Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
THE PRACTICE
Bobby (host) kisses his law partners & Ally McBeal (RAD)
— Some laughs from the constant make-out sessions between Dylan McDermott’s Practice character and his female co-workers during tense confrontations.
— I like the visual of Dylan exuberantly sliding across the table to eagerly make out with Horatio as Camryn Manheim’s character.
— I’m not familiar with the actor from The Practice that Darrell is playing, but I remember incorrectly thinking Darrell was playing Gilbert Gottfried when I first saw this sketch in an NBC rerun in 2000. As crazy as that mistake of mine probably sounds to you readers, it was the raspy voice and squinty eyes Darrell was doing that caused my mistake. I remember being very confused as to why Darrell was even playing Gilbert Gottfried in this sketch, because I was aware that Gottfried wasn’t in The Practice’s cast, and Jimmy Fallon was SNL’s resident Gilbert Gottfried impersonator at this time.
— The constant joke of Dylan making out with his co-workers is getting a little old.
— Great turn with Rachel randomly appearing as Ally McBeal from David E. Kelley’s other show. Kinda odd, though, how Rachel has done her Calista Flockhart impression in her first two episodes. I remember some SNL reviewers from back at this time in 1999 saying stuff like “I sure hope Calista Flockhart isn’t all that Rachel Dratch can do.”
STARS: ***
MONOLOGUE
host humors former co-star HOS’s desire to play Santa Claus
— I wonder if Dylan’s story about being a bartender for the original SNL cast is true. Bruce Willis had a similar story in his season 15 monologue about being a caterer for the original cast, though I can’t remember if that story was true or obviously fake.
— A good laugh from how, after Dylan prompts the audience to applaud for Horatio’s walk-on, Horatio just says “They know who I am.”
— A big night for Horatio so far, between his role in the cold opening, getting to say “Live From New York”, and now this monologue focusing on him.
— Nice seeing an old clip of Dylan and Horatio together in Miracle On 34th Street.
STARS: ***
THE JIM GRAY SHOW
Elizabeth Dole (ANG) is ambushed in an interview
— A topical parody of a then-infamous Pete Rose interview that Jim Gray had recently done.
— I’m getting some laughs from Parnell-as-Jim-Gray’s graphic detailing of the type of sex that Elizabeth Dole has with her husband Bob.
STARS: ***
GUMBEL’S OFFICE
feud of Bryant Gumbel (TIM) & Katie Couric (CHO) pains Matt Lauer (host)
— Solid line from Cheri’s Katie Couric about how Bryant Gumbel sucks his co-hosts’ soul out and leaves a perky little carcass.
— I’m enjoying the catty barbs between Cheri’s Couric and Tim’s Bryant Gumbel.
— I love Cheri’s Couric telling Tim’s Gumbel “Bring it on, Oreo!”
— Bryant Gumbel to Katie Couric: “If I wasn’t married and you were better-looking, I’d definitely go out with you.”
— At the end, while threatening each other with broken glass, there’s a cute little unintentional moment with Tim and Cheri cracking each other up, then hugging each other out of character right before the camera fades to black.
STARS: ***½
FAREWELL ASSEMBLY
Marty & Bobbi do a medley at assembly honoring departing principal (host)
— Why did Rachel run to the left exit of the stage after she made her exit on the right side of the stage? New cast member greenness? I think this possible gaffe of hers is removed in reruns by showing the dress rehearsal version of this sketch, though I’m not sure.
— A bit of a change of pace for the Culps, with the addition of Dylan’s character.
— I like the froggy voice Dylan is using here.
— Dylan’s adding a lot of fun energy during the Culps’ song medley.
— During the Culps’ and Dylan’s performance of Eminem’s “My Name is” song, I like Bobbi Mohan-Culp singing the words “wicki-wicki” whenever she imitates the record-scratching sounds from the real song.
STARS: ***½
THE JIM GRAY SHOW
interviewee Danny Glover (TIM) won’t apologize
— Ah, a runner tonight.
— Overall, meh. A weak follow-up to the first installment of this earlier tonight.
STARS: **
WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE
game show contestant (ANG) has a breakdown
— The first of many Who Wants To Be A Millionaire parodies this season, back when it was a very hot show.
— Darrell debuts a solid Regis Philbin impression.
— Not sure I care for this turn with Ana’s emotional breakdown, but Ana is pulling it off fairly well.
— A pretty good laugh from the cutaway to Horatio as Ana’s husband hanging his head in shame.
— Paula Pell’s deadpan, unsympathetic voice during Ana’s emotional phone call to her is pretty funny.
— A weak and predictable ending with Ana finally answering the quiz question, only to get it wrong.
STARS: **½
MANGO
after Mango gets shot in the butt, cop (host) goes undercover as him
— (*sigh*) Get ready, folks. This is our first of MANY Mango sketches this season.
— Interesting turn during Mango’s striptease, with him getting shot in the butt.
— A good laugh from the newspaper headline “Mango Takes It In The Butt!”
— Tim’s comically emotional praying for Mango is pretty funny, though it got no reaction from the audience.
