Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
WRAPPINVILLE
singing & dancing mascot & gift bag (JIF) contend with a wrapper (AIB)
— Pretty funny singing from Aidy early on in this cold opening.
— (*groan*) Yet another one of Justin Timberlake’s tepid Dancing Mascot sketches. On the bright side, 1) this thankfully ends up being the final one, and 2) at least there’s a slither of a change of pace by having Jimmy Fallon partnered up with Justin. Having Jimmy in this actually makes sense, given the fact that the style of the typical song parodies in these Dancing Mascot sketches is similar to the song parodies Jimmy often used to do on Weekend Update while playing the guitar. (In fact, one of the songs he and Justin spoof in tonight’s Dancing Mascot sketch, Ludacris’ “Rollout”, was even previously spoofed by Jimmy in one of his Update song parodies.)
— What in the WORLD is with that off-camera female audience member who keeps interrupting this sketch by shouting a very annoying cheer like a lunatic (“AY-YA-YA-YA-YAAAA!”) whenever Aidy tries to speak each time after a Timberlake/Fallon musical number ends? At one point, that audience member’s shouting forces poor Aidy to basically drop character while in the middle of delivering a line, and, in a taken-aback manner, briefly acknowledge the audience member’s yells before going back on-script. Shortly after one of those yells from the audience member, Justin also ad-libs, “Quiet, mom.”
— Meh at Justin and Jimmy’s homoerotic “deck-sacking” disclosure.
— I am at least finding some of the hit songs being spoofed here to be catchy, especially “Somebody That I Used To Know”, “Thrift Shop”, and the aforementioned “Rollout”.
STARS: **
MONOLOGUE
JIF & Paul McCartney [real] sing “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
— I got a laugh from Jimmy bluntly disclosing, “Unfortunately, they can’t be here”, after getting the audience’s hopes up by telling them which legendary singers he’s supposed to do a musical number with.
— A fairly fun format with Jimmy having to run from mic to mic while imitating the legendary singers who he was supposed to do this number with, even if most of these are impressions that we’ve previously seen Dana Carvey do either just as well or better. Jimmy at least does a better David Bowie than I think I’ve ever seen anyone on SNL do.
— It’s getting less and less surprising to see Paul McCartney show up on SNL, given the frequency of his SNL appearances, but I guess it’s still pretty nice seeing him assist Jimmy here.
STARS: ***
CELEBRITY FAMILY FEUD
CBS & NBC network stars do battle
— The first of many Steve Harvey-hosted Celebrity Family Feud sketches.
— Pretty solid Jim Parsons impression from Jimmy, even nailing the mouth movements.
— A meta aspect with Justin (who’s starting to feel like a co-host of this episode) playing Jimmy. Even if this feels very inside joke-y between Justin and Jimmy (you can tell this is designed to make the easily-breakable Jimmy break hard), I’m finding Justin’s impression of Jimmy to be pretty good.
— Lots of very funny lines from Kenan’s Steve Harvey throughout this sketch.
— Hilarious Ice-T impression from Jay.
— Speaking of meta, we get a very memorable meta bit with Brooks randomly playing himself as one of the contestants on the NBC team, and making fun of his own lack of screentime at SNL. I remember loving this meta bit when it originally aired. I don’t know if Brooks eventually getting fired after this season now casts a pall over this meta bit in hindsight or not, but it still works for me, and it adds to how likable and relatable Brooks typically is as a performer.
— There’s our obligatory breaking from Jimmy in response to Justin’s impression of him when both of them are up at the main podium together. When Jimmy turns his head away from the camera to hide his giggling, I do kinda like how Justin actually imitates that head-turn, keeping up the impression he’s doing.
— I generally like Noel as an impressionist, but something about her Alyson Hannigan impression here feels like she’s trying too hard to be funny.
— During our second obligatory display of breaking from Jimmy in response to Justin’s impression of him, Jimmy literally DUCKS BEHIND HIS PODIUM to hide his laughing from the camera (the last above screencap for this sketch). I remember hearing about something similar once happening at a party that both Jimmy and Ben Affleck were at. (This was many years ago, I think back when Jimmy was still a cast member on SNL.) At one point during that party, Ben suddenly pulled out an impression of Jimmy to impress the other partygoers, and that made Jimmy get so shy and embarrassed that it resulted in him immediately dashing out of the room (while giggling, of course) and hiding in another room.
STARS: ***½
(DO IT ON MY) TWIN BED
sex during the holidays is awkward in women’s childhood rooms
— Our very first of many instances of the female cast starring together in a music video. And what a very famous first instance this particular one is.
— And with this being the first female cast-starring music video, we get our very first mention of Aidy’s classic moniker, “Lil’ Baby Aidy”.
— A perfect mixture of both an excellent song and subject matter, and the female cast is great in this.
— Very funny bit from Aidy regarding “a whole thing with Jean”.
— Great small appearance from Beck as Noel’s uncle.
