Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
PALIN PRESS CONFERENCE
TIF yields press conference bit to Sarah Palin [real]; Alec Baldwin cameo
— Some good lines from Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin here, though, unlike her previous appearances, there aren’t any classic one-liners here.
— Funny bit with Tina’s Palin taking the time to entertain the press with “some fancy pageant walkin’”.
— And here we have the heavily-hyped Sarah Palin cameo, which I remember dreading back when it was originally announced before this episode aired.
— A pretty funny Mark Wahlberg walk-on, looking for Andy Samberg after the famous sketch Andy did about him in the preceding episode.
— The cameos continue, as we now we get a surprise Alec Baldwin cameo (back in the days when you could still say “a surprise Alec Baldwin cameo”).
— Good bit with Alec mistaking the real Sarah Palin for Tina while badmouthing Palin.
— I love Tina’s panicked delivery of “Byeeee!” when hearing the real Palin is there.
— A blink-and-miss-it visual of Tina and Palin both being onscreen together as they pass by each other, which I’m guessing disappointed some viewers who were expecting more interaction between the two. I personally say it’s probably for the best that this is the closest to an onscreen interaction we got between them. Plus, SNL has a very hit-and-miss track record with their “celebrity meets their impersonator” pieces.
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
host tells how he prepared to portray George W. Bush; Oliver Stone cameo
— Very lame opening joke where the movie about a prominent political figure that Josh Brolin mentions he was recently in turns out to be No Country For Old Men based on John McCain.
— An okay though very basic bit with Josh breaking down how to do a Bush impression.
— A sudden Oliver Stone cameo, which unfortunately prevents this from being the third consecutive episode with a real monologue that only involves the host. The Oliver Stone cameo is brief enough, though, that this can still be mostly considered a host-only monologue.
STARS: ***
MACGRUBER
unexpected stock portfolio collapse becomes a distraction to MacGruber
— Good to see a MacGruber runner relating to the stock market crash.
— A big laugh from the obligatory end-of-sketch explosion cutting off MacGruber’s “What the f–” reaction to seeing the current state of his stocks.
STARS: ****
SURPRISE
at a restaurant, surprise-loving Sue spoils (host)’s marriage proposal
— This character of Kristen’s has officially become recurring.
— If you remember, I didn’t care for the first installment of this sketch when I reviewed it. And if my memory of how the subsequent installments of this sketch goes serves correct, I’m sure I’ll care even less for them.
— Yep. I’m now a few minutes into this sketch, and I haven’t been caring for it AT ALL. Just feels like a pale imitation of the already-overrated-to-me first installment of this sketch.
— (*groan*) Here we have yet another display of Fred’s classic Asian stereotype routine, this time complete with the ol’-fashioned “mispronouncing ‘r’s and ‘l’s” trait.
— The bit with Kristen’s Sue smashing a glass over her head to keep herself quiet, which actually made me laugh a lot in the first installment of this sketch, was pulled off too awkwardly tonight.
— We even get a repeat of the gag from the first installment where Sue jumps through a window multiple times, which, much like the glass-smashing-over-the-head bit, came off even less funnier in this second installment.
STARS: *
MACGRUBER
mugging takes priority over escape from unstable mafia hideout
— That theme song lyric about toilet paper being a luxury for the now-broke MacGruber hits a little too close to home during our current times in 2020.
— I love MacGruber smashing a beer bottle in half to threaten his two assistants to finally give him their watches.
STARS: ****
THE SUZE ORMAN SHOW
destitute (host) receives unhelpful advice from Suze Orman (KRW)
— SNL is gradually turning into The Kristen Wiig Show as we speak.
— Fitting to do this sketch during the financial crisis going on at the time.
— Odd coincidence: all three times a Suze Orman sketch has appeared by this point of SNL’s run, it was in an episode that also had a MacGruber runner (the Jonah Hill and Shia LaBeouf episodes from the preceding season, and now tonight’s episode).
— As usual, Kristen’s portrayal of Suze Orman is very fun, as are all of her line deliveries.
