Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
HARDBALL WITH CHRIS MATTHEWS
John Kerry (SEM) chooses Al Sharpton (KET) as his running mate
— Kinda interesting how Chris is playing Andrew Card in this season finale’s Hardball cold opening, given the fact that Dan Aykroyd previously played him in the Hardball cold opening from the preceding year’s season finale.
— Chris Matthews to Andrew Card, regarding Card’s over-the-top glowing comments about President Bush: “Man, oh, man. You didn’t just drink the Kool-Aid – you went back for seconds.”
— A good laugh from Darrell’s Matthews being caught putting a noose around his neck while listening to Seth’s John Kerry drone on and on.
— Overall, a little better than the forgettably average Hardball sketches from this season, but still not up to the level of great Hardballs from previous seasons. I eagerly await the addition of Will’s Zell Miller to Hardball the following season, to inject some new life into these sketches.
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
JIF & WLF help simulate the senior prom hosts are unable to attend
— Okay, right out of the gate here, the Olsen Twins have established that Ashley is the blonde one and Mary-Kate is the brunette. I have to remember that, as this episode is the first time I’ve ever had to deal with seeing an episode hosted by identical twins, and I’ve NEVER been able to tell the difference between the Olsens in anything I’ve seen them appear together in.
— Big applause for Jimmy’s walk-on, as it’s known that tonight is his final episode.
— Cute concept of bringing the Olsen Twins’ school prom to them here at SNL, since they’re missing their prom to host the show.
— I love Fred’s cheesy dad character suddenly going from laughing heartily to telling Jimmy a very stern “You touch my daughter, I’ll kill ya.”
— When the prom decorations, including a banner, are lowered from the ceiling, the banner instantly breaks off by accident. (seen in the background of the two below screencaps)
— I see Maya is taking over the recently-departed Jeff Richards’ duties as Drunk Girl. Maya’s drunken character in this monologue is eerily similar.
— Will: “A bunch of us are gonna go into a black neighborhood and try to buy wine.”
STARS: ***½
PAPARAZZI
(hosts) & fellow red carpet paparazza engineer marketable snapshots
— Oh, god. Not a return of this Paparazzi sketch from this season’s Jennifer Aniston episode, a sketch that I hated. And I also hate how these sketches always have to be placed right up top as the first post-monologue sketch of the night.
— I did get a laugh just now from a request Amy shouts out: “Marc Anthony, pretend you’re a genie comin’ out of J.Lo’s butt!”
— Much like Jennifer Aniston in the first installment, the Olsen Twins attempt some self-deprecating humor as their paparazzi characters throw unflattering questions at the passing-by Olsen Twins. And much like Aniston’s attempt at that, it’s doing absolutely nothing for me.
— Amy, regarding what appears to be a passing-by Dakota Fanning: “That’s not Dakota Fanning, that’s David Spade.” Wow, this is the SECOND time this season made a slam at Spade. Ha, I know it’s nothing but good-natured ribbing at one of the show’s own alum, but I still think this is Spade’s karma for his infamous Eddie Murphy slam (and maybe also for all his harsh Hollywood Minute jokes in general).
— Overall, I got a few more chuckles than I got in the first installment of this sketch, but I still disliked most of this installment, and am glad to never have to review any more installments of this.
STARS: **
MARY-KATE & ASHLEY
Ashley & Mary-Kate fragrances purport to capture hosts’ personalities
— Some pretty good laughs from how increasingly absurd and out-of-hand the voice-over from Chris is getting in his details of each perfume.
— Pretty funny ending with the wind from an off-camera fan starting to blow out of control.
STARS: ***½
Z105
Joey Mack’s shameless foolery gives listeners a poor opinion of hosts
— Our final appearance of this sketch. Should’ve left the preceding installment with Ben Affleck as the final appearance, as that would’ve been a perfect way to conclude this series of sketches.