— One of my absolute favorite parts of this has always been the sequence in which we see a childhood photo of each of the girls and Jimmy. I always find it so fun seeing what cast members looked like as kids, which reminds me that Reese Witherspoon’s Mother’s Day-themed season 40 monologue is coming up soon, and if you remember that monologue, you’ll know why I’m reminded of it and why I’m looking forward to covering it.
— Overall, a true classic. I recall SNL having a fairly hit-and-miss track record with their subsequent female cast-starring music videos, but this one definitely still holds up for me.
STARS: *****
THE BARRY GIBB TALK SHOW
Madonna & Barry Gibb [real] take part
— (*groan*) Much like with the cold opening earlier in this episode, I’m sure you readers know how I feel about seeing this sketch return.
— At least it was refreshing to get a much-needed break from this sketch the last time both Jimmy and Justin each hosted (separately). And, much like the Dancing Mascot recurring sketch, this thankfully ends up being the final time this sketch appears (at least as of 2020).
— So are we just supposed to ignore the fact that the real Robin Gibb had been dead for a year-and-a-half by this point? They don’t even try to acknowledge that in this sketch, not even in a humorous way like they memorably did in one brief point of the Joan Allen-involved Space The Infinite Frontier sketch that Will Ferrell did not too long after the real Harry Caray’s death. (Joan Allen: “Please forgive me for asking this, but didn’t you die?” Harry Caray: “Yes I did. What’s your point?”)
— Random Madonna.
— Hmm, a change of pace with Madonna actually standing up to Jimmy’s Barry Gibb, and taming him. As much as I appreciate them trying something different with the formula for once, I’m still left a little underwhelmed by this confrontation between Madonna and Jimmy’s Barry. And whatever Madonna was attempting with that grille she put in her mouth during the confrontation didn’t land with me nor the audience.
— Some of Jimmy-as-Barry’s typical angry rants at the guests are coming off hard to decipher here.
— A sudden cameo at the end from the real Barry Gibb, hopefully there to intentionally give this sketch its official sendoff so we can NEVER SEE IT AGAIN FOR THE REST OF HUMANITY.
STARS: **
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Only When I Walk Away”
WEEKEND UPDATE
Billie Jean King (KAM) relishes bringing gayness to the 2014 Olympics
JIF, SEM, Michael Bloomberg [real] will soon be leaving their jobs
— Another then-innocent Donald Trump joke that’s interesting to hear years later in hindsight (for obvious reasons), this particular joke being about Trump’s announcement that he’s considering running for governor of New York (wait, what???): “Explained Trump, ‘If I’m not constantly in the news, I will die.’”
— I like Cecily’s little “I’m from Chicago, I can do that” ad-lib after her Kim Jong-Un/Dennis Rodman joke. These past two Updates, I’ve gradually been warming up to Cecily as an Update anchor.
— Tons of cliched lesbian jokes in Kate’s Billie Jean King commentary, and there have been funnier “Kate McKinnon plays a brash hardass” bits elsewhere on SNL. Probably not a good sign that Kate doing this type of “brash hardass” characterization is ALREADY starting to feel stale and cliched when she had only been on SNL for a little over a season-and-a-half by this point. Because of how somewhat-new she still is by this point, and knowing in hindsight that the upcoming 2014-2017 years would be Kate at the peak of her strength as a performer (or at least, that’s how I felt at the time; we’ll see if that opinion of mine holds up in my re-watch of those years), I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt here and assume that it’s just the tepid writing that’s to blame for her “brash hardass” characterization feeling stale and tired here. That being said, I’m actually still getting a few laughs from her in this commentary.
— Meh, I’m not caring much for this Jimmy Fallon/Michael Bloomberg commentary.
— At one point during the Fallon/Bloomberg commentary, the choked-up voice Jimmy uses when comically holding back tears sounds JUST LIKE Mike Myers whenever his Linda Richman character would get “a little verklempt” in Coffee Talk sketches. Possibly another sign of how much Jimmy idolized that early 90s era of SNL. (In the “SNL In The 90s” documentary, Jimmy talks about how exciting it was for him to watch the Bad Boys years in the early 90s, because, as he says, that was the first SNL era to speak to his generation. Plus, you can see some Adam Sandler and Mike Myers influences in some of Jimmy’s character work during his SNL years.)
— For the third consecutive Update, an Update guest gets sentimental when bringing up Seth’s soon-to-come departure from SNL. I do like how Jimmy mentions here that he got to introduce Seth the very first time Seth ever did an Update commentary. (Just for kicks, below are a few screencaps of how young Jimmy and Seth looked during that very first Update commentary of Seth’s.)
— I never realized until now that Michael Bloomberg’s voice sounds kinda John Malkovich-esque at times.
STARS: **½
WAKING UP WITH KIMYE
Kimye’s Christmas message is similar to “Bound 2” video
— Jay’s overdoing the “HEHH!” exclamations as Kanye West in tonight’s installment.