— Funny lines from Josh about how bad his life is now that he’s broke, though these lines feel like a variation of the lines Jason previously said as a barrel-wearing Richard Fuld about how bad his life is now that he’s broke, in an earlier Weekend Update from this season.
— A good laugh from the Master Pussies book that Kristen’s Orman shows.
STARS: ***½
WAHLBERG’S CONFRONTATION
in criticizing ANS’s impression of him, Mark Wahlberg [real] confirms it
— And here we have our obligatory confrontation between Mark Wahlberg and Andy.
— Not only is this the “celebrity meets their impersonator” piece that I basically thanked SNL for refraining from doing with Tina Fey and Sarah Palin earlier tonight, but this is also a “celebrity claims they’re nothing like their impersonator’s impression of them, then goes on to act exactly like their impersonator’s impression of them” piece. Meh.
— Even for a “celebrity claims they’re nothing like their impersonator’s impression of them, then goes on to act exactly like their impersonator’s impression of them” piece, this feels lazily executed.
— I do at least like the touch of how, after telling Josh “Say hi to your mutha for me, alright?”, Wahlberg adds in “…and to your stepmutha”, a reference to the fact that Josh’s stepmother is Barbra Streisand.
STARS: **
I’M NO ANGEL
pregnant barfly (AMP) embodies Gregg Allman’s (WLF) perfume
— Ah, a very memorable Amy Poehler sketch.
— A great way to get mileage out of Amy’s real-life pregnancy.
— I’m always interested in dialogue-less sketches (or mostly dialogue-less, in this case).
— The catchy “I’m No Angel” song playing is adding to the entertainment of all the very funny stuff happening onscreen.
— An odd minor thing I’ve always noticed Casey doing in the background of this sketch: after her jealous waitress character storms off, Casey seems kinda lost on where she’s supposed to go, then she strangely ducks behind the bar counter, where we can no longer see her, and then………she just stays under the bar counter? Why does she do that? And does she seriously stay hidden under that bar counter for the whole remainder of the sketch? I again ask, why?
— I like this exchange between Josh and Amy: “When’s your baby due?” Amy: “Yesterday.” Josh: (*looks into the camera with a sleazy smile*) “PERFECT.”
— I remember, back when this episode originally aired, some people in an online live discussion thread for this episode wondered if Josh’s chair breaking and him falling onto the floor after a pregnant Amy gets off of his lap was a real blooper. It seems obvious to me that that was an intentional part of this sketch. (Plus, why else would the camera hold on Josh just sitting there doing nothing for a few seconds before his chair breaks?)
— Very funny walk-on at the end from Will as Gregg Allman, capping this sketch off really well.
STARS: ****½
MACGRUBER
MacGruber’s anal ping-pong ball launch is a desperate money-raising act
— I love the haggard, destitute state MacGruber is now in.
— The whole bit with the ping-pong ball trick MacGruber does is absolutely HILARIOUS. One of the funniest things I’ve ever seen in a MacGruber short, which is saying something.
— Kristen’s disturbed facial expression after MacGruber’s ping-pong ball trick is absolutely perfect (the last above screencap for this short).
STARS: *****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Chasing Pavements”
WEEKEND UPDATE
presidential candidate Tim Calhoun extends his harebrained hustings
Jean K. Jean offers his perspective on European issues of the day
after Sarah Palin [real] demurs, AMP performs the prospective veep’s rap
— TIM CALHOUN! Sadly, this ends up being his final appearance, despite Will still remaining on SNL for over a season-and-a-half after this episode.
— Will-as-Calhoun’s delivery of “Boo!” when revealing that’s his middle name had me howling.
— I love Calhoun’s “blind Pole” bit, especially his line about how it helps that she, the “blind Pole”, has no sense of smell.
— Calhoun’s overall commentary killed as always. I’m gonna miss the hell out of this character. For me, he knocked it out of the park in every single appearance. One of the consistently funniest recurring characters in SNL history.
— I continue to find Jean K. Jean’s Update commentaries to be pretty good, and carried by Kenan’s charm. I particularly like his comments about Carla Bruni.
