Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
WHITE HOUSE PRESS CONFERENCE
evasive George W. Bush (JAS) lets Chuck Schumer-on-tape [real] start show
— At least this is a President Bush press conference that has him interacting with reporters instead of delivering a barely-funny straight-to-camera speech once again.
— Jason-as-Bush’s random nicknames for the reporters are increasingly funny.
— This cold opening is dying for me during the back-and-forth between Jason’s Bush and Maya, and the audience apparently agrees with me, judging from their silence.
— Meh at the bit with the brainteasers book.
— Even the nicknames bit that I praised earlier in this cold opening has now gotten old.
— Kristen’s list of demands has some funny lines, and is being well-delivered by her.
— Jesus Christ, this cold opening has been going on for eight minutes. EIGHT FUCKING MINUTES, PEOPLE! That is absolutely ridiculous for something that contains material as scant and weak as this. I’m sure I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: Jim Downey is given WAY too much free rein during these past-his-prime years of his SNL run. Lorne needs to realize that this is long past the days where Downey’s political writing was always reliable.
— An extremely random pre-taped Chuck Schumer cameo, just there to say “Live from New York…”.
STARS: *½
MONOLOGUE
host cheers Sanjaya Malakar (ANS) with “Something To Talk About” duet
— The return of Andy’s topical Sanjaya impression.
— Meh, a musical monologue.
— Some fairly interesting and impressively-fast hair changes from Andy all throughout the song. Not sure how they’re pulling those changes off so quickly. Unfortunately, that’s the only semi-interesting thing going on during this song.
STARS: *½
LIVE WITH REGIS & KELLY
Ivanka Trump (host) plugs away
— Wow, they haven’t done this sketch in years. The last time it appeared was when Donald Trump hosted (*shudder*) back in season 29. This also ends up being the final Regis & Kelly sketch that has Darrell and Amy. There would later be at least one Regis & Kelly installment with different performers playing the roles.
— Funny cutaway to Fred as Howie Mandel on standby in case Regis can’t go on with the show. And at least this means SNL refrained from having Chris Kattan do another cameo as Gelman, or resort to giving the Gelman role to a current cast member (I still can’t believe they stuck Rachel Dratch with that role last time this sketch appeared.)
— Speaking of Donald Trump, it feels kinda odd in retrospect seeing Scarlett debut her Ivanka Trump impression 10 years before it would become a regular role she’d play on SNL.
— Amy’s crying as Kelly Ripa right now actually looks very convincing.
— Okay, the cutaways to Fred’s Mandel are way too frequent. It ain’t funny anymore.
STARS: ***
PROM DRESS SHOPPING
Virginiaca helps stepdaughter (host) shop for hootchie-worthy prom dress
— Ugh, another Virginiaca sketch. And she’s now getting recognition applause from the audience?
— I once again ask: how many white stepdaughters does this character have?
— Once again, I can find nothing to really say during this sketch, except it’s the usual insufferable Virginiaca tripe.
STARS: *
ROY RULES!
ANS has more than a mancrush on his brother-in-law
— Interesting seeing Lonely Island take on 70s/80s heavy metal for once instead of the music genres they typically cover.
— Good use of SNL writer Bryan Tucker.
— The “24/7 69” lyric was very funny.
— I love the random, brief key change in the song, with Andy comically singing in a tender manner while playing piano.
STARS: ***½
MIKE’S MARBLEOPOLIS
Chandelier Galaxy scion Lexi (host) touts classiness of marble columns
— The second installment of this series of sketches, becoming a staple of Scarlett Johansson’s early episodes.
— Fred’s distinct, exaggerated, New York-accented delivery of “Maww-ble cahh-lums” is probably his funniest pronunciation of the product being sold out of all of the installments in this recurring sketch.