— What’s with the VERY awkward and long pause Jimmy made right before starting to tell the dog crap story? There was a long stretch of painful dead air as Jimmy looked completely lost on what he was supposed to do, before he finally started telling the story. This is an about-to-depart six-season SNL veteran I’m watching?!?
— I admit to getting a laugh from the very un-PC part with Z105’s black weatherman claiming that the only reason Z105’s Middle Eastern intern Sanji liked the movie New York Minute is because it was set in New York and was a bomb.
— Wow, an EXTREMELY intense “And we’re BACK!” from Jimmy’s Joey Mack just now, and you can tell Jimmy delivered it like that because he knows that’s the last time he’ll ever be delivering that catchphrase.
— The ending felt a little abrupt. Either that, or SNL accidentally cued the “Applause” lights too early.
— Overall, some laughs, but I’m a little meh on this final Z105 sketch. This just treaded the same ground from most installments of this sketch, and tonight’s paled in comparison to the aforementioned Ben Affleck installment, which refreshingly did something new with the formula.
STARS: **½
THE SWAN
one-legged Amber loses makeover competition to Vicki (hosts)
FOX newswoman (RAD) teases scare-inducing story slated for WNYW broadcast
— I got a laugh from Chris-as-the-doctor’s unprofessional “fugly” comment about the Olsen Twin’s character (I don’t know which Olsen Twin is in this role, due to the wig she’s wearing).
— We haven’t seen Amy’s one-legged Amber character in what feels like quite a while. I recall starting to get tired of this character in her last appearance, but maybe the hiatus since then will make her come off fresher tonight.
— The voice Rachel’s using sounds EXACTLY like local news reporters, and her fast-paced, over-the-top, fear-mongering news report here is very funny.
— The mirror sequence with both Olsen Twins is fun and a clever way to incorporate both Olsen Twins into this sketch.
— Given that the preceding Z105 sketch relied heavily on fart humor as usual, it was a poor decision on SNL’s part to place this Swan sketch immediately after it, as the usual gag with one-legged Amber farting (which thankfully wasn’t used until towards the end of this sketch) feels badly redundant and unfortunate coming right after Z105.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Tipsy”
WEEKEND UPDATE
thinking of Brad Pitt causes JIF to slip into gayety during Troy review
Olympic stadium contractor (HOS) admits that Athens venue isn’t ready
— Jimmy’s final Weekend Update.
— I’ve gotten so tired of Tina’s Arnold Schwarzenegger vocal imitation whenever she does a joke about him.
— Blah, not caring for Jimmy’s increasingly-effeminate-voiced review of the movie Troy, as I’m just finding it to be yet another typical display of the cheap stereotypical gay humor that’s rampant in this SNL era. I do admit that I did kinda like Tina interrupting Jimmy’s Troy review to sternly whisper to him, “Jimmy, TV voice!”
— We get our final callback to the long-recurring Jimmy-punches-Tina “Fight Club” bit from some of the prior Fallon/Fey Updates, and Tina even wistfully points out to Jimmy “That may be the last time you hit me”, before tricking Jimmy by suddenly punching him.
— Well, I guess it was obligatory that Jimmy’s final Update features a commentary from Horatio. (*sigh*) You know how I feel about these Fallon/Sanz Update pieces, but at least this is the last time I’ll have to endure this.
— Yep, and there goes the obligatory loose Fallon/Sanz ad-libbing and laughing. I admit, as much I don’t care for it, I’m finding a slight charm to it here, knowing this is Jimmy’s final Update. I’ll let Jimmy have his fun here.
— A laugh from Horatio’s character slyly trying to pass off “Stadium Construction” as an Olympic event.
— As an SNL nerd, I like how Horatio’s commentary ends with him imitating the catchphrases from both the Olympia Cafe and Hub’s Gyros recurring sketches from SNL’s past.
— A nice farewell message that Jimmy delivers during his sign-off at the end of this Update, and I love the poignant touch of him subverting his usual trademark of throwing his pencil towards the camera by actually placing the pencil inside his jacket pocket this time.