— A second Sarah Palin appearance tonight.
— Yes! Here we have Amy’s legendary Sarah Palin rap, one of my absolute favorite things that both Amy and SNL in general have ever done.
— Not only are we getting fantastic comical rapping and lyrics from Amy, but they’re being accompanied by some awesome visuals, such as Fred and Andy as the Eskimos, Jason as a dancing, snowmachine outfit-wearing Todd Palin, and a “mother-humpin’” moose (that’s Bobby inside that costume, by the way…and if you look closely through the eyes of the costume, you can even see Bobby’s distinctive eyes and eyebrows) getting shot by Amy.
— Overall, an absolutely classic Palin rap from Amy. And the fact that she did all of this while THIS far into her pregnancy (she gives birth the following Saturday), AND in the same episode she did that I’m No Angel sketch, is incredible, and speaks volumes of her commitment as a performer and what a trouper she is.
STARS: ****
FART FACE
businessmen Carl (WLF), Jerry (BIH), Jim (host) fling “fart face” epithet
— Oh, here comes a sketch that was fairly notorious back in these days. This sketch was infamous for both focusing on such a dumb, immature subject matter AND bombing horribly with both the audience and general SNL fans. Bill would appear on a talk show a month or so after this episode’s original airing (I can’t remember which talk show it was, but I want to say Letterman), and he talked about how awkward and self-conscious he felt performing this sketch to a dead audience, especially since he was aware that this episode was being watched by a higher number of people than usual, due to Sarah Palin’s heavily-hyped guest appearance (this was one of the highest-rated SNL episodes ever at the time). All that being said about this sketch, I fully disclose that I’ve always LOVED this sketch, and will defend it to the grave. This sketch has always been one of my biggest SNL guilty pleasures, so much so, that I can recite pretty much the entire sketch by heart.
— As I always say, the rare pairing of Will and Bill is always a treat, and is a pairing SNL should’ve done more often.
— The ridiculousness of Josh’s mature businessman character plugging his ears like a child so he can’t hear Will and Bill’s secret conversation is funny.
— I love the following exchange, regarding Josh’s continued use of the nickname “Fart Face” for Will’s Carl character: Bill: “If you’ve spent any time with Carl, you’d know his face does not smell of farts…but rather a face.” Josh: “Odor-wise, I’d agree, but I’m talking about appearance. See, I believe that if a fart did have a face, it would look EXACTLY like Fart Face.” Will: “How dare you!”
— The way such a ridiculously immature concept is being performed so dead-seriously by Will, Bill, and Josh is making this sketch work so well.
— Yet another great exchange: Josh: “You served me the Kool-Aid, Jerry, I just drank it.” Bill: “Well, spit it out!” Josh: “No way. I don’t wanna stain Fart Face’s rug.” Will: “Jim, you know full well that the Kool-Aid we’re referring to is metaphorical! And spitting it out will not damage anything in this office!”
— Hilarious turn with Will and Bill suddenly pulling a “fart face turnaround” on Josh.
— I am absolutely loving how insanely intense this is now getting, especially Will’s over-the-top screaming during his and Bill’s taunting of Josh. An unleashed Will Forte ranting and raving like a madman NEVER fails.
— Hmm, the audience isn’t quite as dead during this sketch as I had remembered, though their laughter is very tepid, especially compared to how much I’m busting a gut during this sketch.
— Love the ending.
— Overall, this sketch continues to be one of my favorite SNL guilty pleasures. (I feel a little less guilty about it nowadays, after the sketch’s notoriety seems to have gradually been forgotten over the years, but I still feel guilty for the rating I’m about to give this sketch, a rating that I’m sure will raise some eyebrows). I love this sketch SO much.
STARS: *****
NARC SCHOOL
(host), (KRW), (WLF), every other student is actually a cop
— I remember that, back when this originally aired, I felt the melody of this sketch’s theme song sounded awfully similar to the melody of the MacGruber theme songs, but I don’t hear it quite as much now, 12 years later.
— I love Will’s delivery of “Are you guuyys talking druuuuuuuugs?”
