Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
ASK GLORIA ALLRED
attention-hungry Gloria Allred (NAP) addresses own awfulness
— Interesting and very rare to see Nasim starring in a solo person-delivering-a-straight-to-camera-message cold opening. Also refreshing and surprising that SNL didn’t give this Gloria Allred lead role to Kristen by default, and instead gave it to a less-popular featured player.
— There’s something quite Cheri Oteri-esque in Nasim’s portrayal of Gloria Allred, especially that cheesy big smile she keeps quickly flashing at the camera after each of her answers.
— The premise of Nasim’s Allred kindly answering rude rhetorical questions asked to her is VERY reminiscent of that great The Referee Pitman Show sketch with John Goodman in season 15.
— Nasim’s solid execution of this material is helping me somewhat look past the aforementioned similarities to the far-superior Referee Pitman sketch.
STARS: ***
MONOLOGUE
the theme song host wrote for Glee puts the focus on Sue Sylvester
— Right out of the gate, Jane Lynch is (unsurprisingly) coming off as such a natural in this monologue.
— (*sigh*) TWO song-and-dance monologues in a row?!? However, at least it makes sense to do one with Jane Lynch. Not that that automatically makes this monologue okay to me, though.
— Other than some funny occasional asides from Jane, I’m not finding myself laughing here. However, Jane’s enthusiasm, energy, and performance style is making this song a little more tolerable to me than other song-and-dance monologues from around this time.
STARS: **½
DAMN IT, MY MOM IS ON FACEBOOK FILTER
filter sanitizes perilous status updates
— A fairly solid and relatable premise.
— Bill’s spokesperson role in this commercial alone is bigger than ANY of the roles he got in the entirety of the preceding episode. (I still can’t believe how extremely underused he and Jason were in that episode, with them both almost being treated as glorified extras.)
— Some good laughs from all the innocent things the Facebook filter changes Andy’s crude photos and writing into.
STARS: ***½
GLEE / GILLY
Sue Sylvester (host) enjoys havoc Gilly wreaks on singing students
— Not sure how I’ll react to this Glee parody, given the fact that I’ve never watched that show. Then again, my lack of familiarity with High School Musical and Twilight didn’t hurt my enjoyment of the fun spoofs SNL did of them in the preceding two seasons’ Zac Efron and Taylor Swift episodes, respectively.
— Much like Bill in the preceding Facebook commercial, Jason’s role in this sketch alone is far bigger than anything he got to do in the preceding episode.
— Kenan In A Dress alert.
— Vanessa’s delivery of “You guys know I had a baby, right?” made me laugh.
— Out of nowhere, this turns into a Gilly sketch. The audience can actually be heard gasping in shock when Gilly shows up here.
— As I said in my review of the last Gilly sketch prior to this, in the preceding season’s Drew Barrymore episode, I’ve surprisingly started to somewhat come around on the dreaded Gilly. That’s been happening to me with a few Kristen Wiig characters and impressions in general that I used to pretty much hate (e.g. Kathie Lee Gifford, Target Lady). Like I joked at one point recently, I almost wonder if this is some form of Stockholm Syndrome.
— It doesn’t feel right seeing Jason doing Will Forte’s “Gillyyyyyyyy” shtick.
— Yeah, just as I was afraid of, a lot of this sketch’s spoofs of specific Glee things aren’t working for me. And sadly, my newfound mild tolerance of Gilly isn’t working for this sketch, either.
— This ends up being the last sketch we see Gilly in until a year-and-a-half later, near the homestretch of Kristen’s SNL tenure, when the character is brought out of her hiatus to get a proper (albeit unofficial) farewell sketch in a Sofia Vergara-hosted episode.
STARS: *½
THE NEW BOYFRIEND TALK SHOW
(ANS) interviews mom’s (host) conquest (JAS)
— A funny entrance from a just-got-out-of-bed Jason as both Jane’s new boyfriend and Andy’s interviewee.
