Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
THE X FILES
Mulder (host) rebuff puts Janet Reno (WIF) in Krycek’s (Nicholas Lea) arm
— A good reveal of “Deep Throat” turning out to be Will’s Janet Reno.
— I like Mulder’s facial reaction to Reno’s invitation for him to come over, watch the movie Aliens, and have brie.
— Hilarious line from Reno about treating Mulder to an unbelievably ferocious orgasm, which is her definition of a UFO.
— Reno drop-kicking Molly’s Scully to the ground was pretty funny.
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
host gets frustrated upon dropping a pick into his boyhood guitar
— David is coming off more charismatic here than he did when he last hosted SNL in season 20.
— I’m enjoying David’s increasingly frustrated demeanor when trying to get the pick out of the guitar, eventually getting to the point where he smashes the guitar to pieces while saying he hates his father.
STARS: ***½
CHEERLEADING CAMP
(host) instructs Craig & Arianna at Paula Abdul [real] Cheerleading Camp
— After getting their sketch buried in a late spot in the show when they last appeared, the Cheerleaders are back in their usual spot as the lead-off sketch of the night. Just when I thought SNL was phasing out these dying characters…
— Actually, despite what I said above, there’s only two more Cheerleaders sketches remaining after tonight’s episode, one in each of the following two seasons. So, yep, these characters are being phased out after all.
— David’s offbeat characterization in this is cracking me up. This is completely unlike the deadpan, dry performances he gave all throughout his season 20 episode. I’ve been impressed by all of his performances so far tonight.
— David: “My nipples are the size of dinner plates.”
— I like the Jerry Springer Show cheer that Craig and Arianna do.
— A laugh from Craig and Arianna initially confusing Paula Abdul for both Rosie Perez and Debbie Allen.
— Overall, an improvement over the subpar sketch the Cheerleaders last appeared in with Scott Wolf. This didn’t have the sad, desperate, dying feel that was evident in the Scott Wolf Cheerleaders sketch.
STARS: ***
TV FUNHOUSE
“A Hard One To Swallow” by RBS- The Ambiguously Gay Duo seeks origins
— Surprisingly, this entire season has only had TWO Ambiguously Gay Duo cartoons total. That’s very little compared to the preceding season.
— Interesting how this is a continuation of the ending from the last Ambiguously Gay Duo cartoon.
— A lot of laughs from the suggestive uses of the phallic crystals.
— The ending felt abrupt.
— During the TV Funhouse ending credits, there’s a change made to Lorne’s final “Leggo… my… show!”, where we now get an echo-ish effect used on the word “show”, which is a funny touch. Did they only do that because it’s the final TV Funhouse of the season?
STARS: ****
CELEBRITY JEOPARDY
Sean Connery (DAH), Minnie Driver (MOS), Jeff Goldblum (host)
— This is the first Celebrity Jeopardy sketch without Norm Macdonald’s Burt Reynolds, who was a staple of these sketches until now. Darrell’s Sean Connery impression, making only his second appearance in a Celebrity Jeopardy sketch, ends up becoming the new staple of these sketches.
— David continues to step it up tonight, as his Jeff Goldblum impression is hilarious and spot-on.
— A classic category mix-up, with Darrell’s Connery reading off “therapists” as “the rapists”.
— I absolutely love Will-as-Alex-Trebek’s angry delivery of “It’s a friggin’ hammer!” when the contestants can’t figure out what the object he’s holding is.
— A great and memorable part with the very long-winded clues given for the “Who is the current U.S. president?” question, which the camera has to keep scrolling down in order to show the entire thing.
— Will’s Trebek has been having so many great lines tonight. We now get yet another one: “And the show has reached a new low.”
— Sean Connery: “(triumphantly) Then I’m the cock of the walk!”
— What’s up with Will’s voice? It’s strangely sounding more and more hoarse as this sketch goes on.
— Alex Trebek: “Mr. Goldblum evidently doing Tai Chi over there.”
— Overall, an all-around classic. This was what I feel is the first of many five-star-worthy Celebrity Jeopardy sketches.
STARS: *****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Come With Me”
WEEKEND UPDATE
Dominican Lou disregards Bill Clinton & complains about a rival super
unshaven & pantyhoseless Cinder Calhoun says “Unshackle My Legs”
— For the first time in months, a Colin Quinn Update begins with him going right into the traditional news jokes instead of doing a straight-to-camera rant.
— Surprisingly, this is the first time we’re seeing Dominican Lou in an entire year.
— I love Tracy-as-Dominican-Lou’s heavy-accented pronunciation of “I could beat him”, which comes out sounding like “I coo be heem”.
— I got a good laugh from Dominican Lou’s response to the Puerto Rican flag-burning controversy from the most recent episode of Seinfeld: “I don’t care. They Puerto Rican. I Dominican.”
— Cinder Calhoun’s pantyhose protest song isn’t as funny as her usual songs. I hate to say it, but I think I’m starting to get a little tired of this character. Thankfully, I believe she has only one appearance remaining (and it’s one where she’s shown live via satellite reporting from Lilith Fair, so at least we get a bit of a change of pace for her there).
