Author: Stooge

Posted on

April 15, 2000 – Tobey Maguire / Sisqo (S25 E17)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

THE STUDIO 8H RULES
host reads the Studio 8H Rules to orphan castmembers

— Darrell gets his first noteworthy role in weeks. His airtime had really taken a hit lately.
— A pretty fun idea for an SNL-related Cider House Rules parody.
— Hilarious visual of Kattan as a bubble boy.
— I like Cheri and Tracy laughing off the SNL rule Tobey Maguire reads off stating “No sketches longer than three minutes.”
— SNL makes yet another slam about Joe Piscopo being a has-been.
— Funny random mention from Lorne about Jimmy having left the show to join the cast of Ally McBeal.
— Tim’s line about Lorne “manipulating us into signing long contracts for low amounts of money” was a good self-deprecating mention of Tim’s long tenure on the show.
— A good laugh from Tobey walking in on Lorne sniffing ether.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
audience member Keith (Adam McKay) isn’t familiar with host’s oeuvre

— Adam McKay interrupting Tobey’s monologue to randomly yell “Hey, Tobey, man, show me the money!” is funny, as is him eventually revealing that due to Tobey’s last name, he’s mistaking Tobey for having been in the movie Jerry Maguire.
— I like Adam now mistaking Cider House Rules as a cheer for a fraternity.
— Adam McKay: “I saw the movie where the dude humped a pie. Are you him?”
— Funny ending with Adam getting mad at Tobey for ruining The Phantom Menace after Tobey begrudgingly claims he’s Jar Jar Binks.
STARS: ***½


CELEBRITY JEOPARDY
Sean Connery (DAH), Keanu Reeves (host), Hilary Swank (JIF)

— Great opening bit with Will’s Alex Trebek telling us that he’s stuck miserably doing another Celebrity Jeopardy after Regis Philbin recently did a Celebrity Millionaire.
— Keanu Reeves: “I know kung fu.” Alex Trebek: “For the last time, no, you don’t.”
— Jimmy loosely playing Hillary Swank is quite out of the ordinary for Celebrity Jeopardy, but it’s working for me. I especially like the detail of the fake overbites and how Jimmy doesn’t even have to wear a wig for this role.
— Hilarious bit with a paper stating “Things Trebek Sucks” being taped over one of the categories, and it being revealed that Darrell’s Sean Connery, of course, was the one behind that prank.
— We get our obligatory classic category mix-up, with tonight’s being Connery mistaking “Foreign Flicks” for… uh, let’s just say that Connery thought the “l” and “i” in the word “flicks” were a single “u”.
— An interesting change of pace with a Video Daily Double segment, featuring Kattan’s Ricky Martin impression. There seemed to be a music malfunction at the beginning of this segment, though. Kattan appeared to be awkwardly vamping for time while waiting for the music to kick in.
— I love Trebek’s anguish when finding out that the Final Jeopardy category is Famous Mothers, a reveal that Connery responds to with “My day has come!”
— Alex Trebek, in regards to what Keanu Reeves wagered: “Eleventy billion dollars. That’s not even a real number.” Keanu Reeves: “….yet.”
— A very funny cutaway to Parnell as Hillary Swank’s crying husband in the audience during her Oscars-esque acceptance speech.
STARS: *****


BURGER CASTLE
Burger Castle employee Nadeen tells customers to “simmer down”

— The third and final appearance of Cheri’s “Simma dah nah” character, Nadeen.
— Nadeen’s rude comments about Horatio’s weight are pretty funny.
— Nadeen’s “Simma dah nah” routine is coming off pretty tepid tonight, compared to the last two installments where it was somewhat fresh. It’s a good thing this ends up being the final installment. If Cheri hadn’t left after this season, who knows how much further SNL would run this recurring sketch into the ground.
— Tobey’s doing a surprisingly good job doing the “Simma dah nah” routine.
STARS: **


TV FUNHOUSE
“Up Close With Geppetto” by RBS- Pinocchio humps interviewee Sharon Stone

— Geppetto’s goofy accent is cracking me up. I can tell that’s Robert Smigel who’s voice I’m hearing.
— Pretty weird cartoon so far. Not sure what this is going for.
— Hilarious sudden turn with Pincocchio going wild after getting horny from seeing Sharon Stone’s leg-crossing. I also like Geppetto reacting to that with a proud declaration of “He’s a real boy!”
— Now we’re going back to the “WTF?” territory we were in earlier in this cartoon, with all three characters in this cartoon dancing in unison for no reason, and then a huge whale eating the house they’re in. What was that all about?
STARS: ***


INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO
Dustin Diamond (host) on being Screech

— An absolutely priceless idea to have James Lipton interview Dustin Diamond and fawn over Diamond’s screenwork as Screech.
— Tobey is fantastic as Screech. Even his mere facial expressions and body gestures are hilarious enough.
— James Lipton: “In 1992, a made-for-television film came out that changed the face of American cinema. That film, of course, is Saved By The Bell: Hawaiian Style.”
— I love Will-as-James-Lipton’s head-thrown-back laugh after saying “You are a delight.”
— A good laugh from Tobey-as-Dustin-Diamond’s idea of stretching his acting chops being him moving on from Saved By The Bell to Saved By The Bell: The New Class.
— James Lipton: “What turns you off?” Dustin Diamond: “When someone throws garbage or feces at you.”
STARS: *****


TENNIS LESSON
Mrs. Attebury indelicately plies tennis pro’s (host) institutionalization

— Oddly, we get the return of obscure recurring characters The Atteburys, for the first time since way back in season 22 when Ana was a new cast member. The long-departed Mark McKinney played the husband in all previous installments of this sketch, but Will takes over as his character tonight, making this a very rare case of a single recurring character being played by different performers at separate times.
— Ana’s performance as this character remains solid, but Will’s performance as the deadpan husband doesn’t work for me as much as Mark McKinney’s great take on this character did. Will’s dialogue itself is still funny, though.
— Ana unintentionally offending Tobey’s psychotic character is providing some pretty good laughs.
STARS: ***


WEEKEND UPDATE
Angelina Jolie (MOS) & brother James (CHK) address relationship rumors
for National Lingerie Week, Joy Lipton shows some boudoir fashions

— Hmm, a change of pace with Colin himself doing a “Weekend Update Editorial” segment. However, I could’ve done without him starting the segment by saying “Here’s Colin Quinn” and then looking to the side and saying to himself “Thanks, Colin.” That’s giving me bad Brad Hall flashbacks.
— Colin’s rant to Martin Scorsese during the Update Editorial segment of Colin’s is decent.
— Colin, regarding President Clinton agreeing to be interviewed by Leonardo DiCaprio: “Apparently, Clinton agreed to the interview after he saw DiCaprio’s picture and, quote, ‘thought she was hot’.”
— Funny to see a parody of Angelina Jolie’s infamous behavior with her brother at that year’s then-recent Oscars . Kattan is well-cast in this creepy role.
— An absolutely priceless walk-on from a deformed lovechild of Angelina Jolie and her brother, played by Rachel in the very first appearance as what would go on to be a recurring character of hers: Qrplt*xk.
— Hmm, an odd twist to the Angelina Jolie commentary, with it being revealed that Qrplt*xk is just an act put on by child actor David Mack Wilson, made even odder by the fact that David Mack Wilson is, I believe, the same child actor character that Rachel played in the Elian The Cuban Boy sketch from the preceding episode. But what in the world is the point to this twist in the Angelina Jolie commentary? It’s adding nothing.
— The second and final Joy Lipton appearance.
— Some really good laughs throughout Joy Lipton’s commentary, such as her displaying a sun-shaped vibrator, and her displaying bull-head strap-on underwear. I’m actually enjoying this Joy Lipton commentary more than I did her first one.
— An overall decent Weekend Update tonight, for Colin Quinn era standards.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Thong Song”


YOGA CLASS
after three years of effort, yoga student (WIF) achieves self-fellation

