Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
SECOND PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
in second debate, Al Gore (DAH) & George W. Bush (WIF) find common ground
— Here’s one of two lesser-known Bush/Gore debate sketches in this election season, after the very well-known first Bush/Gore debate sketch.
— Interesting how this debate is starting already in progress, without the usual beginning.
— I love the split-screen shot of Will’s Bush and Darrell’s Gore agreeing with each other in an over-the-top manner.
— A lot of laughs from Bush braggingly listing off names of important Nigerian leaders. Will’s delivery of these Nigerian names is priceless.
— I like the little part with Gore desperately assuring us that his cough during Bush’s talking wasn’t a sigh.
— Jim Lehrer: “The two of you have either been highly coached (*cut to a shot of Bush nervously shifting his eyes in a suspicious manner*) or highly medicated (*cut to a shot of Gore smiling in an dopey manner*).”
— Funny turn with Lehrer tuning into the Cardinals/Mets game on FOX.
— Another very funny bragging line from Bush, flawlessly saying the tongue-twister “The sixth sheik’s sixth sheep is sick.”
— An overall much shorter debate sketch than the one in the preceding episode, and while tonight’s was not a classic like that one was, it was still great.
STARS: ****
OPENING MONTAGE
— After debuting in the last episode, Jerry Minor has been temporarily removed from tonight’s opening montage, despite the fact that we’ll be seeing him appear as himself with the rest of the cast in a sketch at the end of this episode. More on that later.
MONOLOGUE
lesser-known Laugh-In scions help host get back to her roots
— Feels like it’s been quite a long while since I’ve last seen Rachel, as she was completely absent in the last two episodes.
— Funny line from Rachel about being the product of a sexual encounter between Ruth Buzzi and both of the Smothers Brothers.
— The cast is funny and spot-on as Laugh-In cast members’ similarly-traited kids. Ana is especially making me laugh as Jo-Anne Worley’s daughter.
— When this episode originally aired, I remember a lot of this monologue going over my head, considering I was a 16-year-old at the time who was too young to be all that familiar with Laugh-In. In my adult years since then, I’ve seen several highlight reels and look-backs of that show, which helps me “get” this monologue a lot more now.
— Very fun Laugh In-style ending with the camera zoom-ins, lighting, and a bikini-clad Kate Hudson having a painted-on “Radiohead is here” on her torso.
STARS: ***½
HOME FROM COLLEGE
coed’s (host) televised Spring Break wildness embarrasses her parents
— A good laugh from Will and Molly’s shock over seeing Kate in a Girls Gone Wild commercial.
— I like the family getting a call from grandma, who saw the commercial too.
— A pretty one-note premise, but they’re keeping this funny enough in the execution. I wouldn’t have put this sketch in the lead-off spot of tonight’s episode, though.
— After a second raunchy video of Kate is seen on TV, I love Will angrily saying “Son of a bitch, I can’t believe it!” Will exclaiming “Son of a bitch!” is always reliable for a laugh, as the Erectile Dysfunction sketch from the preceding season’s Julianna Margulies episode has shown.
— An upset Will telling Kate “Oh, great, you said my name” after seeing Kate’s Cops clip is pretty funny.
STARS: ***
TV FUNHOUSE
“X-Presidents” by RBS- two-party rule repels threat from independents
— This is the first X Presidents cartoon in quite a long time.
— The incoherent speech that Bush Jr. gives is hilarious.
— Good turn with the X Presidents’ kids and Liberty the dog being added to the Bush/Gore debate.
— A good laugh from both Amy Carter and Ron Reagan Jr. being transformed into Britney Spears singing “Oops!…I Did It Again”.
— Another good turn, with the reveal of the X Presidents’ villains being The Independents.
— After Bill Clinton tells the X Presidents that he’ll be joining them soon, I love Ronald Reagan bitterly responding “Over my fu(bleep)in’ dead body.”
— The Jackson 5-esque musical number at the end is a riot.
STARS: ****
INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO
Drew Barrymore (host) recalls magical career
— Always great to see this recurring sketch.
— An absolutely spot-on and funny Drew Barrymore impression from Kate.