STARS: ***
MANGO
host is enraptured by Mango; cameos by John Goodman, Matt Lauer, Al Roker
— After every single preceding Mango sketch used the exact same template as each other, SNL finally does something different with a Mango sketch. I’m sure I still won’t be crazy about this sketch, though, especially since we don’t have Garth Brooks around to save it again.
— The usual montage of the host being distracted by a thought-bubble fantasy of Mango while trying to do daily activities is coming off a little better than usual tonight, with the amusing Today Show scene. I’ll just ignore how awkward it now feels to see a Matt Lauer cameo, knowing what we now know about him.
— A memorable part with Matt Lauer’s thought-bubble fantasy being about Al Roker doing Mango’s dance.
— Random John Goodman cameo. A precursor to the countless number of Goodman cameos we’re soon going to be seeing in the upcoming season 24.
— Uh, is Goodman drunk? Something sure seems… off about him here.
STARS: **½
OPRAH
Goat Boy is reunited with his brother (host)
— Feels kinda weird seeing an Oprah/Goat Boy crossover.
— This ends up being Goat Boy’s final appearance, as tonight turns out to be Jim’s last episode before getting fired over the summer. I like Jim, but I can’t say I’m going to miss this particular character.
— I definitely didn’t need the addition of David Duchovny as Goat Boy #2.
— This sketch has been doing nothing for me. The sketch is just a whole bunch of Jim and David doing goat-braying sounds over each other. Ugh, why not also bring back Chevy Chase as “Cow Man” while we’re at it? That’s the only way this sketch can get any worse for me.
— Okay, this sketch sure has taken a unexpected turn all of a sudden, with David’s Goat Boy #2 gradually trying to hump Jim’s Goat Boy out of nowhere, eventually leading to both of them getting into a fight with each other. I admit, that’s actually making me laugh.
— Overall, blah, though this did get a little better with the aforementioned turn near the end. For a sketch that ends up inadvertently being Jim’s swan song, Jim deserved to go out on a better note.
STARS: **
INTERBANK
Interbank will do much more than replace your stolen travellers’ checks
— It feels kinda rare for a season finale to have a new pre-taped fake ad.
— Very funny bit with Interbank chasing down and attacking Chris for stealing Will and Molly’ travellers checks.
— Now this gets even funnier with Interbank also hunting down Chris’ friends and relatives, and setting fire to their homes.
— I’m loving the increasing darkness of this.
STARS: ****
FROM THE EARTH TO THE AREA AROUND THE EARTH: THE STORY OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE
a ho-hum Shuttle mission
— This sketch is awfully slow-moving, even if that’s the point. Maybe I would find this funnier if I were familiar with what this is parodying.
— The sketch suddenly picks up with Will and Tim’s prank Bill Clinton message, in which they take turns doing comically bad Bill Clinton impressions. This is hilarious, especially how Tim’s Clinton says “I like sex.”
— Overall, despite the hilarious Clinton bit, I did not care much for the rest of the sketch, and felt it came off underdeveloped and forgettable, especially for what ends up being the final live sketch of the season. Or, again, I might have appreciated it more if I were familiar with the source material it parodied.
STARS: **½
THE GOLORDS
Golords battle James Cameron & his army of Leonardo DiCaprio clones
— This ends up being the final Golords short, as this recurring segment doesn’t last beyond this season.
— I’m getting a kick out of the male Golord’s endless screaming as he takes a very long fall down a pipe.
— As usual, we get some very funny gruesome, gory visuals during the climactic fight scene. I especially like the female Golord dipping one of the Leonardo DiCaprio clones into an acid bath, resulting in the clone’s skeleton being exposed.
— Overall, this Golords short was fine, but didn’t feel quite as strong as these usually are. However, it’s been fun reviewing these Golords shorts this season. These turned out to be much better than I used to find them in the past.
STARS: ***½
THE LOST DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
— Here comes yet another “last” tonight, as this ends up being the final Deep Thoughts that Jack Handey ever does on SNL.
— Unfortunately, tonight’s Deep Thought wasn’t the best note for these to go out on.
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Not the best season finale. I couldn’t help but feel a little underwhelmed by this episode, though it was mainly because of the post-Weekend Update half of the show, which was largely kind of a bore. There were certainly good things tonight, mainly in the first half, but I found this overall finale to be a little on the forgettable side.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Matthew Broderick)
about the same
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS ENTIRE SEASON, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS (Note: These picks were hastily made off the top of my head and will naturally be missing some deserving sketches. I don’t have enough time to do full, thought-out “Best Of” picks for this whole season)
HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1996-97)
a slight step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Season 24 begins, with Cameron Diaz as host, and three new cast members joining the show. This is also a very special episode for me, as it has the distinction of being the very first SNL episode I ever saw (though my viewing was during a summer 1999 rerun on NBC).