Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW
Rachel Maddow (ABE) interviews Roland Burris (KET) and Rod Blagojevich (JAS)
— After Abby spent her first four episodes doing practically nothing, getting no comedic roles or, hell, barely even any speaking roles, SNL returns from Christmas break with Abby suddenly front-and-center in the lead role of this cold opening. This was a huge shock to viewers like me back when this originally aired.
— Abby’s a strong impressionist in general, but her Rachel Maddow leaves a little to be desired. The voice is too high-pitched. I recall some people saying her Rachel Maddow sounds more like Abby attempting an impression of Drew Barrymore attempting an impression of Rachel Maddow. I will admit, though, that Abby is at least nailing Maddow’s demeanor and smirk.
— Kenan’s bit is very repetitive, but I’m getting some amusement from it.
— I’m getting very cheap laughs from Jason’s Rod Blagojevich referring to Abby’s Maddow by the names of famous lesbians (Billie Jean King, Ellen, K.D. Lang).
— Abby even gets to deliver her first LFNY, in what’s only her fifth episode as a featured player.
— I’m sure this is going to sound like an odd comparison, but Abby’s SNL trajectory in her first five episodes reminds me of that of Melanie Hutsell’s. Much like Abby joining SNL with Michaela in mid-November of this season, Melanie joined SNL with another woman (Beth Cahill) in mid-November of season 17. Melanie would then spend her first four episodes doing practically nothing, getting no comedic roles or, hell, barely even any speaking roles. Then Christmas break happened, and in SNL’s first episode back from that break, which was Melanie’s fifth episode, she suddenly has a BIG night with two big showcases: the very first Delta Delta Delta sketch and a Jan Brady commentary on Weekend Update. Just replace those two showcases with getting to star in the cold opening and saying LFNY, and everything I just said above about Melanie mirrors Abby’s early trajectory EXACTLY. The similarities between Abby and Melanie’s trajectories even continue a little past their respective first five episodes. After their first season, Abby and Melanie were the only ones out of the three newest white female featured players in their respective cast (Abby, Michaela, and Casey this season, Melanie, Beth Cahill, and Siobhan Fallon in season 17) to make it to the following season…and some SNL fans felt that Abby and Melanie were the least deserving out of their respective trio of new white female featured players to make it to the following season.
STARS: ***
MONOLOGUE
Mark Wahlberg (ANS) & his entourage rib host about How I Met Your Mother
— Great line from Neil Patrick Harris about Doogie Howser being one of the first TV shows created on a dare.
— Very funny story from a bitter Neil about SNL choosing Fred Savage as a host over him in 1990. And, as an SNL nerd, I absolute LOVE Neil referencing specific things from Fred Savage’s episode and pointing out “flaws” like Savage playing a mini Church Lady in the cold opening.
— A hilarious self-deprecating little reference to Neil’s sexual orientation, with the “Why won’t you kiss me???” “Later!” exchange between his childhood girlfriend and him in the 1990 story we’re told.
— Bill’s always good at playing wiseguy New Jerseyites who go “Ohhhhh!”
— I absolutely love Neil’s snarky deconstructions of the audience members’ jokes about his mother.
— Great to see the return of Andy’s Mark Wahlberg.
STARS: ****
TODAY
Hoda Kotb (MIW) endures Kathie Lee Gifford’s (KRW) buffoonery
— The debut of a recurring spoof of the Kathie Lee Gifford & Hoda Kotb-hosted Today show.
— Michaela gets the, uh, “honors” of being the first of SEVERAL Hoda Kotb impersonators in these Today sketches.
— I never watched the real Kathie Lee/Hoda-hosted Today show, and thus, I never knew if that famous mugging face Kristen always makes as Kathie Lee when laughing (as seen in the second above screencap for this sketch) was a dig at how the real Kathie Lee laughs, or if it was just a characterization choice Kristen added to her impression. In my past viewings of these Today sketches, I never cared much for Kristen’s performances in them, whether they’re accurate to the real Kathie Lee or not. These sketches have always seemed very thinly-written and one-note to me.
— Though it’s a VERY thankless and generic role, I am kinda liking Michaela’s portrayal of Hoda and the way she’s playing off of Kristen’s Kathie Lee. Michaela’s bringing a certain something to this thankless, generic role that I’ve always felt is missing from the subsequent performers who play this role after Michaela’s firing.