— An absolutely hilarious reveal of a stretching-forward Will giving himself fellatio while having his head buried inside his pants. I also love the initial reactions from the other characters.
— As I mentioned in my review of the Savin’ It sketch in the Julianna Margulies episode earlier this season, there’s one small portion of that sketch where Will struggles and fails while attempting to demonstrate a yoga move where he fellates himself. I’d like to think that his character in this Yoga Class sketch is the same character from the Savin’ It sketch after he finally learned how to successfully do the yoga move he desperately wanted to do.
— I love Will’s various lines to the class during the occasional times he pops his head out of his pants to say something.
— Tobey, to the yoga class: “Find your nirvana.” Will, while in the middle of fellating himself: “I found my nirvana!”
— The timing and delivery from the performers who aren’t Will or Tobey seem a little off, even the usually-reliable Tim Meadows.
— Rachel, to Will: “Could… could you teach a girl to do that?”
— Solid ending taking place years later, with a now-long-haired and long-bearded Will still asking for a little more time to finish his self-fellatio.
STARS: ****


STAVENHAGENS PAWN SHOP
by Adam McKay- (Steve Buscemi) pays cash for food

— Steve Buscemi! Great to see him on SNL again.
— I love Tracy’s line about “these sweet-ass waffles”.
— Great scene with Will’s hobo character trying to convince Steve that gum is food.
— Will: “By the way… I took a crap in your store.” Steve: “That’s not food, either.”
— Horatio has appeared in every Adam McKay short film that SNL has aired up to this point, and he’s always in his element in these. In tonight’s film, I especially like Horatio’s mention of how, in the past, he enjoyed “throwin’ dobermans at old ladies and coldcockin’ redheaded dudes just for the eff of it.”
— Adam McKay is funny in his appearance as a robber failing in his attempt to hold up the store.
— Good ending with Horatio sleeping while standing up.
— Overall, my favorite of the three Adam McKay short films that have aired up to this point.
STARS: ****½


CONVENIENCE STORE
store clerk (host) clues (ANG) to fiance’s (WIF) porn proclivity

— Funny situation with the store clerk remembering Will’s embarrassing old weekly habit of always buying porno magazines with raspberry soda and a Mars bar.
— Between the preceding Adam McKay short film and this sketch, tonight’s episode is utilizing Horatio well in roles that fit him.
— Not sure if slice-of-life is the right term for this sketch, but I’m really enjoying the realistic atmosphere and approach to this. Sketches like this feel kinda rare in this era.
— Good ending with Will begrudgingly going back to his old raspberry soda/Mars bar/porn-buying habits after Ana dumps him.
STARS: ****


WEST LINK
after nebulous pitch, West Link admits “even we don’t know what we do”

— Pretty funny “Even we don’t know what we do” tagline, after the seriousness that preceded it. Kinda reminds me of the Ad Council commercial from season 11, though that one was better-executed.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very solid episode, keeping up the streak of above average episodes that this season has been churning out lately. Tonight’s episode had some classic installments of tried-and-true recurring sketches (Celebrity Jeopardy and Inside The Actor’s Studio), and a string of great pieces in the second half of the show.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Christopher Walken)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Our annual John Goodman episode. (By the way, this is the last time I’ll be able to say “Our annual John Goodman episode”, as the following season breaks Goodman’s impressive streak of hosting in every season since 1989.) We also get a late-in-the-season addition of a new female cast member.

Posted on

April 8, 2000 – Christopher Walken / Christina Aguilera (S25 E16)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

CAPITOL BUILDING
George (DAC) coaches son George W. (WIF) Bush on how to be evasive

— Dana Carvey!
— I love Will’s Bush repeatedly chanting “I’m a uniter, not a divider”, and Dana’s Bush snapping him out of it my slapping him back and forth.
— I see Dana’s still got it as Bush Sr.
— Bush Sr.’s various tips to Bush Jr. are very funny, and there’s some charming chemistry between Dana and Will.
— Bush Sr.: “Should we send the Gonzalez boy back to Cuba?” Bush Jr.: “I don’t give a rat’s ass.”
— The visual of Bush Jr. sitting on Bush Sr.’s lap kinda reminds me of SNL’s running gag of Dan Quayle doing the same to Bush Sr. back in the early 90s.
STARS: ****½


MONOLOGUE
host sings “Saturday Night Is The Loneliest Night Of The Week” & dances

— I like Christopher’s “I miss this place” line, whether it was intended to get laughs or not.
— Christopher reprises his “crazy make-em-ups” line from the questions-from-the-audience segment in SNL’s 25th Anniversary Special (which he was absolutely hilarious in).
— Here’s our obligatory Walken monologue song-and-dance.
— An overall charming and pretty fun Walken monologue song-and-dance as always, though this one didn’t have anything noteworthy, unlike his last two monologues, one in which he sang lots of fun winter-related songs, and one in which he danced with each female cast member one-by-one and then danced his way to SNL’s backstage area.
STARS: ***½


BEHIND THE MUSIC
cowbell dominates Blue Oyster Cult recording session

 

— Here’s an absolutely legendary and iconic SNL sketch.
— Christopher is playing a perfectly Christopher Walken-esque Bruce Dickinson.
— Bruce Dickinson: “I put my pants on just like the rest of you, one leg at a time. Except, once I put my pants on, I make gold records.”
— And there’s the first instance of Will’s cowbell banging. Even in the straightforward, low-key manner he’s doing it this first time, it’s amazing how Will is still able to make it hilarious.
— Bruce Dickinson, in regards to the first track: “I coulda used a little more cowbell.”
— And now we get the absolutely classic turn in the second track, with Will exploring the studio place by going wild while banging the cowbell all over the place, complete with his belly flopping out of his tiny shirt. An extremely memorable visual.
— I love an unhappy Will deliberately slowly playing the cowbell right next to Parnell’s face.
— When trying to deliver the simple line “Quit being so selfish, Gene!”, Jimmy busts out laughing, which leads to Will himself cracking up a bit. After this happens, it’s quite funny watching Jimmy in the background trying his damnedest to get himself back into a straight face during Will’s poignant speech about how important it is for him to play the hell out of the cowbell. When Jimmy finally does regain his composure, he IMMEDIATELY loses it again and ducks his head in laughter when Will’s voice unexpectedly cracks in a funny way while saying “I’d be doing myself a disservice– etc.” (you can hear Horatio bust out laughing off-camera during that part too). One of the very few times you’ll hear me say that a Jimmy Fallon character break actually added to my enjoyment of a sketch.
— Bruce Dickinson: “Guess what?!? I got a fever… and the only prescription… is more cowbell!”
— I love Horatio’s spaced-out look shortly before saying “He speaks for all of us.”
— Bruce Dickinson: “Babies, before we’re done here, ya’ll be wearin’ gold-plated diapers.”
— A great “in memoriam” freeze-frame of Will’s Gene Frenkle at the end, made even better by the fact that he’s not even a real person.
— Overall, such a perfect sketch, in every single way.
STARS: *****


ELIAN, THE CUBAN BOY!
stage adaptation of international custody battle

— A very funny idea of making a stage musical out of the Elian Gonzalez saga.
— Darrell makes his ONLY appearance of these last two episodes as a barely-visible guy in the back of a boat of singing immigrants (you can see him behind Molly in the first above screencap for this sketch). He looks as if he was possibly thrown into this sketch at the last minute, especially given how he’s off on his cue to raise his fist in the air in unison with his scene partners. I didn’t realize until now that he wasn’t in any sketches in the preceding episode, hosted by The Rock.
— Christopher’s Fidel Castro is hilarious, as is the song he’s singing. I remember an old SNL review from this time in 2000 saying Christopher managed to look even creepier than the real Fidel Castro.
— I love Rachel’s cheesy, theatrical portrayal of Elian Gonzalez.
— This is Will’s first time playing Janet Reno in quite a long time. Great to see this back.
— As much as it pains me to say anything negative about this great sketch, we unfortunately get our second of three moments from seasons 25 and 26 in which Will and Kattan kiss each other on the lips for an unnecessary cheap laugh.
— As a whole, a very well-done sketch.
STARS: ****½


THE CONTINENTAL
The Continental gets amorous when a lady arrives to retrieve her mail

