Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
THE STUDIO 8H RULES
host reads the Studio 8H Rules to orphan castmembers
— Darrell gets his first noteworthy role in weeks. His airtime had really taken a hit lately.
— A pretty fun idea for an SNL-related Cider House Rules parody.
— Hilarious visual of Kattan as a bubble boy.
— I like Cheri and Tracy laughing off the SNL rule Tobey Maguire reads off stating “No sketches longer than three minutes.”
— SNL makes yet another slam about Joe Piscopo being a has-been.
— Funny random mention from Lorne about Jimmy having left the show to join the cast of Ally McBeal.
— Tim’s line about Lorne “manipulating us into signing long contracts for low amounts of money” was a good self-deprecating mention of Tim’s long tenure on the show.
— A good laugh from Tobey walking in on Lorne sniffing ether.
STARS: ****
MONOLOGUE
audience member Keith (Adam McKay) isn’t familiar with host’s oeuvre
— Adam McKay interrupting Tobey’s monologue to randomly yell “Hey, Tobey, man, show me the money!” is funny, as is him eventually revealing that due to Tobey’s last name, he’s mistaking Tobey for having been in the movie Jerry Maguire.
— I like Adam now mistaking Cider House Rules as a cheer for a fraternity.
— Adam McKay: “I saw the movie where the dude humped a pie. Are you him?”
— Funny ending with Adam getting mad at Tobey for ruining The Phantom Menace after Tobey begrudgingly claims he’s Jar Jar Binks.
STARS: ***½
CELEBRITY JEOPARDY
Sean Connery (DAH), Keanu Reeves (host), Hilary Swank (JIF)
— Great opening bit with Will’s Alex Trebek telling us that he’s stuck miserably doing another Celebrity Jeopardy after Regis Philbin recently did a Celebrity Millionaire.
— Keanu Reeves: “I know kung fu.” Alex Trebek: “For the last time, no, you don’t.”
— Jimmy loosely playing Hillary Swank is quite out of the ordinary for Celebrity Jeopardy, but it’s working for me. I especially like the detail of the fake overbites and how Jimmy doesn’t even have to wear a wig for this role.
— Hilarious bit with a paper stating “Things Trebek Sucks” being taped over one of the categories, and it being revealed that Darrell’s Sean Connery, of course, was the one behind that prank.
— We get our obligatory classic category mix-up, with tonight’s being Connery mistaking “Foreign Flicks” for… uh, let’s just say that Connery thought the “l” and “i” in the word “flicks” were a single “u”.
— An interesting change of pace with a Video Daily Double segment, featuring Kattan’s Ricky Martin impression. There seemed to be a music malfunction at the beginning of this segment, though. Kattan appeared to be awkwardly vamping for time while waiting for the music to kick in.
— I love Trebek’s anguish when finding out that the Final Jeopardy category is Famous Mothers, a reveal that Connery responds to with “My day has come!”
— Alex Trebek, in regards to what Keanu Reeves wagered: “Eleventy billion dollars. That’s not even a real number.” Keanu Reeves: “….yet.”
— A very funny cutaway to Parnell as Hillary Swank’s crying husband in the audience during her Oscars-esque acceptance speech.
STARS: *****
BURGER CASTLE
Burger Castle employee Nadeen tells customers to “simmer down”
— The third and final appearance of Cheri’s “Simma dah nah” character, Nadeen.
— Nadeen’s rude comments about Horatio’s weight are pretty funny.
— Nadeen’s “Simma dah nah” routine is coming off pretty tepid tonight, compared to the last two installments where it was somewhat fresh. It’s a good thing this ends up being the final installment. If Cheri hadn’t left after this season, who knows how much further SNL would run this recurring sketch into the ground.
— Tobey’s doing a surprisingly good job doing the “Simma dah nah” routine.
STARS: **
TV FUNHOUSE
“Up Close With Geppetto” by RBS- Pinocchio humps interviewee Sharon Stone
— Geppetto’s goofy accent is cracking me up. I can tell that’s Robert Smigel who’s voice I’m hearing.
— Pretty weird cartoon so far. Not sure what this is going for.
— Hilarious sudden turn with Pincocchio going wild after getting horny from seeing Sharon Stone’s leg-crossing. I also like Geppetto reacting to that with a proud declaration of “He’s a real boy!”
— Now we’re going back to the “WTF?” territory we were in earlier in this cartoon, with all three characters in this cartoon dancing in unison for no reason, and then a huge whale eating the house they’re in. What was that all about?
STARS: ***
INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO
Dustin Diamond (host) on being Screech
— An absolutely priceless idea to have James Lipton interview Dustin Diamond and fawn over Diamond’s screenwork as Screech.
— Tobey is fantastic as Screech. Even his mere facial expressions and body gestures are hilarious enough.
— James Lipton: “In 1992, a made-for-television film came out that changed the face of American cinema. That film, of course, is Saved By The Bell: Hawaiian Style.”
— I love Will-as-James-Lipton’s head-thrown-back laugh after saying “You are a delight.”
— A good laugh from Tobey-as-Dustin-Diamond’s idea of stretching his acting chops being him moving on from Saved By The Bell to Saved By The Bell: The New Class.
— James Lipton: “What turns you off?” Dustin Diamond: “When someone throws garbage or feces at you.”
STARS: *****
TENNIS LESSON
Mrs. Attebury indelicately plies tennis pro’s (host) institutionalization
— Oddly, we get the return of obscure recurring characters The Atteburys, for the first time since way back in season 22 when Ana was a new cast member. The long-departed Mark McKinney played the husband in all previous installments of this sketch, but Will takes over as his character tonight, making this a very rare case of a single recurring character being played by different performers at separate times.