STARS: ***½
WIIX NEWS
Michelle Dison’s lesbian leanings resurface during interview with (host)
— The real-life TV station name used in the first installment of this sketch earlier this season, WVIR, has been changed to an apparently fictional TV station name in tonight’s installment: WIIX, which is apparently a play on Kristen’s real-life last name. Presumably, the reason for the change in station names is because WVIR is a Virginia station, and the infamous Virginia Tech school shooting had happened just a few days before this episode, and thus, SNL apparently felt it would’ve been in poor taste to use Virginia’s TV station name during this tragic time.
— It’s mentioned that Kristen’s Michelle Dison character is returning from a leave of absence she had taken for about 6 months, which I assume is continuity from the end of the first installment of this sketch, as that installment aired about 6-7 months prior to this.
— Between the Roy Rules short and Kristen’s bi-curious tendencies in this sketch, there seems to be a bit of a theme going on in tonight’s episode.
— I love Scarlett’s taken-aback delivery of “I…I don’t know what’s going on” when bombarded with a whole bunch of friendly-but-way-too-forward offers from an awkwardly flirtatious Michelle Dison.
— The random cat attack ending felt very inferior compared to the bird poop ending from the first installment of this sketch.
— Overall, this was basically just a re-write of the first installment of this sketch. It still worked for me, mostly due to Kristen’s good execution of the material, but this installment paled in comparison to the first installment.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Earth Intruders”
WEEKEND UPDATE
incredulous SEM & AMP say “Really!?!” to Alberto Gonzales’ amnesia
for Earth Day, WLF sings about the wonderful planet we live on
— Two big changes of pace right out of the gate in this Update: Amy’s hairstyle, and Seth getting to deliver the opening joke for, I believe, the first time ever.
— Boy, Bryan Tucker is getting lots of face time tonight (the third above screencap for this Weekend Update).
— Good to see the “Really?!?” segment from earlier this season return.
— Much like the last “Really?!?” prior to this, we get some more great barbs from Seth and Amy, though these aren’t as memorable as the ones from the Michael Vick-themed “Really?!?” from earlier this season.
— Yes! Another Will Forte Update song!
— Like Will’s last Update song prior to this, he gets assistance from a guitar-playing Fred.
— Very funny lyrics from Will about what bad things he does towards the planet.
— Pretty funny turn in Will’s song with him now singing the praises of the movie Battlefield Earth.
— Pretty nice hearing the audience get involved in clapping the beat of Will’s song.
STARS: ***
KUATOS
male (ANS) & female (host) Kuatos gross out dinner guests (FRA) & (AMP)
— This is now the THIRD recurring sketch tonight that debuted in this season’s Jaime Pressly episode. (The other two being Virginiaca and Michelle Dison.) I remember when tonight’s episode originally aired, I worriedly asked myself during this Kuato sketch, “What next? The return of that godforsaken Big Wigs sketch?”
— Not sure we needed to see a second installment of this Kuato thing. I still don’t know what to make of the first installment of it.
— Scarlett as a female Kuato? Meh.
— So far, I don’t think I’ve laughed a single time during this sketch yet.
— Fred: “I do NOT like where this is going.” That makes two of us, knowing in retrospect what this sketch is leading up to.
— Aaaaand there it goes. Why has this sketch suddenly turned into Rookie Cop 2.0, with the chain reaction of vomiting? The original Rookie Cop sketch is actually a guilty pleasure of mine, as fully disclosed in my review of it, but I certainly didn’t need this Kuato sketch to turn into some kind of pale version of it.
— Ugh, as if the parade of vomiting wasn’t bad enough, now SNL throws another appearance from Darrell’s fucking Ahnuld impression at us to close out this mess.
STARS: *
NEWS MAKERS WITH JANE PAULEY
Jane Pauley (KRW) interviews stars of viral online videos
— Shortly into the small scene with Fred as the dancing little person, I got a laugh from Kristen’s Jane Pauley just saying “Aaaaaand let’s just end the interview there.” Speaking of which, according to Fred in a blog he had on NBC.com’s SNL site back around 2007/2008, the dress rehearsal version of this sketch had MULTIPLE cutaways to him as the dancing little person all throughout the sketch. Fred was bummed to learn after dress rehearsal that SNL was cutting down the number of his scenes in this sketch to just one. I think SNL did us a favor with that decision.