— Always glad to see our obligatory Continental sketch.
— Must be some audio problems, as we’re not hearing the usual piano music during the obligatory opening Phil Hartman voice-over.
— Ah, now the piano music has started playing, at the very end of Phil’s voice-over. Not sure if this delay in the piano music would later be fixed in reruns or not.
— Funny mention from The Continental of having a tattoo of two dogs “doing it”.
— The Continental: “You are skittish… like Siberian palomino.”
— We now get The Continental’s very first utterance of “Wowie wow wow wow!”, which would go on to be a well-liked catchphrase of his.
— A very funny part with The Continental being caught slipping a mickey into the woman’s drink.
— The Continental: “Did you see my painting? I got it from Target.”
— A hilarious and memorable part with The Continental being seen staring into the bathroom through the other side of the bathroom mirror while he’s lighting a cigarette.
— I love the part with The Continental getting sprayed by mace, made even funnier by him screaming “WAAAAUUUGGHH!” in response. Freakin’ priceless.
— Ha, the aforementioned mace part has now gotten even funnier with the woman flat-out punching The Continental in the face to get him out of the way of the door.
STARS: *****


VIAGRA
wives sarcastically thank Viagra for restoring husbands’ intumescence

— Very amusing to hear Christopher talk about Viagra in his usual dry manner.
— Tina Fey makes an appearance as the only person I recognize out of all of the non-Walken/Gasteyer couples in this commercial. I’m not 100% sure, but I believe this ends up being her last onscreen SNL appearance before being added to the cast in the following season.
— Good ending visual of Ana flushing Christopher’s Viagra pills down the toilet.
STARS: ***½


JENNY JONES
audience member (host) imparts wisdom to panelists

— Rachel is pretty spot-on in her portrayal of Jenny Jones.
— Jimmy’s performance as a wannabe-black character is hilarious.
— Jimmy, to Molly: “You look like you sewed someone’s ass to your chest!”
— As with the Sally Jessy Raphael parody earlier this season in the Christina Ricci episode, this sketch is a spot-on parody of Jenny Jones’ show.
— Christopher’s various one-liners to the guests, such as “Checkity-check yourself before you wreck yourself” and “Let your freak flag fly”, are coming off priceless being delivered in Christopher’s usual manner.
— Parnell, on how he lost weight: “For a year, I ate only candy necklaces and Pedialyte.”
— Tracy makes his obligatory sole appearance of the whole night. This is getting ridiculous. I cannot remember the last time he appeared in more than one sketch in an episode.
— It’s a very small detail in the sketch, but I’m cracking up at Christopher’s frozen, speechless, somewhat-taken-aback facial expression in the background when Kattan enters as a woman.
— Rachel-as-Jenny-Jones’ ending line about having a crappy local band play the show to commercial is such a dead-on detail in regards to the real Jenny Jones show.
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE
Jacob Silj bemoans being afflicted with voice immodulation

— Colin: “As members of the media, we’re required to say the word ‘Elian Gonzalez’ every 10 minutes.”
— I like the News From The Future segment about a 21-year-old Elian Gonzalez in the year 2015.
— I’m getting a kick out of the audience’s somewhat uproarious reaction to a punchline of Colin’s, in which he quotes an infamous bigoted John Rocker rant about “having to take the 7 Train sitting next to some queer with AIDS, some kid with purple hair, a 20-year-old mom with 4 kids, etc.” Since John Rocker’s name wasn’t directly mentioned anywhere in the joke, I’m sure the joke would go over a lot of viewers heads in more recent years, which might make it look like Colin was just randomly saying those bigoted things about passengers of the 7 Train for the hell of it.
— The return of Will’s Jacob Silj character. This seems like kind of a thin character to make recurring, but I know Will is going to manage to always make this character work.
— I like Jacob Silj explaining that some people get voice immodulation disorder from being born two months late and having been exposed to gold dust.
— At the end of this Update, Colin randomly saying “Elian Gonzalez” after his usual sign-off tagline was a nice callback to an earlier bit from the beginning of this Update.
— Overall, better than Colin’s usual Updates, keeping up the great atmosphere of tonight’s episode.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Turn To You”


THE CENSUS
census taker (TIM) records apartment dweller’s (host) crazy responses

— An all-time favorite of mine.
— Oddly, this is Tim’s first (and ONLY) appearance all night.
— A perfectly Christopher Walken-esque oddball role for Christopher.
— Just some of my many favorite Christopher Walken lines in this endlessly funny sketch are him counting plants and candy bars as people who live with him, his reveal of his wife being a bobcat, and him saying he has dual citizenship with the United States and Florida.
— Tim is a fantastic straight man here.
— Tim: “Let’s just proceed as if this is going really well.”
— I love the ending with Christopher saying to his off-camera bobcat wife “Again? We just did it!”
STARS: *****


BEAUTY PAGEANT
Sally O’Malley crashes the Miss Greenwood Hills Beauty Pageant

— I like the odd name of Christopher’s character, Brett Lighthorse.
— Cheri, regarding the burn unit of a children’s hospital: “I would just love to see their little red faces light up when they see me!”
— A pretty good laugh from Ana’s passing mention of wanting her baby back from “that miserable drummer”.
— The great atmosphere of tonight’s episode comes to a screeching halt with the appearance of Sally O’Malley. I’ve said enough in earlier reviews about my dislike of this character.
— One thing I’ll say I consistently like about these Sally O’Malley sketches are the hosts, as Danny DeVito, Ben Affleck, and now Christopher Walken have provided enjoyment for me in the Sally O’Malley sketches I’ve covered so far.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “At Last” & “What A Girl Wants”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An absolutely fantastic episode. An impressive number of highly-rated sketches, two true classics (Behind The Music, The Census), one of my all-time favorite Continental installments, and Christopher Walken being his usual self. So many things to love here.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (The Rock)
a mild step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Tobey Maguire

Posted on

March 18, 2000 – The Rock / AC/DC (S25 E15)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

BACKSTAGE
Vince McMahon [real] warns wrestlers not to mess with host during show

— I like the opening visual of Tim casually having champagne with Lorne, showing what a long-time SNL veteran Tim is by this point, as well as the great relationship he has with Lorne.
— This whole backstage conversation between Vince McMahon and the wrestlers is a nice way to set up tonight’s episode.
— Very funny gag with Big Show meekly revealing that he has a folding chair hidden behind him.
— Good bit with Big Show and Mango, even if that makes this Mango’s 1,000th appearance this season. (Thankfully, it ends up being his last appearance for almost an entire year.)
— Great “Live From New York…” delivery from McMahon.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
Mick Foley, Triple H, Paul ‘Big Show’ Wight [real] wish host luck

— A huge audience reception for The Rock at the beginning of this, including a group of people being heard chanting “Rocky!”
— I love the bit about how Tracy won’t be in tonight’s show (it’s not like he would’ve appeared much tonight anyway, given how the show seems to be content with giving him only one appearance per episode lately) due to The Rock accidentally giving him two broken legs earlier in the week.
— Funny visual of SNL writer Hugh Fink getting manhandled out of his seat by the wrestlers. Fink always seems to play hapless audience members getting disrespected in SNL monologues.
— Good line from The Rock about how he looks like a sexy Rob Schneider. I definitely see the resemblance.
— The Rock, when seeing Triple H: “Ah, Triple H. I thought I smelled dandruff shampoo and monkey turds.”
— An overall very fun monologue.
STARS: ****


UNCLE JEMIMA’S PURE MASH LIQUOR
Rerun from 2/5/00


THE LADIES’ MAN
Leon is in love with crossdressed undercover cop (host)

— Funny performance from The Rock in drag, who Leon Phelps is convinced is a real woman. I like how The Rock’s not even attempting to change his voice for his drag role.
— Good reveal of The Rock being an undercover police office and Leon initially still not getting it.
— Interesting line flub from The Rock, accidentally saying “drug queens” instead of “drag queens”, which is almost funny in itself.
STARS: ***½


PAPA PEEPERS
paleontologist (WIF) reunites Mr. Peepers with his father (host)

