Tag: Zach Galifianakis

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May 4, 2013 – Zach Galifianakis / Of Monsters And Men (S38 E19)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

FOX & FRIENDS
Michael Bloomberg (FRA) takes heat for gun & soda control

— Funny bit from Bobby’s Brian Kilmeade about french-kissing his hand.
— I got a big cheap laugh from the comment Vanessa’s Gretchen Carlson makes in regards to gay athletes and the guy in football who hikes the ball.
— Is Fred always the guest in these Fox & Friends sketches? This is either the third or fourth consecutive installment that’s happened in.
— Great bit with Bobby’s Kilmeade drinking the entire oversized Big Gulp, causing him to have a sugar rush.
STARS: ****


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

— Interesting little detail with Zach Galifianakis entering with a rose in his hand and then placing it on the top of the piano.
— I love Zach saying “I haven’t really done anything, guys” when the audience is laughing endlessly over his comical opening line: “I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.”
— An absolutely priceless bit about a deaf couple being amazing at charades.
— Great sequence with Zach doing a whole bunch of set-ups with no punchlines.
— Zach: “The other day, I Googled how many Mexicans live in North Korea. (*pauses a little while*) Google didn’t know.”
— Zach: “Here’s something you’ll never see in braille: If You See Something, Say Something.”
— Hmm, no “Hoobastank is here” callback at the end of this monologue.
STARS: ****½


GAME OF GAME OF THRONES
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau [real] visits game show

— Not sure, but this may be the final instance of Bill playing a game show host during his tenure as a cast member.
— I don’t know why Aidy casually saying “bastard son” in a straitlaced voice tickled me so much just now, given the fact that it wasn’t even intended to be comedic. A testament to how naturally funny Aidy’s delivery is.
— After Zach states the obvious when saying “That’s a Game Of Thrones joke!” and Bill responds in an over-the-top mock-surprised manner, “It is?!?!?”, I love Bill immediately following that by making an eye-rolling-type face. It’s little touches like that that I’m going to miss about Bill’s game show host characterizations.
— Very funny subversion with the question Zach’s Game Of Thrones nerd character is asked turning out to be a non-Game Of Thrones real-world geography question, which naturally leaves him stumped.
— Another funny subversion, with Zach going out of his way to pick a definite Game Of Thrones-themed question, and the question initially starts out GOT-themed, only to suddenly turn into another non-GOT real-world question.
— Some laughs from the speed round.
— Ehh, the part with Zach glowingly making homoerotic comments to Nikolaj Coster-Waldau feels too typical and unnecessary.
— I got a good laugh from how, when asked to identify a photo of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Zach answers, “I don’t know, some old pilgrim?”
STARS: ***½


MATCH.COM
horny Martha Stewart (KAM) is amongst those looking for love on match.com

— Feels kinda odd seeing Kate playing Martha Stewart. Also, it goes without saying that, by nature, any non-Ana Gasteyer SNL impersonator of Martha Stewart pales in comparison to Ana.
— Blah, I’m not caring for how this is going the cliched route of “Martha Stewart says dirty things in a stiff, straitlaced manner”. Tired humor.
— I love how Taran, in between acting very casual towards Kate’s Martha Stewart, excitedly mouths “Martha Stewart!” into the camera. That’s exactly the type of little thing Taran’s always so good at getting laughs out of.
STARS: **


JENNIFER ANISTON LOOK-ALIKE COMPETITION
(Bradley Cooper), (Ed Helms) & others look more like Jennifer Aniston than (host)

— A good cheap laugh from Zach making his entrance looking like that.
— Zach, after receiving an offended reaction to his harsh comment about Helen Keller’s blindness: “Oh, shut up! She knew what she was doing! She was milking it!”
— Zach sure is stumbly with his lines throughout this sketch. He was a little stumbly in his appearances earlier tonight, too.
— I love the deep voice Bobby’s doing.
— I didn’t know Kenan still dressed in drag at this point of his SNL tenure, just a few months before he would publicly announce that summer that he was taking a stand against continuing to play black women on SNL. (Though in this Aniston Look-Alike sketch, Kenan’s technically playing a man dressed like Whoopi Goldberg.) Assuming he doesn’t dress in drag in the remaining two episodes of this season, I guess this sketch can be pinpointed as containing Kenan’s final drag role on SNL.
— Zach’s angry ranting throughout this sketch has me in absolute stitches, even with his constant line flubs.
— Hmm, has Jason’s microphone suddenly stopped working?
— Ah, we get our very first display of Vanessa’s spot-on and memorable Jennifer Aniston impression, which Vanessa would get good mileage out of on Weekend Update in her later seasons.
— Alongside Vanessa in this sketch, we also get good Aniston impressions from Nasim and Taran, the latter’s impression being especially funny.
— Oh, geez. Even in a mere cameo, Ed Helms is making a PAINFULLY long, awkward pause before delivering his line, which was something he occasionally did in the episode he hosted two seasons prior.
— Hilarious how the alleged Friends theme song that the Hangover guys sing together is actually “That’s What Friends Are For”.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Little Talks”