— I love Kristen’s Jane Pauley questioning the bad puns she’s reading off the teleprompter.
— Boy, I haven’t seen that Grape-Stomping Lady video in ages.
— Another blast from the past, with Will’s spoof of the Star Wars Kid video that was popular back in this era.
STARS: ***
TV FUNHOUSE
“Torboto” by RBS- at Guantanamo Bay, torturing robot does the dirty work
— Damn, that is a great theme song.
— A spoof of the old Anime series Gigantor, which I’m not all that familiar with, though I’m at least familiar enough with its animation to know that this spoof is doing a spot-on imitation of that animation.
— The Amish part was pretty funny.
— All of the torture the robot is doing to the prisoners feels like a poor man’s version of the Shazzang cartoon from the Will Ferrell-hosted season 30 episode.
— I don’t get the cat/tree/reassignment thing Torboto did at the end of this.
— Overall, I’m pretty meh on this. Aside from the classic Maraka cartoon, Robert Smigel hasn’t had a good track record lately as we head towards the end of his TV Funhouse run on SNL.
STARS: **
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Wanderlust”
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An off episode, and the first episode I disliked in what feels like a long time (which at least shows how well this season had been going). Among the problems of this episode: none of the sketches stood out to me as strong (the highest rating I gave out was just a mere three-and-a-half stars, though I may soon change the Roy Rules rating to four stars, as I’m having a hard time deciding which rating I personally feel it deserves), there was a lot of unnecessary rehashing of about 30% of the sketches from the not-all-that-great Jaime Pressly episode, some of the non-recurring stuff was also weak, and the overall show had a very forgettable feel. Not a particularly awful episode, but mediocre for this season’s standards.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Shia LaBeouf)
a big step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Molly Shannon
And there goes that horrible blog:real-life synchronicity again.
A LOT of ScarJo’s hosting appearances are neither here nor there (I think I commented in your review of her first episode that the best part was Death Cab for Cutie) but the amount to which she throws herself into the mix is always appreciated. At least Michelle Dison was still funny the second time around, and Newsmakers is fun solely as a time capsule of late 2000s internet. Also, the Fred Wolf-esque ending to Kuato works for me. I usually hate the fluid hose, but it was so quick and out of nowhere that it worked as a chaotic ending to a middling sketch.
That cold open was a real oof, though. That pretaped Chuck Schumer cameo was dumb and unnecessary and the worst way to finish an already sluggish open.
Despite that, S32’s track record remains super solid to me. John C. Reilly might be the only real dud (and the upcoming Zach Braff finale, potentially) and while I think the Baldwin and Timberlake episodes are overrated, they’re still fine.
You didn’t care for “Good Morning Duluth”?
Also, RIP Regis Philbin. Weird timing with you reviewing the a Regis and Kelly sketch for the first time in awhile, and tonight’s SNL Vintage being the Queen Latifah episode from ‘03, which has one too.
Even weirder is that I just watched this episode in a Twitch stream with Ruby, John and some others and that sketch pretty much ends with Amy-as-Kelly crying over the possibility of Darrell-as-Regis dying.
The Jane Pauley sketch reminds me of that viral videos sketch from Jon Hamm’s Season 36 episode. Can’t wait for you to get to that one.
I remember watching this show live and thinking that I was starting to be “over” SNL because I didn’t enjoy the season that much. I had survived 94-95 and the 03-05 slump, but the mediocrity from this year, including the awful John C. Reilly show and this one, made the highlights seem more like aberrations than ever. Looking at your reviews, there was more to like this year than I recall, but overall I see a number of the sketches and shows were just as iffy as I remembered.
I had some more “over SNL” moments (the Kristen Wiig “tics and twitches” dominated seasons), but I didn’t start actively missing episodes until 2013-14 and most of 2017-18.
Yeah, other than “Roy Rules”, there isn’t much to say about this episode. Twice it seems like the writers had trouble coming up with endings for sketches, the CO where Chuck Schumer was randomly and awkwardly thrown in, and the Kuato sketch where Darrell’s Arnold was thrown in with a whiff of an ending.
