Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
THE OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT ELECT
blundering Joe Biden (JAS) promises to be as entertaining as Sarah Palin
— The fact that SNL’s first post-election cold opening is oddly about vice president elect Joe Biden, and not, you know, the ACTUAL president elect himself, Barack Obama, seems to be an admission from SNL that they’re far more confident in Jason’s Biden impression than they are in Fred’s Obama impression. And yet Lorne STILL keeps Fred in the Obama role for four damn years. Unbelievable.
— Jason’s Biden assuring us that he can be as entertaining and wacky as Sarah Palin kinda seems like a thinly-veiled way for SNL themselves to assure us viewers that SNL can continue to be entertaining after all the Palin stuff they got lots of acclaim and media attention from.
— Lots of pretty funny “wild” lines and hot takes from Jason’s Biden throughout this.
STARS: ***½
OPENING MONTAGE
— Added to the cast tonight are Abby Elliott and Michaela Watkins, the former being the first second-generation cast member in SNL history, as she’s the daughter of season 20 cast member Chris Elliott.
— As yet another sign of how old he’s getting, Don Pardo bizarrely announces Michaela Watkins as “Michaelllliallia Watson”. I kid you not, folks. You gotta feel bad for Michaela. I’ve heard several different SNL cast members (including Casey Wilson) mention what an honor and a very important moment they consider it to hear Don Pardo call out their name during their first episode. So, to picture Michaela backstage eagerly awaiting to hear Don announce her name during this episode, only to hear Don spit out…THAT? Poor girl.
MONOLOGUE
host is disappointed he missed all the election-related excitement at SNL
— I like Paul Rudd saying that appearing on SNL right after their exciting election year has ended is the equivalent to being in Times Square on New Years Day.
— Ha, after I said the cold opening seemed like a thinly-veiled way for SNL themselves to assure us their show will be fine without the Palin stuff, now we get a monologue that features SNL openly assuring us that their show will be fine without the Palin stuff. I guess there really was a concern from SNL that they’d lose the publicity and ratings boost they got from the Palin stuff.
— Funny bit with Kristen’s impression of a mild Janet Napolitano being a very unfitting replacement for Tina Fey’s Palin impression.
STARS: ***½
SPROINGO
audible cue marks activation of Sproingo erectile dysfunction treatment
— I almost want to say Kristen and Jason are playing the same married couple they previously played in the Jar Glove commercial earlier this season, though that would mean this Sproingo commercial takes place before the Jar Glove commercial, since Jason’s character got killed in Jar Glove.
— Meh, not crazy about this commercial.
— Okay, I got a laugh just now from the drooping sound effect when the medication stops working.
STARS: **
AFFECTIONATE FAMILY
Austin Vogelcheck’s (host) over-affectionate family makes (ANS) uneasy
— OH, NO. The debut of a recurring sketch that I’ve always fucking DESPISED.
— When this originally aired, I remember thinking it came off as a very inferior kissing-themed variation of the famous Bird Family sketch from the season 25 Julianna Margulies episode. I don’t see those similarities as much anymore, probably because, due to how often this Affectionate Family sketch ended up recurring over the years, I now see it as its own entity. A very bad entity, but it’s own entity nonetheless.
— (*groan*) A minute-and-a-half into this, and I already can’t wait for this insufferable sketch to end.
— I remember being so disappointed to eventually learn that Bill writes or co-writes these sketches.
— Not a single laugh from me during this sketch.
STARS: *
SCARED STRAIGHT
Lorenzo McIntosh’s scare tactics fail to intimidate delinquent teens
— This sketch has officially become recurring.
— Like last time, I’m getting laughs from Kenan-as-Lorenzo-McIntosh’s movie plot references and crude prison rape lines.
— Kenan’s delivery of “You just transformed from a man to a BITCH!” had me howling.
— I love the little detail of McIntosh pronouncing Socrates as “so-crates”.
— Overall, while this was pretty much a carbon copy of the first installment, I still enjoyed this, though not quite as much as last time.
STARS: ***½
EVERYONE’S A CRITIC
host’s nude portrait of ANS horrifies viewers
— A good laugh from the sudden turn with Andy randomly asking Paul, in a dramatic manner, “…………Can I paint you?”
— The “huh huh huh-huh-huh-huh” music playing on the radio is hilarious.
— Lonely Island continues to make homoerotic humor work much better than the rest of SNL tends to.