WEEKEND UPDATE
James Carville (BIH) analyzes the defeat of background checks for guns

tech correspondent’s (FRA) struggles belie unobtrusivity of Google Glass

The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started A Conversation With At A Party is haughty & dippy

— This ends up being the final appearance of Bill’s always-fun James Carville impression.
— I love the ghost-walking-through-Obama sound effect (“Waauuuw”) that Bill’s Carville is doing.
— A hilarious harsh comment Bill’s Carville lightheartedly makes about his mother dying “peacefully” by falling into the propeller on a fan boat.
— Bill’s Carville is a freakin’ riot in his interactions with his mother’s ghost. Bill’s having so much fun here.
— Feels like Seth is doing an unusually low number of jokes between each guest commentary tonight, but I guess I can’t say that’s a bad thing, given how burned-out I’ve recently become on the solo Seth era of Update. Having to review SO MANY consecutive seasons of Blandy McBlanderson, a.k.a. Seth Meyers, solo at the Update desk has taken its toll on me lately. I’m craving a positive change at the Update desk, and the changes we get at the desk in the upcoming season 39 sure as hell ain’t it. Season 40 of Weekend Update cannot come soon enough for me.
— Interesting and rare seeing Fred do an Update commentary as a normal, one-off character in this late stage of his SNL tenure.
— Fred’s actually doing a good job here, making this the second consecutive episode in which he turns in a surprisingly solid performance during these way-past-his-prime years of his SNL tenure. Good to see him showing signs of new life in the homestretch of his SNL tenure.
— The Girl You Wish etc.: “There are 90-year-olds dying every single day. It’s like – oh, thanks, congress.”
— The Girl You Wish etc., to Seth: “For all intents and porpoises, you’re a facade.”
— I just realized this ends up being the last Update commentary this character of Cecily’s does before we get a year-long break from her, due to Cecily’s stint as an Update co-anchor.
STARS: **½


M&M STORE
at M&M’s World, racist greeter (host) apologizes to fellow employees

— A big laugh from Zach’s “How” bit towards Nasim’s Indian character.
— Zach, in how grossed-out he is by the thought of what his two allegedly-gay co-workers do together: “And I know I made that abundantly clear, often through song…”
— After Zach asks his co-workers to bury the hatchet, I laughed so much at him telling Nasim’s Indian character, “No offense.”
— The fact that this whole situation is happening in an M&M store, of all settings, is somehow making this even funnier.
— This sketch is such a riot that even Zach’s black-people-talking-in-a-movie-theater joke (making this the second consecutive episode with a joke about that, by the way) came off hilarious instead of hacky.
— Zach’s “Swing low…” bit towards Kenan had me howling.
STARS: ****½


DARRELL’S HOUSE
Darrell Sparks (host) plans to fix his cable access TV show in post

— I absolutely love the odd, low-budget opening title sequence and theme song, featuring a graphic of Zach’s head bouncing around the screen.
— A priceless sudden escalation to this sketch, with Zach’s heated exchange with Vanessa.
— A very fascinating and unique structure to this sketch, with Zach constantly stopping what he’s doing to give elaborate directions on what edits he wants made in post. It’s even more fascinating and unique in hindsight when you’re aware of what it’s going to lead to later in this episode.
— Kenan’s delivery of “I’m not Jon Hamm” while slyly smirking is great.
— So many things about this sketch are, on top of being fascinating, amusing the hell out of me. This is such a strong piece.
— Another great line delivery from Kenan, with his “I bet it’ll be me” when Zach tells him “You’re not going to be on, Jon Hamm’s gonna be on.”
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Mountain Sound”


MICHAEL JORDAN’S WEDDING
Charles Barkley (KET) & others toast Michael Jordan at his lavish wedding

— I like Kenan-as-Charles-Barkley’s comment about Michael Jordan’s infamous Hitler-esque mustache in that Hanes commercial.
— Funny visual of Zach and Jason returning with cocaine under their noses.
— Blah, a display of Fred playing a very typical foreigner role, which he’s done to death and beyond over the years.
— Zach and Jason’s cocaine-induced hyper behavior in their third scene is cracking me up.
— Jay is absolutely HILARIOUS as Dikembe Mutombo.
— Jay as Dikembe Mutombo: “You know what my wife gave me for our wedding? MALARIA.”
— Jay’s whole “taunting God” spiel in that accented, gravely voice is pure comedy gold.
STARS: ***½


