Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
A MOTHER’S DAY MESSAGE FROM MICHELLE OBAMA AND HILLARY CLINTON
Michelle Obama (SAZ) & Hillary Clinton (VAB) spar before Mother’s Day
— (*sigh*) One of the last times we’ll ever hear Don Pardo’s voice introducing a sketch.
— Speaking of lasts, this ends up being the last time Vanessa plays Hillary Clinton.
— Some funny tension between Sasheer’s Michelle Obama and Vanessa’s Hillary.
— This is the most front-and-center we’ve ever seen Vanessa’s Hillary (all of her previous appearances were rather brief), giving me a better chance to assess her impression. I see what she’s going for in the voice she’s using, but something just feels wrong with how the voice is coming out, especially when her voice starts getting gradually loud and shouty halfway though this cold opening. I can understand why SNL would re-cast this role the following season.
— Great slam from Vanessa’s Hillary to Sasheer’s Michelle regarding childhood obesity being the “toughest” issue Michelle has tackled as First Lady.
STARS: ***
MONOLOGUE
TAK, CES, KAM, SAZ, BEB, KET sing, which is the one thing host can’t do
— Ugh, there’s the use of that tired “Carlin line” (a.k.a. when a host sarcastically says a variation of “I did such a great job hosting [insert large number here] years ago that they couldn’t wait to have me back”, which originated with George Carlin in his season 10 hosting stint).
— I love that they show a clip of the Gemini’s Twin sketch from Charlize Theron’s first episode, because 1) I always like whenever a new SNL episode shows a clip from an older episode, and 2) Charlize’s first episode is a very significant one for me, as it’s the very first SNL episode I ever reviewed, during my original 2000-2014 stint as a reviewer of newly-aired episodes. Currently reviewing this season 39 Charlize Theron-hosted episode is very significant for me, too, because it’s the second-to-last episode I ever reviewed during my aforementioned original stint as a reviewer. (Yes, Charlize Theron indeed hosted both the first AND penultimate episode of my original reviewing stint. A crazy coincidence. Imagine if a similar coincidence ends up happening when I complete my current SNL project. The only realistic scenario I can see for that is if Paul Simon, who hosted and musical guested SNL’s second-ever episode, which, obviously, is the second-ever episode I reviewed in my current SNL project, hosts and/or musical guests one of the last episodes I review in this project. In fact, that would actually be two full-circle endings for me, because, believe it or not, Paul Simon also happened to be the musical guest in Charlize’s first episode, which is, again, the first episode I ever covered in my original stint as a reviewer. So many eerie coincidences.) Reviewing this season 39 Charlize Theron episode right now is honestly giving me an emotional and nostalgic feel, remembering the special, huge feeling I had back at this time in 2014 when I was about to retire from reviewing after 14 long years. This also makes me realize just how far I’ve come along in this current SNL project of mine.
— An okay premise for a musical monologue, but I don’t care for the style of the monologue song itself, and there’s not much funny stuff happening during it.
— Okay, the quick bit with Beck right now is pretty solid.
STARS: **
COME DO A GAME SHOW WITH YOUR MOM, IT’LL BE FUN, YES IT WILL!
(KAM) hosts a Mother’s Day game show with her kids (BRW), (KYM), (host)
— When Kate’s kids are all saying their opening greetings in unison, I laughed at how Kyle’s line during that is a quickly-delivered, whiny, monotone “I don’t wanna be heeerrre.”
— Just a mildly funny sketch so far, but it’s relatable and Kate is doing a very solid job in the lead role.
— A funny side role for Aidy.
— A good comically-brief appearance from Bobby as the father.
STARS: ***
GIRLFRIENDS TALK SHOW
passionate drama teacher (host) coaches Morgan
— Blah, there goes the obligatory, very tired “Aidy and the guest each say a different thing in unison when revealing a topic on the show “ trope.
— I’m really enjoying Charlize’s drama teacher performance here. I’m finding it amusing AND very believable.
— A very weak “My boyfriend’s crazy” story from Cecily tonight.