— I like the fake-out with a shirt-wearing Andy initially being shown from the waist up during his portrait posing, making you think he’s fully clothed, only for the camera to cut to a wide shot and reveal that he’s completely bottomless.
— Holy fucking hell at the violent mass death sequence (complete with a “Don’t open your eyes, Marion!” Indiana Jones reference) when everybody at the auction is reacting negatively to the reveal of Paul’s painting. I absolutely LOVE this. This very detailed mass death sequence is so beautifully dark, disturbing, AND funny. Michael O’Donoghue would’ve been proud.
— This mass death sequence is also quite a unique way for Abby Elliott and Michaela Watkins to make their very first SNL appearance. At least that’s better than this being the final appearance of newbies, as would later happen with most of the season 39 newbies (Noel Wells, Mike O’Brien, Brooks Wheelan, John Milhiser), who get the dishonor of making their final SNL appearance in a very similar mass death sequence in another Digital Short, When Will The Bass Drop, leading to online jokes that SNL killed those newbies off.
— Casey makes her ONLY appearance of tonight’s entire episode at the end of this pre-taped short, meaning she makes no live appearances tonight. I hate to say it, but, with two new women being added to the cast tonight, the writing is clearly on the wall for Casey in regards to her SNL future.
— Solid ending.
STARS: ****½
SONGWRITER SHOWCASE
open mic song by (host) & (KRW) details minutiae of a package delivery
— Funny story from Will’s character about his wife.
— In a genuine blooper, Will misreads the names of Kristen and Paul’s characters off the cue cards, and then, when correcting himself, ad-libs “I can’t read my own writing.” Does that mean Will wrote this sketch?
— Catchy melody to Kristen and Paul’s song.
— A funny little touch during the song, with Kristen leaning back in an absurdly far manner.
— The lyrics to the song just being a very long and overly detailed description of a package delivery is very funny.
— I like Will’s slow burn each time the camera cuts to his reaction throughout Kristen and Paul’s song.
— Yeah, I’m definitely getting the feeling Will wrote this sketch. Kristen and Paul’s song turning into an endless recitation of the very long tracking number of the package feels kinda like a variation of the long misspelling of the word “business” in Will’s legendary Spelling Bee sketch (though I don’t even know if Will himself wrote that sketch). This Songwriter Showcase sketch is nowhere near as memorable or epic as that Spelling Bee sketch, but I’m still enjoying it a lot.
STARS: ****
SONG MEMORIES
“Garden Party” evokes yucky anecdotes by (host) & other icky reminiscers
— Hopefully, this will be a return to form for this recurring sketch, after the disappointingly subpar installment of this sketch that last appeared when Ashton Kutcher hosted the preceding season.
— I love the big change of scenery for this sketch. Having tonight’s installment take place inside a car during a road trip is fun.
— The twist to Bill’s story, with his girlfriend being Sarah Palin’s pregnant daughter, is hilarious, as is his addendum shortly afterwards: “I dumped her on November 5th” (the day after the 2008 presidential election).
— The audience is REALLY into this sketch.
— Great addendum from Will to his story: “Still failed; my friend does coke, too.”
— Funny little random bit with Jason casually offering mushrooms to his friends.
— The whole bit with Paul’s vibrating cellphone is cracking me up.
— Wow, a gory ending all of a sudden, with Bill’s character accidentally getting his brains blown out all over the back window of the car via gunshot, complete with realistic effects. The dark humor fan in me absolutely loves this. In fact, the dark humor fan in me has been getting quite a lot of kicks from this episode in general, between the mass death sequence in the Digital Short and the realistic-looking gunshot to the head Bill takes at the end of this sketch.
— Overall, one of the better installments of this recurring sketch, and definitely a bounce back after the weak Ashton Kutcher installment of this sketch.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “If I Were A Boy”
WEEKEND UPDATE
Snagglepuss (BOM) & The Great Gazoo (WLF) lament gay marriage vote result
Justin Timberlake [real] recaps SNL episode he would’ve done next week
— I got an unintended chuckle from some audience members booing Seth’s joke about Laura Bush never taking her hand off of her pocketbook during her meeting with the First Lady elect, Michelle Obama.
— Ha, we’re getting the return of a routine from earlier this season in which Seth and/or Amy (just Seth in this particular case) constantly do the same joke multiple times in a row with a different punchline each time. I always love this routine, and I especially love the fake-out tonight in which, after initially doing the same Germany Robbery joke multiple times, Seth turns to the next camera to introduce the next guest commentary, only to suddenly cut himself off and turn back to the first camera to continue doing the same Germany Robbery joke.
