Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
CHENEY IN MAKEUP
George W. Bush (WIF) asks Dick Cheney (DAH) to relinquish the spotlight
— Nice to see Darrell front-and-center in the cold opening of his final episode, especially given how much he’s disappeared in the second half of this season (hell, he didn’t even make any appearances in his penultimate episode).
— Darrell’s departure is quite a big deal in my SNL project, because, as I said in a recent review, it feels like I’ve been covering Darrell’s tenure forever by this point. To me, it feels almost like ages ago when I covered the season 21 premiere (Darrell’s first episode), even though it was only last October. (I guess reviewing episodes on a daily basis for such a long time does that to you.) Prior to this stage of my SNL project, I had never covered a cast member who’s consecutive years as a cast member lasted as long as this. As I said in my review of Darrell’s very first episode (link here), “Feels kinda odd seeing Darrell in his debut, knowing how very long we’re going to be seeing him in the cast. Even just saying the words ‘newbie Darrell Hammond’ feels weird.”
— Will Ferrell’s George W. Bush impression is always a welcome return.
— It’s very fitting that Darrell’s final episode turns out to be hosted by Will Ferrell, as they both joined the cast together during SNL’s big overhaul in 1995, and spent many years as castmates. For that reason, it’s charming seeing them interact with each other all throughout this particular cold opening.
— SNL’s been making quite a lot of references to the ShamWow guy around this point of the season, serving in hindsight as a time capsule of when those ShamWow commercials were prevalent.
— As usual, lots of funny lines from Ferrell’s Bush.
— I love Ferrell-as-Bush’s mention to Darrell’s Cheney of “the time you were dead for three days”, which we’re told was hidden from the public when it occurred.
— Good to see Darrell get one last LFNY as a cast member.
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
Tony-nominee WIF gets unwanted laughs while performing a dramatic scene
— This is the second consecutive monologue in which the host ad-libs a humorous “I love you, too” to an audience member who shouts “I love you!” Unlike Justin Timberlake in the preceding monologue, Ferrell adds on to his “I love you, too…” with a “…more than you know.”
— The black-and-white photos of Ferrell doing theater are very funny.
— Fun concept of Ferrell doing a mock-dramatic one-man play.
— I like Ferrell’s occasional “Please no laughter” requests to the laughing audience.
— A very funny exaggerated Irish accent Ferrell’s using when speaking as the mother in the play.
STARS: ****
WADE BLASINGAME
— A surprising rerun of a fantastic older commercial from Ferrell’s years as a cast member. I like the idea of doing that, and kinda wish SNL would do it more often whenever a former cast member hosts. They did do it at least once prior to this, when they re-aired the classic original-era Swill commercial when Bill Murray hosted in season 24.
— Seeing this old footage of early 2000s-era cast members casually airing in a 2009 episode feels odd, but fascinating and fun (which is part of the reason why I feel it would be fun if SNL regularly re-aired an old commercial whenever a former cast member hosts, especially if it’s a commercial that features a lot of that cast member’s castmates from back in the day, like this Wade Blasingame commercial does). Also, seeing the still-on-the-show-in-2009 Darrell Hammond among these long-departed early 2000s-era cast members makes you realize just how freakin’ long he’s been on the show (and he was already a 6-year SNL veteran when this Wade Blasingame commercial originally aired!).
— Tonight’s airing of this old commercial cuts out a testimonial from Ana Gasteyer. No idea why. Would’ve been nice to see her among the other early 2000s-era cast members seen in this.
THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW
(WIF) avoids unwanted attention of Dooneese
— This sketch has officially become recurring.
— This is the first Lawrence Welk Show/Dooneese sketch to have a male singer who the sisters perform with, which would go on to be a regular aspect of these sketches.
— Ferrell demonstrates his ability to get good laughs out of something as little as singing in a cheesy, cocky manner.
— This worked for me as a one-off sketch earlier this season, but the whole Dooneese routine feels very been-there-done-that in this second installment. Doesn’t work as a recurring sketch.
— This even ends the EXACT SAME WAY as the first installment, with Dooneese cheerily grabbing at the bubbles with her tiny hands.
STARS: **
CELEBRITY JEOPARDY
Sean Connery (DAH), Kathie Lee Gifford (KRW), Burt Reynolds (NOM), Tom Hanks [real]
— The return of a legendary recurring sketch, and also the final appearance it would make in a regular SNL episode, as of 2020. (The only remaining appearance, as of 2020, is in SNL’s 40th Anniversary Special.)
— Fitting to have this sketch appear in Darrell’s final episode.
— I remember the inclusion of Kristen’s Kathie Lee Gifford impression in this sketch drove me (and a number of other online SNL fans) nuts back when this originally aired, as I couldn’t fucking STAND Kristen’s Kathie Lee impression back then and I felt the inclusion of it in this sketch was further proof of SNL’s growing favoritism towards and extreme over-utilization of Kristen. However, after having recently reviewed the Today sketch from two episodes prior to this, I’ve begun to warm up to Kristen’s Kathie Lee, so hopefully, I’ll have a more positive reception to her in this sketch.
— TOM HANKS!!! Randomly playing himself as a ridiculously dumb contestant! Absolutely brilliant idea.
— After his opening slam to Ferrell’s Alex Trebek, Darrell’s Sean Connery exclaims “Pow!”, which was a random new catchphrase of his in Shia LaBeouf’s season 33 monologue, though Darrell doesn’t deliver it quite as strong tonight, because he was distracted by a gaffe in which the wire on his pen got tangled on his arm.