— Aidy doesn’t have as many funny moments as she usually does in this recurring sketch, though I do like her character’s wild, desperate delivery when trying to say “Well, that’s our sexy show” in a sexy manner during the conclusion of this sketch.
STARS: **
DRAGON BABIES
retired police officer (MOB) voices animated protagonist of Dragon Babies
— The most in-character we’ve ever seen Mike. He’s doing such a great job here, and his cop voice is fantastic.
— Very fun chemistry between Mike and Cecily.
— Great understated, controlled frustration in Taran’s director character during his interview portions of this short.
— I love the comically-uncomfortable moment with Mike somberly disclosing a story about once shooting an unarmed guy. Yet another Mike O’Brien short that adds in a comedic sense of melancholy.
— Overall, Mike does it once again with yet another very strong short. His shorts are so damn good that there’s no wonder why SNL let him continue doing them and starring in them the next few seasons when he’s not even in the cast anymore.
STARS: ****½
DATING SEMINAR
pelvic thrusts & sound effects accompany dating advice of Heshy & (host)
— The second and final appearance of this character of Nasim’s.
— For some reason, they changed Heshy’s surname. In this character’s previous sketch, her surname was Al-Fahi, and now it’s Farahat.
— Like last time, Nasim’s timing is excellent when making gestures to the various sound effects right on cue.
— Pretty fun addition of Charlize, playing against type as a frumpy character. I remember that, when this originally aired, I interestingly got a Mo-Collins-from-MADtv vibe from Charlize’s characterization here. I still kinda see it a little during my current viewing of this.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Fever”
WEEKEND UPDATE
retiring SNL lampoonee Barbara Walters [real] gives tips for success
this year’s crop of graduates leads Drunk Uncle to fear for the future
— On a related note to me saying earlier in this review that I always like whenever a new SNL episode shows a clip from an older episode, I love the montage of SNL’s Barbara Walters impersonators over the years. Sadly, Michaela Watkins gets snubbed from this montage, for obvious reasons.
— A laugh from Barbara Walters demonstrating her “real voice”.
— I can’t find anything at all to say about the rest of Barbara Walters’ commentary. She’s at least coming off likable here. At certain parts, her timing is slow, awkward, and frail, but I can cut her some slack for that, given her age.
— A rare interaction piece between Cecily and Colin.
— The extremely random “Breaking Nudes” segment was a very funny little piece of absurdity.
— Drunk Uncle, in a random non-sequitur grumbling: “Jew Kids On The Block!”
— Ugh, is it necessary to have Colin carry on Seth Meyers’ tradition of always responding “That’s not anyone” whenever Drunk Uncle says “That’s not me”? It was tired enough when Seth did it.
— I love Drunk Uncle’s “What do you call a fish with no eyes?” joke. No idea if that’s an original joke from SNL or not (that joke is probably an oldie that I had just never heard before), but Drunk Uncle’s delivery of it was very fun.
— Drunk Uncle’s singing of “I Believe I Can Fly” is probably my favorite out of all the “Drunk Uncle butchers a hit song” moments that have occurred over the years.
— Some SNL fans seem very confused as to why Cecily says “No, no noooo!” to Drunk Uncle in a weird, growly voice towards the end of his “I Believe I Can Fly” singing, but I’m pretty sure that Cecily was imitating one part of the real “I Believe I Can Fly” song. I honestly don’t remember that song having a growly “No, no noooo!” part in it, but I’m guessing it’s in there.
STARS: **½
BIKINI BEACH PARTY
dead whale explosion interrupts teen fun of Bikini Beach Party movie
— I have mixed feelings towards the conversation between the girls. There’s some funny lines in that conversation, but some of the other lines in it that are intended to be funny are typical James Anderson/Kent Sublette-style bad randomness.
— A very memorable and priceless visual of the dead whale exploding an insane amount of blood and guts all over Charlize and Taran. I remember how much this visual absolutely FLOORED me when it originally aired.