STARS: **½
PAT ‘N PATTI’S BACKPACK SHACK
crackerjack sack flacks yak
— Oof, I am not liking this corny humor AT ALL. What the hell is this kind of thing doing on SNL? I think I recall an online comment from back at this time in 2004 saying this sketch felt like the type of corny humor that was rampant in the Dick Ebersol era of SNL. I agreed with that comment back then in ’04 when I was only vaguely familiar with the Ebersol era and somewhat associated it with hacky, annoying dreck like The Whiners, but after reviewing the entire Ebersol era in this SNL project of mine, I’ve gained a bigger appreciation for that era and find that it’s nowhere near as corny or hacky as I and others once deemed. I now find it hard to picture Ebersol ever letting a sketch like this on the air, but that still might be giving him a little too much credit.
— What is this, fucking amateur hour at SNL? You’d sure think so from watching Jimmy’s performance during his short appearance, combined with the corny writing of this sketch. Jimmy’s delivery in this sketch is extremely sloppy, he looks like he’s on the verge of busting out laughing the entire time, and he even flat out says “Oops!” after one of several line flubs he makes here. Jesus Christ. Once again tonight, I ask: this is an about-to-depart six-season SNL veteran I’m watching?!? Look, I like Jimmy, but man, this sketch REALLY accentuates the weaknesses he’s had as a performer over the years.
— Overall, this sketch didn’t produce a single laugh from me, nor did it produce a single moment that DIDN’T make me cringe. And I still want to know what the hell this kind of thing was doing on SNL.
STARS: *
ACCESS HOLLYWOOD
Olsen triplet (FRA) was edited out of New York Minute
— Blah, yet another display of bad “Pat O’Brien can’t breathe through his nose” jokes. I would say “At least this is the last time we’ll ever see it”, but I’m not 100% sure, as I think Jimmy later reprises his British Pat O’Brien in a Spy Glass sketch from the following season’s Cameron Diaz episode, which Jimmy cameos in.
— I remember finding Fred hilarious in this sketch when it originally aired, but in the years since then, I’ve gotten really burned out on men-in-drag humor on SNL, with a few exceptions. I don’t think this sketch is going to be one of those exceptions.
— I did get a laugh just now from the reveal of Fred’s Olsen Twin wearing granny panties under her skirt.
— Overall, some mild laughs, but I wasn’t a big fan of this sketch as a whole.
STARS: **½
ROLLER RINK
at a roller rink in 1979, Bloater brothers wilt when (hosts) get amorous
— Tonight’s Jimmy Fallon Farewell Tour continues.
— The Bloaters Brothers make their first appearance in quite a long while.
— The flashback premise is a bit of a change of pace for these Bloater Brothers sketches, but the humor here is kinda washing over me. I’m usually a defender of the Bloater Brothers, but I feel a bit lukewarm on their routine this time around.
— Hell yeah! A rare onscreen Don Pardo appearance! Great way to end this sketch.
STARS: **½
FAMILY BARBECUE
dad (CHP) uses camcorder to chronicle indoor Memorial Day family barbecue
— A laugh from the deviled eggs with M&Ms in them.
— Chris always plays such a good cheesy dad, and it’s good to see Chris starring in a sketch for once. Actually, I shouldn’t say “for once”, as this is actually the second consecutive sketch tonight starring or co-starring him, but it feels kinda rare to see him starring in an original one-off sketch.
— Interesting structure to this sketch, which you don’t see often in this era.
— Seth is fairly funny as the immature older brother.
— A cameo from Chris’ buttcrack.
STARS: ***
THE ADVENTURES OF HAROLD
by T. Sean Shannon- bald 12 year-old at school
— Hmm, well, THIS is certainly a huge change of pace for this era.
— The lack of any SNL performers, or anyone recognizable at all, gives this an even odder feel.
— I’m enjoying the aesthetic and acting in this, making this feel even more refreshingly out-of-the-ordinary for this SNL era.