NEW BALANCE
New Balance is the running shoe for out-of-shape guys who stand around

— Meh, lots of generic, forgettable humor here.
— I did get a pretty good laugh from Zach casually grabbing half of a passerby’s pretzel.
STARS: **


DARRELL’S HOUSE: THE FINAL CUT
clumsily-edited finished product features Jon Hamm [real]

— Oh, this is absolutely BRILLIANT, showing us the finished product of all the edits Zach’s character called for in the Darrell’s House sketch from earlier tonight. I always like the idea of waiting until later in the show to give us a delayed punchline to a certain sketch, much like what we got with the Z Shirts thing from earlier this season. What’s even more impressive and amazing about this second Darrell’s House piece is that SNL made this edited version on the fly after the first Darrell’s House sketch ended. HUGE props to SNL for pulling that off.
— I love how the voice of the edited-out-of-this-final-cut Vanessa is sloppily left in for a nanosecond.
— Even the little detail of loud, muffled, off-camera sounds in the badly spliced-in close-up of the now-filled snack tray is a very funny comedic touch.
— A huge laugh from the jarring dubbing-in of Zach saying “AL….JOL-SON.” in a monotone, robotic-sounding voice. Not to mention how inherently hilarious it is that Al Jolson is the only singer this Darrell’s House show could get cleared.
— Hilarious visual of Jon Hamm being very poorly edited into the same shots as Zach via a split-screen effect, including, at one point, a blink-and-miss-it full shot of Kenan as Jon’s placeholder flashing on screen for a quick second.
— Overall, simply excellent. Bravo.
STARS: *****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A really solid episode with some VERY strong highs, including an all-timer with the Darrell’s House pieces. As usual whenever he hosts, Zach Galifianakis added to the episode’s strength. A damn shame he has yet to continue hosting any further after this episode, but if he had to stop hosting, at least this episode was a great way for him to go out.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Darrell’s House / Darrell’s House: The Final Cut (tie)
Monologue
M&M Store
Jennifer Aniston Look-Alike Competition
Fox & Friends
Michael Jordan’s Wedding
Game Of Game Of Thrones
Weekend Update
New Balance
Match.com


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Vince Vaughn)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Kristen Wiig

Posted on

March 12, 2011 – Zach Galifianakis / Jessie J (S36 E17)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

SELECTION SUNDAY
tournament brackets revealed for World’s Craziest Person

— The idea of presenting crazy news stories in a March Madness bracket style is very clever and creative for a cold opening. This is the kind of creativity I wanted SNL to show in their Charlie Sheen spoof in the preceding episode’s cold opening, instead of the generic, lazy, tired “Let’s just have Sheen host a talk show” route they ended up taking.
— Funny Dick Vitale impression from Andy.
— Jason’s Jim Nantz, on Andy’s Dick Vitale: “It’s like Stanley Tucci snorted Adderall.”
— Hilarious comment about Nicolas Cage always looking he just witnessed a murder.
— Speaking of Charlie Sheen earlier in this review, we get a scene with Bill’s Charlie Sheen here, and the style of it is much more refreshing than the aforementioned talk show route they took in the preceding episode’s cold opening.
— Such a fun cold opening.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host delivers jokes while wearing Annie get-up & lip-syncing “Tomorrow”

— The usual priceless Zach Galifianakis stand-up one-liners.
— I particularly got an oh-so-wrong laugh from Zach’s joke about Axe Body Spray being called Ask Body Spray in urban neighborhoods, made even funnier by his addendum to that joke: “If you don’t get that joke…then you’re not racist.”
— Some fun bad character attempts from Zach.
— An absolutely hilarious turn right now, with Zach in the Annie dress lip-syncing “Tomorrow” while displaying various messages on an easel. Classic.
— Even the lettering style of the messages on the easel is somehow adding to the humor.
— I love the little touch with how Zack licks his hand each time before he rips a page off of the easel.
— Great callback to how Zach’s previous monologue ended, with him once again making a false “Hoobastank is here!” announcement.
— Overall, yet another legendary Zach Galifianakis stand-up monologue.
STARS: *****


