Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES DEBATE
Hillary Clinton [real] responds to debate skit; Vincent D’Onofrio cameo
— A funny and very spot-on Brian Williams impression from Will, which is especially surprising, as Will’s not often known for doing dead-on celebrity impressions. Soon after this episode, it would be disclosed that he discovered how to do a Brian Williams impression by accident. He was trying out a character voice, and someone pointed out to him how much the voice he was doing sounded like Brian Williams, so he ran with it and turned it into a Brian Williams impression.
— What the hell? Is that eye-liner I’m seeing Darrell wearing as Tim Russert? Why?
— Speaking of Darrell’s Tim Russert, the real Russert would die just a few months after tonight’s episode originally aired. I can’t remember for sure, but I think that prevented this episode from getting a second NBC rerun (the first NBC rerun was sometime between tonight’s original airing and Russert’s death). I remember being a bit bummed back then that we never to got to see a second NBC rerun of this episode, because I missed the first NBC rerun of it, and I heard that SNL made quite a number of noteworthy edits and changes to this episode in the rerun (lots of dress rehearsal substitutions and such).
— I didn’t realize this until now, but starting in the preceding episode, SNL has finally ditched that dumb, unnecessary prosthetic nose they used to always have Amy wear as Hillary Clinton.
— A very funny speech from Amy’s Hillary about why she deserves to be president.
— Wow, Fred’s Obama voice in this sketch is just…wow. What the hell is he DOING?!? His voice is straight-up goofy, dopey, and cartoonish-sounding. I remember online SNL fans back at this time in 2008 saying he sounded Yogi Bear/Barney Rubble/Kermit The Frog-ish. Given the fact that this is only his second appearance as Obama, he’s clearly still experimenting with the voice at this point. I’d be more forgiving of that now if I knew in hindsight that he did eventually nail Obama’s voice, but nope. He never does.
— I love Will’s Brian Williams responding to a question from Amy’s Hillary by sternly telling her “We’ll ask the questions here, sister.”
— A very random but funny turn with Vincent D’Onofrio giving Amy’s Hillary a Law & Order-esque interrogation.
— At first, it seems strange that this cold opening concludes with a “The Democratic Presidential Candidates Debate” title sequence, without anyone saying “Live from New York…” (what is this, the Dick Ebersol era?), but we now see we’re getting an “Editorial Response” from the real Hillary Clinton. An unusual format of this cold opening.
— Hillary Clinton becomes the latest of what will be many presidential candidates to cameo during this 2008 presidential race.
— Hillary’s segment isn’t doing much for me, especially not the corny “celebrity meets their impersonator” meeting between her and Amy. Hillary would later do a better “celebrity meets their impersonator” sketch with Kate McKinnon in 2015.
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
host eschews Diablo Cody’s (ANS) overly-hip monologue verbiage
— Meh at the initial idea of Andy in drag playing Diablo Cody, but Andy seems like he can make this work.
— Funny bit with Andy’s Diablo Cody compulsively working the word “blog” into a whole bunch of consecutive sentences.
— Overall, Andy indeed made this potentially-iffy idea work.
STARS: ***
THE DAKOTA FANNING SHOW
Miley Cyrus (host) acts her age
— This recurring sketch makes its final appearance.
— Interesting change of pace with the “Kid Speak” segment.
— The “Kid Speak” segment was fun at first, but went on a little too long for something with such an obvious and thin comedic conceit that got its point across in its first 20 seconds.
— Ellen Page making an appearance as Miley Cyrus? Hmm.
— Yeah, Ellen is clearly badly miscast in this role. I don’t know what she’s going for in her Miley impression, but it’s not working AT ALL.
— A good laugh from Kenan muttering a bitter “Yeah, I’ll fiddle with your car breaks” in response to Amy’s Dakota lightheartedly calling him a second fiddle.
— I recently heard something in passing about how tonight’s Dakota Fanning Show installment caused some kind of controversy for Amy, but that’s news to me. I have no idea what it’s about. Thanks in advance if anyone in the comments section can give details on this.