— The narcs’ bad attempts to pass themselves off as teen students are pretty funny.
— Darrell (who I’m starting to forget is still on the show this season) makes his ONLY appearance of the night in a very brief, non-impression, almost-pointless role. He’s coming off SO awkward in this role that there’s almost a “So bad, it’s good” quality to his performance.
STARS: ***
READITRADE.COM
ReadiTrade.com is the online financial tool of choice for panic sellers
— Tonight’s episode continues to get TONS of topical mileage out of the financial crisis going on. That makes this episode an interesting time capsule in hindsight.
— When Jason’s spokesman character is listing off things you can sell at ReadiTrade.com, I got a laugh from him saying “sell drugs” in a discreet, whispery voice.
— A funny bit where, when we’re being shown how easy it is to use the ReadiTrade.com website, the ReadiTrade website page on Kenan’s laptop is just a simplistic page that has the word “SELL” written in big letters.
— Even though it wasn’t that funny in itself, something about Fred’s freeze-framed yell of “WHYYYYYYYYY?!?” cracked me up.
— Overall, despite the above highlights, I found this commercial as a whole to be a tad forgettable.
STARS: **½
NEW YORK UNDERGROUND
Trevor Dix (BIH) overhypes a ho-hum musician (FRA)
— Well…THIS is certainly different for this SNL era.
— I absolutely love Bill’s delivery and voice in this.
— Great photos of various fictional bands (the one in the third above screencap for this sketch includes yet another sighting of a bearded then-writer Colin Jost, and I believe our very first onscreen John Mulaney SNL sighting).
— Even though Fred’s portions of this short almost feel like an early preview of the annoying, hard-to-figure, self-indulgent shtick that would dominate the later years of his SNL tenure, it’s working for me in the unique, pre-taped format of this particular short. Also, this short, especially with the involvement of both Bill and Fred, feels kinda like a precursor to “Documentary Now”. Fred would later have an even better “Documentary Now” precursor on SNL, with the Ian Rubbish pre-tape he does in his final season.
— Bill, when making pretentious analogies in regards to how much Fred’s singing moves us: “We’re an obese 15-year-old seeing ourselves naked for the first time.”
— I found this overall piece to be fairly solid, and a fun change of pace for this SNL era. I wonder if they originally intended this to become a recurring segment. We end up never seeing this return.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Cold Shoulder”
FALL FOLIAGE
(host) can’t interest former co-workers in a tour of the fall foliage
— Another office sketch tonight. I almost wonder if this is the same set from the Fart Face sketch.
— Speaking of the Fart Face sketch, this Fall Foliage sketch is something else that I remember kinda bombing with the audience (though this never gained the notoriety of Fart Face), at least the first half of the sketch.
— A big night for Will. He’s appeared in almost EVERY SINGLE SEGMENT tonight, even including a photo in the New York Underground piece. This just may be the busiest night he’s ever had during his entire SNL tenure.
— I’m liking the subtly-creepy-but-jovial nature of Josh’s character, and Josh is performing this well.
— Hmm, a fairly interesting recurring bit throughout this sketch, with the employees at the table each answering “No” one by one.
— Good turn after Josh leaves, where it’s revealed that he’s just some random nut who last worked at this company 13 years ago and just shows up every fall. This turn has awoken the dead audience.
— When Bobby asks “And he just comes back every fall?”, I love Will’s delivery of his answer: “Yyyyyyup.” A funny little moment that caps off Will’s strong and very busy night in this episode.
— The whole “He allowed me to be raped” part with a deadpan Kenan probably won’t sit well with some people, especially nowadays, but I admit to getting laughs from it.
STARS: ***
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— This episode contained an impressive number of pieces that I find fantastic (the MacGruber short with the ping-pong ball trick, I’m No Angel, Tim Calhoun, Amy Poehler’s Sarah Palin rap, Fart Face), though I’d say the episode as a whole was just pretty good, due to the number of average or weak pieces that made up the rest of the episode. Still not much to complain about, though.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Anne Hathaway)
a slight step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Jon Hamm makes his hosting debut