— Good reveal at the end, though I’m surprised this film is ending already.
— Overall, not a bad film.
— This would end up being turned into a movie years later.
STARS: ***
SUMMERTIME
cast members’ summer medley culminates in Grease-inspired JIF & TIF duet
— The use of a locker room for the cast feels like a nice throwback to backstage sketches from the original SNL era. I know some of the SNL eras after the original one also occasionally used cast locker rooms in backstage sketches, but I can’t remember the last time we saw that.
— Oh, I absolutely love how meta this sketch is, with the cast lamenting this being the final sketch of the season while simultaneously anticipating their summer break. I believe this is the very first end-of-season goodbye sketch featuring every single member of the cast since “So Long Farewell” from exactly 10 years prior.
— So many endearing little details thrown in all throughout this. I even like the various odd ways the female cast members pronounce Horatio’s name, even though that seems to be a very inside joke.
— A great Travolta-esque entrance from Jimmy, appearing in his farewell sketch.
— A nice Grease turn in the music after Jimmy’s entrance.
— Lots of great random bits all throughout this sketch, such as Maya joining in Amy and Will’s “Summer Breeze” duet to do a vocalization of the guitar notes from that song, and Jimmy having to restrain Kenan when Kenan gets way too into his gesturing during the Grease song. But my absolute favorite random aspect of this sketch is definitely Darrell in the background, just leaning against the lockers for almost the entire sketch while looking down at his coffee cup in a very deadpan, emotionless manner, not participating at all in any of the various songs his castmates are doing. I’ve seen some SNL fans complain about that aspect of this sketch, as they assumed Darrell was genuinely being a sourpuss and went off-script by refusing to participate in any of the songs. Not only am I certain that Darrell’s lack of participation is a scripted part of this sketch, but that it’s also intended as a humorous meta commentary on 1) how detached Darrell is from the rest of this cast, and 2) how much Darrell’s somber, dry personality clashes against an upbeat musical piece like this. Darrell’s also unintentionally doing a spot-on impression of how I personally would typically act if I had to participate in any kind of musical number like this, so perhaps that’s why this aspect of this sketch resonates so much with me.
— I love the comically unnecessary use of a split-screen when Jimmy and Tina are singing right next to each other.
— Overall, I could not have loved this sketch any more. An extremely fun, epic, and amazing end-of-season goodbye sketch, and also a fitting and fun sendoff to Jimmy. I recall hearing that Amy and Fred both wrote this, and they didn’t even intend for it to be a farewell to Jimmy, as they weren’t 100% sure yet about his departure when they were writing this. They wrote this sketch as both a farewell to the season and as a “Thank you” to loyal SNL viewers. I guess it’s just a coincidence that it ended up working out as such a nice sendoff for Jimmy.
STARS: *****
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Nothing special as a season finale, aside from the final sketch. The show hit a lull for a while after Update, but as a whole, this episode wasn’t too bad. However, given the upswing in quality this season has surprisingly experienced the last few episodes prior to this, I was hoping this season would end on a higher note than it did.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Snoop Dogg)
a step down
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS ENTIRE SEASON, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (2002-03)
Kinda hard to say. Before the last few episodes of this season, I definitely would’ve said this season is a slight step down from the preceding one, but the aforementioned upswing this season’s quality took towards the end makes me have some second thoughts about where this season stands against the preceding one. I’ll have to just put an N/A for now, until I come to a decision.
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Season 30 begins, with host Ben Affleck, one new addition to the cast, and a new co-anchor for Weekend Update
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen aren’t identical twins, they’re fraternal twins that lookalike. (I know, it’s confusing.)