— Not caring at all for the exercise sequence, despite a fun upbeat performance from Neil.
— Something about the execution of the bit with Michaela’s Hoda accidentally punching Kristen’s Kathie Lee in the face didn’t work for me.
STARS: *½
SAVE BROADWAY
Broadway characters meet at Sardi’s to form a musical theatre rescue plan
— I recall this being a very fun and memorable full-cast sketch.
— An excellent lead straight man performance from Jason.
— Michaela’s “Wow, that’s racist” response to Jason making fun of her green skin was very funny.
— I got a huge laugh from Jason making the incorrect assumption that Kenan’s from The Color Purple, IMMEDIATELY AFTER having claimed nobody in Broadway is racist.
— Funny comment from Abby (finally playing her first actual comedic role, given that even her Rachel Maddow earlier tonight was technically just a straight role with no comedic lines) about her puppet giving massages behind a store…with her mouth.
— I love how everybody in the cast, one-by-one, is getting their individual chance to shine in this sketch. Even musical guest Taylor Swift gets a chance, showing an early glimpse of what a good host she’ll make the following season.
— Fred being cast as one of the members of Blue Man Group is even funnier when you’re aware he used to be the drummer for that group in his pre-comedian days.
— I howled at Jason telling Blue Man Group, “You know, sometimes, you guys can be a bunch of blue dicks.”
— This sketch is such a blast.
— A funny ending with The Fiddler On The Roof committing suicide off-camera by jumping off the roof. I also like the little detail with him yelling “OY!” as he jumped off the roof.
STARS: *****
GROUP THERAPY
Penelope’s nimiety scatters a group therapy session; Liza Minnelli cameo
— I like Will’s on-edge, temperamental character.
— Standard Penelope stuff so far, but, as I said in some previous episode reviews, this character somehow always works for me, despite the one-note nature of her sketches.
— I like the twist with Penelope somehow even popping up in the stress video that’s played on the TV.
— A surprising cameo from a tomato-holding Liza Minnelli, as a callback to a line earlier in this sketch with Penelope claiming her best friends are a tomato and Liza Minnelli. Fun performance from Minnelli, and I especially like her delivery of the line “Tomato and I wanna hit the town.”
STARS: ***
THE DOOGIE HOWSER THEME
host & a band of Doogie Howser look-alikes perform his TV theme song
— A great nostalgic feel as soon as Neil starts playing the Doogie Howser theme song. It’s also very infectious hearing the audience applaud that.
— Ooh, I love how this is now involving the cast, one-by-one, each in a Doogie Howser wig & costume while playing an instrument, altogether making a Doogie Howser orchestra. This is yet another very fun full-cast piece tonight’s episode is giving us.
— The mock-melancholy close-up of Neil with a tear rolling down his cheek was the absolutely PERFECT ending.
— Overall, while this wasn’t laugh-out-loud funny, nor was it trying to be, I found this to be beautiful, fun, and VERY entertaining. One of my personal favorite Digital Shorts.
STARS: *****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Love Story”
WEEKEND UPDATE
Charles Barkley (KET) shrugs off his recent drunk driving arrest
WLF sings about banes he loves as much as the Bowl Championship Series
— The official first Weekend Update of the solo Seth Meyers era.
— The Weekend Update opening title sequence has been altered to remove Amy Poehler’s individual close-ups and to seemingly airbrush her out of the shots she and Seth were both in (the latter of which makes some of those photos now look rather odd, as we now see a big unoccupied space next to Seth in those photos, such as in the first above screencap for this Weekend Update). Seth also now has a smaller Update desk.
— Something about Seth’s voice sounds slightly hoarse to me tonight.
— Kenan’s Charles Barkley impression seems to get less and less accurate each time it appears. The first time he played him (in that fantastic Iconoclasts sketch with Kristen’s Bjork), he did a spot-on imitation of Barkley’s distinctive marble-mouthed voice. By tonight’s episode, after having played Barkley a few times previously, Kenan’s impression has become just a VERY slight variation of Kenan’s own voice, with zero attempt at imitating Barkley’s marble-mouthed-ness. It still works for me, though, because I always find Kenan amusing in the Barkley role.