THE TALK
panelists on lame knock-off of The View have little chemistry

— Much like her Rachel Maddow impression, Abby has Leah Remini’s New York accent down close enough, but the voice itself is too high-pitched, which is taking me out of the impression.
— Oh, wow. I completely forgot from my previous viewings of this episode that Nasim plays Sharon Osbourne in this sketch. Feels odd seeing Nasim in this role.
— Despite Amy Poehler being SNL’s definitive Sharon Osbourne, I’m finding Nasim’s impression to be good, and certainly much better than Drew Barrymore’s awful (and deservedly forgotten) Sharon impression from the episode Drew hosted the preceding season. It also feels a little rare to see Nasim go so over-the-top and silly like this.
— I like Vanessa’s Sara Gilbert hiding inside her sweater.
— The mention of The Talk co-host Holly Robinson-Peete being on vacation reminds me that, in dress rehearsal, she was actually portrayed by Jay in drag. Jay got cut from the live version of this sketch.
— A somewhat bad line flub from Abby just now. I’ve never seen the rerun version of this episode, but I’ve been told that reruns would fix Abby’s flub by replacing that small portion of this sketch with the dress rehearsal version, and reportedly, that dress rehearsal substitution was flawed in its own right, because Abby mugs the camera BADLY during it.
— Funny bits with Zach as an angry The View fan in the audience.
— Despite some funny lines, something about this sketch isn’t quite working for me. Not sure what, though.
STARS: **½


THE ORIGINAL KINGS OF CATCHPHRASE COMEDY
hack stand-ups headline the Original Kings Of Catchphrase comedy tour

— The debut of a memorable and well-loved recurring commercial.
— Such a hilarious spoof of hacky catchphrase-based stand-up comedians.
— I am absolutely howling at the “You ever come home and catch your wife eatin’ dookie?” bit that Kenan’s “Beeeeeeeef Jelly!” comedian is doing.
— Holy hell, Seth Meyers in a rare post-2006 non-Weekend Update appearance, playing an actual character!
— A fun way to get a lot of the cast involved. I think the second installment of this commercial uses the ENTIRE cast, which is one of the reasons that I think I might prefer it to tonight’s already-great installment (we’ll see when I review the second installment).
STARS: ****½


SCARED STRAIGHT
Lorenzo McIntosh & muzzled cousin (host) warn teens about prison rape

— This is the first appearance this recurring sketch has made in almost an entire year.
— Funny visual of Zach as a Hannibal Lecter-esque character.
— The “nuts and taint” line made me laugh so much.
— In response to Lorenzo MacIntosh and Zach’s Home Alone-related prison rape references, I love an appalled Jason saying “That’s only the first one; you’re leading off with that?!?”
— For the first in a long time, Bill doesn’t fully crack up during the usual part of these Lorenzo MacIntosh sketches where Kenan and the host gang up on Bill and playfully mess with him.
— Yeesh, what was with that half-assed ending? They seem to have run out of different ways to end this recurring sketch. In fact, despite me still enjoying tonight’s installment of this sketch, you can kinda tell the end of this recurring sketch’s run is near. There’s only one installment of this sketch remaining, and it doesn’t appear until an entire year later (in a Lindsay Lohan-hosted episode).
STARS: ***


ZACH LOOKS FOR A NEW ASSISTANT
host interviews elementary school kids

— A variation (of sorts) of the Zach Drops By The Set short from Zach’s previous episode, complete with a very similar-looking title sequence. However, unlike the Zach Drops By The Set short, this one opens with the “An SNL Digital Short” title screen.
— This cutesy concept, while not too bad in itself, isn’t really something I want to see Zach doing, and feels like a letdown after the great concept of Zach Drops By The Set.
— So far, I can’t find anything to say about the actual content of this short, but it’s decent enough.
— The ending could’ve been better.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & B.o.B [real] perform “Price Tag”


WEEKEND UPDATE
fired from Spider-Man musical, Julie Taymor (KRW) sings a song she wrote

Liam just woke up from wet dream about hooking up with hawk-human hybrids

SEM tells viewers how they can contribute to the Japan relief effort

— Boy, was that a lame opening joke from Seth.
— A big ol’ “meh” from me towards Kristen’s overall commentary. At least it didn’t make me want to rip my hair out like her last Update commentary (the disco meteorologist one from this season’s Dana Carvey episode) did.
— The unwelcome return of Andy’s weak Liam The Teenager Who Just Woke Up character.
— Andy’s in-character sleepy delivery during some portions of this commentary sounds quite Adam Sandler-esque (especially when he sings in a goofy, high-pitched voice), which is strangely fitting, given the fact that, as I mentioned in this Liam character’s first appearance, the conceit of Liam feels like an unintentional(?) variation of an obscure one-off Update character named Sleepyhead who Adam Sandler played.
— This Liam commentary is just plain dumb and unfunny, even moreso than his previous commentary. And much like Liam’s previous commentary, Andy’s usual ability to sell dumb humor and make it work isn’t at play here. Judging from Andy’s out-of-character smirking and giggling right now, even he’s aware of how weak this commentary is.
— Tonight’s Update ends on a serious note, with Seth telling us how we can contribute to the relief efforts for Japan. (Tonight’s episode is a day after the tragic Japan earthquake and tsunami).
— An overall mildly mediocre Update for Seth, which is a letdown after he just had one of his strongest Updates in the preceding episode.
STARS: **½