— A good laugh from the unexpected “Are you my new daddy?” question Andy asks Jason, which gets a great understated taken-aback reaction from Jason.
— Fantastic reveal that this is the 100th episode of this New Boyfriend talk show, which gets another great taken-aback reaction from Jason.
— This sketch is getting funnier and funnier with all the priceless shocking reveals that are happening in succession throughout this sketch.
— Jason’s horrified reaction to finding out Jane once had sex with Magic Johnson is hilarious.
— Excellent sketch overall. A forgotten (with me, at least) gem.
STARS: *****
THE COVEN TO ELECT CHRISTINE O’DONNELL
Christine O’Donnell (KRW) unconvincingly insists “I am not a witch”
— An okay conceit, helped by Kristen’s solid delivery during her-as-Christine-O’Donnell’s calm-but-suspicious denials of being a witch.
STARS: ***
SECRET WORD
Mindy Grayson & comedienne (host) flout game show’s rules
— (*groan*)
— At least Jane’s a lot of fun as the Phyllis Diller-esque comedian character she’s playing.
— Good frustrated delivery from Bill of the line “And I am not full of bananas.”
STARS: **
RELAXATION THERAPY
(ANS)’s therapist (host) alternately calms & upsets
— Some increasingly funny odd non-sequitur visuals in the fantasy that Jane makes Andy visualize.
— I like the annoyed look on Andy’s face when he realizes Jane’s ordering lunch in the middle of this therapy session.
— A pretty good laugh from the very out-of-nowhere ending shot of a nude Jane lying next to Andy on the couch.
STARS: ***½
RETURNS & EXCHANGES
researching a role, Denzel Washington (JAP) mans the Macy’s returns desk
— A freakin’ fantastic Denzel Washington impression from Jay, in one of Jay’s earliest celebrity impression showcases on SNL.
— Jay-as-Denzel’s very tense interrogation of Jane over a simple bag return is a lot of fun.
— The ending to this otherwise-solid sketch came off VERY awkwardly executed.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Just The Way You Are”
WEEKEND UPDATE
Mark Zuckerberg (ANS) assesses the accuracy of The Social Network
Mexico tourism rep (FRA) doesn’t comprehend questions about drug cartels
— Hoooooo, boy. Seth’s joke about President Obama’s presidential seal accidentally falling off of his podium “two years early” is IMMEDIATELY followed by an innocent joke about rumors of Donald Trump considering running for president in the future.
— Andy’s portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg is okay, but I prefer the Mark Zuckerberg portrayal that current cast member Alex Moffat would later do.
— Kelly “Ripka”? No wonder Seth’s Kelly Ripa punchline bombed with the audience, after that slip of the tongue from him.
— Meh at this Fred commentary. It’s doing nothing for me.
STARS: ***
THE SUZE ORMAN SHOW
Suze Orman’s (KRW) ex-roommate (host) is in denial about her lesbianism
— Lots of Kristen Wiig showcases tonight, or maybe it just feels like a lot compared to how Kristen surprisingly appeared in only one sketch in the preceding episode.
— This ends up being the final Suze Orman Show sketch. I feel like they’re only doing this sketch tonight because of Jane’s real-life sexual orientation.
— Funny Halloween advice from Kristen’s Orman early in the sketch.
— Hmm, a different conceit to this Suze Orman Show installment, with this focusing far more on the repressed lesbianism of Jane’s character rather than the financial advice that Kristen’s Orman usually gives her guests.
— I’m (pleasantly) surprised Fred wasn’t the one who got cast in the walk-on role of Jane’s obviously-gay flamboyant husband.
STARS: **½
SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
Faith Hill’s (host) Sunday Night Football theme extends past the kickoff
— I don’t know what Bill’s going for in his Cris Collinsworth impression, as the real Collinsworth doesn’t sound a thing like that. That being said, the dopey voice Bill’s using is amusing me.