— Very funny part with Will’s James Lipton falling backwards out of his chair while doing his usual head-thrown-back laugh.
— Drew Barrymore, when asked what profession would she not like to participate in: “Um… I wouldn’t want to burn monkeys.”
— I like Lipton’s “Son of a bee sting, ow!” when Barrymore shakes his sore hand (which is sore from falling backwards out of his chair earlier).
STARS: ****
SULLY’S HOME
Sully loves that his sister (host) is dating Nomar Garciaparra [real]
— SNL gets in their very first Survivor mention, which I recall some SNL fans were anticipating when this SNL season began, as Survivor was the huge breakout show of that summer.
— Interesting seeing Sully’s sister.
— As usual, Horatio steals this Boston Teens sketch with his Frankie character.
— Nomar Garciaparra makes his inevitable Boston Teens cameo.
— I love Denise requesting that Nomar autograph her boob, and asking him to use a “Shahpie” for his autograph.
— Nomar’s delivery surprisingly isn’t bad for a non-actor, and he’s coming off pretty natural here. Better than some athletes who have hosted SNL.
— Good double entendre from Nomar about giving Kate some “souvenir balls”.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The National Anthem”
WEEKEND UPDATE
JIF uses foreign footage to show that NYC is nuts for the Subway Series
JIF’s Meet The Parents review consists of aping BES & Robert DeNiro
Bill Clinton (DAH) doesn’t think much of the presidential candidates
— Geez, what in the world happened to Tina’s hair? She makes Jimmy’s traditionally messy hairstyle look neat by comparison.
— They’re still having Tina throw to Jimmy after the first joke, by having Tina ask “Jimmy?” and Jimmy respond “Thank you, Tina” before delivering the next joke. It came off particularly awkward tonight, and I can see why they’d eventually drop it.
— Jimmy’s side segment on the Subway Series was kinda funny.
— Wow, a lot of side segments tonight with Tina and especially Jimmy, almost making you wonder if Update has done away with guest correspondents. At the beginning of Jimmy’s “Movie Review” side segment, he even ad-libs a self-aware “I’m all OVER this tonight, huh?” I like how SNL is having a lot of fun with Update this season. While these frequent side segments with Jimmy and Tina have been hit-and-miss so far, the fun atmosphere kinda makes up for when they miss.
— Jimmy’s Meet The Parents review mostly consisting of him doing a DeNiro impression while just saying “You’re gonna meet meeee” has really stuck in my memory over the years.
— Ah, now we get an actual guest commentator tonight, Darrell’s President Clinton, who usually kills on Update.
— I’m enjoying Darrell’s Clinton making fun of Gore and Bush. Kinda funny seeing Darrell as Clinton doing a half-assed Gore impression, considering Darrell himself does a spot-on Gore impression.
— Overall, Darrell knocks it out the park with yet another great Clinton commentary on Update.
STARS: ***½
WOODROW
Woodrow brings host to the sewer to pitch his movie script idea
— The first installment of this sketch was a Tracy Morgan masterpiece, but I’m not sure that we needed a second installment.
— I love the odd “Your liver has a brain tumor” line in Woodrow’s movie script.
— Like last time, we get a nonsensical song that Woodrow wrote. I’m not finding this one as funny or as memorable as the song from the first sketch, but I’m still laughing, especially at the lyric mentioning “tiny mouse tits”.
— After getting kissed on the lips by Kate, I love Woodrow saying with a smile “You just made me piss my pants.”
— Overall, this sketch lacked the magic and freshness of the first Woodrow installment, but this was still very solid, and, like last time, did a great job of mixing humor with tender sentimentality. Tracy is very underrated at pulling off pathos.
STARS: ****
MEET THE PRESS
Tim Russert (DAH) gives Hillary Clinton (ANG) a hard time
— A good laugh from Darrell-as-Tim-Russert’s altered Hillary Clinton quote using ellipses to make it seem like Hillary stated “I don’t trust Jewish people”.