— Uh-oh. I can already tell as soon as the “Catch These Men” category has been shown what dirty phrase it will be misread as by Darrell’s Connery later in this sketch (“Catch The Semen”). On one hand, I did already watch this sketch once before, back when it originally aired, so maybe that’s why I was able to pick out the dirty phrase so quickly in my current viewing, but on the other hand, I dunno, “Catch These Men”/“Catch The Semen” seems like a really obvious joke, and feels kinda lazy compared to funnier dirty category misreadings in other Celebrity Jeopardy sketches.
— Whaaaa? A contestant actually choosing the perpetual category Potent Potables??? That’s a first.
— I love Ferrell’s Trebek saying to Tom Hanks, after witnessing some of his idiocy, “I had such high hopes for you.”
— My newfound goodwill towards Kristen’s Kathie Lee has thankfully carried over into this sketch, as she’s not bothering me in this. However, her Kathie Lee shtick still doesn’t compare to the usual greatness from most of the contestants within these Celebrity Jeopardy sketches over the years. It feels a tad out of place here.
— And there’s the predictable and very meh “Catch The Semen” misreading. I did, however, get a laugh from Darrell’s Connery asking, during that gag, “Is that what the mustache is for, Trebek?”
— Whenever the camera cuts to Tom Hanks, I love Ferrell’s Trebek saying stuff like “Aaaaaaand he has his hand caught in a pickle jar” and “Aaaaaand he’s caught in a dry cleaning bag.” The latter bit with the dry cleaning bag is particularly fucking HILARIOUS. Tom’s facial expressions inside the plastic bag are comedy gold.
— Oh, fuck yeah! NORM MACDONALD returning out of nowhere as Burt Reynolds!!!! As if this sketch weren’t already so much fun. It’s too bad there have been some mild shortcomings in this sketch, because so many epic things about this sketch belong in a prime, A+ Celebrity Jeopardy.
— Every single moment of the Hanks stuff is so fucking classic. He’s selling the HELL out of this so perfectly.
— When Ferrell’s Trebek is walking away from Tom after Tom’s Final Jeopardy bit, I, as an SNL nerd, absolutely love the detail of Tom saying (in an apparent ad-lib) “Sibilance” into his pen, as a callback to an oddly memorable detail in the classic Wayne’s World Meets Aerosmith sketch that Tom appeared in in his season 15 hosting stint.
— Hilarious how Norm’s randomly-appearing Burt Reynolds has randomly disappeared during the Final Jeopardy segment, and Darrell’s Connery claims to a confused Ferrell-as-Trebek that Reynolds was never here to begin with.
STARS: ****½
INSIDE THE NBA
Charles Barkley (KET) loves (WIF)’s on-screen super promo
— In hindsight, it’s feels odd and empty to see that Inside The NBA apparently only had Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley as its hosts back in these days, before the line-up became a very popular quartet with the addition of Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith.
— An interesting and rather unique use of an SNL host. This is the type of thing that Ferrell can effortlessly make very funny.
— Fun conceit with Kenan-as-Charles-Barkley’s fascination with the corny Mark promos that are slowly taking over this Inside The NBA broadcast.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Know Your Enemy”
WEEKEND UPDATE
incredulous SEM & AMP say “Really!?!” to Arizona State’s self-importance
the ghost of Harry Caray (WIF) fails to discuss steroids in baseball
— As a special occasion for this season finale, Seth welcomes back Amy Poehler (making her first SNL appearance since leaving the cast in December of this season) as tonight’s special guest co-anchor.
— Feels odd seeing Amy deliver Update jokes again after I’ve gotten so used to the solo Seth Meyers era of Update.
— Another reminder that we’re in the early stages of the Twitter era, with Seth’s First Twitter From Space joke.
— Good to see a Seth & Amy edition of “Really?!?”, especially after how odd it felt seeing Seth do one by himself earlier this season.
— This “Really?!?” segment isn’t working quite as well for me as usual, but I’m still getting a decent amount of laughs.
— Yesssss! The return of Ferrell’s Harry Caray, this time as a ghost, after his last appearance (way back in 1998) humorously had him still appearing alive despite acknowledging that he died.
— Very funny bit from Ferrell’s Caray about how the Predator would make a great ballplayer.
— Another great bit from Ferrell’s Caray about his meeting with “Pete Rose” in heaven.
— I like Seth’s reaction to his own Harrison Ford/Chewbacca joke.
STARS: ***
REMEMBRANCES
at a funeral, eulogies by Glenda Goodwin & others fail to pay respect
— A funeral-themed variation of the wedding toasts sketch from the Hugh Laurie episode earlier this season.
— I love the odd detail of Bill requesting that whoever has his missing watch place it inside an Ugg boot on top of the casket.
— Ha, Graham Yost, a strangely perfect name for a Will Ferrell character.
— Funny speech from Kristen’s oxygen tank lady character.
— Always welcome to see Forte’s Hamilton character, who always kills it in these sketches.
— Hamilton, after mentioning the full name of our president, Barack Hussein Obama: “I say his middle name because it matters.”
— I love how Hamilton’s speech randomly ends with “I took the watch”, as a callback to Bill’s missing watch.
