Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
SUPER BOWL SHUT DOWN
Richard Sherman (JAP) & Marshawn Lynch (KET) get set
— As no surprise, Jay is nailing Richard Sherman’s voice, which is impressive, given how Sherman isn’t widely known for having a distinct, imitable speaking pattern, as far as I know.
— Kenan is funny as an uncooperative Marshawn Lynch.
— Jay has tons of fun energy here, and is carrying this cold opening well.
— Taran has shown up giving a fun, energetic performance of his own, as Pete Carroll.
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
host gives Whiplash treatment to cast member drummers until FRA nails it
— I mentioned this in my review of the season 25 Jerry Seinfeld episode, but it bears repeating here: J.K. Simmons’ only two SNL appearances coincidentally happen to be in the first and last episode between SNL’s last two anniversary specials, the 25th and 40th. The first episode after the 25th Anniversary Special, which was the aforementioned Jerry Seinfeld episode, had J.K. making a guest appearance in the Oz short, and the last episode before the 40th Anniversary Special, which is this episode, has J.K. as the host.
— A decently funny bit with J.K. leading the audience into applauding for his Growing Up Fisher show before mentioning it was canceled, making the audience feel silly for applauding.
— I appreciate J.K.’s mention that he’s the voice of the yellow M&M, which I often forget.
— J.K., when mentioning that he plays a mean band conductor in the movie Whiplash: “That’s not me in real life at all. I’m a nice guy.” Well, that certainly telegraphs where this monologue is going to go.
— I like the mention of Kyle’s trademark oddball short films, with J.K. yelling at him, “This is not your little weird videos!”
— J.K.: “I think all hair is ridiculous.”
— Aidy, after J.K. berates her: “I really miss Blake Shelton!”
— As expected, a good angry outburst from Leslie towards J.K.
— (*Fred Armisen walks on for his 25,355th cameo since leaving SNL less than two full years prior, and Stooge responds to that by staring at the screen in furious, dumbfounded speechlessness for the remainder of this monologue*)
STARS: ***
TOTINO’S SUPER BOWL ACTIVITY PACK FOR WOMEN!
Totino’s Pizza Rolls Super Bowl Activity Pack infantilizes wife (VAB)
— Ah, the debut of Vanessa’s beloved Totino’s Pizza Roll ads, which become an annual tradition around every Super Bowl for the remainder of Vanessa’s tenure as a cast member, and goes through an excellent arc over these next few seasons.
— There’s the first of Vanessa’s now-significant mentions of “my hungry guys.”
— The overly simplistic, childish, demeaning activities for wives to do during the Super Bowl are hilarious, and Vanessa is selling this whole thing to absolute PERFECTION. The sticky-hand-on-the-fridge bit is a particularly standout moment.
— An overall fantastic ad, and great debut to this series of Vanessa-starring Totino’s ads.
STARS: *****
MISS TRASH 2015
undesirable (AIB), (CES), (KAM) compete in awful pageant
— Microphone issues for J.K. right out of the gate.
— I admit to getting a cheap laugh from the name of J.K.’s character being DaDonk Fontaine, just because of how it sounded when J.K. delivered it in his trademark voice.
— Kind of a lazy and cliched-feeling premise, one that I’m not excited about. The ladies are selling their roles well enough, at least.
— J.K. is a great straight man in this, especially his blunt delivery of the line, “It says ‘butt’ in English.”
STARS: **½
CINEMA CLASSICS
Nazi realities sway Ilsa (KAM) in Casablanca outtake
— The usual funny “Worst. (insert event here). Ever.” story that Kenan’s Reese De’What discloses in regards to something he once told his wife.
— I love the Ingrid Bergman accent from Kate.
— Kate’s jumpiness to get on the plane after being told that she’ll otherwise be put in a concentration camp is hilarious.
— Kate is executing this premise so damn well, giving an outstanding performance.