I really liked the goodbye sketch for jimmy Fallon but for me the best farewell sketch is the she’s a rainbow/ruby Tuesday farewell for Kristen Wiig 8 seasons later with Mick Jagger hosting. It was the beginning of the end of an era for SNL (the digital short era) with Wiig and Andy Samberg leaving the show and Bill Hader, Jason Sudekis and Fred Armisen following suit the following year and finally Seth Meyers departing before the winter Olympics in Sochi. it all started with that farewell sketch. Jimmy’s farewell is still memorable though. I can’t for you to review Jimmy Fallon’s 3 episodes as host.
John Lutz wrote the Family Barbecue sketch. I think it was his first piece to make it to air.
I guess this is only a few years before the Olsen Twins retired. The skeevy exploitation they went through in the industry is fortunately not that much on display here, and the joke I dreaded the most (about their turning 18) was left to an ad-lib for the goodnights. Not a pop culture hosting gig I would have picked, but ultimately not a terrible one.
Jimmy’s goodbyes are done in a way I can respect, in the choice to reflect the goofy persona he wore as a suit of armor, rather than breaking down into tears and tributes. Jimmy was the ‘star’ of his last few seasons, and had been nudged into a central position from the first time he got onto Update with his guitar, but the show never really revolved around him and he never really had the abilities to carry the show. It was more of a mutually beneficial partnership than a sense of Jimmy ever really fitting in. I think that’s why, on rewatch, I enjoyed his Update run (where he could be himself) much more than most of his recurring sketches (which were meant to make him more endearing to viewers).
Jimmy was sort of the last of the “names” who left SNL with some fanfare only to hit the brick wall of reality for how the industry and public tended to see SNL stars. Later SNL stars would, with a few exceptions, never go for (or were never asked to go for) the movie star route and instead gradually built up a positive reputation in TV roles and smaller film parts. This route, the Jane Curtin route, is one I wish many more had tried before the 2006+ era crew finally followed in her footsteps.
In some ways, Jimmy has always reminded me of the peaked in high school cliche. The hype and the promise on the SNL campus, always going back to remind of what might’ve been. Even on his talk show, he is most at home when talking about his years on SNL. He never really shook off a lot of the criticisms of his SNL personality and performances (giggling, stumbling) that many other cast members did, especially after his Tonight Show stint went from being seen as a big success to being a symbol of the gluttony and corruption of late night comedy. In spite of all this backlash, and my own fatigue with him many times, I never can truly dislike Jimmy, as I do think he means well, doesn’t hide behind passive-aggressiveness or ego trips. I thinks his ‘at home’ shows are the closest he’s come to seeming comfortable and watchable since some of his better SNL days.
My favorite part of the Grease song is Maya mimicking instruments – it reminds me of what her mother would have done. Otherwise, while the song is a classy and fun way to go out, I am reminded when watching it of just how jumbled together and inorganic this cast tends to feel – something that will be getting even worse for this next, last season.
Yeah, I always wondered if Darrell acting like that in the Summertime sketch was him refusing to participate or just scripted for him. I mean, if he really didn’t want to do it, he could have simply not appeared in it! And it made a nice farewell to Jimmy, whether intentional or not.
It’s always nice to see a big farewell sketch for a finale and/or cast member send-off. I’m neither here nor there on Jimmy Fallon but I do think he added a good energy to the show, and I understand why he became a successful talk show host.
Pat ‘n Patti’s Backpack Shack had the potential to be so dumb that it works, but it ends up just being insanely dumb and not funny. It needed someone who could sell it and I don’t think Horatio or Maya could (I don’t know WHO could, though.) I like it when SNL is able to make stupid concepts work, but it’s too much of a risky game because a lot of time it ends up being just super unfunny.
By the way, good luck on S30. Hopefully you find some forgotten gems in there or something. I watched a lot of that season recently and it was not a very fun experience.
James Anderson and Paula Pell wrote “Pat and Patti’s Backpack Shack”.
I’m still trying to figure out which is a worse season; season 28 is bumpier, but season 29 is more evenly mediocre, and it feels more like they embraced having lower standards, writing-wise.
This aired the day after I graduated from high school…memories. Anyway, I thought I was a Bloater Brothers fan, but I have zero recollection of this installment.