— Despite just being an exact carbon copy of what he did in the aforementioned wedding toasts sketch, Bobby’s “WHAAAAAAT??? (*mic drop*)” bit made me laugh just as much as it did last time.
— Tonight’s cameofest continues with a VERY out-of-nowhere walk-on from Maya Rudolph as her Glenda Goodwin character, of all people.
— The very random “Amazing Sasquatch” song that Glenda Goodwin is singing is so dumb and bizarre that it’s having me laughing out loud.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “21 Guns”
GOODNIGHT SAIGON
traumatized by a Vietnam vacation, Fritz (WIF) sings “Goodnight Saigon”
Anne Hathaway, Paul Rudd, Artie Lange, Elisabeth Moss [real], others join Fritz
— Oh, here we go. A very well-remembered piece.
— Ooh, as an IMMEDIATE sign that we’re in for a special sketch, the setting of this sketch is at Grand Central Station, utilizing the fact that SNL’s home base stage is modeled after Grand Central Station. When this originally aired, I optimistically took this as a sign that this was going to be the final episode with this home base stage, and that SNL was going to build a new one for the following season. Sadly, that didn’t turn out to happen – in fact, today, 11 years later, SNL still hasn’t changed the home base stage, which was first used as far back as 2003(!!). Yet, for some inexplicable reason, SNL has no problem randomly remodeling the musical guest stage every now and then, at the most random times (December 2014 and April 2018). Honestly, I’ve completely given up hope that SNL will ever change the home base stage again. And, damn, you gotta admit, wouldn’t this Goodnight Saigon sketch have been an appropriate farewell to this particular home base stage?
— A great and intriguing turn with a war-traumatized Ferrell suddenly getting up and singing a segment of the song “Goodnight Saigon” while shaking maracas.
— Hilarious reveal that Ferrell “being in Vietnam” meant that he was just there on vacation four years prior.
— I love how more and more cast members, all playing instruments, are joining Ferrell’s occasional “Goodnight Saigon” singing, to the degree that he’s eventually joined by the entire cast, even the Weekend Update-only Seth Meyers!
— Lots of fun back-and-forths between Ferrell sitting at the table with his friends and him performing “Goodnight Saigon” with the rest of the cast.
— This already epic-feeling sketch is now getting even more epic, with Ferrell’s musical number being joined not only by tonight’s musical guest and tonight’s earlier special guests, but new special guests (Anne Hathaway, Paul Rudd, Elisabeth Moss), continuing tonight’s cameofest.
— As if the aforementioned special guests appearing in this sketch weren’t already surprising and fun enough, now we get the shocker to end all shockers: ARTIE LANGE!!! Holy hell. The even greater and funnier thing about this cameo from him is that he made an appearance earlier that same night on MADtv’s big series finale. On a similar note, with MADtv having debuted in fall 1995, just a few weeks after Darrell’s SNL debut, and with MADtv officially ending on May 16, 2009, the same night of both tonight’s SNL episode and Darrell’s final episode as a cast member, this means that both Darrell’s SNL tenure and MADtv’s run spanned pretty much the exact same period of time.
— When everybody is exiting the stage one-by-one, we get a great little sighting of Artie Lange and Bobby both appearing in the same shot, with Bobby right behind Artie (screencap below), which is noteworthy because lots of people back in these early days of Bobby’s SNL tenure used to point out his strong resemblance to Artie.
— I like the ending with the guys at Ferrell’s table realizing that this very elaborate musical number was just a ruse for Ferrell to leave without paying for his meal…….once again.
— Overall, an absolutely legendary sketch. Such a blast, and, unlike a lot of SNL’s future cameo-filled sketches that this sketch is said to have unfortunately paved the way for, the cameos here actually added to the fun, random, and epic feel of this already-unique sketch, and it was also very fun to see all of those special guests working together in this specific context.
— With this being the final aired sketch of this season, this is easily one of the best season-ending pieces in SNL history, and is (along with some prior season-ending sketches like the So Long Farewell number from Phil Hartman’s final episode as a cast member, and the Grease number from Jimmy Fallon’s final episode) a great argument for why SNL should end every season with a big, epic piece utilizing the show’s entire current cast.
— Speaking of this being the final sketch of this season, that apparently wasn’t planned. After the commercial break that follows this sketch, SNL just shows the SNL Band immediately playing the show back to ANOTHER commercial break, which, as I always say whenever SNL does that (including just ONE EPISODE AGO when Justin Timberlake hosted), is a sign that a planned sketch got cut at the last minute. It’s hard for me to fathom why SNL intended to do another sketch tonight AFTER the show-stopping Goodnight Saigon piece. I wonder what the cut sketch was.
STARS: *****
GOODNIGHTS
— At the end of his goodnights speech, Ferrell gives a special mention to Darrell, who the camera then shows a close-up of while everybody applauds him. Apparently, this is SNL hinting to us that this may be the final episode for the 14-year SNL veteran. However, his departure would end up never being confirmed over the summer that followed this season. In fact, there would even be some news articles that summer saying Darrell is in negotiations to return for a 15th season in the cast. PLUS, he would also appear in the two Weekend Update Thursday specials that would air on the two Thursdays before SNL’s official season 35 premiere. We had to wait until the opening montage in that season premiere to find out that, despite what the aforementioned news articles said, and despite his aforementioned appearance in the two Weekend Update Thursday specials, Darrell was, in fact, NOT in the cast anymore, which caused a lot of shock and confusion among SNL fans back then (including myself). Then, shortly after that season premiere, I recall there being a news article announcing that, despite no longer being in the cast, Darrell would be making lots of special guest appearances that season, ala Jan Hooks in seasons 18 and 19 (only without the “Special guest appearance by…” credit in the opening montage that Jan received). Indeed, we will be seeing quite a lot of Darrell cameos in the first half of season 35.