— When Mango is reading “get well soon” cards from celebrities, one of them turns out to be a love letter from Norm Macdonald, who’s letter Mango responds to by asking himself “Norm Macdonald?!? Who is that?!?” before dismissively tossing the letter away. While it’s kinda interesting how SNL is referencing not only a former cast member but the host of the last episode, this bit actually bothers me. I definitely understand that Kattan and Norm didn’t get along, and Norm has certainly been known to ruthlessly make way-too-harsh barbs about Kattan’s alleged “gayness” in a Rolling Stone interview and behind the scenes at SNL, but at least he never did it ON THE AIR. That’s more than I can say for Kattan’s jab at Norm here.
— Dylan’s Mango impression is pretty funny.
— Clever twist with Darrell’s Rudy Giuliani being revealed as the shooter, as a topical reference to the real Giuliani’s attempt to shut down New York’s strip clubs.
STARS: **½
THE JIM GRAY SHOW
as a matter of principle, host refuses interview
— Cool how the end of the Mango sketch transitioned into this Jim Gray sketch, as Dylan and Kattan made their exit from the Mango sketch’s set.
— Nice that they’re doing something a little different for this third Jim Gray installment, even if it’s still not particularly hilarious.
STARS: ***
WEEKEND UPDATE
— Colin: “In a television appearance this week, Donald Trump said that if elected president, he would appoint himself U.S. trade representative, and then, quote, ‘our partners would have to negotiate across the table from Donald Trump.’” That’s not the punchline to Colin’s joke; it’s just the set up. I just felt it would be interesting to quote it in today’s age, for obvious reasons.
— Colin’s former habit of frequently muttering ad-libs to the audience after his news jokes, which mysteriously disappeared halfway through the preceding season, has returned with a vengeance, as tonight’s Update has been riddled with them. Good for him, but too bad his ad-libs still aren’t funny, for the most part.
— No guest commentaries in tonight’s overall Update. Too bad, because this Update was in desperate need of one. We got the usual blah-ness from Colin, with only some occasional strong jokes.
STARS: **½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Learn To Fly”
COLLETTE AT HOME
Colette Reardon pops pills during a visit from telephone repairman (host)
— Interesting seeing Collette Reardon at home for a change.
— I always like the odd names of Collette’s various doctors who she always mentions in passing in her appearances.
— Overall, like I said in my review of the last Collette Reardon appearance, I’ve run out of things to say about her, but this sketch as a whole was still decent.
STARS: ***
LOTTO PICK 4 HOSPITAL
lottery numbers are revealed during medical drama
— Doing a hybrid of a Lotto drawing and a hospital drama is a pretty solid idea for a sketch. Feels like a sister sketch to that The Life We Lead sketch from season 21’s Tom Arnold episode, in which they did a hybrid of a newscast and a soap opera. I wonder if the person who wrote that sketch also wrote this Lotto sketch.
— Here comes Tracy finally making his first appearance of the night, being stuck in his usual useless bit role with only one line.
— A funny disgusting close-up of the blood-covered Lotto ball that was extracted from Horatio’s insides.
— Speaking of a cast member’s first appearance of the night, Molly finally makes her first and ONLY appearance not only of this episode, but of these last two episodes, as she was completely absent in the last episode. Wow, that live-action Grinch movie she’s filming is really taking away a lot of her time at SNL. By this point, I’m almost starting to forget she’s even still in the cast.
— With Molly and Dylan’s make-out session in this sketch, Dylan has now officially made out with every single female member of this cast during a sketch. Did the female cast make that a clause in Dylan’s hosting contract or something?
— I’m enjoying the creative ways they’re revealing each Lotto number in each scene. Dylan’s sly performance when holding up each Lotto ball to the camera is fun.
— Very funny gag with the Lotto ball popping out of the pregnant woman’s off-camera vagina.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Stacked Actors”
NOT MY BABY!
“Not my baby!” says Mrs. Parker (TRM) to charges that her son deals drugs
— What’s this? Tracy Morgan with a LEAD ROLE??? Wow, I almost forgot what that’s like, considering how bad his airtime has been this season.
— While this initially seems like a cheap drag role, I’m loving Tracy’s performance here.
— I’m cracking up at the intimidating, silent demeanor of Tracy’s “baby”, Dante.
— The close-ups of Dante with that frozen mean look on his face during Tracy’s tender singing of “The Greatest Love of All” are very amusing.
— I like the ending with Tracy telling Dante “I’m-a whoop yo ass when we get home!” while dragging him out of the courtroom like a bad child.
STARS: ***½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very average episode. There were a few weak spots, a lot of pretty good sketches, and absolutely NO sketches that I found great (nothing got a rating higher than three-and-a-half stars from me). An overall episode so average that I’ll probably have forgotten it by the time I reach the end of this season. Dylan McDermott surprised me with how uncharacteristically silly and amusing he was in some sketches; I particularly liked his performances in the Culps, Mango, and Lotto sketches.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Norm Macdonald)
a step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Garth Brooks / Chris Gaines