Amy got a new wig for this and the next episode before returning to her original S32 wig.
the ‘Kuato’ sketches aren’t great, but I can’t help but feel fondly towards them just for how delighted Andy seems to be to get to do them! Fun fact – during the 2008 election a ‘Kuato’ was written as a weekend update feature (to go on one of the Thursday shows), where it was Kuato ranting about how John McCain has ripped off his style (hair cut,
way of talking…) . It never got on, and apparently Seth refuses to let Andy do it on ‘Second Chance Theater’, no matter how much Andy begs! Maybe a good thing?
Speaking of Seth and Andy (apparently all my trivia is related to them?), Seth has said before that the idea for the ‘Really!?!’ segments came from Andy. When Seth was auditioning for Update, Andy said he should do a segment called ‘Really!?!’ where he gets incredulous towards a topic, as it was something Seth did and said in real life, and Andy always thought it was hilarious.
Not long after Andy left SNL, he listed Roy Rules as one of his favorites, as it was a real prank on his brother-in-law.
https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/20/andy-samberg-looks-back-on-saturday-night-lives-digital-shorts
Hearing the recognition laughter and applause when Scarlett used her old catchphrases from the chandelier sketch surprised me – I didn’t realize how well-received that was, I guess. Too bad they couldn’t bring Rachel back for a cameo.
I agree with everyone who says Scarlett tries hard in her episodes (and I do find several of her episodes enjoyable). She doesn’t really manage to connect with much here, as her only real part is the Kuatu sketch (where she does competently ape Andy’s performance), but she tries. She is clearly well-liked by people at the show, so this has the feel of an easy week, right after a show they needed to go well (Peyton) and a few weeks before another show that needed to go well (Molly Shannon). I’m not sure if that’s why this episode has such a lackluster feel, similar to the assembly line element a few seasons off – the best of this season has some element, whether from a host or cast member, that tests format or boundaries in some fashion.
The Regis and Kelly reprisal is pretty thin, but I can respect Darrell’s impression more than I likely would have if I’d seen it at the time. Scarlett oddly reminds me more of Ivanka in this impression than she does today.
After still feeling that Amy was not fitting into Update at various points this season, this episode was a return to form for her. Will’s song is also very good, although watching it in sequence after some of the heights he hit in seasons 31 and 32 instead of just in a Youtube clip weakens it somewhat. His sheer charisma and style (seriously this is probably the best ‘look’ he has in his 8 years on the show – in another life he would have an Andy Williams type of public fixture) help power through, and yes, the audience participation is a nice touch.
Kristen’s Jane Pauley remains uncanny, and her timing and delivery are perfect in these – I love the way she slips in a stern reminder that she will be checking over the scripts from now on.
The main complaint I have about a sketch like the Michelle Dison piece is just to question the need to completely remaking something with such a specific concept and execution. The Herb Welch sketches are also very samey, but I find them more entertaining because there is much more going on (Herb not only assaulting interview subjects, but also fighting with the anchors). This isn’t bad, and dialed down the predatory aspect a bit from the first installment, but overall I just would have preferred seeing something new. The same is mostly true for the Koatu return, although I can still watch easily enough until the “we don’t have an ending” vibe, as the female Koatu at least advances the story and Andy and Scarlett play off each other well.
Is it me or does that TV Funhouse feel like it should have aired in spring 2004, around the time of Abu Ghraib? The film feels so extraneous and excessive to me – one of several in this vein from Smigel that seems to want us to be entertained by the sadism even as we’re also supposed to be disturbed.
@ C.8.Lin thanks for the trivia about Andy and Seth. I didn’t know any of that. The “Really” trivia helps explain why Seth seemed so comfortable with the segment from the start. It’s a good idea to incorporate real life quirks into a cast member’s onscreen self as it helps add more of a comfort level for us and for them.