— A fairly cliched SNL premise of a theme song going on forever, done to better effect in some other sketches (mainly Will Forte’s legendary Duluth Live sketch).
— I find it hard to buy Jane as Faith Hill, but this is another pretty fun performance from her tonight.
— I got a laugh from Bill’s Collinsworth saying, point-blank, “That was a nacho recipe”, in reaction to a verse from Jane-as-Hill’s theme song.
STARS: **½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Grenade”
TAX MASTERS
Patrick Cox (JAS) & vestigial conjoined twin (FRA) shoot Tax Masters spot
— Nice to see Jason being given so many big roles tonight, after the aforementioned extreme under-utilization of him in the preceding episode.
— Very funny reveal of the hidden-from-the-camera side of Jason’s face having a half-formed twin brother. I can see how the writers came up with this idea, given the fact that the real-life guy who Jason’s playing here does stand in an odd profile that suspiciously hides the left side of his face in the real Tax Masters ads this sketch is spoofing.
— You can tell the show is running long, because Jason now seems to be absolutely rushing through his lines.
— The ending with a close-up of Fred delivering a message to us as Jason’s half-formed twin brother didn’t work, mostly because it came off sloppy and kinda botched, presumably due to how rushed this sketch was. Reruns of this episode use the dress rehearsal version of this sketch’s ending, which is performed a lot more smoothly.
STARS: ***½
GOODNIGHTS
— I like how Jason, still in costume from the preceding sketch, is standing with his twin-on-the-side-of-his-face prosthetic facing the camera (as seen to Jane’s left in the above screencaps for these goodnights).
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fairly mixed episode, though there was a little more good than bad, and even most of the bad stuff had some merits. As expected, Jane Lynch was a pretty solid host, and was utilized pretty well. In fact, it sure felt like the writers played more to her comedic strengths than they did to Bryan Cranston in the preceding episode.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
The New Boyfriend Talk Show
Returns & Exchanges
Tax Masters
Damn It, My Mom Is On Facebook Filter
Relaxation Therapy
Ask Gloria Allred
The Coven To Elect Christine O’Donnell
Weekend Update
Sunday Night Football
Monologue
The Suze Orman Show
Secret Word
Glee / Gilly
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Bryan Cranston)
about the same
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Emma Stone makes her hosting debut
You’d be forgiven to forget just what a huge phenomenon Glee was for a few years, especially since it is now mostly linked to tragedy (and becoming a shitpile). Jane Lynch has worked with NBC for a good few years now, so you’d think she might have come back, but then we don’t get the NBC-heavy hosts as much in the last decade (I suppose someone at SNL’s opinion may be summed up by casually referring her to as something like “the other lesbian game show host” when Kate McKinnon parodied her a few years ago).
Similar to Seth Meyers, Andy tends to downplay his sketch abilities. The talk show is a great example of this – possibly the best example. It’s a concept that he mostly can sell with his connection to the audience and the innocent persona he’s kept through his career (even with some risque material), but he also sells it with his performance. There’s one particular moment in this I love, when, after he talks about just how many men have been guests on his show, Jane (who is also great) casually says that he keeps track of these things more than she does – Andy replies, trying to be light but clearly very upset, that yes, he does.
Jason is also on top form here, bringing warmth and layers to a part which could have easily been sneering or smug, and actually would have been a much more obvious choice (so that we could have a dark laugh when he learns about all the guests – one in particular).
Here’s Simon Rich, talking about the sketch.
https://www.vulture.com/2016/01/simon-rich-favorite-obscure-saturday-night-live-sketches.html
This one is very loosely based on a piece from my first book, My Mom’s All-Time Top Five Greatest Boyfriends, which is a kid writing about how cool all his mom’s boyfriends are, and it becomes clear that she slept with an entire hockey team. It definitely helped that we had some great performances, including Fred Armisen’s disgusting Gene Simmons impression. It was just completely grotesque and hilarious, so we were always trying to sneak it into everything we could.