— The spoof of Kanye’s “Bound 2” music video is very funny. Unfortunately, that’s the only real standout part of this sketch. The rest of this hasn’t been anything special.
— A rare post-2010 live sketch to not have the host in it. Jimmy actually was originally going to appear in this as Ed Sheeran, but he got cut from the live version. Not sure if he would’ve given this sketch a much-needed boost, but I am a little curious what his take on Ed Sheeran was like.
STARS: **½
NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL CHRISTMAS
Shakira (KAM) & others do covers on CD
— Interesting how Jimmy is playing Michael Bublé here, given the fact that Jimmy’s previous hosting stint not only had Bublé as the musical guest, but at one point in that episode, Bublé starred as himself in a Christmas album ad that’s similar to this one.
— Noel’s Zooey Deschanel scene was way too brief compared to most of the other scenes in this commercial (perhaps yet ANOTHER sign of how much Noel keeps getting screwed over by SNL). I wanted to see a little more of her take on Deschanel, as that’s an impression she was born to do.
— Boy, that is a TERRIBLE Axl Rose impression from Kyle. I love Kyle, but impressions have never been his niche, which SNL refuses to believe, for some reason. A year after this, in another one of these “Christmas duets” album ads, I recall Kyle doing a Macklemore impression that’s laughably bad.
— Funny scene with Bobby as Andrea Bocelli.
— Solid Billie Joe Armstrong impression from John.
— I don’t get what Kate’s going for AT ALL in her Lorde impression. She couldn’t sound less like Lorde if she tried.
— An overall fairly fun piece, but was nowhere near as strong as the aforementioned “Christmas duets” album ad from Jimmy’s previous hosting stint.
STARS: ***
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Ebenezer Scrooge (TAK) realizes his homosexuality outweighs miserliness
— Oh, I don’t like where this is going…
— Yep, this is just a lame and hacky “What if young Ebenezer Scrooge was gay?” sketch. Are we really still doing “It’s funny because it features a man acting gay!” humor in 2013? Did James Anderson pull this out of his old “cut-after-dress-rehearsal sketches I wrote in season 30” file? This sketch would’ve felt right at home with James Anderson-written horrific gay-themed duds that dominated season 30 like Gay Frankenstein and Gays In Space. I almost included the equally-horrific Gay Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde sketch in there, before I remembered that was actually from season 35, in the notorious January Jones episode.
— Not a single redeeming moment to be found here, overall.
STARS: *
BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE
(JIF) & (CES) reverse roles in second verse of “Baby It’s Cold Outside”
— Hmm, this appears to be an interesting and out-of-the-ordinary piece for this SNL era, and I like how it’s set on SNL’s home base stage.
— I really like the conceit of this, theorizing what Baby It’s Cold Outside possibly went like AFTER the song ends.
— A really nice, sweet turn this sketch takes at the end.
— Overall, a strong, well-done, and refreshing piece. I also like how old-school this felt in a positive way, as this is one of those sketches that I can easily picture appearing on SNL in the 70s and 80s (the aforementioned fact that this sketch was set on the home base stage adds further to the “70s/80s SNL” feel), and is the type of thing I wish recent SNL eras would try more often.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Pair of Wings”
GOODNIGHTS
CSR joins JIF & cast members onstage
— Chris Rock out of absolutely nowhere. I like how even he’s doing comical “Hey, I don’t know why I’m here, either!” gestures.
— Mike O’Brien noticeably looking quite sullen and lonely during these goodnights, while everyone around him is in a jolly, Christmas-y mood. You can just hear Mike sadly thinking in his head, “This cast member gig isn’t working out for me, is it?” He made no live appearances in this episode (besides these goodnights, obviously, which don’t count), and, in fact, hasn’t gotten ANYTHING significant to do in a live sketch in…what, two months? I think the Edward Norton episode was the last one in which Mike got a meaty role in a live sketch, and that was all the way back in October! Geez. Plus, I’m sure he’s aware of how painfully awkward he tends to come off whenever he gets a speaking role in a live sketch. Looks like SNL has already given up on him as a live performer and has begun phasing him out of live sketches by this point. By the final quarter of this season, in April and May, Mike’s practically relegated to only appearing in his own short films. That would eventually lead to him continuing to appear in his own short films the next few seasons even after being fired from the cast and returning to the writer’s room.
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An episode that was all over the place, and sadly didn’t come REMOTELY close to measuring up to the fantastic Christmas episode that Jimmy Fallon previously hosted in season 37. Two strong pieces tonight, including one beloved classic (Twin Bed), and there were also a few okay sketches, but we also got quite a number of sketches I really could’ve done without.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
(Do It On My) Twin Bed
Baby It’s Cold Outside
Celebrity Family Feud
Now That’s What I Call Christmas
Monologue
Weekend Update
Waking Up With Kimye
The Barry Gibb Talk Show
Wrappinville
A Christmas Carol
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (John Goodman)
a slight step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
We enter the year 2014, with host Drake. We also get the new addition of a black female cast member, in response to the public outcry for one.