— Oh, god, they’re now having Ellen sing as Miley Cyrus? Poor girl looks just plain embarrassed to be singing here, as she can be seen giggling nervously while singing half-heartedly, before Amy’s Dakota shows up to thankfully take focus away from her.
STARS: ***
TV FUNHOUSE
“The Obama Files” by RBS- Jesse Jackson & Al Sharpton are marginalized
— (*sigh*) The end of an era, folks. This turns out to be the final TV Funhouse cartoon during TV Funhouse’s regular run. A few years later in an Ed Helms-hosted episode, out of nowhere, there would be a one-night-only special return of TV Funhouse, with a half-live-action Ambiguously Gay Duo cartoon.
— A cheap laugh from Michelle Obama vomiting on cue to distract the media, even if it feels like Robert Smigel has done vomiting gags to death in his cartoons over the years.
— Feels kinda odd hearing Darrell’s typical Jesse Jackson voice in cartoon form.
— Whoever’s doing the voice for Obama in this cartoon is doing a very good job, which just makes Fred’s already-bad Obama impression look even worse.
— A few minutes into this cartoon, and boy, this is not working for me. I’m glazed over for so much of this.
— I did get a chuckle just now from Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton’s podium and lion costumes.
— A somewhat funny ending joke with the Wayans Brothers making a movie about disguising as podiums.
— Overall, a very forgettable and sad way for TV Funhouse to go out.
STARS: **
THE COLLEGE FOR EXCELLENCE
(FRA) will teach you generic business phrases
— This feels like a variation of the Computer School commercial Fred did in the season 30 Paris Hilton episode.
— The bad, stiff acting from the commercial actors is only mildly funny. Nothing too great to me.
— Andy is stealing this whole sketch with his bizarre, awkward little background antics.
— I did not care at all for Fred’s whole ending spiel. Felt unnecessary, and ended this sketch on a flat note.
STARS: **
THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRLS
Henry VIII (JAS) juggles Anne (host) & The Other Boleyn Girls in movie
— Jason is a very funny straight man here.
— A somewhat rare (at least it feels somewhat rare) instance of Will dressing in drag.
— Kenan always kills with one-liners like the one he has at the end of this sketch, but I’m not sure how to feel about the whole ending portion of this sketch.
STARS: **½
NIGHTMARE
(host) & undead (ANS) occupy each other’s nested nightmares
— Some laughs from Andy’s goofy-looking “scary” character occasionally popping up in the mirror.
— Good turn with this turning out to be Andy’s nightmare instead of Ellen’s.
— The non-sequitur Dracula scene was pretty funny.
— Not sure I cared for that ending.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hate It Here”
WEEKEND UPDATE
Rudolph Giuliani [real] blames his campaign failure on his SNL appearance
Nicholas Fehn’s sociopolitical commentary comprises sentence fragments
— Our second instance tonight alone of a presidential candidate cameoing during this 2008 presidential race. This is starting to get kinda insane.
— “America’s Mayor Rudy Giuliani”. Another now-sad reminder of how lovable Giuliani used to be.
— I kinda like the meta turn in Giuliani’s commentary with him blaming his campaign failure on him dressing in drag in a Rita Delvecchio sketch when he hosted SNL in 1997.
— Much like the famous “Can we be funny?” “Why start now?” exchange between Lorne and Giuliani in the post 9/11 cold opening, Giuliani gets in another good-natured dig at SNL, comparing his campaign to a typical SNL sketch, in that it started strong, but didn’t have an ending.
— I love the German napping bit that Seth and Amy are doing together.
— Nicholas Fehn has officially become recurring.
— Fred’s basically just repeating the exact same stuff from the first Nicholas Fehn commentary, but it’s still getting laughs from me in this second commentary, even if I’m not laughing as hard as last time. I can definitely see fatigue looming ahead towards this character, given how insanely frequently we’ll be seeing him in such a short amount of time within this and the following season, and how his routine never changes, but at this point, Fred’s still making this work and I still have enough goodwill left in this second appearance of this character.
— I love Nicholas Fehn’s random “I saw Dmitri” aside to a confused Amy.
