working for me, and is yet another season 33 sketch that, in hindsight, feels to me like an unfortunate harbinger of the type of bad sketches Kristen would frequently star in in seasons 34-37.
STARS: **


COUPLES THERAPY
(WLF) is blind to contractual nature of citizenship-seeking (AMP)’s love

— The setting of this brings back memories of that Poison Therapy sketch from the preceding season’s Drew Barrymore episode.
— Good character for Poehler, and her performance and delivery are cracking me up throughout this.
— Good reveal of how Poehler’s illegal immigrant character met Will.
STARS: ***½


HERO SONG
Batman-wannabe (ANS) is repeatedly punched by mugger (JAS)

— Even though it’s non-comedic, I absolutely LOVE the song Andy’s singing, and it’s being accompanied by some great nighttime scenery of high-rise buildings.
— A huge laugh from Andy’s song suddenly getting cut off by Jason punching him ENDLESSLY.
— There’s a “Sideshow Bob rake sequence” quality to the endless punching, in that it starts out funny, then stops being funny due to going on so long, then goes BACK to being funny because of how long it’s going on.
— A funny gruesome part with Andy spitting out blood after one of the punches.
— Why did they have a car block the visual of Andy getting a mailbox dumped onto him?
— I like the silent, abrupt ending to this.
STARS: ****


FIERCE: THE HOT MESS MAKE-OVER SHOW
catchphrases rule Bravo reality show

— When this sketch originally aired, it went completely over my head, as I had no familiarity (and still don’t, to this day) with Project Runway, nor the guy from it who Poehler is playing. In fact, I didn’t even know back when this sketch originally aired that Poehler was playing a guy. I assumed Poehler was playing a woman, until I read online discussions of this episode shortly after the episode’s original airing (and according to those discussions, Poehler’s portrayal of this guy was spot-on). Seems kinda odd to have an effeminate man be played by a woman, but I guess it’s no different from any of the times SNL has had a man play a butch woman.
— Even watching this sketch now, it’s doing nothing for me. SNL has quite a number of TV/movie spoofs that work for all viewers, regardless of whether or not you’re familiar with the TV show or movie being spoofed. This particular sketch, on the other hand, feels to me like it falls under the “You have to be familiar with the specifics of what’s being parodied in order to ‘get’ it” category.
— I am at least liking Casey’s straight man performance.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “A-Punk”


WEEKEND UPDATE
third-party candidate Tim Calhoun makes his case for the presidency

AMP sings theme song of Ghostbusters ripoff Brooklyn Ghost Investigations

European comic Jean K. Jean’s (KET) humor has a continental flavor

— Fuck yeah! Tim Calhoun!
— Tonight’s Tim Calhoun commentary seems to be relying on puns a little more than usual, but everything here is still working for me. My favorite is the bit about a cow college. I also love the running bit with Calhoun’s awkward smile towards the audience.
— What the holy hell was with that “Joke of the week!” confetti thing after Poehler’s smallest gun joke?
— Oh, god. This Ghostbusters theme song bit with Poehler is just plain annoying, and feels like a throwback to the typical bad, annoying, hacky stuff she and Tina Fey would do together during the Fey/Poehler era of Update. Between the aforementioned baffling “Joke of the week!” confetti thing and now this, what’s going on with Poehler in tonight’s Update? She’s relapsing badly in regards to her worst habits as an Update anchor that she had curbed (to an extent) ever since Seth became her Update co-anchor.
— The debut of Kenan’s Jean K. Jean character.
— The comedic conceit of this Jean K. Jean character actually isn’t bad at all, and Kenan’s performance is very fun and likable. He’s executing this really well. I know quite a number of people (even some Kenan Thompson defenders) can’t stand this character, but I gotta say, based on his debut tonight, I don’t get the hate. I’m reacting positively to him in this inaugural appearance of his. However, we’ll see how I’ll feel about him in his subsequent appearances.
STARS: **½


TRAFFIC SCHOOL
at traffic school, Penelope ultimately makes good on her boasts

— I recall it being pointed out by a lot of online SNL fans that there’s a distracting female background extra in this sketch who spends this sketch unprofessionally smiling really big both towards the camera and in reaction to things the main characters are saying. After all these years, I’ve never had a chance to go back and see these background antics for myself….until now.
— Oh, wow. Right out of the gate, I’m noticing the overly-smiley background extra (the second above screencap for this sketch). It was easier to spot her than I thought.
— I continue to be surprised by how tolerant I continue to be towards Kristen’s Penelope routine. Four sketches in, and this character is still getting decent laughs from me.
— After the first minute or so of this sketch, the aforementioned smiley background lady has actually gotten into character, keeping a serious face and making disapproving facial reactions to ridiculous things Kristen’s Penelope is saying. The way people online talked about this lady made it seem like she made distracting smiley faces all throughout this entire sketch, which is not true.
— A particularly hilarious line from Penelope claiming that’s her eye on the pyramid on the dollar bill. That’s probably my favorite one-liner of hers out of all of her sketches.
STARS: ***