— Ana’s performance as this character remains solid, but Will’s performance as the deadpan husband doesn’t work for me as much as Mark McKinney’s great take on this character did. Will’s dialogue itself is still funny, though.
— Ana unintentionally offending Tobey’s psychotic character is providing some pretty good laughs.
STARS: ***
WEEKEND UPDATE
Angelina Jolie (MOS) & brother James (CHK) address relationship rumors
for National Lingerie Week, Joy Lipton shows some boudoir fashions
— Hmm, a change of pace with Colin himself doing a “Weekend Update Editorial” segment. However, I could’ve done without him starting the segment by saying “Here’s Colin Quinn” and then looking to the side and saying to himself “Thanks, Colin.” That’s giving me bad Brad Hall flashbacks.
— Colin’s rant to Martin Scorsese during the Update Editorial segment of Colin’s is decent.
— Colin, regarding President Clinton agreeing to be interviewed by Leonardo DiCaprio: “Apparently, Clinton agreed to the interview after he saw DiCaprio’s picture and, quote, ‘thought she was hot’.”
— Funny to see a parody of Angelina Jolie’s infamous behavior with her brother at that year’s then-recent Oscars . Kattan is well-cast in this creepy role.
— An absolutely priceless walk-on from a deformed lovechild of Angelina Jolie and her brother, played by Rachel in the very first appearance as what would go on to be a recurring character of hers: Qrplt*xk.
— Hmm, an odd twist to the Angelina Jolie commentary, with it being revealed that Qrplt*xk is just an act put on by child actor David Mack Wilson, made even odder by the fact that David Mack Wilson is, I believe, the same child actor character that Rachel played in the Elian The Cuban Boy sketch from the preceding episode. But what in the world is the point to this twist in the Angelina Jolie commentary? It’s adding nothing.
— The second and final Joy Lipton appearance.
— Some really good laughs throughout Joy Lipton’s commentary, such as her displaying a sun-shaped vibrator, and her displaying bull-head strap-on underwear. I’m actually enjoying this Joy Lipton commentary more than I did her first one.
— An overall decent Weekend Update tonight, for Colin Quinn era standards.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Thong Song”
YOGA CLASS
after three years of effort, yoga student (WIF) achieves self-fellation
— An absolutely hilarious reveal of a stretching-forward Will giving himself fellatio while having his head buried inside his pants. I also love the initial reactions from the other characters.
— As I mentioned in my review of the Savin’ It sketch in the Julianna Margulies episode earlier this season, there’s one small portion of that sketch where Will struggles and fails while attempting to demonstrate a yoga move where he fellates himself. I’d like to think that his character in this Yoga Class sketch is the same character from the Savin’ It sketch after he finally learned how to successfully do the yoga move he desperately wanted to do.
— I love Will’s various lines to the class during the occasional times he pops his head out of his pants to say something.
— Tobey, to the yoga class: “Find your nirvana.” Will, while in the middle of fellating himself: “I found my nirvana!”
— The timing and delivery from the performers who aren’t Will or Tobey seem a little off, even the usually-reliable Tim Meadows.
— Rachel, to Will: “Could… could you teach a girl to do that?”
— Solid ending taking place years later, with a now-long-haired and long-bearded Will still asking for a little more time to finish his self-fellatio.
STARS: ****
STAVENHAGENS PAWN SHOP
by Adam McKay- (Steve Buscemi) pays cash for food
— Steve Buscemi! Great to see him on SNL again.
— I love Tracy’s line about “these sweet-ass waffles”.
— Great scene with Will’s hobo character trying to convince Steve that gum is food.
— Will: “By the way… I took a crap in your store.” Steve: “That’s not food, either.”
— Horatio has appeared in every Adam McKay short film that SNL has aired up to this point, and he’s always in his element in these. In tonight’s film, I especially like Horatio’s mention of how, in the past, he enjoyed “throwin’ dobermans at old ladies and coldcockin’ redheaded dudes just for the eff of it.”
— Adam McKay is funny in his appearance as a robber failing in his attempt to hold up the store.
— Good ending with Horatio sleeping while standing up.
— Overall, my favorite of the three Adam McKay short films that have aired up to this point.
STARS: ****½
CONVENIENCE STORE
store clerk (host) clues (ANG) to fiance’s (WIF) porn proclivity
— Funny situation with the store clerk remembering Will’s embarrassing old weekly habit of always buying porno magazines with raspberry soda and a Mars bar.
— Between the preceding Adam McKay short film and this sketch, tonight’s episode is utilizing Horatio well in roles that fit him.
— Not sure if slice-of-life is the right term for this sketch, but I’m really enjoying the realistic atmosphere and approach to this. Sketches like this feel kinda rare in this era.
— Good ending with Will begrudgingly going back to his old raspberry soda/Mars bar/porn-buying habits after Ana dumps him.
STARS: ****
WEST LINK
after nebulous pitch, West Link admits “even we don’t know what we do”
— Pretty funny “Even we don’t know what we do” tagline, after the seriousness that preceded it. Kinda reminds me of the Ad Council commercial from season 11, though that one was better-executed.
STARS: ***
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very solid episode, keeping up the streak of above average episodes that this season has been churning out lately. Tonight’s episode had some classic installments of tried-and-true recurring sketches (Celebrity Jeopardy and Inside The Actor’s Studio), and a string of great pieces in the second half of the show.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Christopher Walken)
a slight step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Our annual John Goodman episode. (By the way, this is the last time I’ll be able to say “Our annual John Goodman episode”, as the following season breaks Goodman’s impressive streak of hosting in every season since 1989.) We also get a late-in-the-season addition of a new female cast member.