— Amy laughed at Seth’s Doomsday Vault joke harder than the audience did. It always bugged the hell out of me when Tina Fey had a bad habit of doing that towards Jimmy Fallon’s jokes during the later years of the Fallon/Fey era of Update.
— A surprising amount of fairly forgettable jokes from Amy and Seth in tonight’s Update.
STARS: **½
SHOPPING WITH VIRGINIACA
Virginiaca & stepdaughter (host) are stymied by Baby Gap employee (ANS)
— UGH.
— What was the point of giving this particular Virginiaca sketch an opening “Shopping With Virginiaca” title sequence, complete with a Don Pardo voice-over intro, when SNL never did that in previous (nor subsequent) Virginiaca sketches? It isn’t like this sketch itself is any different from other Virginiaca sketches.
— I actually got a laugh just now from a Virginiaca sketch, with a displeased Andy telling Virginiaca “If you need me, I’ll be nowhere.”
— Much like the role of Miley Cyrus earlier tonight, here we have another very questionable choice for a role Ellen has been cast in.
— I once again ask, how in the world does this Virginiaca character have a completely different white stepdaughter in each sketch when we’re told she’s married to the exact same man (the wealthy Mr. Hastings) every time?
— Boy, it’s just plain bizarre seeing and hearing Ellen attempt to act and talk “black”.
— Andy continues to be the only saving grace of this sketch, with his deadpan “Aaaaaaand I quit” line at the end when Virginiaca is trying to seduce him.
STARS: *½
HOOK’S REVENGE
Captain Hook (BIH) can’t get his pirates to shoot Peter Pan (host)
— Geez, why the hell is this Bill’s first and ONLY appearance all night? SNL’s under-utilization of this fantastic performer in his early seasons is so damn frustrating. John Mulaney cannot arrive at the writing staff soon enough at this point.
— This sketch has a bit of the same vibe from the West Side Story and Evita sketches from season 22.
— I love Will’s look in this.
— Yeah, more and more, this sketch appears to be following the same route of the West Side Story/Evita sketches, right down to having Bill in the Norm Macdonald role. While he’s no Norm when it comes to this type of sketch, Bill’s still giving a very solid and funny straight man performance in his own right, and is helping to make this sketch work.
— I don’t care for the audience participation bit, with a dead, stomped-on Tinkerbell being brought back to life by the audience’s applause. Way too corny for my likes. It would’ve been funnier (if darker) to me if they had just left Tinkerbell dead.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Walken”
MARTY GOES GAY
(host) is feeling gay following a revelatory Melissa Etheridge concert
— Ah, not only a slice-of-life piece, which is INCREDIBLY rare for this era, but this is a slice-of-life piece with reality subtext in regards to our host, as this sketch obviously must’ve been inspired by the rumors/speculation of Ellen’s sexual orientation (this is several years before she would officially come out of the closet). When this sketch originally aired, I remember wondering if Ellen was using this sketch to tell us something about herself, so much so, that I half-expected her to follow this sketch by coming out of the closet in an official announcement during the goodnights (which, in a way, would’ve been a groundbreaking SNL moment).
— I’m absolutely loving Ellen’s recounting of what she experienced at a Melissa Etheridge concert, and I’m really enjoying the interplay between her and Andy.
— A very funny line from Ellen, asking “Why can’t I just hug a woman with my legs in friendship?”
— A really sweet and touching ending between Ellen and Andy.
— Overall, a very strong sketch. Great writing, great performances, great handling of the lesbian premise, and the aforementioned reality subtext adds a special, meaningful feel. Both Ellen’s performance and this sketch itself was much better than I remember deeming them to be back when this originally aired.
STARS: ****½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty middling and forgettable episode. Aside from the last sketch, nothing stood out to me as particularly great, and there was quite a number of weak sketches.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Tina Fey)
a big step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Amy Adams
I really loved the last sketch a lot. Other than that, this episode has an iffy vibe.
I can’t tell if the material is too undercooked or overcooked, because I’ve seen this episode so many times but no matter how many times I rewatch it, The Obama Files, The College for Excellence, and The Other Boleyn Girls back to back to back never ceases to COMPLETELY wash over me (along with the Captain Hook sketch later on.) There’s something so dry and flat about those sketches that makes it hard for me to see the funny in them, especially The College for Excellence, which is weird because on the surface they all seem fine. It’s kinda troublesome to have almost the entire first half be a wash.