— I see SNL’s breaking out some of their biggest recurring characters for tonight’s big episode.
— A solid turn with The Rock entering as Mr. Peepers’ similarly-traited father. The Rock is spot-on and funny in his imitation of Mr. Peepers.
— Ha, one of The Rock’s fake monkey ears has become unglued and is hanging off of his head, flopping around.
— The out-of-control nature of this sketch is making it fun.
— Overall, one of the better Mr. Peepers sketches.
STARS: ***½


MORNING LATTE
Tom & Cass can’t separate host from his in-ring persona

— The usual funny opening banter between Will and Cheri.
— I love Will exclaiming to The Rock “You are a HORSE!” after greeting him at the beginning of the interview.
— Cheri and Will constantly flinching from The Rock is pretty funny.
— Will, after The Rock says he likes board games: “I’d let you win… cuz I’d like to see my kids grow up.”
— Good turn with Mick Foley and Big Show humorously backing up The Rock during his tender singing.
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE
Jasper Hahn’s presidential candidate caricatures start out dirty
JIF plays guitar & sings Spring Break-themed songs based on pop hits

— Ha, another Update this season where the audience boos as soon as John Rocker’s photo shows up on the Update news screen.
— I love the updated look of Horatio’s Jasper Hahn, with bushy hair and a mustache. Horatio seems to be playing him in a goofier manner tonight too.
— It’s always interesting seeing how Jasper Hahn’s initially dirty drawings turn into innocent animal drawings.
— A good laugh from Jasper’s deadpan “No” when asked by Colin if he’s going to change his naked-woman-bending-over drawing into some kind of animal.
— Holy hell. Eerie in retrospect how immediately after a joke of Colin’s that is accompanied by the Update news screen showing a photo of the New York City skyline with the World Trade Center being very visible, we get an unrelated joke about Osama Bin Laden.
— Now shortly after the Osama Bin Laden joke, we get an unrelated joke about a plane hijacker. Geez, this Update’s getting way too prescient for my likes.
— I’m kinda surprised this is the first (and ONLY) appearance this season for Jimmy’s Update guitar songs, considering they were more common in the preceding season.
— Great vocal impression of Dave Matthews from Jimmy during one portion of his guitar song medley.
— Jimmy’s overall guitar song medley tonight was decently fun, even if barely anything stood out to me here.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Stiff Upper Lip”


CLARK KENT
Daily Planet employees toy with Superman’s (host) not-so-secret identity

— Very funny detail of The Rock’s Clark Kent clearly having his Superman costume poorly hidden under his suit.
— I love the line about how when Clark Kent first got this job, he used the fake name Supe R. Man.
— Hilarious bit with Clark Kent’s co-workers reading an article he wrote in which he didn’t even edit out all the mistakes in which he caught himself accidentally referring to himself as Superman and tried to backtrack.
— Parnell: “You get Superman in a truckstop men’s room, you won’t need Kryptonite to bring him to his knees.”
— A very humorous article photo of Superman just haplessly shrugging.
STARS: ****½


THE GOOMBAHS
(host) & (ANG) star in Showtime’s rip-off of The Sopranos

— I’m getting some good laughs from The Rock’s bad, goofy Italian accent while just saying dumb things like “meats-a balls-a!”
— Overall, short and dumb, but it worked for me, mostly just due to the charming goofiness that The Rock brought.
STARS: ***


NICOTREL
Nicotrel (host) uses physical violence to help (CHP) stop smoking
Mick Foley, Triple H, Paul ‘Big Show’ Wight [real], host beat up on CHP

— Great concept of The Rock as the human embodiment of a way to quit smoking.
— Very funny visual of The Rock throwing a dummy of Parnell out the window.
— After Parnell tells Nicotrel to get his hands off Parnell’s wife, I love Nicotrel getting up from the couch while bellowing “YOU DON’T TALK TO NICOTREL LIKE THAT!”
— Hilarious how Nicotrel tosses a cigarette over to Parnell just as an excuse to beat him up again.
— Parnell is so damn good at taking fake beatings in a sketch. His whimpering throughout this is also very funny.
— Pretty good turn with the other wrestlers crashing the sketch to show The Rock how to give Parnell a realistic beatdown.
STARS: ****½


TODAY’S LADY
(RAD), (CHO), (MOS) throw themselves at stud (host)

— What was with Rachel’s coughing fit right before saying the odd name of her character, Gwyneth Paltrownian? Was that coughing some kind of intentional joke, or was Rachel going through a genuine coughing fit?
— Random running gag throughout this sketch with every character having a strange last name.
— Not sure I care for where this sketch is going.
— Yeah, so far, this sketch isn’t doing much for me.
— Great sleazy line from The Rock offering the ladies a “meating”.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Shook Me All Night Long”


COLONEL BELMONT’S OLD FASHIONED HORSE GLUE
Another rerun tonight, this time from 1/15/00


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fun and pretty solid episode that had a special feel, due to the WWF theme and, to a lesser extent, having a legendary rock band as the musical guest. Regarding the WWF theme, this semi-departure from a typical SNL episode was a definite success. I also like how, due to the WWF fans in the building tonight, the audience was particularly loud and energetic throughout the show, rivaling this season’s Jamie Foxx episode as the season 25 episode with the rowdiest audience. The Rock did a great job for his first hosting stint, especially considering the fact that this was before he became an actor, though he would come off even more polished in his later hosting stints.
— After going through a somewhat-slump of unmemorable episodes from December to early February, this season has really picked up steam these last few episodes. And it’s nice to know that that winning streak will continue, considering what the very next episode is (as you’ll see at the very end of this review).


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Joshua Jackson)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Christopher Walken, a.k.a. the episode with the legendary More Cowbell sketch

Posted on

March 11, 2000 – Joshua Jackson / ‘N Sync (S25 E14)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

NEWS ANCHORS
Ted Koppel (DAH), Tom Brokaw (CHP), Bernard Shaw (TIM) hate Bush vs. Gore

— A good laugh from Parnell’s Tom Brokaw and Darrell’s Ted Koppel greeting each other with the then-popular phrase “Wazzuuuuuup!”, which is really bringing me back.
— A lot of good lines from the news anchors about how boring and mundane an election between George W. Bush and Al Gore would be. But, boy, how wrong SNL ended up being with that prediction.
— I love Tim playing Bernard Shaw all laid-back and badass.
— Molly Shannon playing herself as Bernard Shaw’s ho? How random.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host assures older generations that the show will be a good one

— Joshua Jackson’s message to little league coaches who send him creepy letters is pretty funny.
— I like the whole part with Joshua listing off hypothetical teen heartthrob host/musical guest lineups for other SNL eras: Jason Priestley/Color Me Badd for the early 90s, Kirk Cameron/Frankie Goes To Hollywood for the mid 80s, and John Travolta/ABBA for the 70s.
— Very funny part with us being shown the opening montage of a (non-existent) 70s SNL episode with Epstein from Welcome Back Kotter as the host and Foghat as the musical guest. Nice seeing the season 4 opening montage again as well (though they’re using the season 19 theme music, for some reason).
— Overall, a solid straightforward monologue that was short and sweet. Joshua handled himself surprisingly well here for what was a solo monologue by a teen heartthrob.
STARS: ***½


HAMBURGER HELPER ANTIBACTERIAL
Rerun from 1/8/00


REGIS AUDITIONS
Regis Philbin (DAH) interviews potential Kathie Lee Gifford replacements

— Darrell’s Regis Philbin, regarding Kathie Lee Gifford’s departure from the show: “Satan is quitting the show!”
— You can already tell this is going to be a fun sketch. The enthusiastic audience is also helping.
— It feels a little odd seeing a Janeane Garofalo impression on SNL, but Rachel is nailing Janeane’s demeanor.
— Joshua’s Donny Osmond is freakin’ UNCANNY. He’s a dead ringer for him here.
— Kattan’s laid-back Gelman is making me laugh. I prefer this to the stereotypical flamboyantly gay Gelman SNL would later have Kattan regularly play.
— A good topical bit with Ana as Darva Conger from FOX’s Who Wants To Marry A Multi-Millionaire. However, the topicality of this portion of the sketch most likely hasn’t aged well with a lot of viewers nowadays.
— Speaking of not aging well, holy fucking shit at Jimmy donning dark makeup to play Chris Rock – in a sketch from the year 2000, no less.
— I will say that Jimmy’s imitation of Chris Rock’s voice here keeps coming and going. At some points, he sounds just like Rock, but at other points, all I hear is Jimmy Fallon.
— 11 years later, SNL would do a successor to this sketch, in which Kathie Lee Gifford’s replacement, Kelly Ripa (played by then-cast member Nasim Pedrad), is the one auditioning celebrity co-hosts, in light of Regis Philbin’s departure from the show. I don’t recall that sketch being as memorable as this one, though.
STARS: ****