— I remember when this episode originally aired, I missed the beginning of this sketch to get a snack from the kitchen. When I came back and this sketch was already in progress, I honestly thought Jimmy was playing Martin Short instead of Rick Lazio. To me, Jimmy resembled Martin Short in that wig and prosthetic nose, plus he was making a goofy comical facial expression. Not to mention that Jimmy seems to like doing impressions of former SNL cast members. However, I remember being confused over why Jimmy was using a froggy voice in this sketch if he was playing Martin Short. It wasn’t until after the show when, as I played back the VHS tape that I recorded this episode on, I saw the portion of this sketch that I missed and found out that Jimmy was playing Rick Lazio.
— Funny bit with Russert doing a freeze-frame focusing on Hillary’s fat butt when she leans forward in a video shown of her.
— Hilarious visual of Jimmy’s Lazio having milk coming out of his nose while laughing.
— A then-rare instance of breaking from Darrell, as he uncontrollably cracks up while signing off at the end of the sketch.
STARS: ***½
RABUN TO SHURI
Japanese sitcom mirrors Laverne & Shirley
— Cute concept of a Japanese version of Laverne & Shirley.
— Nice shoutout to SNL’s Akira Yoshimura in the production credits.
— I remember when this originally aired, a few online SNL fans, including myself, felt that Maya with that wig and high-pitched Asian accent was oddly very reminiscent of MADtv’s Ms. Swan. I don’t see the similarities as much now, probably because of Maya eventually going on to play various Asian roles on SNL using that same voice, causing me to get used to hearing it.
— Speaking of MADtv, much like this sketch, MADtv also seemed to have a thing for doing foreign versions of classic TV shows. I recall them doing Spanish take-offs of All In The Family and Happy Days, and maybe some others.
— A hilarious mid-show Japanese commercial featuring, at one point, a cockroach turning into some kind of snack.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Idioteque”
VOTE SOBER 2000
castmembers deliver a PSA against voting while intoxicated
— An interesting change of pace for this era, having the entire cast deliver a message as themselves on the home base stage.
— During the original airing of this episode, a lot of local NBC affiliates, including the one that the copy I’m currently reviewing of this episode was recorded from, came in late on this sketch when it was already in progress. It abruptly opened on an odd close-up of Molly not saying anything while Tracy is heard speaking. Molly then starts breaking when realizing the camera is mistakenly still on her instead of Tracy (the first above screencap for this sketch).
— We see that Will’s hair looks VERY different than usual, with it being grown out and dyed a very light blond. The reason that his hair looks like this is because he’s filming the movie Zoolander at this time. For anyone who ever thought that his hair was a wig in that movie, nope, he seriously grew his real hair out and dyed it blond just for that movie. His hair will be like this for the entirety of the first half of this season, but, aside from this sketch, the only time we’ll be seeing it onscreen is during the goodnights, as he’ll otherwise be hiding his hair by wearing wigs all the time, even when playing himself (such as in the big “wedding” from the end of the notorious Tom Green episode a little later this season).
— I like the line about drunk voters making “Kung Fu Fighting” the country’s official anthem.
— There’s Jerry Minor. It makes no sense that he wasn’t credited in tonight’s opening montage if they knew he was going to appear in this full-cast piece. Was he thrown into this sketch at the last minute or something? Any viewers back in 2000 who watched this episode live but didn’t see the preceding week’s season premiere would’ve been completely lost when seeing Jerry among the cast in this sketch. I can just imagine them asking themselves “Who the heck is THAT?!?”
— Very funny bit about an “SNL 25th Anniversary Book of Mixed Drinks”, especially Horatio Sanz’s Big Pail Of Everclear.
— Speaking of Horatio, why is he not in this sketch? He’s the only cast member missing from this, I believe. By the way, it feels like he’s barely done anything this season so far.
— Tina still has the messed-up hair from Update. Again, I ask, what in the world happened to her hair?
— Nice touch how after this sketch ends, the cast moves aside as the camera zooms behind them to show the SNL Band playing the show to commercial.
STARS: ***½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty solid episode. Nothing much else to say, other than that, like the season premiere, there weren’t any segments tonight that I found weak, making this season 2-for-2 in episodes that I found to be pretty much flawless. Season 26 is off to a very good start so far.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Rob Lowe)
a slight step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Dana Carvey
Rabun to Shuri has always been a personal favorite of mine. Loved Maya especially in it.