STARS: ****½
TEACHER SNOW DAY
instructors go wild when the weather closes school
— Ehh, I’m getting tired of this type of short. It definitely worked for me the first time in Boy Dance Party, but Office Christmas Party was average at best to me, and this Teacher’s Snow Day short just feels old hat. The novelty of this style of short is completely gone by this point. If this short is generally considered by a majority of SNL fans to be a classic or near-classic, put me in the “It’s overrated” camp.
— (*yawn*) Cue Aidy bragging about her ass, as if we’ve NEVER seen her do that before.
— Ha, I do admit I can’t help but crack up at J.K.’s solo part of this music video, just because of his delivery. That’s by far the biggest laughs I’ve gotten from this whole thing so far.
— Solid ending line from Pete (“Oh, I’m definitely passing chemistry now”).
STARS: **
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Really Love”
WEEKEND UPDATE
A One Dimensional Female Character From A Male Driven Comedy filters out COJ’s Super Bowl questions
MIC presents some other African-Americans he thinks should be on stamps
Jebidiah Atkinson slams Grammy Award nominees of the present & past
— Another flubbed Michael Che joke in this first season of his. Thankfully, the set-up that he flubbed tonight turned out to be the set-up to a mini-rant instead of the set-up to a typical quick Update joke, the latter of which would be hurt more by a flubbed set-up. That being said, this particular mini-rant Michael’s doing now isn’t doing much for me. Not his best material.
— For some reason, I thought for sure that the female guest commentator who Colin was setting up when saying “Here to give her thoughts on the Super Bowl is…” was going to be Leslie as herself. Instead, it turns out to be the return of A One Dimensional Female Character From A Male Driven Comedy.
— Tonight’s A One Dimensional Female commentary is basically treading the same ground from her previous commentary, but it’s still working for me. However, I’m getting a little tired of all of the befuddled comments from Colin (playing a similar type of “confused straight man character who excessively points out the already-obvious oddities in the scene he’s appearing in” role that would later be a staple of Mikey Day’s tenure as a cast member), which have gotten old and redundant.
— I got a good laugh from A One Dimensional Female’s line about Colin’s friends being named Fat Jerry and Horny One.
— Despite how tired I am of Colin’s straight man lines to A One Dimensional Female, I did love him asking if the obviously-fake baby she handed him is the baby from American Sniper.
— I love Michael’s whole segment about Black History Month stamps, which makes up for his subpar mini-rant from earlier in tonight’s Update.
— JEBIDIAH ATKISON! Yes! We haven’t seen him in a while.
— Jebidiah Atkinson, on Iggy Azalea: “Hey, Iggy, wake up and smell the azaleas – YOU’RE WHITE! The last time anyone stole THAT much from black people, everybody still dressed like me!”
— Jebidiah Atkinson: “Ugh, The Beatles. If anything, they ruined Yoko!”
— Jebidiah Atkinson, on Frank Sinatra: “His only decent hits were the ones the mafia did for him!”
STARS: ***½
MICROSOFT ASSISTANT
Microsoft Office animation Pushie (BOM) irritates computer user (host)
— Interesting structure to this sketch.
— Bobby is absolutely perfect in this annoying Clippy-esque role.
— A great turn this sketch takes with the emotional change in Bobby-as-Pushie’s tone when instructing J.K. on how to activate the “Disable Pushie” feature. Comically tugging at the heartstrings is something Bobby is typically great at doing.
STARS: ****
THE JAY Z STORY
supposedly-definitive biopic stars very white MOB
— Hilarious concept of a Jay-Z biopic starring Mike O’Brien playing him in a very Mike O’Brien way.
— I absolutely love the muffled scream reaction Mike has to being told by an exec that he’s great at rap.
— A priceless shocked, star-struck look on Pete’s face when Mike’s Jay-Z walks past him.
— Ah, Jason Sudeikis, an SNL alum who actually patiently waited two years to make his first cameo after leaving the cast, and would keep the frequency of his subsequent cameos at a respectable pace. (Hear that, Fred?) Good to see him here as Kanye West.