DR. UNCLE JIMMY’S SMOKEHOUSE AND OUTPATIENT SURGICAL FACILITY
Dr. Uncle Jimmy (WLF) mixes smokehouse with outpatient surgical facility

— Oh, I recall this being a typical brilliant Will Forte piece, one that I had completely forgotten until now.
— Great character voice from Will.
— A very creative oddball premise of a BBQ restaurant/outpatient surgical facility hybrid.
— A good laugh from how Bill’s endorsement of this business is “Sure, you could find better barbecue or a safer surgical experience………”, and then he just stares at the camera, never completing his sentence with an expected “but…etc.”.
— Amusing how one of the critic “reviews” of this business is a police report stating “They’re performing surgery at a barbeque restaurant”.
— I love the “I hope those aren’t my ribs!” bit with Jason and Andy.
— Funny mix-up between the blood and barbecue IV bags.
STARS: ****


ROGER CLEMENS PRESENTS
Roger Clemens’ (JAS) play depicts the nightmare of steroids-free baseball

— This sketch was cut after the preceding episode’s dress rehearsal. Ellen Page played Amy Adams’ role in that version.
— Hilarious opening visual of Jason with those fake muscles.
— Darrell makes his only appearance of the night in this late-in-the-show sketch, playing a small, non-celebrity-impression role. Feels like a precursor to all the useless small non-celebrity-impression roles he’ll be given in the post-election half of the following season (his final season), after just about all of his celebrity impressions have outlived their usefulness.
— Jason’s rage-filled attitude and outbursts as Roger Clemens are priceless. He’s so perfect for this role.
— Poehler seems to be playing lots of male roles this season.
— Second consecutive sketch tonight containing a scene with Andy in a hospital room, this time with him playing the patient instead of the doctor.
— A great angry rant from Jason’s Clemens at the end of this sketch.
STARS: ***½


THE TOOKIE STYLES SHOW
25 years after its cable access run, Tookie Styles’ (KET) show is on DVD

— Holy hell. Talk about a sketch I had completely forgotten about until now. I fucking HATED this sketch back when this episode originally aired. Pretty much felt it was one of the worst sketches I had ever seen SNL air. Let’s see if it’s as bad as I remember it to be.
— I did at least get a laugh just now from the first instance of a Tookie Styles interview/dance sequence getting cut off by gunfire and the interviewee being rushed out of the scene.
— Bill’s character’s amused demeanor is charming.
— Aaaaaaaand there goes the endless repetition of the gunfire joke.
— We at least get a fake-out with Amy Adams’ character, with how the gunfire doesn’t happen during her initial appearance, but instead happens when she comes back to get her purse.
— Something about Kenan’s delivery of his discreet “Things have not been going so well for me lately” aside to the camera at the end of this sketch made that line much funnier than it had any right to be.
— Overall, still not a good sketch, but certainly not as horrible as I originally deemed it to be back in 2008. There was a weird goofy charm that made the poor script a little more tolerable.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “M79”


CELEBRATIONS
(AMP), (host), (CAW), (KRW) repurpose their old dance routine in a bar

— Casey gets her first real lead role.
— Bill has been all over tonight’s episode, as opposed to the measly one late-in-the-show appearance he made in the preceding episode.
— Very funny first dance from the ladies.
— Even more laughs from the ladies doing a very fast-paced version of the same dance to the fast-tempo second song that’s playing.
— Even though it’s predictable, it’s still funny seeing the ladies now doing a slow-paced version of the same dance to the slow-tempo third song that’s playing.
— I like the ladies unsuccessfully attempting to do their dance to Jason’s cellphone ringtone.
— Funny bit at the end with Bill already having the ladies’ purses ready for them.
— Great sketch overall, and a strong first big showcase for Casey.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A decent episode, despite some flops. The second half of the episode was definitely stronger than the first half.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ellen Page)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
For the first time since all the way back in season 1, SNL dares to attempt a fourth consecutive live episode without having taken any weeks off in between. Future five-timer Jonah Hill makes his hosting debut.