WEDDING SINGERS
(WIF) & (HOS) ruin wedding reception by playing “Died In Your Arms”

— Will and Horatio are hilarious in their constant, badly-timed singing of just one part of the song “(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight”.
— All of the back-and-forths between Will/Horatio and Joshua are cracking me up, especially when it gets tense and they’re just yelling at each other.
— Funny ending with Will and Horatio revealing they only know that one part of “(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight”, followed by Joshua angrily lunging at them and having to be held back by others.
STARS: ****


ON THE ROAD WITH THE BOYS
7 Degrees Celsius meets the press & unveils opening act (musical guest)

— The third and final installment of this recurring piece.
— Unlike the previous installments of this sketch, we don’t have the host playing a 7 Degrees Celsius member, instead playing an obsessive male fan of the band.
— The look of Horatio’s character in these 7 Degrees Celsius sketches always instantly cracks me up.
— Good to see Will’s band manager character back, after he was absent in the last installment of this sketch.
— A good laugh from the reveal of the band manager being banned from certain states for going “a little crazy online when I got my scanner”.
— Unlike the dead audience from the last time this sketch appeared in the Freddie Prinze Jr. episode, Ana and Cheri’s parts are getting good audience reactions.
— A fitting use of tonight’s musical guest, ‘N Sync. And with this, we get a young Justin Timberlake making his very first SNL sketch appearance. Ha, and look at him trying to appear all gangsta with one of his pantlegs rolled up (as seen on the right end of the screencap below).

— Overall, better than the last installment of this sketch, as they took this one into a lot of different directions from the previous installments.
STARS: ***


LEZ IT UP
to frat boys’ dismay, magic wish yields real-life lesbians (RAD) & (ANG)

— A laugh early in the sketch from Parnell exclaiming “Ellen DeGeneres was radiant!”
— Very funny turn with the magically-appearing lesbians being unattractive, middle-aged, realistic lesbians, instead of the kind the guys were hoping for.
— When expressing disappointment in the lesbians they’re given, I love Tim asking “Where’s the Asian one?!?”
— Lesbian stereotypes galore here, but this sketch is hilarious.
— Another fantastic line from Tim: “This thing is giving me a hard-OFF!”
— I love Horatio coming to the realization of “Dude, you forgot to say ‘hot’!”
— Heh, how many times during this sketch has Tim angrily thrown that same towel onto the floor?
— Funny detail with Parnell being the only one who’s into it throughout this sketch.
— I love Tim’s goofy dancing at the end.
STARS: *****


WEEKEND UPDATE
Kevin Brennan [real] compares elites Al Gore & George W. Bush

— A lot of tepid election-related jokes from Colin to start off this Update, and even tonight’s energetic audience agrees with me.
— Hmm, Colin’s jokes have started getting better all of a sudden, especially the great one about Calista Flockhart in a boat with Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp.
— Well… this is new. SNL writer Kevin Brennan doing a political Update commentary as himself. Is SNL going for an A. Whitney Brown-type of thing here? If so, I like that.
— Kevin Brennan’s overall commentary tonight had quite a lot of funny comments. His delivery and demeanor are quite monotone and lethargic, but strangely, that kinda works in his favor. I’m interested in seeing his second (and final) Update commentary from later this season.
— Wow, an overall short Update tonight. Actually, I feel like I’ve been saying that quite a lot lately. Considering the typical quality of Colin’s Updates, maybe shorter Updates are a good thing. I’m also wondering if it’s a sign that SNL is already planning big changes for Update in the following season and have begun slowly phasing out Colin.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Bye Bye Bye”


LET’S TALK BOOKS
experts consider works with naughty title-author combos

— A lot of good immature laughs from the many dirty book title-author combos, such as The Yellow River by I.P. Freely, Through A Brown Darkly by Eileen Dover, and Stain On The Great Wall by Hu Flung Poo. For such a sophomoric concept, it’s being executed very well in a mature package.
— Tim, regarding author duo Harrison Butts and Randall Dixon: “We all love Dixon-Butts.”
— Will, regarding author Henri de Balsac: “I can think of nothing I’d rather do on a cold wintry night than curl up with a leathery, musty old Balsac.”
STARS: ****


PARENTS DAY
Colette Reardon shows up at nephew’s (host) school’s Parents Day

— A good setting for Collette Reardon, who’s making what ends up being her final appearance.
— Hmm, Joey Fatone playing an obviously-gay character. I wonder how the then-closeted Lance Bass felt about that.
— Collette Reardon’s lines to the students are providing good laughs.
— Will, to Collette Reardon: “I will not sit here and listen to your bus driving/medication/pooping tales.”
— Overall, one of the better Collette Reardon appearances.
STARS: ***½


NEIL ARMSTRONG: THE OHIO YEARS
by Adam McKay- Neil Armstrong rests on laurels

— This film is already starting off very weird, right down to the child-sung song about Neil Armstrong.
— I like Armstrong scoffing at Tang drinks he sees at the supermarket.
— Horatio (the first recognizable performer in this whole film) is funny as the store clerk, especially his opening line about a Rocky marathon on TV.
— Armstrong’s various inner thoughts bragging about landing on the moon are very funny.
— Interesting progression to this film.
— An overall well-done film. In addition to being funny and entertaining, I liked the various interesting filming choices used by Adam McKay throughout this, giving this a very different feel for this SNL era.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Thought She Knew”


THREE-WAY
Warren’s attempt to draw lawnboy (host) into a menage-a-trois upsets Fran

— Good to see this slice-of-life sketch from this season’s Heather Graham episode become recurring, though this ends up being the final installment.
— A big laugh from Joshua responding to Parnell’s three-way proposition by initially just staring at him with a frozen deadpan expression (the second above screencap for this sketch), and then bolting out of the house (the third above screencap for this sketch).
— Nice continuity with there being a passing mention of Heather Graham’s character from the previous installment of this sketch.
— Parnell, to Ana on how often they have sex: “Twice a month. Take those away, we’re practically brother and sister.”
— Very funny line from Ana about a fishnet body stocking Parnell gave her as a Mother’s Day gift.
— I love the line from Parnell about how during sex, Ana laughs at him so hard that he slips out of her.
— Overall, another very solid installment of this sketch. A shame that they don’t continue any further with these sketches. These represent a realistic, smarter, more mature direction that this SNL era needed to go further towards.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— One of the best episodes of the season. A very strong effort tonight, with lots of great, standout sketches, and no real flops. Who would’ve guessed back in 2000 that an episode with such a teenybopper-centric host/musical guest line-up would turn out to be so good?


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ben Affleck)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Dwayne Johnson makes his hosting debut, back when he was known as The Rock

Posted on

February 19, 2000 – Ben Affleck / Fiona Apple (S25 E13)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

NIGHTLINE
Peanuts characters mourn the passing of Charles Schulz

— Feels like we haven’t seen Darrell’s Ted Koppel impression in a long time.
— Good to see another sketch with the cast playing Peanuts characters, after the classic Charlie Brown parody SNL did in the preceding season.
— I love the visual of Horatio’s Pig Pen.
— Franklin: “Back then, it was hard for a brother to get in the funnies. No one wanted to take the time to do the shading.”
— I love Rachel-as-Marcie’s scream while raising her head, after saying Peppermint Patty didn’t reciprocate Marcie’s feelings towards her.
— A pretty good laugh from the off-camera Nightline producer’s voice being represented by the “womp womp womp” voice that the adults in Peanuts always speak in, even if SNL already used that joke in the last Charlie Brown sketch.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
Gwyneth Paltrow [real] comes on-stage & steals spotlight from host

— A nice callback to Gwyneth Paltrow’s monologue from the preceding season, in which Ben Affleck made a cameo from the audience.
— A lot of fun barbs between Ben and Gwyneth, especially the whole bit about winning an Oscar. And like Gwyneth’s last monologue, both her and Ben are proving themselves to be good sports.
STARS: ***½


VICTORIA’S SECRET
Marisa’s boobs ask “what is desire”

— A silly but funny parody of real Victoria’s Secret ads from around this time.
— Good bit with the deep-voiced talking butt (or was that a crotch?) trying to interrupt, only to get cut off by the talking boobs.
STARS: ***½


BAND SHOT
G.E. Smith [real] plays guitar

— G.E. Smith’s back tonight!