— More booing from tonight’s audience, this time when Seth mentions the state of California passing Proposition 8 earlier that week, banning gay marriage. I love Seth’s ad-lib in reaction to that booing.
— Fun Snagglepuss impression from Bobby. I think I recall once hearing Bobby say that he did this Snagglepuss impression in his SNL audition.
— Kind of an odd choice of having Snagglepuss’ lover be The Great Gazoo from another Hanna-Barbera 1960s cartoon, The Flintstones (I personally would’ve chose some other 1960s Hanna-Barbera character), but it’s working enough, I guess.
— A surprise Justin Timberlake appearance, which gets tonight’s already-lively audience even more hyped up.
— Is Justin’s comment about having to cancel a hosting gig he was booked for the following week true? There wasn’t an official announcement in the press of this booking prior to tonight’s episode.
— Oh, I am absolutely LOVING this whole very meta bit with Justin acting out a rundown of how his episode the following week would’ve went. There are so many fun things here, such as Justin doing an imitation of various SNL characters and impressions that he says would’ve appeared that night (e.g. Vincent Price, Nicholas Fehn, Target Lady), him mentioning that night’s Digital Short would’ve been a lazy, Thanksgiving-themed carbon copy of “Dick In A Box” (of which Justin openly and rightfully admits “Bad idea, should NOT have done that”), him mentioning Kenan In A Dress would’ve been one of the Weekend Update commentators, his goodnights speech including him thanking Senator Chris Dodd for appearing (which I take it is a self-deprecating dig at how SNL has had so many cameos from presidential candidates during the 2008 presidential race). I even love the little details, such as Justin actually humming the then-current SNL theme music when imitating Don Pardo’s opening montage announcements, and Justin saying his monologue includes Andy and Bill as backup dancers “because they’re not in anything else”. I know how polarizing Justin is among hardcore online SNL fans, so your mileage definitely may vary on what I’m about to say, but, as an SNL nerd, I’m finding Justin’s whole meta SNL episode rundown to be a fucking BLAST. This is such a spot-on and fun spoof of not only the formula of a typical SNL episode from this era, but also the formula of a typical Justin Timberlake-hosted episode.
STARS: ***½
BEYONCE VIDEO SHOOT
male dancers (BOM), (ANS), (Justin Timberlake) muss musical guest’s video
— (*sigh*) Yet another episode this season in which Darrell makes his ONLY appearance of the night in a very brief, awkward, pointless, non-impression role. His whole bit in this sketch bombs HORRIBLY with the audience, by the way. It’s starting to get just plain sad seeing him still on the show this season. SNL has clearly been struggling to find ways to use him in this 14th season of his. No wonder he finally ends up leaving after this season.
— I think I recall hearing Bobby wrote or co-wrote this sketch. By the way, for a newbie, Bobby is impressively holding his own in this sketch among the far-more-popular-at-the-time Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake.
— A very thin and one-note sketch, but it’s pretty fun, mainly due to the performances from Andy, Bobby, and Justin. However, I was never as crazy about this sketch as a lot of people seem to be.
— Paul is making the best of a role that would’ve come off as a meh role under most hosts.
— Something about Beyonce’s acting isn’t working for me here.
— Funny reveal of Andy, Bobby, and Justin being Paul’s stepsons.
— I like Paul’s silly dancing at the end.
STARS: ***½
LEDGE JUMPER
(WLF) & (BIH) try talking suicidal (host) off a ledge by saying “don’t”
— As always, I can’t get enough of the great pairing of Will and Bill.
— The names of Will and Bill’s characters, Louis and Jamie, are based on Louis and Jamie Klein, two long-time SNL viewers who are well-known for attending SNL every single week. This is actually the second Will Forte-starring sketch to use Louis and Jamie Klein’s first names in a sketch; the first was the Pepper Grinder sketch (a personal favorite of mine, even if I’m apparently in the very small minority) in the season 30 episode that Will Ferrell hosted. Forte was very close with the real Louis and Jamie Klein during his SNL tenure, so the fact that their names were used in both the Pepper Grinder sketch and tonight’s Ledge Jumper sketch may mean that Forte himself wrote those sketches.
— I love Will’s line about Paul becoming a Jackson Pollack painting on the pavement if he jumps off the ledge.