— Ha, in true Norm Macdonald fashion, both he and Artie Lange can be seen eventually ditching the goodnights by playfully running off the stage together towards the end of these goodnights. A funny sight.
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid season finale, and there were two all-time very memorable pieces in which SNL went all out (Celebrity Jeopardy and Goodnight Saigon). Those two pieces had even more impact in this episode than they would’ve in most episodes, because there was a much-smaller-than-usual number of segments in this episode, with only three sketches pre-Update and two post-Update. (Again, we apparently were going to get three sketches post-Update, but the last one seemingly got cut at the last minute.)
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Goodnight Saigon
Celebrity Jeopardy
Monologue
Cheney in Makeup
Remembrances
Inside The NBA
Weekend Update
The Lawrence Welk Show
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Justin Timberlake)
a step up
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS ENTIRE SEASON, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (2007-08)
a slight step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Season 35 begins, with host Megan Fox. We get two new female additions to the cast, one of whom has a notorious unplanned moment in her first big showcase that night.
Maya as Glenda Goodwin coming in at the very end of the funeral sketch, while Will is talking, going “AMA……ZING NACHOS….HOW ZESTY…THE CHEESE” will never not crack me up. I know that Glenda Goodwin voice can usually be really grating, but it worked for me there.
This one just felt absolutely huge to me when I first watched it, just from how epic a lot of the sketches were [even Update], and that ending. Possibly one of the best finales of this era of the show.
There’s a video of Green Day performing “East Jesus Nowhere” with Will Ferrell on cowbell. This is either from dress rehearsal and the song got cut last minute, or it’s from an earlier rehearsal (the applause sounds sparse and it seems very loose.)
https://youtu.be/0C1eAF_fAgY
I’m going to miss Darrell. Despite not giving a shit about his performances near the end of his tenure, he’s still one of my top 10 favorite cast members.
I believe Colin Jost wrote the Saigon sketch.
In the goodnights I believe Hanks pats Norm on the back or tries to get his attention while
Norm is walking away. Something like that… pretty cool interaction
Yeah! in his new book Colin talks briefly about this sketch. He says that it wasn’t picked after table read, but late Wednesday night Will called Lorne and said “I think we should try that Billy Joel sketch”, and so Lorne agreed and made sure it snuck on air. The fact that Colin says he wrote it as a farewell sketch, makes me think that what was cut on air was supposed to air before the Saigon sketch, and they moved the closing sketch forward when they knew they were short for time. Maybe the cut sketch would have featured Andy, who only appears in Goodnight Saigon, which seems odd at this point in his run on the show.
@C8LIN You are correct about an Andy sketch being cut. His Digital Short for the week called Secret Weapon got cut on air to make time for Goodnight Saigon making this a rare instance where no new pre tapes air in the live show.
In Secret weapon, Ferrell has a dog hand puppet that attacks Bobby, Kenan & Andy. Andy gave an interview over the summer where he mentioned that this was the sketch he was most disappointed about not airing.
@Jack , Wow, thanks for that info! I’m glad my guessing has some accuracy – I wish we could have seen that short
Goodbye Darrell, we’ll miss you. Until 2014 that is.
Jenny and Nasim joining the cast in next episode. I remember a bunch of us posters at the s-n-l.com forums had trouble telling them apart at first as they did share a resemblance.
Artie Lange appearing on both Saturday Night Live AND MadTV on the same night reminded me of when Rick Rude appeared on WCW Monday Nitro and WWF RAW on the same night. (Nitro was live, RAW was taped.)
https://youtu.be/HX7q2eB_cEs
Was thinking the same thing – Artie as comedy’s Rick Rude.
There are very few moments that gave me quite as much of a thrill as Artie showing up on SNL. Norm’s return was exciting but also within reason. He might be the cult hero that SNL never asked for, but he was still a part of the family tradition. Artie on the other hand…despite his solid sketch history, he just doesn’t really belong in the same world as SNL. His shit eating grin through the Good Igbo Saigon sketch was matched by my own. It was like that dodgy motherfucker had snuck by the security guards.
I believe Artie coming out wasn’t even planned, he just happened to be backstage hanging with Norm and right when they were getting Norm brought Artie out with him, which explains the smartass smirk he has on his face the whole time.
A parallel between Artie Lange and Darrell Hammond: both deal with substance abuse issues while on their respective shows, with Hammond also cutting himself on occasion. Hammond’s problems aren’t blatantly evident on SNL even at his most checked-out, whereas Lange ends 2009 famously alienating Howard Stern, losing his third-mic gig in the process. That’s not a testament to Hammond’s professionalism as those last years largely see him in low-energy mode, but at least I don’t have to type “septum collapse” when writing about Hammond.
Stooge, I disagree with your “slight step up” rating for this season. I thought it sucked really bad in the second half, and reached S20 levels. Seeing you rate it so high is hurtful, but then again, it’s your blog.
As for this episode, it’s one of Will’s more forgettable outings. Nothing stands out except for Saigon. All those cameos were not needed, but were a sorry excuse to pump to obnoxious studio audience. Give me a break!