MANGO
host pretends to be Matt Damon in order to get close to Mango

— At least this season managed to go through a month (January) without resorting to a Mango sketch, which is a big feat considering how much they’ve been overusing Mango this season.
— Mango: “Ben Who-fleck?!?”
— A good Talented Mr. Ripley turn, with Ben trying to pass himself off as Matt Damon.
— The stripping scene in the dark is pretty funny, as is Ben losing control and assaulting Mango on the floor.
— Overall, one of the better Mango sketches, mostly helped by Ben’s performance, even if his demeanor came off a little more smiley and jokey than his role required.
STARS: ***


DONNIE’S PARTY
Donnie Bartolotti’s (host) attentions toward Denise make Sully jealous

— I remember an old SNL review from 2000 pointing out that Ben seemed to be trying to emulate Adam Sandler in this sketch, right down to the Happy Gilmore-esque jersey he’s wearing. I can see it; he looks eerily Sandler-esque at some points of this sketch.
— After exclaiming the word “Irregahdless!” in a Boston accent, Jimmy cracks himself up.
— I love the parts with Rachel and Ben acting out rewinded scenes, especially the slow-mo scene.
— Now Jimmy has begun cracking up again, this time in response to Ben just saying “Bro” over and over to him, which I can forgive, as I’ve been enjoying Jimmy and Ben’s chemistry throughout this sketch. However, this sketch can be pinpointed as the official point in Jimmy’s SNL tenure where his frequent breaking started becoming noticeable.
— Denise: “Don’t hurt him! He’s got a haht murmuh!”
— Some laughs from Ben’s character and Sully listing off the goofy names of their friends.
— Overall, this has always been my personal favorite of the Boston Teens sketches.
STARS: ****


TV FUNHOUSE
“The All New Adventures of Mr. T” by RBS- Ibsen play is a chance to work

— Robert Smigel must be very busy, as we’re more than halfway through this season and this is only the fourth TV Funhouse of the season, which is a small number compared to the amount of TV Funhouses that appeared in the preceding three seasons.
— Very funny idea of a Mr. T-starring TV Funhouse, in the style of a typical 80s animated series, a style that Smigel is doing a dead-on emulation of.
— Mr. T: “I’m back! And I need work!”
— Some good laughs from Mr. T randomly throwing in out-of-place educational tips throughout this.
— The stiffly-animated corny fight scene is very funny.
— Mr. T: “If you believe in yourself, drink your school, stay in drugs, and don’t do milk, you can get work!”
— Great touch with the Charles Schulz tribute during the TV Funhouse closing credits, which leads into an SNL Band shot of Cheryl Hardwick playing a Peanuts tune on the piano.
STARS: ****


FRETTS FILM FORUM
small-town movie reviewers offer clever quotables

— I’m surprised that this is the first appearance all night for the usually-dominant Will Ferrell.
— Will: “Fantasia is fantas-great.”
— Some good laughs from the critics thinking Stuart Little is a real mouse and assuming he’s the same mouse from Mouse Hunt.
— Great bit with Will’s whole hand demonstration when talking about Richard Gere’s beautiful acting and comic timing.
— The critics’ increasingly bad puns and fawning over questionable movies are funny.
— I like it now getting to the point where the critics each give up after starting to really reach with their puns.
STARS: ***½


FANATIC
obsessive (host) wants Anna Nicole Smith (MOS) to be his mom

 

— A change of pace for this era.
— IIRC, director Paul Thomas Anderson was the one behind this pre-taped sketch.
— This is such a well-done and spot-on parody of the real Fanatic show on MTV, especially the visual look and camera angles.
— Even though it’s a very typical Molly Shannon moment, I howled at the intro shot of Molly’s Anna Nicole Smith, with her randomly yelling “I WILL KICK! YOUR! ASS!”
— Very funny visual of a braces-wearing Ben, especially him screaming on the floor when Jimmy is excitedly jumping on him.
— Funny concept with Ben wanting to get Anna Nicole Smith to adopt him.
— Nice touch at the very end, with Ben missing his elevator after speaking to the camera.
STARS: ****½


WEEKEND UPDATE
George W. Bush (WIF), John McCain (CHP), Alan Keyes (TIM) speechify

— We’re starting off with a LONG string of “George W. Bush is dumb” jokes from Colin.
— And now we go to a press conference with Will’s Bush. A nice change of pace for an Update segment.
— Ah, now we get a press conference with Parnell’s John McCain giving a concession speech, saying racist things about the Vietnamese.
— The whole scene with Tim’s Alan Keyes holding a press conference in an empty room is pretty funny.
— Short Update overall.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Limp”


SPARKS
salesman (host) is embroiled in Zimmermans’ sexy search for a used car

— After a weaker and somewhat off-putting installment of this sketch from the Heather Graham episode, there’s hopefully nowhere for this sketch to go but up.
— Ben’s performance as an Armenian car dealer is very funny, especially the slang he keeps using (e.g. “homesnakes”).
— Good bit with Cheri and Kattan occasionally honking the car horn to censor their expletives during their dirty talk to each other.
— Hilarious visual of Ben revealing his leopard skin speedo with an excessive amount of bushy pubic hair sticking out.
— Overall, not bad, and a definite improvement over the last installment.
STARS: ***


POLICE TRAINING
Sally O’Malley barges in on a police academy exercise training session

— I love Ben’s performance in this, especially the Chicago accent he’s doing.
— Meh, I can certainly do without the return of the Sally O’Malley. I know this character has her defenders, but she simply does not work for me. Sure, SNL changes the scenery in every Sally O’Malley sketch, unlike with Molly’s similar Helen Madden character, but that’s not enough to make Sally O’Malley funny or less one-note to me. To me, these sketches have always epitomized the decline Molly took as a performer in her later seasons.
— The ending fight scene is kinda entertaining, at least.
STARS: **


TRILOCAINE
Trilocaine treats your dandruff & induces horrific hallucinations

— Very funny how the listed-off side effects quickly go from typical minor things to a very unsettling long description of insane hallucinations.
— I like how this has kind of a Deep Thoughts vibe.
STARS: ****


WHO WANTS TO BE GROPED BY AN ELEVEN THOUSAND-AIRE?
(host) paws (CHK)

— A very funny idea for a parody of FOX’s Who Wants To Marry A Multi-Millionaire show from around this time.
— Yet another great characterization from Ben tonight, who’s redneck performance in this is priceless.
— Funny how the prize is getting groped in the back of a rusted-out Maxima.
— Good bit with Ana regarding an alleged TV show she was in called Showering With Bill.
— After one particular thing Ben says towards Kattan, we get an amusing brief close-up of Kattan mouthing what appears to be “What the fuck?”, which the audience catches.
— Odd how this is the second sketch tonight with Ben sexually assaulting Kattan, after the Mango sketch.
— A pretty funny blooper at the end where Will accidentally trips on the floor when walking over to Cheri and Ana.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A consistently solid episode, and the best episode in a good while. Minus Sally O’Malley, the show had an endless run of good sketches, some of which stood out as great. Even the Mango sketch managed to be decent. Ben Affleck was a very strong host in this first hosting stint of his, immediately showing the chops to become an eventual five-timer.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Julianna Margulies)
a mild step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Joshua Jackson

Posted on

February 12, 2000 – Julianna Margulies / DMX (S25 E12)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

A MESSAGE FROM HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
as Bill (DAH) lingers, wooden Hillary (ANG) Clinton speaks to New Yorkers