It’s one of those sketches that I have to pause at, but Maya is absolutely perfect in it, and the whole silly idea clicks. Fallon, Parnell and Kattan are also very funny. Fortunately the length is also just about right.
Jerry Minor was on Andy Richter’s podcast a couple days ago and said that it wasn’t totally clear if he was a cast member or just a writer when he was hired. He said Lorne’s intention may have been to phase him in later into the season, but they had already filmed his opening credits sequence so he figured he’d just start writing himself into sketches immediately. That might explain why he’s sometimes credited and sometimes not, but I’m not entirely sure.
Girls Gone Wild and Survivor. Yep we are getting to “modern” times here. Lol
I’ve felt for a while now the late ’90s/early ’00s era of the show has dated more than most, partly because of the heavier emphasis on pop culture. This one took me back, remembering just how the first Survivor cast were everywhere (“alphabet Sean” in particular seemed to be booked on everything). And then Colleen ended up in a movie with Rob Schneider, which is probably the closest Survivor got to SNL…
Aside from the 4 1/2 years where Seth was the solo anchor, this episode started the practice of Update anchors laughing at asides their partner makes off-camera. I’ll try and find the specific interview but I definitely remember Tina saying that there was one episode early in her time as a cast member where she didn’t have time to go to hair & makeup because a sketch of hers was on right before Update, I think this is the episode.
Could be – I feel Tina rarely appeared in sketches as a cast member during her WU era.
She wrote Boston Teens with Rachel so she would have been in the studio for that and then a commercial break, Radiohead, then another commercial break, then Update. That’s like 10 minutes at most between Boston Teens ending and Update beginning. Then again this is only a theory.
You’re not imagining things, Jakey. Tina was in maybe one sketch every other show.
Always loved that “I wouldn’t want to burn monkeys“ line.
From what I remember it seemed like they were playing with different looks for Tina when she first started. I believe in the next one they try her without glasses before switched back a week later. Fallon would eventually start experimenting with some pretty wacky hairstyles throughout his Weekend Update tenure.
Compared to what we got in the premiere, this one reminded me much more of what we get now – essentially, running one or two obvious laugh lines from the debate into the ground. I’d still put this above cold opens of recent years, as they didn’t do 500 debate sketches (today we would have had the GOP primary debates, Bradley vs Gore, etc.), and there are some amusing moments, but, yeah…not a fan.
Aside from Almost Famous, I guess, my view of Kate Hudson has generally been as someone who is sort of there. That was how this episode tended to use her, although she surprisingly added a great deal of heart to the Woodrow sketch. This was a strangely put together piece, giving Kattan an obnoxious shout moment in the middle that pretty much killed the whole mood being built up, so I do credit Kate (and Tracy) for getting it back on track.
This Inside the Actor’s Studio sketch is a bit strange to me as Will sort of lapses into his generic Will random shouting character rather than sticking with James Lipton. The Drew Barrymore impression is fine, but it all feels a little thrown together in a hurry.
The Boston Teens sketch is pretty much what you’d expect, although the attempt to work in the usual cheap “queer” jokes with a Survivor mention feels even more strained than usual. Kate Hudson seemed to trip all over her lines. The funniest part of Nomar’s cameo for me was probably that the audience had no real reaction until they were prompted by the reactions from the other characters.
The Meet the Press sketch reminds me a great deal of the 2008 debate sketch centered on Hillary being treated unfairly (I’m not claiming ripoff – Downey probably wrote both). This one works in its own right. I could swear I remembered Kattan playing Lazio…maybe I just hallucinated this happening. Anyway, Fallon works well here in playing up the general d-bag nature that seemed to alienate many voters.
A good Update. Jimmy overload could be offputting but works here. Tina is also setting up the contrast that we’d tend to get in this period in that the main show is lighthearted about GWB while Update has quite a vicious putdown (the joke about kids going to his Detroit rally asking for help and he then executes them).
This may be my favorite X-Presidents film. Good concept, good execution, and Reagan’s complete contempt toward Clinton cracks me up.