The PAT ‘N PATTI’S becomes recurring in next season’s Colin Farrell show. I shit you not.
I was always a fan of Jimmy’s tenure on the show, but you clearly see his heart isn’t in it part way into season 28. John’s assessment is dead on. He wanted to be a movie star and we all know how that panned out. He’s perfect for The Tonight Show type format. Yeah he gets criticized for pandering to the crowd and doesn’t ask the “tough” questions, but he’s a hell of an entertainer and you have to give him credit for that.
Ah season 30. Largely boring and forgettable season 30. We get the first (slight) change to the SNL logo in 9 years as well.
I think this was the best “Goodbye” sketch the show had ever done. First, it’s not explicitly a Jimmy send-off, as it incorporates the entire cast well a doesn’t seem to focus on just the ONE thing. Second, it’s actually funny, which is a long ways away from the truly maudlin, ego-stroking Kristen Wiig send-off in 2012. God, I hate that one.
As for the season, I think I give it the edge over 02-03 by a hair – I think I just prefer the highs of this one over the previous season. I also tended to really like a lot of things this year that Stooge wasn’t as keen on.
This project, again, eerily gets to an episode just around the right time, as Mary-Kate (I think) was recently in the news, for the first time in forever, because of her divorce.
I’m pretty positive I saw a rerun of this episode on VH-1, because I remember seeing the Grease sketch on TV, but I don’t remember anything else about this episode (similar to how I definitely saw a rerun of the Janet Jackson episode, but only remember the Good Times sketch and maybe one other thing). I guess that was around nine years ago (plus an hour-long edit), so maybe that makes sense, but I’m still surprised. Who knows, maybe I just tuned in late.
Having recently seen some season 30 episodes, I’m eagerly anticipating these next nineteen(?) reviews. Really, I was anticipating them even before seeing the episodes, since the whole “season 30 was awful” stance is relatively new to me–I think I first heard it from one of the earlier reviews on here, when I started visiting this site in December. If it truly ends up being the worst-rated season since 20, I’m very surprised it’s not lumped with seasons 6, 11, and 20. My only real theory is that the updated LFNY book probably doesn’t dig into it (based on what I’ve heard about the updated sections being a lot more forgiving), so there just isn’t any mythos around it.
This era of the show is remembered more by the work many of the cast did after they left, not while they were on it. It’s not a period that was seen as especially bad for the show because it wasn’t treated that way at the time by the press – it was just mostly ignored. Ashlee Simpson is the show’s pop culture watermark from about 2002 to 2008. I imagine many also aren’t as likely to realize just how regressive this era was in terms of race-based or homophobic material, because it’s hard to track down the episodes. If they did, then we would probably see more talk about it, as we did at length on Twitter when Bill Hader was in a big hit movie with a younger fanbase last year and many made the mistake of going back and looking at some of the material he had while he was on SNL.
I have Jimmy’s best of DVD, the Grease number is on there and it’s a pretty good sendoff. As someone who didn’t really watch the show live anymore at this point from reading your reviews it’s staggering to learn how detached Jimmy was later in his tenure. He wasn’t really utilized as a great impressionist like his early years. Maybe it was a mistake to put him on update? As for his constant giggling: I’m generally not as down on character breaking during sketches as most people, I think it’s a sign the cast is having fun. When it happens multiple times practically every week is when there’s an issue. Jimmy just strikes me as a decent cast member that was used wrong for most of the time he was on the show, either because of his choices or bad writing.
Only recognizable face in the Harold short is Lou Wagner (last screencap) who also played the same role as the principal in the movie. T. Sean Shannon also put Wager in some of his later shorts he made for the Funny or Die TV show, remember him and Fred Willard starring in his Space Baby series that ran throughout the series.
Also for people trying to spot lesser known writers, Rich Talarico is playing the other cop alongside Will Forte. I believe he only wrote for SNL throughout next season before joining the MAD TV writing staff after, where he made quite a few on-screen appearances, remember one in particular where he was Richard Karn hosting Family Feud.