— Ana seems to have updated her imitation of Hillary Clinton’s speech pattern, as it sounds more accurate tonight.
— Great turn with Darrell’s Bill Clinton casually walking into the scene in the background, initially being unaware of the video Hillary’s doing, then playing to the cameras behind Hillary after he realizes what’s going on.
— Just now, Darrell’s Clinton began making one of his many walk-ons, but then made a panicked face and quickly jumped out of the shot. I can’t tell if that was an intentional bit or a genuine mistake on Darrell’s part.
— Some good laughs from the listed-off differences between the old and new Hillary.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host’s post-ER project deals with veterinary medicine; Noah Wyle cameo

 

— A funny “E.R.: Special Veterinary Unit” scene involving doctors trying to revive a guinea pig.
— I like how this monologue gets meta, with “audience member” Paula Pell mentioning that she’s not an audience member, but a writer on the show, and that she wrote what saying right now.
— Julianna Margulies’ under-the-breath insults to Paula are pretty funny.
— Good scene with an attempting-to-hide-his-identity Noah Wyle wearing a fake handlebar mustache and speaking in Spanish.
STARS: ***½


LITTER CRITTERS
Rerun from 10/16/99


BIRD FAMILY
(host) learns that her boyfriend’s (CHP) family feeds him mouth-to-mouth

— Here comes a very memorable sketch.
— I like the fake-out early on in this sketch, when Will begins cutting up Parnell’s meat for him, which made the audience think that was going to be the comedic concept of the sketch, judging from their laughter.
— Aaaaaand there goes the REAL comedic concept of the sketch, with the disgusting way Parnell is fed by Will. Absolutely priceless, especially hearing the audience reactions.
— Kudos to the performers for willing to do this.
— This one lady in the audience has a screaming laugh that keeps standing out. You can hear her all throughout tonight’s episode, actually.
— A blooper when Will begins choking on food while in the middle of angrily ranting at Julianna. Will humorously ad-libs “I’m upset!” during his choking. This scene is also another display of Parnell’s excellent skills in keeping a straight face when his scene partners lose it.
— Here’s Kattan doing his usual convincing job of playing a little kid.
— Great part with Kattan asking Julianna to chew his pie for him, resulting in the camera doing dramatic slow zoom-ins on each person while Julianna is contemplating what to do.
— Kattan’s facial expression after Julianna spits pie into his mouth is hilarious. Speaking of that part with Julianna spitting pie into Kattan’s mouth, Julianna kept a straight face just fine during this live version of that part, but in the “That’s When You Break” Digital Short from SNL’s 40th Anniversary Special, they show a clip from the dress rehearsal version of this sketch where Julianna busts out laughing when attempting to spit pie into Kattan’s mouth.
— Great ending freeze-frame on Julianna about to spit pie into Parnell’s mouth.
STARS: *****


E! NEWS DAILY
Donatella Versace (MOS) expounds her theories of fashion

— The tense banter between Will and Cheri is providing good laughs.
— It feels absolutely bizarre in retrospect seeing Donatella Versace being played by anyone other than the soon-to-join-the-cast Maya Rudolph. Molly’s take on Versace is very different from Maya Rudolph’s later version, as Molly’s basically just playing it in a typical Molly Shannon-esque way, only with an accent.
— Funny bit with Julianna’s Elizabeth Hurley wearing a phone receiver on her chest as part of her outfit.
— Elizabeth Hurley, when a phone is heard ringing: “Is that my rack ringing?”
— What was with Molly being heard off-camera saying what sounded like (in her Versace accent) “Come on, they walk like the sexy hookers” when footage of models walking the runway is being shown after Molly’s portion of the sketch ended?
STARS: ***


AUGUSTUS GENERAL
Nadeen recommends that emergency room visitors should “simmer down”

— I found the first installment of this sketch passable, but yeah, not sure I needed to see this become a recurring sketch.
— Cheri’s character already gets some recognition applause from the audience after her opening yell of “Simma dah nah!”, which shows how much the first installment of this sketch resonated with viewers.
— I got a good laugh from Cheri’s engine-revving-type delivery of “Simma dah nah”.
— A very funny disgusting visual of Tracy’s severed hand being in a bag of ice.
— Julianna’s performance is pretty fun.
— Overall, not bad. I liked this better than I thought I would. Let’s hope I’ll also have this tolerant reaction to the third and final installment of this sketch later this season.
STARS: ***


THE CROCODILE HUNTER
Steve (CHK) & Terri (host) Irwin love angry animals

— Hoo, boy. The nature of this sketch is quite odd to watch in retrospect, given the way Steve Irwin would die in real life.
— I’m finding Kattan’s Australian accent as Steve Irwin to be humorously goofy, though I can see it annoying some people.
— Boy, tonight is one gross-out-heavy episode, between the repeated Litter Critters commercial, the Bird Family sketch, Tracy’s severed hand in a bag in the “Simma dah nah” sketch, and now all the stuff happening in this Crocodile Hunter sketch.
— Kinda surprised this sketch ended so early, but that’s probably a good thing. I started to get kinda tired of this towards the end.
STARS: **½


WEEKEND UPDATE
mousey Joy Lipton (CHO) shows Valentine’s Day gifts from the Erotic Attic

— Colin begins this Update by telling the audience “Simma down now”.
— Boy, did Colin botch the tossed salad/Hillary Clinton joke.
— The look and voice of Cheri’s Joy Lipton character kinda feels like a variation of Cheri’s Roberta character.
— Joy Lipton displaying a vibrating hero sandwich is really funny.
— Some laughs from Joy Lipton crouching on the Update desk while displaying an ill-fitting nightgown.
— Wow, it seemed to be a real blooper when Cheri fell backwards onto the floor off the Update desk when trying to get back in her chair. She recovered solidly, however, by immediately getting up and comically saying “It’s okay!”
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Party Up”


ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION
actor (WIF) is humiliated by commercial’s erectile dysfunction theme

— When going on about how Will is the face of erectile dysfunction, I love Parnell’s voice-over harping on Will’s face being all “hang-dog and sad” and having “goofy-ass ears”.
— Horatio often seems to play the boom mic guy in sketches where something is being filmed.
— This sketch is yet another example of SNL getting good mileage out of Parnell’s funny voice-overs. His drooping sound effect used to represent Will’s “droopy ol’ ding-dong” cracked me up.
— Very funny turn with Will’s girlfriend showing up and Will angrily exclaiming “Son of a bitch!” when she tells him the director said Will wanted her here.
— Funny little bit with Tim obnoxiously yelling the last word in his “And action, PEOPLE!” line into Horatio’s face after being told by Horatio that the crew has requested that Tim stop calling them “people”.
— I love how increasingly embarrassing each take of this commercial is for Will, with it now getting to the point where the voice-over gives out Will’s home phone number.
— Will’s high-pitched crying when telling an embarrassing beach sex story is hilarious.
— An excellent sudden reveal of this being a Tootsie Roll commercial, complete with a jolly animation playing on the screen. This sketch should’ve just ended like that. It was unnecessary to follow it with Will asking Tim “This was a Tootsie Roll commercial?” and Tim responding to him that it indeed was, which ended the sketch on a weak and awkwardly-executed note. I’m not 100% sure, but don’t they remove that portion of the ending in the rerun version of this sketch? I could swear I remember the rerun version just ending with the Tootsie Roll animation playing on the screen.
STARS: *****


SAVIN’ IT
girlfriends (host) & (ANG) sexually frustrate (WIF) & (JIF)

 

— Cheri’s face looks even cuter than usual in this sketch.
— Will’s tense actions during the intro shot of him and Julianna is very funny.
— Some laughs from Will and Jimmy’s reaction to Julianna’s suggestive yoga poses.
— Odd in retrospect seeing the part with Will failing in his attempt to demonstrate a yoga move that allows him to give himself fellatio, given that there would be a sketch later this season centered around Will successfully learning a yoga move that gives him the ability to fellate himself. It’s funny to think that Will is possibly playing the same character in both sketches.
— Good turn with Ana being outed as having had sex with someone other than her boyfriend.
— Ana: “I wasn’t sleeping with him! It was in the butt!”
— Funny ending with the wild sudden make-out session between Rachel’s nerd character, Will, and Jimmy.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “What’s My Name”