Lots of miscast roles for Ellen Page too. I don’t understand why because she, at least imo, doesn’t seem difficult to write for.
Also, when was the last time SNL did a slice of life sketch? Other than the one mentioned here, the only other recent one I can think of that comes close is the one with Steve Carell and Heidi Gardner living in the RV, which is more than ten years after this.
That’s one of the more seriocomic pieces of recent years. I’d probably include Cha Cha Slide from Mulaney’s second episode. Generally those seem to be left to pre-tapes now, sadly, even though I think that there’s something unique and special about trying a slice-of-life piece in the live format. I hope we may get a few more with everything going on these days.
Hello Ruby. I Have A Great Deal OF Trouble With My Memory, But There Was A Show With Kristen Wigg And The Man Host And They Sat Out On Their Porch I Think Just Talking And Stooge Seemed To Like That ! I Think IT Was Another Show That Wasn’t Very Good And That Also Was The Last Sketch OF The Show ! That Was In 2007 !
I believe Paula Pell wrote the Marty sketch at the end there
Pell talked a while back about how it related to her life, and her responses to people who assumed a straight, homophobic man wrote the material.
https://afterellen.com/tv/200644-paula-pell-on-being-out-in-the-snl-writers-room-and-her-new-web-series
Somebody on SNL must really like Peter Pan–I feel like we’ve gotten a TON of parodies of that over the years (this one, De Niro, Jim Parsons, James Franco, am I missing one?).
When I watched this episode with a friend, he became enraged at Hillary’s cameo because he found it pandering. It is pretty pandering, but you can have some funny pandering sketches. Its biggest problem is it’s not funny–it’s super lazy and unlike the cameos by dubious folks like Huckabee and Rudy, at least in those instances, they are self-deprecating cameoes.
I agree that it seemed like the writers had no idea how to write for Ellen Page–she’s treated like a child in a fair share of the sketches, whereas I think more like the ending sketch would make sense. It seems odd that you get as a host someone who just appeared in the successful Juno, where she played a specific character role that she barely plays in this episode.
I was amused that Miley Cyrus, who would later host a fictional talk show of her own on SNL was the final guest on Dakota Fanning’s show.
If I recall, doesn’t Seth also adopt the tic of “laughing loudly at Update people’s jokes”? He certainly did when it came to some guest correspondents near the end. At least in those instances you could say he may not have been aware of what the jokes were, since he didn’t write them.
The Bee Peter Pan sketch when Jodie Foster hosted in ’76, plus the Jealous Tinkerbell sketch when Claire Danes hosted in ’97.
Oh, and the one where Pan (Ed Asner) reunites with an older Wendy (Mary Gross).
I can remember him laughing hysterically at everything Wiig did whenever she did an Update segment
Jason Alexander’s monologue is also Peter Pan-inspired. And the “clap louder” twist used to save Tinkerbell is brought out – under very different circumstances – for a Rachel and Fred Update piece.
Not to mention Aidy as Tonkerbell.
> I recently heard something in passing about how tonight’s Dakota Fanning Show installment caused some kind of controversy for Amy…
Unbeknownst to Amy, “Hurricane Mary” was based on a real-life “severely disabled” girl with cerebral palsy, Anastasia Somoza, who also happened to be watching the episode. Here is an article:
https://people.com/tv/amy-poehler-saturday-night-live-skit-on-cerebral-palsy-hurt-then-empowered/
I bought SNL’s YouTube version of this episode today, and was very surprised that that joke hadn’t been removed.
Page/Wilco was a mixed bag, for sure. I enjoyed “Sky Blue Sky,” so Jeff Tweedy & Co. weren’t disappointing in that aspect. The final proper TV Funhouse was a letdown, and I hate that Smigel and SNL parted ways on such a forgettable note. The cold open and “After the Concert” were the highlights for me. I found Ellen really hammy and bratty throughout, though in hindsight I don’t think the writers knew what to do with her.