It’s weird as my memories of Jimmy was that both he and Tina were annoying on Update (even if Tina annoyed me more), but when I rewatch (I haven’t gone through them all yet), he bothers me much less. I prefer him on Update to his recurring sketches or his impressions, as they never really connected with me. In some ways Jimmy is similar to Mike Myers in that he has a great deal of energy and a very clear onair personality that is set from the first time we see him – that helps him become a star, but also becomes something of a straitjacket in terms of the quality of his work. At least he had a better end-run than Mike (for me Mike had the worst last season of any major cast member), and he never really turns into something that is horribly unwatchable, but you do wonder what he might have been in another era. I could see him being a lot of fun in the Lonely Island era (of course if he’d still been there they may not have ever cast Andy).
^ What John said. To clarify OldSoul’s comment, Year 30 has the standard 20 shows, but budget cuts limited Year 31 to 19 shows.
As for Les Soeurs Olsen– this was another just-okay show from the back end of Year 29. The “Grease” homage and Sean Shannon’s short film were the highlights. (Was that movie ever made?) The future President Pencildick show was the only true clunker of those last 10 shows. Onward and upwards to Year 30, which IIRC saw a reinvigorated Update but was consistently mediocre otherwise.
Ah, thanks for that. I knew it was one of the two.
Ooh, we are about to DISAGREE on the quality of the Fey-Poehler Update pairing.
Season 30 approaches, and it’s all downhill from here.
Because of the musical sketch at the end, J-Kwon’s second performance was cut, no real loss there.
Pat and Patti’s Backpack Shack feels like a bad All That sketch.
This ended my junior year of high school, so I am just very nostalgic for this era in general, and the Fallon sendoff is so special to me because of that. I greatly appreciate that even though you aren’t crazy about this era, you loved the sketch just the same. THOSE SATURDAY NIIIGGGGGHHHHTTTSSSSSS!!!
Here are the average ratings for Season 29:
*may not represent review’s perception*
2901: 5.8 (Jack Black)
2902: 7.1 (Justin Timberlake)
2903: 4.5 (Halle Berry)
2904: 6.0 (Kelly Ripa)
2905: 5.8 (Andy Roddick)
2906: 5.5 (Alec Baldwin)
2907: 5.2 (Al Sharpton)
2908: 5.5 (Elijah Wood)
2909: 4.8 (Jennifer Aniston)
2910: 4.6 (Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey)
2911: 6.5 (Megan Mullally)
2912: 5.0 (Drew Barrymore)
2913: 5.4 (Christina Aguilera)
2914: 6.1 (Colin Firth)
2915: 7.4 (Ben Affleck)
2916: 3.7 (Donald Trump)
2917: 6.1 (Janet Jackson)
2918: 6.5 (Lindsay Lohan)
2919: 6.8 (Snoop Dogg)
2920: 5.8 (The Olsen Twins)
Best Episode: 2915 (Ben Affleck)- 7.4
Worst Episode: 2916 (Donald Trump)- 3.7
Season Average: 5.7
I was curious about the season averages Vax compiles at the conclusion of a season.
#14 – 7.2
#15 – 7.1
#18 – 7.1
#17 – 7.0
#21 – 7.0
#22 – 7.0
#24 – 7.0
#16 – 6.9
#23 – 6.9
#26 – 6.8
#13 – 6.7
#25 – 6.7
#3 – 6.6
#4 – 6.6
#27 – 6.6
#2 – 6.5
#12 – 6.5
#1 – 6.3
#10 – 6.3
#5 – 6.2
#9 – 6.1
#28 – 6.1
#8 – 6.0
#19 – 6.0
#7 – 5.8
#11 – 5.7
—> #29 – 5.7
#20 – 5.6
#6 – 5.3
Holy shit this season tied season 11! And barely beat out season 20!
I’m glad that season 6 is right where it belongs. ?