No wonder SNL sucks the way it is because this episode set the path.
You’re salty today.
Hey SNL Lover, NO, I Disagree With Your Comment ! First OF All, I Don’t Think You Should Tell Stooge That He Should Not Be Hurtful ! Just Say That you Don’t Agree And You Did Not Like How They Did The Show ! Second, I Do Not Remember The Audience Being Obnoxious And I Do Not Think They Did That For The Audience To React ! I Think They Had ALL Those Cameos For Darrell ! Either, Lorne Wanted Darrell To Feel Good To Show Him That People Cared about Him and Will Miss Him OR Maybe Some OF These People Found Out Darrell Was Leaving and wanted To Come On The Show ! ! Will Playing Cow Bell With The Musical Guest Or Doing A Dramatic Scene in the Monologue Is FORGETTABLE ? ? As Seth And Amy Would Say REALLY ? ?
Solid melt.
This was a fun season finale. It’s way better than S32 and S33’s very meh endings, though I think those seasons are overall stronger than this one. I really do wish that SNL wouldn’t try to pull a Goodnight Saigon every dang episode nowadays (and a Fey!Palin, too) because it almost ruins the fun of this sketch in retrospect.
In my opinion, this marks the end of the sweetspot for this era. S35-S37, it’s kinda the same but just feels “off.” This is where the problems with the cast being too big and people staying on way too long start too.
I definitely remember being really taken aback when Darrell wasn’t in the credits the following season, I definitely remember there being no news about him planning on leaving but watching these goodnights now I guess it was pretty obvious. Nice to see Norm and Will embracing him as the music started up, something heartwarming about seeing a few of the guys he started with there for his final time on camera as a cast member. Definitely a valued cast member for all those years spent on the show but did become kinda sad watching him become more aloof and estranged from the rest of the cast after all his buddies left through the years. By the way, theres a great documentary (Cracked Up) about Darrell on Netflix you can watch right now, its amazing he did the show for so long with all the stuff he was going through at the time.
I will say I was sad to see Casey and Michaela go even if it probably wasn’t a total shock and things didn’t really get much better for the non Kristen Wiig female cast in the next few years either. i do remember their firings being met with a bit of criticism by some who found their rumored reasons for being fired sexist. With rumors that Michaela was reportedly fired for being “too old” and Casey reportedly fired because the producers thought she was “too fat” . That then put Casey in the awkward position of having to defend the show that just fired her and make some statement about it being completely untrue. On the other hand, Michaela I’ve heard since say she suspected the reason she was let go was her age, recall reading an interview (that I can no longer find) where she said something to the effect of “I don’t think they liked when they found out I was older than they thought.” I remember her also talking with Joan Rivers about it as well (video below- 7 minute mark)
@Budd, thanks for the interview (nice to see Joan still proud of her Second City work even to the end). At the time Michaela said Lorne told her she was let go because he thought she should have her own show, which doesn’t make much sense, so I do wonder how much of a factor age was.
https://ew.com/article/2009/09/04/exclusive-michaela-watkins-shocked-by-snl-firing/
At this point SNL starts leaning more and more into younger hosts, and most of the new hires for a good while from this point on are similar to Bobby and Abby in that they are young/young-ish, tend to project “up,” and can easily play a lot of kid roles. It’s not really until after the 2013-2014 casting fiasco of young people who seemed to be in way over their heads that Lorne takes another chance on an older hire (Leslie Jones).
There’s an interview out there with Eugene Lee where he says the home base stage is pretty much here to stay as Lorne is in love with it or some other variation of that wording.
I’m glad you remember that, because I’ve paraphrased it, but could never find the article. He said Lorne never makes a set change a production priority.
There’s also an interview with all the set guys, on YouTube, basically saying the Grand Central set has become “iconic” after being there so long, which I don’t like to hear.
I’m hoping, if the show comes back to studio this fall, that there will, at least, be a temporary homebase set, since Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert (and even James Corden, I think), have all changed studios, locations, and sets, for their audience-less shows. We’ll see what Seth does tonight, I guess. If he has a temporary change, too, then SNL most certainly will, unless it comes back late enough that the audience can be there.
I mainly remember Celebrity Jeopardy, Amy’s very welcome return to Weekend Update with her and Seth dong another Really?! and especially Goodnight Saigon with all those celeb cameos. Yes, I heartily agree: all season finales should have those big, epic pieces, much like those big production numbers that that always ended The Carol Burnett Show every week during the late ’60s/’70s…
Graham Yost is the name of a Canadian screenwriter who has worked on a lot of projects with/for Tom Hanks (like Band of Brothers), so I wonder if that’s why Will chose the name.
Apologies, Stooge: I just now finally watched this sketch and the first thing Will does is explain that he’s no relation to the screenwriter.