— I got a big laugh from Will, after acting like he’s tenderly going to attempt talking Paul off the ledge, asking Paul a very blunt “Sir, what is your freakin’ problem?!?” through a bullhorn.
— So many laughs from Will’s constant “DON’T”s through the bullhorn.
— Paul: “If you say ‘don’t’ one more time, I’m gonna jump off this building!” Will: “DO NOT.”
— Hilarious how Will requests that Paul zip up his sweatshirt and put on his hood to help the cleanup crew with the “splashback” that will inevitably occur when he hits the pavement after jumping off the ledge.
— The ending of this sketch with Paul finally committing suicide, not to mention all the talk earlier in this sketch about the mess Paul’s body will leave on the pavement after jumping to his death, continues the dark, disturbing theme in tonight’s episode.
— The gag with Bill pulling out his car keys and shutting off the car alarm that goes off after Paul jumps to his death off-camera is the return of a gag that SNL seemed to like using in season 21 (it was used in both the Gary Macdonald sketch from that season’s John Goodman episode, and the Roofers sketch from that season’s Steve Forbes episode).
STARS: ****½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
PARKING LOT WORKERS
jokey (BIH) & (host) are in denial about their stake in same-sex marriage
— Great to see the usually-underused Bill Hader getting so many big roles tonight. Great voice he’s doing in this sketch, by the way.
— In addition to the dark, disturbing theme in tonight’s episode, we’ve also been getting a big focus on gay/homoerotic humor tonight. The latter theme is supposedly intentional. While I don’t know if this has ever been confirmed, rumor has it that the gay/homoerotic theme tonight was the SNL writing staff’s way of objecting to Proposition 8 being passed.
— The two new girls, Abby Elliott and Michaela Watkins, have only appeared in very tiny bit roles all night, roles that might as well have been given to extras. A disappointing way for them to debut. What’s up with this? Was SNL intentionally trying to break Abby and Michaela in very slowly, for whatever reason? Did Abby and Michaela have more noteworthy roles that were cut after this episode’s dress rehearsal? Were they not hired until AFTER this week’s sketches were already written, and thus, SNL could only squeeze them into very tiny bit roles?
— I’m enjoying the progression to this sketch, and it’s an interesting commentary on homophobia and gay marriage.
STARS: ***½
CLEARING THE AIR
(BIH), (host), (FRA) reiterate relationship tangles
— Hmm, “A Movie By Fred, Bill & Noah”. Noah, by the way, is movie director Noah Baumbach.
— Wow, Bill in yet ANOTHER big role tonight. Hell yeah!
— An interesting and very different-feeling short film for this SNL era. I’m enjoying it, even if it’s not laugh-out-loud funny.
— I remember some online SNL fans back at this time in 2008 wondered if the waitress in this short (the fourth above screencap for this short) was played by newbie Abby Elliott. That’s clearly not her. It’s just an unknown (to me, at least) extra playing that role, which gives this short film even more of an “outsider” feel, as if it wasn’t originally made for SNL (despite involving two then-current SNL cast members and tonight’s host), but ended up airing on SNL anyway, much like some of the “outsider” short films that aired on SNL in the 70s and 80s.
— Given the aforementioned gay/homoerotic theme in tonight’s episode, I remember how, back when this episode was originally airing, some people in an online live discussion thread for this episode made a prediction that this short was going to end with a twist that the Tracy who Fred, Bill, and Paul are all talking about dating is a man, since Tracy is a unisex name. That prediction would turn out to be wrong, as we end up never getting that twist ending. I haven’t been paying attention to if any gender pronouns were used by Fred, Bill, or Paul when referring to Tracy, though, but I think it’s safe to say we’re meant to assume Tracy is a woman. (If I’m wrong, I apologize.)
STARS: ***
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Yet another in a long line of good episodes, though I don’t feel this episode is quite as strong as the last few. Still barely anything to complain about, though, besides a few lowlights right after the monologue. Even the big focus on gay/homoerotic humor was mostly handled a little better than I would’ve expected. I also felt Paul Rudd had a decent presence, and he worked well with the male cast, Bill Hader and Andy Samberg in particular.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ben Affleck)
a mild step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Tim McGraw
A lot of running themes, as you mentioned. Homoeroticism, darkness, and a bit of “please still watch us even though the election is over.” It gives the episode a strange energy, imo. It feels like there’s a lot more “intent” in this episode, which Justin Timberlake’s meta commentary adds to.