— Priceless casting of J.K. as Nas in a heated fight he gets into with Mike’s Jay-Z.
— Overall, while this was much different from previous Mike O’Brien short films, I loved this just as much as I typically love his films.
STARS: *****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Charade”
CAREER DAY
at career day, (host) tells schoolkids about being a Japanese “messy boy”
— I absolutely love J.K.’s casual reveal of “I am a Japanese messy boy”, and explaining in a perfectly straitlaced manner what exactly that means.
— This material is hilarious, mostly made by J.K.’s excellent delivery. He’s one of those performers who can sell the most absurd lines by delivering them completely straight.
— Leslie has some solid lines throughout this.
— Yeeeeeaaaaah, I’m just gonna ignore that extremely stereotypical Asian accent Taran’s doing over the phone.
STARS: ****½
GOODNIGHTS
— Wow, this is easily one of the longest goodnights not just in recent memory, but in SNL’s entire history. Given the fact that this is the last regular episode before a certain big, live SNL special that’ll be airing, something feels significant about these super-long goodnights.
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid episode, and the first above average episode in a while. Some very strong highlights in this episode, especially in the post-Weekend Update half, where everything received a rating from me in the impressive 4-5-star range.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Totino’s Super Bowl Activity Pack For Women!
The Jay Z Story
Cinema Classics
Career Day
Microsoft Assistant
Super Bowl Shut Down
Weekend Update
Monologue
Miss Trash 2015
Teacher Snow Day
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Blake Shelton)
a big step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Put on your fancy formal wear, everyone! SNL’s 40th Anniversary Special is next, as the one and only special non-regular episode I’ll be reviewing in this SNL project. As a warning, given how that anniversary special is much longer than the 90-minute regular episodes I typically review, thus meaning it’s going to take a lot more time than usual for me to put together a review of that special AND make screencaps from it, there is absolutely no way I’ll have the review ready by tomorrow. Expect it the day after tomorrow at the earliest (it’ll probably be even later than that). Thanks for understanding.
I honestly don’t know what to make of Fred’s monologue cameo. I don’t wholeheartedly love or hate it. On the one hand, he’s shown up a lot at this point since leaving the show, and if I were watching these as they came out I’d probably be annoyed to some extent. On the other hand… the guy can drum, y’all.
Also the Jay Z Story is marvelous. Marvelous, marvelous, marvelous. It’s ridiculous in the best way. It’s perfectly Mike O’Brien and just mainstream enough for the O’Brien-ness to cross over. A perfect leading performance from Mike, super solid supporting work from the cast, an actually refreshing cameo (is Jason Sudeikis ever a waste of screen time?), and a priceless use of the host. Overall, such an incredible short, one of the bona fide classics of this era. So incredible, in fact, that I forgot this episode had the debut of the Torino’s trilogy – a.k.a. what may be the most dynamic development arc of a recurring sketch in recent years.
Stooge, I think it’s safe to say you’re well into the current era of SNL, or at least the earlier subdivision of it. I discovered this site around the time of the season 18 finale. You’ve come a long way. Enjoy the 40th.
*Totino’s. With two T’s, not an R. I have made a grievous spelling mistake, and I deeply apologize to the Totino’s wife and all her hungry guys.
“The Charade” gave me chills when I saw this live. Interesting bit of trivia: the bass player for D’Angelo & The Vanguard (Pino Palladino) appeared on SNL in 1987 with Paul Young’s band.
Miss Trash 2015 is a rare Kelly/Schneider misfire, but Cinema Classics shows what Anderlette is actually capable of (helped by Kate’s performance).
Didn’t know Kelly/Schneider wrote Miss Trash; agree this is the rare episode where Anderlette outshines them by FAR.
Actually I forgot they wrote Tostinos. Never mind, they win. Man they really were on a hot streak at this point huh (even if Miss Trash kind of sucks)?