Here are the average ratings for Season 34:
*may not represent review’s perception*
3401: 6.5 (Michael Phelps)
3402: 6.2 (James Franco)
3403: 6.0 (Anna Faris)
3404: 7.8 (Anne Hathaway)
3405: 6.9 (Josh Brolin)
3406: 8.0 (Jon Hamm)
3407: 7.3 (Ben Affleck)
3408: 6.8 (Paul Rudd)
3409: 6.1 (Tim McGraw)
3410: 7.8 (John Malkovich)
3411: 6.3 (Hugh Laurie)
3412: 6.9 (Neil Patrick Harris)
3413: 5.4 (Rosario Dawson)
3414: 5.8 (Steve Martin)
3415: 6.2 (Bradley Cooper)
3416: 5.6 (Alec Baldwin)
3417: 7.4 (Dwayne Johnson)
3418: 6.9 (Tracy Morgan)
3419: 6.1 (Seth Rogen)
3420: 6.5 (Zac Efron)
3421: 6.7 (Justin Timberlake)
3422: 7.3 (Will Ferrell)
Best Episode: 3406 (Jon Hamm)- 8.0
Worst Episode: 3413 (Rosario Dawson)- 5.4
Season Average: 6.7
This was a blast of a season finale–I remember having a great time watching it and enjoying all the cameos (I think season finales especially are a great time to lean into that).
A few words on the departing cast members:
Darrell is one of the most enigmatic of cast members. He’s unquestionably an all time great, yet for most of his tenure he was almost like that crafty lefty in the bullpen–important but sometimes invisible and nowhere near a MVP. I frankly think he should have left much earlier and then showed up to do some guest spots as McCain or whomever else was needed. A lot of his final seasons was sad–phoned in or poor performances, pointless throwaway roles. At his peak, though, he was a great impressionist and a key part of late 90s SNL.
Casey is a funny actress who did well when she got a chance to shine, yet I think fared better on different sort of comedy programming (like Happy Endings). She also really had the misfortune of showing up at the wrong time and would probably have done much better had she come in with the current female cast.
I remember being surprised that Michaela got the axe, as she seemed to be quietly settling into the utility person type role. I’m not certain what her ceiling was–certainly at least a Nora Dunn-type range (which would have been very helpful as Wiig, who was good in those roles, was increasingly not playing them, and the other female cast members were much younger). I don’t really get the flap about her age, but I could see NBC/SNL trying to pursue younger demographics or some such nonsense. A decent modern comp for her is Heidi Gardner, who plays similar roles and was also hired in her late 30s.
I was surprised Heidi was already in her mid/late 30s. She looks way younger imo. She’s convincing playing teenage and college age types
Yeah things have thankfully changed a bit for the women in more recent years, I think back in season 34 it was pretty uncommon for them to hire too many women over 30, yet it never really seemed to matter the ages of the guys, there was quite a few pushing 40 over the years and it was never a problem. I even remember Jan Hooks saying (in the LFNY book) they almost didn’t hire her because they thought she looked too old and she was only 28 at the time.
It was a shame what happened with Watkins/Wilson but in a way I think Lorne probably recognized that SNL might not have been the best use of their talents as actresses and figured they’d probably be better off doing sitcoms (both have become great sitcom scenestealers in various things over the years) if thats what he was trying to say when he told Michaela she’d do better off on her own show, in his weird cryptic Lorne sort of way of saying things.
I’d like to say things got better for the women the following year, but I think it was only worse, especially for poor Jenny Slate. Oof, what a rough start she had in her first episode!
This is the one Will Ferrell episode which doesn’t get mixed/poor reviews. I’d agree with that – this is a consistently watchable installment with some strong spots, which is surprisingly difficult for a season finale to accomplish.
It also serves as an understated but appropriate goodbye to Darrell, who may not have been fully decided about leaving, but must have known deep down it was time to go (and had been time for a few years). Other than being unnerved by the lifeless LFNYs of these years, I am probably one of the few who preferred Darrell’s later seasons. I just can’t stand his Clinton impression in large doses; moving away from that crutch meant more of the moments I could tolerate or even enjoy (his Dan Rather is a classic).
The only thing that nags at me compared to Will’s other episodes is there really is not one of those unique Will moments in this that I can enjoy. The monologue comes closest (and I’m very glad he did the whole thing without any interruptions or interplay, as you’d often get). His other hosting gigs tend to have something that I connect with in that odd Will Ferrell canon – the Jacob Silj return in 2018, his pepper sketch with Forte in 2005, and the pre-tapes in ’19 (actually that episode has a bunch of Ferrell-centric content I enjoy, even if the rest is an out of control dumpster fire…)
The first time I watched this Celebrity Jeopardy, I absolutely loathed the parts with Kristen as Kathie Lee. I don’t hate them as much now, but I still feel like they are completely cut off from the rest of the sketch and derail some of the flow. It also feels lazy to drop such an overused impression (last seen just two episodes ago) in here. The Connery/Trebek interplay feels sort of been-there-done-that, so it’s mostly the delightful cameos from Tom Hanks and Norm (Norm was always my favorite part of these so I’m glad he returned to close them out) that entertain me.
I like the basketball/blurb sketch, it’s especially well-performed by Kenan and Bill, but it feels like a slight waste of Will – it would have been more suited to a “meh” type of host like Seth Rogen.
The funeral sketch continues to remind how much better this type of group format is than an impression parade. Fred’s character in this is one of his best – the whole spiel about bragging to everyone that he finally has a blonde girlfriend cracked me up.
I couldn’t make it through the Dooneese reprisal. The only thing I can say is now that Michaela had her turn as one of the sisters, she’s probably the only one who actually comes across as being believable as a sister to the character (Kristen and Michaela have a resemblance and the voice she uses isn’t far off).