The rerun, if it wasn’t the second, was likely delayed because NBC notably repaired the very first episode, full-length, as a tribute to the host George Carlin, as he had died from heart failure earlier that week.
*reaired. Darn Autocorrect.
I never saw it confirmed but wasn’t it claimed every one of the Fehn appearances were all improvised and they didn’t even had cue cards for Fred? I always found that hard to buy knowing how against that kind of thing Lorne’s always been because of how they try to time everything. If it’s true Freds definitely gotta be the cast member who had the most leeway with Lorne to get away with whatever he wanted. I think Garth and Kat has a similar semi-improvised structure as well.
@Bastardo
If the cue card thing is true, then I guess Fred is the Billy Crystal of this era. Apparently the Fernando’s Hideaway sketches didn’t have cue cards, but no one’s been able to verify that either. People levy the same complaints about both Billy and Fred as well (too much self-indulgence, too much cross-ethnic roles, character repetition, etc.)
I remember watching most of this ep feeling “meh” most of the time. As for the last sketch, I hardly remember it even with the subsequent revelation of Ms. Page’s real-life orientation. I mainly remember Hilary Clinton’s appearance in the Cold Open…
Other than the lovely coming out sketch at the end, the main highlight of this episode would be the Wilco performances – I don’t know a lot about the band, but it’s good stuff, and seeing the lead singer wearing a Gram Parsons suit made me smile.
The cold open is basically just a retread of the previous week with an added hur-de-hur-hur voice from Fred and a very stilted cameo from Hillary. D’Onofrio’s cameo is salvaged by his charisma, but is shoehorned in and gives me bad memories of so many like this in recent years. More interesting than the sketch itself are the anecdotes here, like Lorne’s haggling with Hillary’s people (they’d wanted her to cameo in an early season 33 episode but I guess talks broke down), and Robert Smigel talking about the awkward moment when he realized Hillary was watching a TV Funhouse which took shots at her husband.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/snl-political-secrets-revealed-hillarys-726324
This is a generic way for Funhouse to go out, but it probably was time to go. If I hadn’t read Smigel’s recent interview about Zucker letting him go I would have assumed he and Lorne had mutually parted ways, as the gas hadn’t been there for several years (if not longer), in my opinion. I do wonder how Smigel would have tackled the Obama administration – surely better than SNL would in his absence.
The singing portion of the Dakota Fanning talk show is rough, and reminds me of when they had Nancy Kerrigan sing and I wanted the floor to open up and swallow everyone involved from the sheer cringe, but Ellen’s role in the Virginica sketch is pure host malpractice. I’m not sure if this plunges enough depths to make it on all time worst sketch lists, but it comes very close. SNL should at the very least know how to use their host or keep them out of the way. They somehow did a better job of this with Paris Hilton than with Ellen Page. This would be like asking Joan Allen to play Mrs. Peppers and spit apple chunks on everyone. I’m half-surprised that the perpetually outraged on Twitter did not try to “cancel” Ellen for this mess the way some did with Taylor Swift when they saw the Scared Straight sketch she was in. I suppose it’s a mercy (for us all) that this is nowhere to be found on Youtube.
The digital short is alright, but feels…just sort of there? I don’t know. Andy and Ellen had a good connection, as shown in the last sketch, but it didn’t come through here. Andy and Ellen also click in the monologue, but it’s so poorly thrown together. I DID laugh when I found a few articles from the time about SNL making fun of Cody – silliness like how-dare-Andy-act-morally-superior-to-Diablo-Cody-when-he-got-famous-for-wordplay-too. Yes, I’m sure Andy Samberg went into the week with a vendetta against Diablo Cody, rather than being handed a half-written monologue cobbled together an hour before dress.
The Peter Pan sketch is so ‘there’ I only remember it because of how much Will oddly looks like Larry David and because of the direction being so poor that at one point I’m about 90% sure Bill has to motion, while in character, for the camera to move away from him and focus on Ellen and the extras singing and dancing.
Another bright spot to this episode is that surprisingly a full slot of promos is around, including a dress rehearsal spot. I didn’t know they were still doing those by this time. Can @Jack or anyone else tell me what the dress sketches are in this? I see at least two.