As much as I like this era, a lot of the more frustrating aspects about it rear their head here. Justin’s commentary shows that they were fully aware of how repetitive this era could get yet they doubled down on that the following season, Michaela Watkins and Abby Elliott are basically glorified extras, and we get the debut of the Vogelchecks which are some of the worst recurring characters in SNL history. Also, Kristen’s role in the monologue kinda unintentionally foreshadows how SNL never stopped trying to chase the success of Tina’s Palin impression.
Actually, didn’t Fred and Mulaney write the Vogelchecks sketches?
The songwriter showcase sketch was actually the work of — wait for it — James Anderson and Paula Pell. Forte did indeed write the Spelling Bee sketch, though (I think based on an old Groundlings bit he did).
Bobby wrote the Beyonce video shoot sketch with John Lutz.
After two straight episodes where Bill debuts a new recurring character, tomorrow the streak continues with the debut of his extremely underrated Keith Morrison impression. And we’ve also got Greg the Alien coming in a few episodes, which I can’t wait to see.
I’ve never seen a single one of those Vogelcheck sketches, nor do I plan to. However, I do have an idea on how those sketches could have worked. Instead of taking the easy route by making them gay, why not make them Italian instead? Italians have been stereotyped in the past for being affectionate with their hugs and kisses. I can confirm that this stereotype is 100% true, because I’m Italian, and some of my relatives are like this. Plus, I’m sure we all know that Hader is very good at Italian accents. Imagine a sketch with Vinny Vedecci coming home to his family, only to be bombarded with nothing but kisses from his wife? I’d watch that! But, uh, I digress.
The Snagglepuss appearance on Update made me think about something Joe Barbera said about the rumor that Snagglepuss is gay: “He was based off of Bert Lahr, who was anything but gay. He beat his wife!” But I guess that isn’t enough for DC Comics, who went on to make a rather cringeworthy comic book about the subject ten years later. At least Bobby’s impression is still funny, though.
@Jared DiCarlo, the Italian idea would have been a better idea (maybe they were afraid they would be accused of ripping off the Italian restaurant sketches from the early ’90s). I get the feeling they weren’t necessarily intended to have the sketches be seen as gay-themed as much as just as some twisted family dynamic (which may be why they included more women later on), but maybe I’m being generous…
Regarding the who-wrote-this debate, I saw someone in the Youtube comments for one of the videos mention the Bill and Mulaney interview from last year, saying they wrote it and the only other person who enjoyed it as much as they did was Paul Rudd. If true, I guess that would explain why Bill goes all out and why Paul returned for the last one, anyway.
Yeah, the Vogelcheks are not gay or at least they’re not written that way. I won’t speak to it’s execution, but the central joke seems to be just taking the idea of an affectionate family and going to the extreme. I can’t speak for why the audience is laughing so hard, but to their credit, I don’t see the Vogelchecks as some homophobic thing.
They DID Have In The Late 2000’s Where Kate McKennan And The Host OF That Episode Were Italian And He Would Cook And she would Climb all over him ! Melissa And I’m Not Sure about Ego And Maybe A Son were The Children And They Were appalled ! They Were Italian I Think !
Paul Rudd is a very fun, charismatic actor – handsome, charming, easy to watch, adaptable. I sometimes wonder if being a bit too much of everything is one of the reasons he has never quite found the roles he could have had (at this point he was mostly in one after another of the interchangeable Apatow-type films). I have also wondered if this is why SNL has (in my opinion) never really known just how to use him. In that sense he reminds me a great deal of Teri Garr, with the main difference being he has hosted in a more pre-tape dominant era, which gives him more of a chance. Pre-tapes also seem to be the times that he is less likely to be used as a straight man, which seems to be a big focus tonight (to the point where, in the Single Ladies sketch, he is sidelined so that we can see Timberlake doing a camp gay routine) – I’m aware I’m forgetting a few, but I think one of main times I enjoy a sketch of his where he isn’t used as a straight man is all the way in 2019 in a cheesy-but-entertaining cut for time piece where he’s a double act with Beck Bennett.
This episode, as you mentioned, apparently got a ton of notice and flack for the gay content, to the point that Seth did an interview with The Advocate (I could only find the first part, but the Gawker article I will also link mentions a few quotes from the second part):
https://web.archive.org/web/20090208035530/http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid66630.asp
https://gawker.com/5094426/seth-meyerss-gay-snl-damage-control-interview
The Gawker writer was unhappy about Seth’s “vote’s over” comment, but I thought it was pretty obvious he didn’t mean anything by it – he was just trying to keep the show moving. (admittedly if I had seen this days after the Prop 8 vote I might not have been as able to distance myself emotionally).