Your point about Andy (and Seth) underpaying their sketch abilities put into words something I’ve also been thinking. I became a fan of Andy in particular in more recent years, and have been rather surprised though reading this project and watching episodes from this era not only how often he appears in sketches, but how often he is incredibly funny and the stand out part of the sketch. Prior to reading this project I sorta took Andy at his word when, for example, in his hosting monologue he makes a joke about only appearing in a handfull of live sketches. It’s been interesting to go back and see that actually he was a valuable live player, and not just succeeding in pre-tapes
Chris Rock also tended to make those types of jokes post-SNL (although Chris was in an era of behemoth cast sizes unmatched until recent years, so he generally did get less sketch time, even though he had some very strong moments).
From Andy’s perspective, I guess it does make sense, especially since he was never dominating the way Fred or Kristen were, and when he first started he was very much on the fringes. On top of that it would probably be seen as arrogant to say, “I did a pretty good job.” But he has a steady amount of focus for most of his run, and a great deal of material which is very well-tailored for his skills. I’m glad these reviews are helping to give fans, new and old, a chance to see his work in total.
Hey John. I Don’t Agree ! I Don’t Think Saying I Thought I Did A Pretty Good Job Is Being Arrogant ! I Think They Are Just Telling How They Did ! NOW, IF They Were Not Good, Then, That Would Be Arrogant !
I found the Sunday Night Football sketch to be enjoyably dumb, and yes, I have no idea why Bill used that voice for Collinsworth, who simply has a pretty basic twang (that isn’t deep at all like that–if anything the voice Jason uses for Al Michaels is more like the real Collinsworth). I remember during a real SNF broadcast, Al Michaels and Collinsworth showed a clip of that sketch, and Collinsworth asked why he was made to sound like that, which cracked Michaels up.
I was kind of surprised Jane Lynch never hosted again, particularly after Kate began doing an impression of her.
I’m with John. The Gilly “Glee” parody almost predicts when the show’s strengths started working against itself. Lynch is a fine character actress that became a very good game show host, and was the obvious choice from the “Glee” cast to host. This is also arguably my favorite Gilly sketch (a low bar, I know).
As for the show itself, some forgettable sketches but nothing here was outright bad. I still think Year 36 is a low-key great season.
I personally thought S36 was terrible. More bad and/or forgettable sketches than good. The whole season could have been much better if Fred had left with Forte. He ruined the monologue from Jane’s show for me.
Glad that Gilly was not used again until one FINAL appearance in S37. That character had ran its course and I think its one of the more polarizing ones of all-time. Plus, I never liked those sketches at all.
I was looking back at my writeups about the period on my blog, and I actually said season 36 was actually a little worse than season 35, despite the addition of fresh talent.
Reading through these newly written reviews, it’s not as if the show was truly bad during this time, but for every glimpse at the kind of material the show was capable of (New Boyfriend Talk Show), there are a million reminders of what they chose to do instead (annoying Kristen Wiig characters, Fred Armisen self-indulgence, Kenan In A Dress).
All I really remember is the Glee/Gilly sketch and that’s just barely…
Hey Stooge. I AM SHOCKED That You Made This Episode About The Same As Branson Crane’s Episode ! You Had FIVE Sketches As Your Best Sketches Even Though The Tax Master Was Rushed And Fred Messed Up, But IT Wasn’t Fred’s Fault ! There Were ONLY TWO Sketches That Were Bad And Some Sketches Were In The Middle ! You LOVED Jay’s Denzel Washington’s Impression And You Thought Jane Lynch Did A Good Job ! Branson Did A Horrible Job Even Though IT Was NOT As Bad as Alec And Especially NOT As Bad As Gabourey ! They Even Had Jane As A Lesbian, BUT, Fred Was NOT Her GAY Husband !
Bruno he is forgotten