The Vote Sober piece is a very interesting idea sort of botched with the sloppy execution. I instead just found myself focusing on what a strange assortment the cast was at this point – you have various people who had just arrived (Rachel, Maya, Jerry, Tina [as an oncamera presence]), at least one cast member who was nearly gone (Molly), several longtime cast members who were by this point mostly deep in their own bubbles (Ana, Will, Kattan), someone who never really fit any particular role even after 4 seasons (Tracy), and the midterm additions who, going into this season seemed to fit in very well, but we’d soon see that didn’t work out as planned (Parnell, Horatio [not even there], Jimmy). Also no real double acts at this point, as Jimmy and Horatio hadn’t gotten as much of their shtick on quite yet. It’s going to be fascinating seeing the cast slowly fall apart until we get to the nadir of 04-05.
And of course Darrell (I always forget him…) I’d put with the Will/Ana/Kattan group.
This is tonight’s Vintage episode.
I do remember seeing this episode when it originally aired twenty years ago, but what stood out most and still does to this day was Radiohead’s epic musical performance of “The National Anthem” and “Idioteque”. Easily one of the greatest SNL musical performances of all time.
To be honest, I love Tina’s Hair here, lol. I’m honestly jealous.
Very funny episode. So many footprints of this new era of SNL that will become of my favorite eras. Only complaint, lack of Horatio and Rudolph. I wonder if the Asain Laverne and Shirley was her idea or she pushed herself to be in it. Either way, I can’t wait for her to get more sketches on in the following seasons.
I think that may have been a trunk piece for Maya, but I’m not sure.
SNL’s Youtube channel put up a video of Radiohead’s National Anthem performance:
It is precisely because that performance has been uploaded, and I just saw it, that I am now going to review both performances from this episode.
Musical Performance #1: “The National Anthem”
-Love that distorted bassline!
-So interesting seeing Johnny Greenwood programming effects from the floor.
-Ooh, I LOVE the guitar sound here. So trippy.
-Oh, what I thought was a guitar with effects on it was Johnny’s keyboard, which seems to be similar to a Tannerin (electro-theremin). The guitar is just generating feedback. Either way, I really love that part. Sounds like that are what I think of when I think of Radiohead.
-Having a hard time figuring out if Thom Yorke is actually intending to be vocalizing, or if the mic is just picking up his breathing as he convulses. I’m vaguely familiar with his odd movements but I imagine this would look very strange to anyone who isn’t familiar.
-Whoa, is Johnny’s device on the floor causing the metallic effect on Thom’s vocals? That is sick.
-The closeups on Johnny’s hands have got me even more intrigued as to his keyboard. It looks like he’s controlling it with a wire wrapped around one finger.
-YES, brass section entrance! I was wondering what they were going to do…
-The dissonant brass reminds me a lot of the horn arrangements on Vijay Iyer Sextet’s album Far From Over.
-Ha, Thom’s rockstar jump at the end is a very typical move from a performance that was COMPLETELY ATYPICAL of rock and roll.
-Is it my imagination, or is the audience particularly enthusiastic here? I’m with them.
Stars: ****1/2
Musical Performance #2: “Idiotheque”
-Nice electronic beat at the start.
-Is… is that… is that what I think it is? A massive analog synth?
-Thom is much calmer here. He’s singing well, although I can’t understand the lyrics too well.
-Nice harmony vocals from Ed O’Brien. He and Thom blend well.
-Oh, there Thom goes with the frenzied movements. Not loving how that’s affecting his vocal performance, making the lyrics even harder to understand.
-I’m missing the keyboard pads after they dropped out. This section is going on for a little bit too long.
-I almost mistook those really weird synth noises for untimely applause from the audience. It sounds like a distorted glass harmonica.
-Ouch, Thom sends the microphone crashing to the floor with wild abandon!
Stars: ****
Wow. Wow wow wow, imagine turning on your TV late at night and seeing that! I’m struggling to think of a live TV performance that I’ve seen that was on the same level of inventiveness and creativity. And I’m not even a Radiohead fan… although I might become one, now.
I just adored the hell out of this, Blue, and I thank you for taking up the mantle in these overall. What a rundown of the greatest performance in show history, and a landmark RH performance overall.