The thing with Kristen as the reporter looks familiar, she gets covered in bugs and grosser stuff keeps happening to her everytime they cut back to her or something? Pretty sure they might have done it a few years later with whoever the host was replacing Kristen in the role.
Great points John. I agree that the episode is basically saved by the atypical coming out sketch and an absolutely scorching performance by Wilco (at their absolute live peak). Everything else is other forgettable or as you brilliantly put it, “host malpractice.”
I’ve been considering starting an SNL blog of my own (it’s at the in-the-shower brainstorming stage as of now) where I would analyze SNL through its recurring characters. The Virginiaca character would be a fascinating case study in SNL’s horrifying history of near-minstrelsy and the white hosts who were more than happy to indulge it. I would imagine that the 2020 Ellen Page would be horrified by her involvement in the piece. Then again, I’m sure Kenan is too.
@Bastardo, thanks. I kept thinking it was familiar too but thought I was mixing it up with one of the other types of “Kristen reacts to crazy animal video” pieces, or Michelle Dison.
@Carson, thanks. Sounds like a great idea for a blog. I have one for SNL I rarely ever update but keep meaning to. I’m amazed that SNL even has one of these sketches up on Youtube (Blake Lively’s), but then, I shouldn’t get on a high horse I guess.
Yeah, that sketch was in the S37 Alec Baldwin episode after being cut, like, half a dozen times. Wiig still played the reporter; Alec was a news anchor.
Carson, I would gladly read that blog.
@John, it’s one sketch. There’s the Costa Rica set with Kristen and the news desk with Will & Ellen. It also gets cuts from the next show where Amy Adams is swapped in for Ellen Page. Abby Elliott plays the female anchor role when it airs as Matt said in Alec Baldwin / Radiohead S37E1. It’s still available on Hulu.
@Jack thank you. Always appreciate your help.
i’ve always had a soft spot for this episode, which i had previously chalked up to being charmed by ellen page in general. but i watched the live version for the first time very recently, and now i think a big part of why i enjoyed this episode so much is because i only knew the hulu version, which replaces so many of the kinda-lifeless live sketches with the dress versions.
the performances are noticeably crisper in the hulu versions of peter pan, college for excellence, and after the concert (as well as the giuliani WU commentary), and they completely removed the cringey singing ending of the dakota fanning sketch (i guess for licensing reasons). it’s a noticeably easier watch, IMO.
having said all that, this digital short is one of my personal favorites. so simple and silly, but andy and ellen’s various facial expressions are great and the i remember the jump scares hitting me just right when i watched it for the first time.
Hello Stooge. I Googled Amy And Dakota Fanning And Amy Had Written A Book Called Yes Please And She Told In This Book What Had Happened ! Amy Played Dakota Fanning With Her Talk Show And She Had The Children And She Made Fun OF A Disabled Girl ! Amy Thought This Was Made Up, But There Was A Real Girl Named Anastasia Who She Called Mary And She Was Disabled So She Was Making Fun OF That Girl ! Amy Did Not Apologize And She Threw What She Had Written Away ! Later, She Did Apologize, But She Had Been Angry And Embarrassed ! That Is Why Amy Got In Trouble When She Played Dakota Fanning !
Page just came out as trans and now has the first name Elliot: https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/juno-and-umbrella-academy-star-elliot-page-comes-out-as-trans/
So happy for him!
Hopefully he gets to host again. Umbrella Academy is a big show (and he gives by far the best performance, though I do like the psychic brother and the other brother only the psychic can see) and I’m sure it would mean a lot to a lot of people.
Also agreed with Stooge, Hillary’s next cameo is far better, even if I still don’t love it (politicians DON’T make sketch actors). At least she actually played a character that time, and the meta moment of McKinnon, the show’s first openly gay superstar, telling her she “could have been sooner” with her support of gay marriage was pretty special.
I just noticed a minutes ago that the official SNL Youtube channel has already changed his name into Elliot on the title of their old video that was uploaded 7 years ago (SNL Digital Short):
https://youtu.be/QnOuEFeAJM8