One note; This episode (for reasons I’m unsure of) had the one-time distinction of having 2 Directors. DRK was there of course, but so was one Michael Mancini; and I vaguely recall there being a rumor at the old board that Mancini was Shadowing DRK in case he ever retired (of course, 6 years later, that’s not the case…yet). Any idea why the show needed 2 directors here?
There is a video where this is discussed-link below. Don Roy King became ill (and had to be taken out in an ambulance) on Friday. Lorne asked Michael to helm the show.
Jason Bateman/Morgan Wallen from the current season is now the second to have Michael and Don credited as Directors. I have not seen any reason to why this time.
https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/July2019/MakingSaturdayNightLive_0619.aspx
I hope DRK is on his way out. I think he’s been a big part in bringing down the liveliness and quality of the show in favor of the bland, flat style that modern SNL is known for.
Personally, I think Beth was the best director the show had. She was the same age as the cast when she started-32 I believe. The MTV experience helped a lot on the musical performances. I don’t remember a lot of misfires from her either. She handled the Ashlee Simpson fiasco well. I may be partial because I started watching in that era.
I’ve also watched an interview with DRK and he said he tried to get creative with shots, but Lorne put an end to that saying “Once people start thinking about the shots they won’t pay attention to sketch.”
I’ve wondered what his idea of creative was. If it was the decision to have offputting closeups of people mugging so we could see how “funny” the moment was supposed to be, I can’t say I’m sorry that has become less prominent over his tenure.
@CR86 Yeah, I stopped being as hard on Don Roy King when he explained that the “flat” nature of his directing (which is the word he actually used) is something that Lorne specifically wants him to do. But I don’t understand Lorne’s reasoning because I rarely ever find the more dynamic direction of Dave Wilson or Paul Miller distracting.
The Messy Boy sketch is a Seiday piece, I believe (Mikey Day/Streeter Seidell). Initially I thought the paper clip sketch sounded like them too but Bobby’s heavy involvement means he probably wrote a lot of it.
I really like the Teacher Snow Day pre-tape. I much prefer it to Office Christmas Party, and the best parts are as good as Boy Dance Party for me. I LOVE Kyle’s part, his chemistry with Sasheer (always an underrated duo) shines through, Pete is perfectly used, Aidy singing about her “pretty toy ass” cracks me up, and this is one of those moments that sticks in my head when I remember Cecily’s tenure (the image of her breathing out that smoke). The only reason I would not give this higher than **** is because I really don’t like JK’s part at all – it’s lazy and I’m never that much of a fan of comedy blurring.
Thank you again for reviewing the anniversary special, and I’m glad you are taking as much time as you need. I’m not sorry to see this project going on longer – it’s helped me get through the days.
I wanted to say a little more about the Totino’s pre-tape. It’s such a fantastic use of Vanessa’s talents, how she manages to use her bright smile to mask sorrow. There’s a wonderful pre-tape in 1997 or 1998, Chess For Girls, that zeroes in on the banal ways society can suffocate women, but from that point on, SNL rarely broaches this topic (or just has a banal “yay, girl power, haha!” tone).
This Totino’s debut is very funny, but it’s also honest in its sorrow. They get the balance just right. They don’t make fun of Vanessa’s housewife character; instead they show how she tries her best but is still dehumanized by her husband and society. It makes you laugh but also stays with you, because there is no tidy ending. It’s the type of thing which SNL should always be brave enough to do more of, instead of the copout ending they could have had (like her poisoning the guys).
This works as the first of the trilogy (and we even have the setup as Beck’s character is checking her out), yet also works just fine as a standalone. Most of all it works as an example of just how varied and strong the pre-tapes of the mid-00s were, and how well many of them hold up.
’10s, not ’00s. Sorry.
I believe Mikey and Bobby wrote the Pushie sketch.
The Jay-Z Story is one of my favorite non-musical pre-tapes ever. I only started watching SNL about a year ago, and watched the seasons in semi-reverse order, so the Jay-Z vid (and the later Oprah one) were the first two Mike O’brien films I saw (and remembered as such), and as much as I love all of his short films, those two have always been my favorites because of it. I also just love how Jason Sudeikis cameos in both of them, because he’s always a fun presence.