It was nice to see Amy return for the finale, but this “Really?” fell pretty flat for me. They work mostly if there’s a valid reason or a funny reason to be annoyed about a news story. Nothing about a college choosing not to give Obama an honorary degree is worth a whole rant. While the Harry Caray return is much better, it feels a bit like Will already got everything out of the impression the first time around and this one seemed somewhat thrown together in comparison.
I’m never that into the W impression, but this is a decent take (the 2018 version kind of just ticked me off) and, again, a good sendoff for Darrell.
I know many of the complaints about Goodnight Saigon are based on starting the cameo glut of future seasons, My complaint is more on the way the sketch is broken down – every time they cut back to Bill/Darrell/Kenan commenting on what’s going on (I guess this may have been done to cut away while changes are being made on the main stage, but it’s the type of states-the-obvious material that I think hurts the show in modern years), that ‘epic’ feel fades away. There’s a lot about this sketch I enjoy (the cameos, the perfect song choice, Will’s absolutely on point performance), and I even like the choices made for the other three guys with Will (even better in hindsight as they didn’t know how important Bill would become to the show or what a long, successful tenure Kenan would have), but it doesn’t work for me as much as I wish it did.
Still, it’s a good season-ender, and while this season and this era aren’t really my cup of tea (in spite of how great the cast is), there’s been little to suggest just how much the air goes out of the tires for the next few years. Maybe they will be better to watch in order and with your reviews though…
#14 – 7.2
#15 – 7.1
#18 – 7.1
#17 – 7.0
#21 – 7.0
#22 – 7.0
#24 – 7.0
#16 – 6.9
#23 – 6.9
#26 – 6.8
#13 – 6.7
#25 – 6.7
—> #34 – 6.7 <—
#3 – 6.6
#4 – 6.6
#27 – 6.6
#2 – 6.5
#12 – 6.5
#33 – 6.5
#1 – 6.3
#10 – 6.3
#32 – 6.3
#5 – 6.2
#9 – 6.1
#28 – 6.1
#31 – 6.1
#8 – 6.0
#19 – 6.0
#7 – 5.8
#11 – 5.7
#29 – 5.7
#20 – 5.6
#6 – 5.3
#30 – 5.3
Here are the five star sketches from the 2008-2009 season:
A Nonpartisan Message From Hillary Clinton & Sarah Palin (Michael Phelps)
Vice Presidential Debate (Anne Hathaway)
Mark Wahlberg Talks To Animals (Anne Hathaway)
MacGruber (Josh Brolin)
Fart Face (Josh Brolin)
Trick Or Treat (Jon Hamm)
Countdown With Keith Olbermann (Ben Affleck)
Monologue (John Malkovich)
Jizz In My Pants (John Malkovich)
Save Broadway (Neil Patrick Harris)
Doogie Howser Theme (Neil Patrick Harris)
I’m On A Boat (Bradley Cooper)
Game Time With Dave & Greg (Dwayne Johnson)
Rocket Dog (Tracy Morgan)
Foot Rub (Zac Efron)
Mother Lover (Justin Timberlake)
Goodnight Saigon (Will Ferrell)
17 sketches. Are highest total since the 99-00 season (18) and well ahead of most of the other seasons from this decade (only 2000-2001 comes class at 15). There’s obviously the Palin stuff here and we’re clearly entering the Lonely Island’s imperial phase (for better or worse), but there are enough straight down the line classic sketches here to really justify the overall ranking of this season. I think a lot of the negativity around this year stems from the fact that historically SNL tends to reap the rewards of their success while simultaneously sowing the seeds of their demise. That means that while this season shows one of the strongest casts in the show’s history, the balance of power is starting to tilt off its axis and the stink of 2009-10 is starting to waft retroactively. That’s most notable with Wiig, who eats up a ton of airtime with some characters of varying degrees of quality, and Armisen, whose indulgences are beginning to alienate. Worst of all, by the end of this season, the show is well-positioned to maintain a greater cross-section of success, but the dismissals of the show’s two strongest actresses shoves the show back into first gear, which it can hardly get out of the following season.
Anyway, the high total of five star sketches is well-earned and even if the variance of quality is a little bi-polar, the season is full value for its high standing.
And now the ****½ sketches:
Dafoe’s Revenge (James Franco)
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric (Anna Faris)
Extreme Activities Competition (Anne Hathaway)
I’m No Angel (Josh Brolin)
Don Draper’s Guide to Picking Up Women (Jon Hamm)
Vincent Price’s Halloween Special (Jon Hamm)
Jon Hamm’s John Ham (Jon Hamm)
QVC (Ben Affleck)
Staten Island Zoo (Ben Affleck)
Everyone’s A Critic (Paul Rudd)
Ledge Jumper (Paul Rudd)
Dateline (Tim McGraw)
J’accuzzi (John Malkovich)
Dysfunctional Christmas Dinner (Hugh Laurie)
Two First Names (Neil Patrick Harris)
Forefathers Of The Game (Steve Martin)
MacGruber (Dwayne Johnson)
The Rock Obama (Dwayne Johnson)
Party Guys (Tracy Morgan)
Celebrity Jeopardy (Will Ferrell)
And now, the Sabermetrics… what was Bill Hader’s WARP in 2008-09? 😉
The best season finale since Spacey/Furtado and a great end to a season that was more uneven than some of us remember. Another “cameo orgy” I didn’t mind, because it wasn’t a ratings-grabbing crutch yet. Ferrell was a fine host, and his Five-Timer status is deserved. You are absolutely right about “Celebrity Jeopardy” and “Goodnight Saigon.”
