Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
PRESS CONFERENCE
sign-language interpreters (CES) & (NAP) augment Hurricane Sandy presser
— Cecily is fantastic in her parody of the sign-language interpreter from Michael Bloomberg’s Hurricane Sandy press conference that week. Cecily’s getting a lot of laughs here.
— Nasim is also very funny as a crude New Jersey interpreter during Bobby-as-Chris-Christie’s speech. Bobby-as-Christie’s speech itself is also hilarious, and is delivered excellently by him.
— We end with a funny spoof of the real Michael Bloomberg’s penchant for making poor attempts at speaking Spanish. During that spoof, there are also good laughs from what Fred’s Bloomberg says about white people loving the show Homeland.
STARS: ****½
MONOLOGUE
host does stand-up about helping an old lady who fell at the airport
— Feels like it’s been too long since I last reviewed a stand-up monologue, though I guess Russell Brand and Zach Galifianakis’ season 36 monologues weren’t that long ago. I usually always enjoy reviewing this type of monologue.
— An endless amount of funny comments from Louis C.K. about his experience helping one particular old lady.
— Very funny accent from Louis whenever he imitates the old lady’s voice.
— A particularly great portion of this monologue with Louis explaining he loves the fact that old ladies say whatever’s on their mind. Some great lines from Louis during this bit are “The filter comes off around 72”, “8-year-old boys and old ladies have the same sense of propriety”, and Louis equating old ladies’ habit of freely speaking their mind because they’re on their way out to a guy who just got fired and says rude things to his co-workers while carrying his box out of the office.
STARS: ****½
FOX & FRIENDS
FEMA official (host) tries rebutting bad disaster advice
— Feels so odd seeing Jason play Donald Trump, for the only time ever. As I mentioned in a recent review, I doubt a lot of SNL fans today remember Jason ever doing this impression.
— A few okay comments from Jason’s Trump, and his impression comes off less stale than how Darrell Hammond’s Trump gradually became prior to this.
— A particularly funny moronic line from Bobby’s Brian Kilmeade, disclosing the fact that he calls piranhas with AIDS “parades”.
— Louis is a solid straight man here.
— Another very funny moronic line from Bobby’s Kilmeade: “I threw my milk out and now I dunk my cookies in shampoo!”
STARS: ****
LINCOLN
stand-up comic Abraham Lincoln (host) expects assassination in dramedy
— Great to already see our second post-Lonely Island short film just one episode after the first one, which was fantastic (Sad Mouse).
— The opening scene between Louis’ Abe Lincoln and Kenan is excellent.
— A priceless reveal of this being a “Louie”-style sitcom starring Abraham Lincoln, complete with a spot-on and hilarious recreation of the Louie opening credits. I’m pretty sure I even spotted a passerby giving Louis’ Lincoln the finger, much like a passerby doing that to Louis in the actual Louie opening credits. Interestingly, in this version, it looks like the finger was left uncensored.
— Seeing Louis’ Lincoln doing stand-up in Louis’ trademark style is very funny.
— A solid tense conversation between Louis’ Lincoln and Aidy’s Mary Todd Lincoln.
— There’s even some great details in the names shown in the ending credits during the conversation Louis’ Lincoln has with Jay.
STARS: ****½
AUSTRALIAN SCREEN LEGENDS
down-under accents undermine dramatic scenes
— A funny unexpected turn during the opening love scene between Bill and Kate, with them suddenly breaking out extremely goofy Australian accents and expressions after such a long, tender build-up with their affectionate non-speaking actions.
— Seeing Louis C.K. attempt an Australian accent is alone worth a laugh.
— Louis, to a dying Kate: “Any last words?” Kate: “Uh…kangaroo, I guess.”
— Humorous goofy charm throughout this.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Some Nights”
WEEKEND UPDATE
sidelined by Hurricane Sandy, Mitt Romney (JAS) makes a final vote-for-me pitch
social media expert Kourtney Barnes (AIB) defends inane online commentary
The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started A Conversation With At A Party is strident & spacey
SEM tells viewers how they can contribute to the Hurricane Sandy relief effort
— During the Mitt Romney commentary, I like the mention of how Hurricane Sandy took so much attention away from the fact that there’s a presidential election taking place in just a few days. This really takes me back to this hectic portion of 2012.
— A laugh from Jason-as-Romney’s dismissive and mumbly “…or woman” and “…or she” when making statements like “It takes a man…”.