Among other tidbits, Seth confirms that Bobby auditioned with Snagglepuss, says the heavy gay focus wasn’t intended, and that they did the Prop 8 sketch with Bill and Paul partly because Paul really liked it.
(I wish we could have seen Bobby’s impression without the tacked-on gay content, which doesn’t work for me)
You do have to ask why THIS got such notice when some of the very homophobic material from the early to mid ’00s (especially 04-05) did not. I guess the Prop 8 timing, or pop culture had shifted slightly in a few years. Whatever reason, while I’m not going to put any social responsibility on the shoulders of any SNL writers or producers, I do think Seth did a fair amount to move the show forward on these types of issues, even if we still get our share of lazy gay and rape material.
This does feel like a coming out (not that way) episode for Bill – he’s very dominant, and moving toward the types of roles which he will continue to occupy for the rest of his tenure. He and Will are great in the “jumper” sketch (how Will manages to wring so much out of “don’t” and “do not” is miraculous), and he and Paul are a very good team in the Prop 8 sketch. I appreciate that we get the extension of the “2 guys from Jersey” with much more of an undercurrent of affection and understanding – and I appreciate that the audience seemed confused at not getting the full-on gay joke that they may have expected.
(is it me or are Paul and Bill both doing a mish-mash of Joe/Phil Sinatra impressions in this sketch?)
I know a lot of people are fond of Justin Timberlake’s SNL contributions. No judgment on my part, so I will just say that after watching 4-5 minutes of such self-indulgent ham on display in an episode he wasn’t even hosting or performing on, I am going to try to be more forgiving of what is to come with Fred and Kristen.
This digital short is the kind that I have a hard time watching for odd reasons, even though I appreciate the attempt and execution. (he and Andy have one in his 2010 episode that is more to my taste) I will say Casey’s scream at the end is GREAT – she could have been a horror movie queen. The later pre-tape is a bit more my speed, although it doesn’t really go anywhere.
I think the glove husband was meant to be alive again at the end of that commercial, so it could be him. I will admit to getting a cheap laugh from the “sproing” gag.
I do think this song memories sketch is better than Kutcher’s, but the only joke I really enjoy is Bill’s Sarah Palin gag. Jason’s and Will’s feel lazy and Paul’s is…good for a second, but overextended. What bumps this up for me is the fantastic ending – shocking too. Overall I continue to love the concept of the song memories sketches more than the execution.
Kenan continues to shine in the Scared Straight sketches, but the diminishing returns (and lack of an ending) have set in.
I like the idea of the songwriter showcase, especially as it was so rare by this time on SNL. I don’t quite love the sketch itself but I do appreciate the idea (and that they wrote an entire song based on the melody of – Harper Valley PTA, I think).
The cold open has that “we have nothing to say” vibe, but Jason does what he can until it trails off, and at least it’s only a few minutes of airtime.
I know a lot of people love the Kissing Family sketches, and again, no judgment on my part, but they just feel like a smug, lazy joke to me – the first version of The Californians. I know there’s a certain “hot guys making out” appeal for some, and I do get that, but even then, you just have people forcing their faces together in such a clumsy way…so even that element is lost to me. But in the scheme of things it’s probably not worth going on about. I did laugh when I saw the Advocate interviewer asking Seth if this sketch was supposed to show that you shouldn’t cast judgment on how people love. Um…yeah…I don’t think so.
Like you and @Ruby said, this episode does have heavy vibes of trying to grasp a post-election life. It’s interesting to compare this to post-2016, where SNL just never even tried to properly address the changes they needed to make, or to move on (then again, the country never really got to move on either…), and they have just had their own variation of the rut SNL got into in the late ’00s/early ’10s. I do appreciate that they did at least address the elephant (or donkey) in the room here, but they should have taken stronger steps, instead of just half-assing with 4 endless years of Fredbama and Downey cold opens.
This episode marked a turning point to where my admiration for SNL started to go down the toilet. I didn’t like any of the sketches, including the digital short, and the hacky gay humor ruined the show for me. To see the show defend the episode is baffling.