IIRC, there were no cast announcements for Year 35 until a week before Fox/U2. There was speculation that Darrell was leaving all summer, and not confirmed until after the Thursday Update specials. I was surprised Casey and Mike were let go (and with Mike, especially so). I’m FB friends with Casey, and I asked why she was promoting a show at Groundlings the night of the 2009 season premiere. She didn’t answer, but that was the indicator for me that she was let go. Rumors of Pardo leaving never bore fruit.
Was curious how the first and last episodes rank. Here’s the ranking:
Season Premiere:
8.5 – Tom Hanks (S14)
8.0 – Kyle McLachlan (S16)
7.7 – Michael Jordan (S17)
7.6 – Rob Lowe (S26)
7.3 – Steve Martin (S3)
7.3 – Cameron Diaz (S24)
7.3 – Jerry Seinfeld (S25)
7.3 – Dane Cook (S32)
7.1 – Sylvester Stallone (S23)
7.0 – Steve Martin (S13)
7.0 – Nicholas Cage (S18)
7.0 – Mariel Hemingway (S21)
7.0 – LeBron James (S33)
6.8 – Rolling Stones (S4)
6.8 – Chevy Chase (S8)
6.7 – George Carlin (S1)
6.7 – (no host) (S10)
6.6 – Tom Hanks (S22)
6.6 – Matt Damon (S28)
6.5 – Lily Tomlin (S2)
6.5 – Steve Martin (S5)
6.5 – Bruce Willis (S15)
—> 6.5 – Michael Phelps (S34)
6.4 – (no host) (S7)
6.4 – Sigourney Weaver (S12)
6.3 – Steve Carell (S31)
6.1 – Brandon Tartikoff (S9)
6.0 – Charles Barkley (S19)
5.8 – Madonna (S11)
5.8 – Reese Witherspoon (S27)
5.8 – Jack Black (S29)
5.5 – Elliott Gould (S6)
5.3 – Ben Affleck (S30)
4.9 – Steve Martin (S20)
Season Finale:
8.1 – Jim Carrey (S21)
7.7 – Steve Martin (S14)
7.7 – Christopher Walken (S26)
7.5 – George Wendt (S16)
—> 7.3 – Will Ferrell (S34)
6.9 – Buck Henry (S2)
6.9 – Buck Henry (S5)
6.9 – Heather Locklear (S19)
6.9 – Sarah Michelle Gellar (S24)
6.9 – Dan Aykroyd (S28)
6.8 – Jeff Goldblum (S22)
6.7 – Billy Crystal & Others (S9)
6.6 – Woody Harrelson (S17)
6.6 – David Duchovny (S23)
6.6 – Winona Ryder (S27)
6.5 – Howard Cosell (S10)
6.5 – Kevin Kline (S18)
6.4 – Buck Henry (S4)
6.4 – Judge Reinhold (S13)
6.4 – Candice Bergen (S15)
6.1 – David Duchovny (S20)
6.1 – Kevin Spacey (S31)
6.1 – Steve Carell (S33)
5.9 – Kris Kristofferson (S1)
5.9 – Olivia Newton-John (S7)
5.9 – Dennis Hopper (S12)
5.8 – Olsen Twins (S29)
5.6 – (no host) (S6)
5.5 – Jackie Chan (S25)
5.5 – Zach Braff (S32)
5.3 – Buck Henry (S3)
5.3 – Ed Koch (S8)
5.3 – Anjelica Huston (S11)
4.7 – Lindsay Lohan (S30)
Norm was in town that weekend performing at Caroline’s. And yes, he dragged Artie onstage. I remember people at SNL were kind of annoyed since that means Artie gets royalties.
While waiting to see Norm at Caroline’s, I saw Casey Wilson on her phone and she looked really upset and annoyed about something. I figured that wasn’t the best sign.
Sir Sean Connery is now with Burt Reynolds somewhere in the eternal green room for Celebrity Jeopardy.
https://variety.com/2020/film/actors/sean-connery-dies-oscar-winner-and-james-bond-star-dead-at-90-1234820498/
@John 🙁
It says something about Darrell’s strength as a performer that with someone as iconic as Connery, his impression was one of the first things I thought about after hearing about his death (same with Reynolds). Then again, I am more SNL obsessed than the average person.
@John the craziest thing to me about the ’19 Ferrell episode is that they cut Cast List, which was:
A: The best sketch of the night
B: The best use of Ferrell all night
C: One of this era’s best ensemble pieces, and one of the only live sketches that’s really defined this era’s cast.
Absolutely insane to me that it was cut in favor of the Thanksgiving sketch or TWO political sketches, one of which was TWELVE minutes long (I actually understand that they had to cover the impeachment and the debate, as both were huge stories, but I just wish they had Ferrell host a week with less news. Then again, there aren’t really weeks anymore with “less news”. Man, I miss SNL in the pre-Trump days.)
“Inside the NBA” is GONE!
I cannot find that skit anywhere…not even on NBC’s site…
Whats up with that?
Michaela Watkins is less than two years older than Kristen Wiig. I don’t think getting fired was as simple as “she’s too old.” Casey was much younger and she wasn’t asked back either. They both had good moments in the show but neither one seemed to have that spark that the most successful cast members possess. They could be funny with the right material but in general they just weren’t as “fun” to watch.