— Great to see Aidy finally get her very first comedic lead role.
— Aidy’s proving herself really well in this first big comedic showcase of hers. Her delivery in this commentary is terrific, making the ridiculous immature social media posts she reads come off even funnier than they already are.
— Kinda interesting how both of this season’s new female cast members each get their own Update commentary in the same episode.
— This is the first appearance that Cecily’s Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started A Conversation With At A Party makes in a regular episode. She made her actual debut earlier this season in a Weekend Update Thursday special.
— Cecily’s got a great handle on this character, and is making so many funny dumb “informed” statements and malaprops.
— Girl You Wish etc.: “Seth, can I sing a negro spiritual real quick?” Seth: “NO!”
— Tonight’s Update ends on a serious note with Seth telling us the URL and phone number to make a donation for victims of Hurricane Sandy.
STARS: ***
MOUNTAIN PASS
while on a Middle Ages quest, (host) annoys folk with his horn blowing
— Hoo, boy. I recall this sketch being…uh…something.
— A funny little detail with Louis subtly moving the horn away from his mouth a bit while the horn-blowing sound effect is still playing.
— Another laugh, this time from Louis moving the horn away from his mouth in a longer, more exaggerated, blatant manner the third time he blows the horn.
— Wait, is the horn-blowing going to be the whole joke of this sketch?
— Okay, at least now, the sketch is going in a different direction. Not sure I like this direction, though.
— A big laugh from what’s probably the most remembered part of this sketch: Louis giving up when having to read a hard-to-pronounce Middle Ages-type word off the cue card, and opting instead to just refer to that word as “something” while chuckling out of character.
— Boy, where is this sketch going??? Is this another example of SNL wasting money by going through the trouble of using an impressive, fancy set and costumes for a lousy sketch with little-to-no laughs?
— Bill at least has a funny line right now, where, after calling the name Zorg weird, he reveals his own name is Nornt.
— Another funny line from Bill right now, with him exasperatedly exclaiming “Zesus Jeist!”
— Overall, despite my occasional complaints about this sketch, and as mediocre as the material itself as a whole indeed was, it was given a boost by a few laughs and a really likable atmosphere, the latter mainly helped by Louis’ “Don’t give a fuck”-type looseness.
STARS: **½
HOTEL FEES
at the end of (BOM)’s hotel stay, (host) reviews items charged to bill
— Pretty funny bit regarding the diamonds Bobby’s being charged for.
— Something about Louis’ way of saying “potatoes” in that dignified, professional voice tickles me.
— I’m enjoying Louis causally mentioning bizarre things on Bobby’s bill, like “16 cubic meters of argon”.
— Good bit with Fred passing by with the stuffed bobcat that was mentioned earlier as being stolen from Bobby’s hotel room.
— An odd but pretty charming little moment at the very end, with Bobby and Louis both dropping character and openly laughing with each other right before the screen fades to black.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL GUEST INTRO
— Louis even gets a good laugh from the audience during this musical guest intro, by quickly changing his smiling facial expression to an exaggeratedly serious facial expression when realizing the show has come back from commercial break, then playfully gesturing to the now-laughing audience to shut up.
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Carry On”
LAST CALL
desperate (host) & Sheila Sovage (KAM) hurtle toward a last-call hook-up
— The debut of both Kate’s Sheila Sovage character and the Last Call recurring sketch.
— I’m already loving the offbeat, non-sequitur-filled conversation between Kate’s Sovage and Louis, right from the beginning of it.
— Kate and Louis’ conversation and interplay are getting increasingly hilarious, and are being so well-performed by both Kate and Louis.
— A very funny disgusting make-out session between Kate and Louis, which gets a wild audience reaction.
— Solid ending with Kenan trying to block Kate and Louis’ lovemaking outside the window by spraypainting the window and saying to us, “I don’t wanna know how that pans out.”
— An overall very strong closing sketch.
STARS: ****½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very strong episode, especially with that great string of segments rated four or four-and-a-half stars in the first 20 or so minutes. Even the only segment I found weak in this episode (Mountain Pass) had its redeemable factors. Louis C.K. did a solid job in his hosting debut, even coming off a little out of his element in a fun way during some sketches.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Lincoln
Press Conference
Last Call
Monologue
Fox & Friends
Hotel Fees
Australian Screen Legends
Weekend Update
Mountain Pass
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Bruno Mars)
a step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Anne Hathaway