I remember watching Lorne on Oprah’s Masterclass talking about the Kissing Family (who I never liked on the show every time they appeared). He touched on how the audience reaction made the sketch a classic, and how they loved it. I didn’t get it.
The winning streak continues, but IIRC it ends with someone that was rightfully a one-time host. *cough* Everyone who’s hosted in Year 34 up to this point (except Michael Phelps) was a first-time host that would come back at some point in the next five years, and of course Ben Affleck.
The best part of the cold opening is when Suds/Biden claims that he cannot blink, but he blinks twice 30 seconds later. What I remember most, however was Bobby looking like he was four months pregnant in the “Single Ladies” sketch. Other than that, I forgot about all the shock humor in this episode.
Was that Greta Gerwig in “Clearing the Air?”
Seth, to his credit, takes the shots lobbed at the show over questionable content time and time again. Sure, he might have defended stuff like Vogelchecks or Fred’s David Patterson impression or Right Side of the Bed, but his willingness to explain the shows thought process in creating them is admirable.
The saccharine way Fred says “I guess that makes us… Vogelchecks” every time just irks me beyond belief.
Lorne doing away with his policy of only putting new people in the montage if they get something on the live show really works out poorly for Michaela Watkins, three appearances and the only time she opens her mouth is to scream in the Digital Short. At least Abby gets to say the same line three times over in Backup Dancers.
I believe it is true that Timberlake was booked in advance but had to cancel. I’ve always found it weird that during Justin’s Update commentary he mentions “the black guy” while doing his Pardo imitation but later mentions a Kenan in a dress bit. Also, he does a little of his Michael McDonald impression which got cut from his season 32 episode.
I do infact recall hearing the reason for Abby and Michaela’s light presense in this episode is because they didn’t fly in for the first time until the middle of the week when all the sketches were already written so they just worked in little bit parts for them. From what I remember, Abby spends most of the 08 half of this season in mostly dialogue-free appearances.
Towards the end of this season I remember SNL had announced a new Mother’s Day special for May that must’ve ended up being scrapped, but I remember hoping they’d somehow work Chris Elliott into whatever Abby’s segment in the specia would’ve been if it ended up happening. I think Chris’ relationship with SNL/Lorne had become less bitter when Abby was on the show, I recall hearing he’d sometimes be in attendance at some shows. No idea what his feelings are today, as I’ve since heard Abby talk not so positively about her experience at SNL since she left, something about once she got pigeonholed as the “impressions girl” they weren’t really interesting in her doing anything else on the show like characters and original material and it bugged her. Seems like neither of the Elliotts really look back that fondly on their time.
One of the major things that stand out to me after reading all the preceding reviews, is how frequently Don Pardo made mistakes that were completely preventable and would have surely got a rookie cast/crew member fired or shunned. One could argue that a Don Pardo mistake was part of SNL’s DNA, as it was one of the first things that appeared on the very first episode. In the 25th anniversary special, he says that his first episode intro gaffe is the only on-air mistake he had ever made (ehhh…ok then). I definitely like Don Pardo’s announcements and whole vibe, but I can’t help but wonder what kind of conversations were going on backstage after all these ever more frequent blunders. I feel they should have replaced him around 2004 when he first intended to retire. I wonder if he ever got reprimanded for making these frequent on-air mistakes or if he was given a free pass because of his age? Was he aware of the mistakes he was making, and was he apologetic about it?
Screwing up a cast member’s name is pretty bad form, considering you have days/weeks to prepare for the announcements and it’s probably the easiest job on the entire show. Age-related memory problems or senility is not a good excuse, in my opinion. I presume they wouldn’t have kept employing an unreliable writer or set builder, so why keep an unreliable announcer around? I guess they actually felt that Don Pardo was a kind of “lucky charm”, and letting him go might be bad karma or something? Anyway, my point is that most other people would have been fired from their job after making so many high-profile mistakes in what is probably one of the easiest jobs in entertainment.
Somehow Darrell’s recent “John MulVANEY” is funnier to me than any of Don’s mistakes. Did Darrell really never once interact with John Mulnaey while he worked at SNL or not realize his name? I know by that point Darrell was probably pretty checked out and didn’t hang out with the young guys that much, but still seemed crazy to me that he was that unfamiliar with him to the point of thinking his name was Mulvaney!