I recorded those long goodnights
One of the bumpers just says “SNL 4”
I never liked the logo usage this year with the initials spaced all over.
Saturday Night Taped (Post S38 episodes where the top 2 or more highest ranked sketches are pre-taped): 8
It will be interesting to see when that changes. The pre-tapes around this period are of a higher quality than almost any before or since; I’d even say a number of them are of a higher quality than Lonely Island’s output, even though Lonely Island, of course, paved the way for their existence. In comparison, many of the live sketches wash over me. The live sketches continue to have their struggles, but a number of them in the last 2-3 seasons have been standouts, while the pre-tapes have been more of a mixed bag.
“this period” meaning the mid-10s in general…starting somewhere around Sad Mouse.
I would say a lot of that was due to Matt & Oz being such a wonderful directing duo, and writers like O’Brien, Torres & Kelly/Schneider who seemed to really excel with pre-taped stuff. I think the writers know those sketches tend to go viral more often these days, as the pre tapeds just simply seem to have more effort put in them than the live stuff these days, at least from a writing and directing stand point.
Agreed that 39-42 is where the pre taped really shine though. I wouldn’t call either of this season a big improvement over a season like S37, and yet it will likely end up with more ***** sketches in Carson’s roundup, simply because literally almost every episode this season has had at least one EXCELLENT pre taped (the live sketch numbers are much less consistent, though.)
Also, this is easily one of the best episodes of the season, which is surprising because I remember thinking it was a bit of a dud at the time. Wonder what my problem was; watching it now Miss Trash is the only thing that falls completely flat for me.
Career Day uses that same classroom set SNL loves these days; it would be used again later in another Career Day sketch with Pete as the host’s kid, in the classic Adam Driver sketch.
Here’s my review of the musical performances
Really Love
— Thrilled they’re using real strings here
— Great outfit by D’Angelo. especially the Clint Eastwood-style blanket he’s wearing
— Awesome acoustic guitar work, of course
— Cool violet lighting as well
— His female backup singer is also well dressed and doing some good dancing
— Awesome vocals here, of course, both the leads by D’Angelo and the harmonization
— Also the drummer is doing some quietly intricate work
— Just classy as hell
STARS: ****1/2
The Charade
— Very Prince-like vocals here
— Like the electric guitar work, and some great basslines too
— Oh wow, this song is taking an unexpectedly heavy turn all of a sudden. Nice transition
— Yeah, a killer electric guitar solo!
— The intensity continues as the vocals come back while the the guitar solo persists, with D’Angelo is singing more aggressively now.
— Nice job on this one, clearly shows a high degree of versatility.
STARS: ****
Three masterpieces in this one. Totino’s is obviously wonderful and a perfect showcase for Vanessa’s unique brand of smiling, vacant agony. Simmons is also perfect as the demeaning husband.
I love love love the Jay-Z Story. Probably O’Brien’s finest moment and maybe my favorite filmed piece of the whole era. It’s too bad the O’Brien couldn’t quite find his footing as a live performer (the way Kyle Mooney did) because he’s fabulous in these filmed pieces.
“What are we doing eating these huge salads? Let’s go practice rapping.”
“Ah rapping: to a rapper like me, it’s top notch.”
The last is that Japanese Messy Boy piece, which is easily one of the strongest live pieces of this pre-taped dominated season. I love when the expected turn of having people be horrified is flipped in favor of the far more interesting responses. Of course the other adults are deeply captivated by Simmons (who gives his best performance here). Even the minor performances are good here (there is something about the intonation in Kyle’s voice that tickles me). Only Pete seems to miss on his performance.
Is Stooge almost done with the 40th anniversary special?
God, D’Angelo is contention for my all-time for my favorite musical guest of all time. Two incredible songs. The only competition he has is Fear’s season 7 performance due to its sheer legend status.