— Kenan’s at the point of his SNL tenure where he can do almost no wrong for me, but his appearance in this sketch is unfortunately one of the instances where him hammily chewing the scenery actually doesn’t work for me. I really dislike that voice and delivery he’s using here, and it feels completely wrong for this sketch.
— Blah, it’s very unnecessary and harmful to this sketch to repeat the “blood-and-guts explosion” gag right after the first one. The second instance of that gag got nowhere near as many laughs from me nor the audience.
STARS: Very difficult for me to figure out what rating to give this. The first “blood-and-guts explosion” gag ALONE deserves a high rating, but 1) the scenes prior to that were iffy for me, 2) I hate how they repeated the “blood-and-guts explosion” gag to far less comedic effect, and 3) Kenan annoyed the living hell out of me. For now, I’ll rate this ***, but I might change my mind later on.
MUSICAL GUEST INTRO
— Not only is it fun how a blood-soaked Charlize from the preceding sketch carries over into this musical guest intro, but this is actually the second consecutive year in which something like this occurred in the penultimate episode of a season. Season 38’s penultimate episode had Kristen Wiig (that night’s host) and Aidy both introducing the musical guest while still covered in blood from the Acupuncture sketch that preceded it. At this time in 2014, I wondered if SNL was intentionally trying to make this a new annual tradition for every penultimate episode of a season. That could’ve been fun. But alas, the “tradition” stops here. I can’t remember if the following season’s penultimate episode (Reese Witherspoon / Florence + The Machine) has any sketches that involve blood in any way, but either way, that episode doesn’t contain any instances of a sketch carrying over into the host’s introduction of the musical guest.
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Bullet in the Brain”
WHISKERS R’ WE
Barbara (KAM) & (host) show cats available for adoption
— This soon-to-be recurring sketch makes its debut.
— Charlize again playing against type tonight as an unattractive character.
— A good offbeat performance from Charlize.
— Some funny lines from Kate when disclosing each cat’s strange quirks.
STARS: ***½
TOURISTS
in NYC, foreign visitors ask passers-by for assistance
— I love the exaggerated American accent that Kyle’s foreigner character tries to say American expressions in.
— I’m loving the low-key approach to this, and I like the format with the cutting from one foreigner’s scene to another’s, and how each foreigner’s scene differs from each other’s.
— Funny subversion in Bobby’s scene, regarding directions to Arbalato Street.
— Charlize once again playing against type as a frumpy character, this time going the whole nine yards by donning a fat suit.
— A very funny initial facial reaction from Beck when finding out he’s in New York instead of Chicago.
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
— Much longer goodnights than usual tonight. Probably one of the longest the goodnights have gone on in an episode from recent years.
— Poor John Milihiser is getting far more facetime during these goodnights than he regularly gets in actual episodes. (He was nowhere to be seen in tonight’s episode prior to these goodnights, and, showing how good-natured and likable he apparently is, he doesn’t even look upset by that, and is instead looking like he’s genuinely having a lot of fun interacting with others onstage during these goodnights, as seen in the third above screencap for these goodnights.)
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An okay episode, though it’s yet another season 39 example of pre-taped shorts standing out far more than the actual live segments. Also, reviewing this episode just now felt significant, emotional, and nostalgic for me, for reasons mentioned in my review of the monologue. And this hosting stint of Charlize Theron’s was an improvement over her previous one, which typecast her in an awful lot of “Hot girl gets lusted after by horny men” roles.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
plus the first instance of this:
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Dragon Babies
Tourists
Whiskers R’ We
Come Do A Game Show With Your Mom, It’ll Be Fun, Yes It Will!
Bikini Beach Party
Dating Seminar
A Mother’s Day Message From Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton
Weekend Update
Monologue
Girlfriends Talk Show
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Andrew Garfield)
a slight step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Season 39 comes to an end, with host Andy Samberg. It’s the final episode for five-year cast member Nasim Pedrad, the final episode for first-year featured players John Milhiser, Mike O’Brien, Noel Wells, and Brooks Wheelan, the final episode that Cecily Strong co-anchors Weekend Update, the final episode for announcer Don Pardo, and the final episode I reviewed during my original 14-year reviewing stint.