Promos. We could have another Vinny Vedecci instead of a Virginica. Sad…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDj2cZ60aK8
Not a great episode–I remember noting at the time how much of this episode ripped off the Jaime Pressly episode, which seems odd as Scarlett is a more than competent host.
Does the Kuato sketch end with Arnold chuckling madly and saying “I wrote this! Hahahah!” If so, it’s so bad that I remember laughing.
This episode is a pretty good time capsule of some things–Sanjaya, all the people from those viral videos…if only Ivanka Trump could be placed in that category. I actually had completely forgotten Scarlett played Ivanka prior to the recent seasons.
Do they ever do a Regis and Kelly sketch again? I know Jimmy Fallon played Regis in a Today Show sketch and that they did Kelly (Nasim Pedrad) working with new co-hosts, but I can’t remember if someone succeeded Darrell as Regis for a Regis and Kelly sketch.
I HATE, HATE pretaped LFNYS. Chuck Schumer doesn’t even do that great a delivery. We can hate on the current cold openings and sometimes deservedly so, but even *they* wouldn’t end with a lifeless pretaped cold opening.
Dana Carvey reprised the role when he came back to host in 2011
Thanks–after checking out that sketch, there’s a joke about Howie Mandel taking over for Regis there too!
This episode has easy, comfortable energy to it as you see with other recurring hosts like Buck Henry, Danny DeVito, Timberlake, Mulaney, etc. It’s not going to set the world on fire but there’s some funny stuff and nothing really bombs for me.
Is this the latest in a show that a TV Funhouse ever aired?
^ No, though its close.
Regarding the cold open, we are entering the period where Lorne was the most free at inviting political figures on for appearances (or they were fame-hungry enough to accept), as they will be cluttering up airtime in cameo after cameo over the next few years. I think my “favorite” is blink and you’ll miss Presidential candidate Chris Dodd appearing in a Laser Cats short seemingly just so Lorne can tell us they’re having dinner together. With all the Mitt Romney profile-in-courage pieces of the past year I wish someone had written one about him being the only major candidate to never go on these shows, which spared us a lot of the same cringing and horror that so many of these things have caused in the last few decades.
Considering Mitt appears to be positioning himself as the great white hope for 2024, I wouldn’t be surprised if he did eventually appear on the show.
Apparently Mitt almost did cameo in April 2012 but changed his mind. I guess that may be as close as he gets (we can look forward to that Tom Cotton or Josh Hawley cameo though…).
The Real Bill Clinton never went on Saturday Night Live ! I DID Like IT when they had either a Halloween Party or a Costume Party that Amy as Hillary was Throwing ! Darrell As Bill Clinton came as Mystery ! Some Body showed up Pretending to be Obama ! They wanted to know who this Stranger was so He took off his Obama Mask and IT was The REAL Obama !
Schumer still looked sinister back then, but not nearly as punchable without the glasses hanging from his nose like a doddering old schoolmarm.
The next episode has that weird TV Funhouse cartoon about Einstein with large breasts. Although I sort of liked that one because it was so ridiculous.
Pressley/Rae and Scarjo/Bjork are like two sides of the same coin, except Bjork was a much more mesmerizing musical guest. Like most of Scarlett’s hosting stints, she was a total player working with mediocre material. Also, this episode was a forecast of how overused Wiig was in Years 35-37.
It’s possible I may have seen Ms. Scarlett’s second hosting stint, but I hardly remember it…
I think I only Remember Several Sketches fr Peyton Manning Of Several Reviews that Stooge has Done from 2007 ! The Thing is that I Watch Nearly Every Saturday Night Live Show ! Now, These Shows Are THIRTEEN Years Ago And I Can’t Remember Any Thing That I Do Any Way ! I AM SIXTY NINE Years Old !
Torboto was indeed a spoof of Gigantor, down to the theme song. Interestingly Gigantor was set in 2000, and that year wasn’t as futuristic as everyone years ago thought it would be.
I’m somewhat disturbed by the logo for WIIX using the exact same font as my local NBC station, WILX. Eerily similar name too.