— Funny bit in Kenan-as-Barkley’s story, with him using the word “hamburger” as a substitution for the word “B.J.s”.
— Kenan’s Barkley: “My analogies are like a blimp trying to make out with a bicycle.”
— Another Will Forte Update song!
— I love Will’s sarcastic ode to hateable things he “loves”. I particularly like the self-censored “S my D!” threat from Will.
— Funny interlude in Will’s song, with him holding his utterance of “fffffff” when asking Seth is he’s allowed to say the f-word.
STARS: ***½
TWO FIRST NAMES
host & other celebrities treasure double appellations
Billy Bob Thornton (ANS) & Joe Pantoliano (WLF) like to wear Kangol
— Fun concept, and I love that “Say My Name”-based theme song.
— When learning Bill’s Daniel Day Lewis ISN’T named Daniel Dave Lewis, and thus, doesn’t have two first names, I love Neil telling him a tense, deadpan “Take your one…first…name AND GET THE HELL OFF THE SHOW.”
— Good Billy Bob Thornton impression from Andy.
— Interesting seeing an impression of Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Michaela is actually nailing it. It probably helps that Michaela previously worked with Julia in The New Adventures Of Old Christine.
— Darrell’s Tommy Lee Jones complaining about Harrison Ford having two last names makes me think it would’ve been fun to see SNL eventually try a “Two Last Names” variation of this sketch.
— Neil, during his sign-off at the end, after finding out the “Louis” in Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ name is part of her last name: “Julia No-Second-First-Name Dreyfus will be nowhere near here, because she’s a monster.”
STARS: ****½
FRAN & FREBA
long-fingernailed air traffic controllers (KRW) & (host) guide planes
— Right out of the gate, I’m getting the bad feeling that I’m in for a rough sketch.
— I like Neil’s delivery of his line about his character’s JanSport backpack.
— Even though this is the type of hacky and poorly-written man-in-drag role that I praised the then-recent John Malkovich-starring Judy Blume sketch for NOT being, Neil is at least pretty fun in his portrayal, a testament to what a great host he is.
— Two minutes into this sketch, and the bad feeling I got from the start of this sketch has not gone away. Aside from Neil’s performance, I’m not enjoying the material itself, nor anything else in this sketch.
STARS: *½
FROST/OTHER PEOPLE
David Frost (host) grills Richard Nixon (DAH) & other ’70s figures
— Pretty fun concept of David Frost interviewing wacky 70s celebrities.
— Bill’s David Bowie impression is cracking me up.
— Some of the still photos of Neil as David Frost are really funny.
— I like the running gag with Jason interrupting each interview while resembling the celebrity being interviewed.
— A particularly funny part with Neil’s Frost grilling Fred “Rerun” Berry about the Doobie Brothers episode of What’s Happening.
— Very fun and amusing seeing Jason do the trademark Rerun dance with Kenan.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Forever & Always”
BURGER KING
Whopper virgins (FRA), (MIW), (BOM) have extreme reactions to hamburgers
— Good concept for a spoof of Burger King’s Whopper Virgins campaign, even though I myself have never seen any of those actual Whopper Virgins commercials (I didn’t have cable for a while around this time in 2008/early 2009, and I basically only used my TV during that time to watch new SNL episodes on Saturdays).
— I got an oh-so-wrong laugh from the “She’s not a virgin” and “It was her uncle” disclosures about the state of Michaela’s sexual virginity.
— Bobby is an absolute riot in this sketch. I love his goofy, jovial, laughing character.
— Michaela’s odd attempts to eat the Whopper are cracking me up.
STARS: ***½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very fun and solid episode. There were some particularly strong highlights, including two full-cast pieces that happen to be among my all-time favorite SNL pieces (Save Broadway and The Doogie Howser Theme). Neil Patrick Harris was an excellent host, and it boggles the mind how this is, to this day in 2020, his ONLY hosting stint.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Save Broadway
The Doogie Howser Theme
Two First Names
Monologue
Frost/Other People
Burger King
Weekend Update
The Rachel Maddow Show
Group Therapy
Today
Fran & Freba
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Hugh Laurie)
a big step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Rosario Dawson