If this season was as bad as season 11, how come there wasn’t a big cast overhaul for season 30 like with season 12? Imagine if Lorne brought back everyone from year 11 back for year 12?
Because Lorne doesn’t want to rebuild casts from the ground up anymore. Therefore, he sometimes sticks with mediocrity. ??
Here are the five star sketches from 2003-04:
Rainbow Connection (Justin Timberlake)
Tennis Talk With Time Traveling Scott Joplin (Andy ROddick)
Oprah’s Favorite Things (Megan Mullally)
Gigli (Ben Affleck)
Debbie Downer (Lindsay Lohan)
Summertime (Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen)
Six sketches, right on par with the previous season. This season isn’t padded out by an ad parody though, and I’ll take Debbie Downer over Colonel Angus and Pranksters for my “slightly overrated consensus favorites.” Oprah’s Favorite Things and Tennis Talk were both surprises for me, but not unhappy ones. Overall, I think I give this season the edge over 02-03, maybe just because I really think there are some really fun episodes scattered among the muddle.
And now the ****½ sketches:
Punk’d Barely Legal (Justin Timberlake)
DirecTV (Justin Timberlake)
The Barry Gibb Talk Show (Justin Timberlake)
Speedreader (Halle Berry)
The Falconer (Alec Baldwin)
Dynacorp (Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey)
Firing Sandy (Christina Aguilera)
Jesus: Hollywood vs. History (Colin Firth)
Only Bangkok III (Ben Affleck)
The Full Moon Killer (Ben Affleck)
Good Times (Janet Jackson)
Bush Friends (Snoop Dogg)
Based on my notes, the dress rehearsal was pretty bad. There wee a lot of skits that just dragged. It was a long two hours.
Wake up Wakefield
Cast- Olsen, Olsen, Rudolph, Dratch, Sanz
This was the usual eh Wake up Wakefield. The Olsens played foreign exchange students (MK was a Euro trash elietist, Ashley a brainy Korean) and Maya’s new crush was some Norweigan pop singer. The skit dragged a lot as Maya’s new crush wasn’t funny and the Olsens had nothing to do. Rachel had some funny lines as Sheldon and Horatio doing the Usher ‘Yeah’ dance was really funny. **
Message from the President
Cast- Forte
This was the same as last week.
Coco and Matsui
Cast- Olsen, Olsen, Armisen, Rudolph
This was the same character they did in the Jennifer Aniston show. This DRAAAAAGED. Seriously. There were some funny lines but this skit was just so long that it sucked all the life out of it. *
J-Kwon
No idea what this song was called but he channelled Snoop Dogg by saying:
3 to the 4 to the 6
and he kept going: WHEN I SAY (unintelligble) you say (unintelligible). This was really bad. *
Octane
This was from the Barrymore show.
Wasn’t it a bit disturbing having the Olsen twins saying at the end “We’re legal in four weeks!” Sounds kinda creepy if you ask me.
It was a reference to a website that had a countdown clock to when they turned 18.
God, the early 00’s were so skeevy. Also, the host / musical guest combo here has to be the most vapid, of the moment, and irrelevant within a couple months the show’s ever had for a finale, right?
They cut one of his songs after dress rehearsal which made me laugh. When does that happen.
He was AWFUL live.
The Olsen twins had been relevant for about 15 years and probably still would have been if they hadn’t phased out of acting, but it’s certainly a very 2004 lineup, yes.
I liked Don Pardo’s line, “Tune in never to find out!”
I know they’re nice people, but I can’t help but feel that Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, etc. were like the popular people in high school who you thought were funny because they were popular and not because they were actually funny.
I agree this season had its typical gripes but there were a small hilarious moments that we both agree made the season awesome. I love the budding of Forte and Armisen and see the full potential coming. I thought Jimmy and Horatio out performed this latter half of the season, and the writing itself, (even though still very Celebrity heavy handed), still found its goofy charming voice. I liked it.