NOODLES
(host) & (KRW) tell kids the family dog, Noodles, died via autoerotic asphyxiation

— I like Nasim as the overly-wise young daughter.
— Really good laughs from all of the bad lies Zach and Kristen tell the kids in regards to how the dog died.
— Such a hilarious reveal of what the dog really died of: autoerotic asphyxiation.
— Funny visual of the dog porn magazine, which Zach makes even funnier by giving it a long, interested look before putting it down.
— The beginning of Kenan’s voice-over for the dog gets botched, causing Zach to break.
— Continuing tonight’s theme of bad endings (though it’s not like that’s a new criticism of SNL), this very funny sketch fizzles out poorly with the whole dog voice-over ending. Not sure why they thought that would be a good way to end this.
STARS: ****


CELEBRITY SCOOP
Canadian gossip show is unfailingly nice & well-mannered

— Boy, that is one lousy Canadian accent from Fred.
— The humor of Zach’s “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” character is just plain dumb, but he’s making it funny. It also, in a way, feels like a role tailor-made for Will Forte.
— Two minutes into this Canadian talk show sketch, and Zach has been providing my ONLY laughs. The main joke with Canadians being overly nice and folksy is doing absolutely nothing for me. Thank god this ends up being yet another instance of a potentially-recurring talk show sketch this season that stays one-and-done.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Mamma Knows Best”


CORN SYRUP PRODUCERS OF AMERICA
rude mother (NAP) parrots Corn Syrup Producers Of America talking points

— Another sketch tonight with Nasim nailing a wise, smart aleck-y role, with her beautifully telling off Kristen’s character and putting her in her place. This has always been what I feel is one of Nasim’s best performances.
STARS: ****


TITANIC
crossdressed captain of the Titanic (host) shamelessly hogs lifeboat spot

— I’m not all that crazy about this premise, but Zach is well-cast in this role, and he’ll probably make this work.
— Mm, it turns out that, even with Zach’s typically-funny performance, this sketch still feels like a bit of a flop. Much like The Talk sketch earlier tonight, something’s not quite working and I can’t pinpoint what nor why.
— Nasim’s been having a fairly big night.
— Not even Bill’s appearance as a grown-up, mustached “baby” can make me laugh as much as I feel it should.
— I didn’t even notice Abby has been one of the women on the boat all this time, until near the very end of this sketch when she had to go through the trouble of leaning all the way to the side while speaking, so we could get a clear view of her (seen on the right end of the last above screencap for this sketch). She’s sitting all the way in the back of the boat, behind everyone, which makes it impossible to see her for most of this sketch. What’s the point of her even being in this, then?
— What in the world was with Zach’s long, awkward delay before doing his ending bit? He seemed to completely forget what he was supposed to do, and then, after a long, silent pause, Bill can be seen elbowing Zach to cue him, then by the time Zach gets up and mock-dramatically yells “Titanic!” like he was supposed to, the screen freeze-frames on him too early. This whole blooper is strangely amusing to me.
— Tonight’s theme of bad endings sadly continues once again, with the weak text crawl epilogue of this sketch.
STARS: **


GOODNIGHTS
host reveals that his hair & the Mr. T sketch have been cut

— As what’s seemingly a follow-up to how, in his previous hosting stint, Zach shaved his beard off-camera for the final sketch of the night and then wore a fake beard during the goodnights, Zach is seen in these goodnights with his hair shaved in a Mr. T style, and humorously tells us “Unfortunately, we did not get to the Mr. T sketch!”

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Much like the preceding Miley Cyrus-hosted episode, this was kind of an uneven episode, but it contained several more highs than the Cyrus episode, which makes it easier to overlook the lows. Some really solid pieces tonight. Zach Galifianakis was his usual very funny self, and I’m glad he was given much more speaking roles tonight than he got in his previous hosting stint.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Monologue
The Original Kings of Catchphrase Comedy
Selection Sunday
Corn Syrup Producers of America
Noodles
Scared Straight
Zach Looks For a New Assistant
The Talk
Weekend Update
Titanic
Celebrity Scoop


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Miley Cyrus)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Elton John

Posted on

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