Once Don was up into his 90’s they really just should’ve had him pre-record them. I never actually caught the Michael Watkins blooper somehow when this aired, does video of that exist anywhere? I always wanted to see that one as I always heard it’s one of his worst botched names.
lol awww drats! here I am making fun of Darrell for “John Mulvaney”, and I botched the name “Mulaney” myself! Shut up! I know one of yous was gonna point out! I aint givin ya the satisfaction! :-p
The Vogelchecks give me the same feeling as when I see Gallagher smashing watermelons. As much as I don’t like judging other people’s senses of humor, it’s such a dumb and hacky bit that I can’t help but cringe at the audience eating it up.
Another thing that I hate about the Vogelchecks is how it’s the beginning (or one of the beginnings) of SNL making recurrents out of sketches that aren’t character-based and have absolutely no legs outside of the first installment.
Like, I know people hate Penelope or Lorenzo McIntosh or whatever, but at least they’re characters with defined personalities and rely on the strong performances to put them over. The Vogelchecks are just a bunch of randos spitting and making out with eachother while the audience whoops as if they’ve never seen two men kiss before. I couldn’t tell you what the first names of any of the family members are, because they don’t matter. The different settings and the actual characters or cast members in it don’t add anything to the sketch; it’s just a bunch of kissing and slobbering.
The other two similar sketches that come to mind are The Californians and the “Oh, you don’t know this song?” sketches. They just barely worked the first time, yet they repeat them over and over even though it lacks any element of surprise or strong performance to make it worthwhile.
Having not been a fan for very long, I didn’t know that the Kissing Family/Affectionate Family/Vogelcheck sketches were so hated. I don’t absolutely HATE them but it is pretty cringeworthy to watch (not cringe as in embarrassment, cringe as in uncomfortable to see a bunch of people making out with each other in succession lol). I didn’t see it as specifically being gay/homoerotic either… I just focused on the incest aspect, which I guess is better than awkward “lol they’re gay” humor but is more uncomfortable in general because it’s, well, incest. Either way it’s not very funny.
I love how over-the-top and gory that Digital Short becomes. It’s always funny to me when an absurd premise just keeps escalating.
The Ledge Jumper sketch is my favorite from this episode. Will & Bill really were an underrated pairing. All the repeated “DON’T”‘s just kill me.
Clearing the Air was baffling to me- at first I thought it was a parody of Noah Baumbach’s style (I haven’t seen any of his films but I assumed that’s who “Noah” was referring to), and then I was surprised to find out it actually WAS directed by him.
As much as I love Timberlake’s Update routine, it is a little TOO on the nose for how repetitive the show and especially HIS episodes were getting.
I agree with John about Rudd–he’s one of my favorite actors, but he’s almost TOO agreeable a SNL host–I don’t love a ton of stuff in his episodes and what I do like rarely involves him prominently, but he’s never really to blame for the poor material.
As simplistic as the Single Ladies sketch is, I think it’s a good “fun” sketch–the audience really digs it and the cast seem to be having fun doing it. I actually think Beyonce does a pretty good performance, although she seems kind of mannered at times (I do think her delivery of “HELL no” at the end is great, though).
I absolutely hate the Vogelchecks. To me, the idea of presenting this style of humor in response to homophobia would be like airing Amos and Andy or Stepin Fetchit movies in response to bigotry against African-Americans. There’s something I guess to be said for just having gay humor or themes as a transgressive or visible piece of humor, but I think in 2008 we were already past that point. This just seems to be wallowing in the “ha ha, man kissing man!” humor. I could kind of tolerate this sketch better if it went for all out gross out humor in how the family showed affection to everyone…but it doesn’t.
It really shows how popular Justin Timberlake was on SNL if his shows already had a recognizable formula after only two.
I mainly remember Snagglepuss on Weekend Update and the first Vogelchecks. I think I remember being amused by the former and a bit grossed out but laughing at the latter. So Abby Elliott and Michaela Watkins debuted in this ep. For their first appearances, I hardly remember them in it…
I thought Vogelchecks was okay – I think the humor comes from the contrast between how weirdly affectionate they are, and how super casual they are about it, as if everything is normal. So I thought it worked well enough. FYI, the waitress in Clearing the Air was Amy Seimetz, and the melody for the song in Songwriter Showcase is borrowed from “Ode to Billie Joe” by Bobbie Gentry.
Late to the party but the Vogelchecks always annoyed me too. They were such blatant fanservice (“squee, my adorkable faves are kissing!”). It makes a certain amount of sense that Bill Hader, who is a big adorkable fave online, was behind them.