HOTEL BAR
nerdy Kip (JIF) & Wayne (CHP) Bloater woo (host) but fail to consummate

— The debut of a recurring sketch that’s always been a guilty pleasure of mine. I don’t know why, but the endless corny one-liners from the Bloater Brothers always tickle me more than I assume they do other viewers.
— Good turn with the Bloater Brothers getting uncomfortable and speechless when Julianna actually offers to bring them upstairs to her hotel room.
STARS: ***½


PRICELINE.COM
priceline.com satisfies William Shatner’s (DAH) need to haggle

— Meh, Darrell’s William Shatner impression isn’t much to write home about. Not one of Darrell’s more accurate impressions.
— Why parody Shatner’s priceline.com ads, which are already tongue-in-cheek? This spoof isn’t much sillier than a typical one of those ads.
STARS: **


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty good episode. Two classic sketches (Erectile Dysfunction and Bird Family) and a lot of pretty good stuff, making this overall episode feel like somewhat of a return to form for this season after a long string of unmemorable episodes. Julianna Margulies was a pretty solid host.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Alan Cumming)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Ben Affleck makes his hosting debut

Posted on

February 5, 2000 – Alan Cumming / Jennifer Lopez (S25 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

BREAKFAST IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
presidential candidates have breakfast after the New Hampshire primary

— Darrell’s Al Gore impression, still in its early stages, is slowly starting to sound like how it would famously go on to later sound, though it’s still got a way to go.
— Will’s George W. Bush impression, on the other hand, remains not even close. His Bush continues to not have any of the specific Bush mannerisms that his impression would later become famous for. All that being said, his Bush portrayal in this cold opening is still funny, and they are at least introducing hints of the soon-to-be-famous aspect of his Bush being “slow”.
— Funny bit about Parnell’s John McCain only being comfortable eating with a blindfold.
— Good to see Tim’s Marvin The Martian-sounding Alan Keyes impression for the first time since way back in season 21’s Tom Arnold episode.
— I love Tim’s Keyes panickedly bolting out of the room when Parnell’s McCain realizes Keyes stole his copy of USA Today.
— The ending of this cold opening would later be replaced in reruns with the dress rehearsal version. The most noticeable difference is Parnell’s “Live From New York…” delivery: in the live version, he delivers it in a frenzied way with a smile, whereas in the dress version, he delivers it in a sort-of scared manner with a surprised look on his face.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— After sounding awful in the last episode, Don Pardo is out tonight with, I believe, laryngitis. Darrell Hammond fills in for him once again. Darrell seems to be going for a Don Pardo impression in his announcements tonight, but it’s not as defined as the Pardo impression he did in the preceding season’s James Van Der Beek episode.


MONOLOGUE
host is besieged by Broadway-wannabes CHO, CHK, ANG, CHP, TRM, WIF

— I can tell I’m not going to be too crazy about this Broadway-centric monologue, but hopefully, the performances will make this somewhat fun.
— A good laugh from Alan Cumming’s “Cumming on Cumming” joke.
— Parnell entering in a Phantom Of The Opera mask is fairly funny.
— Tracy dancing around in a Cats costume is hilarious.
STARS: **½


UNCLE JEMIMA’S PURE MASH LIQUOR
Uncle Jemima’s (TRM) Pure Mash Liquor is his bid to escape wife’s shadow

— Tracy’s performance as Uncle Jemima is slaying me. He is fantastic in this.
— Uncle Jemima, on something he once told Aunt Jemima: “Black folk ain’t exactly swellin’ up with pride on account of you flippin’ flapjacks.”
— Uncle Jemima: “Uncle Jemima’s Pure Mash Liquor has a 95% alcohol content, and that’s per volume.” Tim: “What the hell does that mean?” Uncle Jemima: “That means you get (bleep)ed up for less money.”
— Tim’s “What’choo swattin’ at?!?” is perfect.
— Solid ending with Tracy being chased out of the commercial by the animated birds flying around him.
— Overall, a Tracy Morgan classic, with some nice assistance from Tim.
STARS: *****


FRIED CHICKEN FIELDS FOREVER
VH-1 depicts John Lennon (JIF) & Paul McCartney (host) as restauranteurs

— Funny reveal of Lennon and McCartney opening a chain of fried chicken restaurants, as the filmmakers’ way of working around the network not having rights to any of the Beatles’ music.
— Not much of an attempt at a Paul McCartney impression from Alan.
— The “Number 9? Number 9? Number 9?” scene is very funny.
— At the end of the aforementioned “Number 9?” scene, you can hear a female stagehand’s voice (probably the stage manager) whispering “Alan, you can change!”
— What the heck is going on? The timing in this sketch has gotten really wonky all of a sudden. Alan and Jimmy are badly off on their cues. In fact, I’m pretty sure Alan completely screwed up the quick scene he did in which he pushes a mop & bucket while making some kind of complaint about about the “ladies’ crapper”; he seemed to do that scene much earlier than he was supposed to. Yikes!
— Parnell’s occasional off-camera angry yelling at Lennon and McCartney is cracking me up.
— Funny ending regarding the altered title of the movie.
— Overall, not a bad script, but the execution needed some work. Thankfully, the timing issues in this sketch would later be fixed in reruns.
STARS: **½


TANDEM HEARTS
Marty & Bobby perform a medley with couples workshop organizer (host)

— Alan’s American accent here is making me laugh.
— The Culps’ pre-song banter is funny as usual.
— After the last Culps installment with Dylan McDermott, it now seems to be becoming a regular thing for hosts to join the Culps in their song medley.
— Like McDermott, Alan is adding a fun vibe to the medley, though he’s not quite as funny as McDermott was in his Culps sketch.
— The funniest parts of tonight’s Culps/Cumming song medley are their singing of Limp Bizkit’s “Nookie” and the “You’re the One That I Want” song from Grease.
STARS: ***½


DOG SHOW
an intervention addresses Mr. Bojangles’ drinking problem

— I got a laugh from how we’re told that Mr. Bojangles isn’t dressed in his proper costume because he got wasted at a friend’s birthday party.
— For some reason, Alan’s delivery here is kinda reminding me of Eric Idle. I like that.
— Will, speaking for Mr. Bojangles: “Can I just say one thing, or is this Russia?”
— Overall, slightly better than the last two Dog Show installments, but I still feel these Dog Show sketches have lost their luster after the first two installments.
STARS: **½


THE HEAT IS ON
by Adam McKay- (BES) regrets bedding Glenn Frey (WIF)

 

— Hmm, “SNL Studios presents: A short film by Adam McKay”. Well… this is certainly different for this SNL era.
— As if the sudden appearance of an Adam McKay short film wasn’t out-of-left-field enough, we now see that this film randomly stars Ben Stiller.
— An interesting thing about Ben Stiller in this film is that the reason he quit SNL during his stint as a featured player in season 14 is reportedly because he was upset that SNL wouldn’t let him do short films on the show. 11 years later, and this Adam McKay film kinda makes up for that in a way, even if that’s unintentional on McKay’s part.
— Ben Stiller: “Come tomorrow morning, I’m gonna have Glenn Frey’s stank all over me.”
— Will’s cocky portrayal of Glenn Frey is very funny.
— I can let the tired “men kissing men for cheap laughs” trope slide in this film, because Will is freakin’ hilarious during this bizarre kissing sequence.
— The love-making montage is priceless, especially the close-up of Will’s Frey furiously grunting in a disturbing manner (the third-to-last above screencap for this film).
— Unlike most SNL short films, we actually get ending credits in this one, listing the actors and production staff.
— Overall, a hilarious film, and a solid introduction to the film work that Adam McKay will be doing on SNL this next season-and-a-half.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Feelin’ So Good”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Great Moments in Black History- TRM offers an autobiography
Bill Clinton (DAH) says “my successor will be boring; you’ll miss me”

 

— Colin’s voice is cracking at times during this Update, which he eventually points out.
— An interesting-seeming Black History segment with Tracy, taking place on a different set.
— I love seeing a childhood picture of Tracy (the fifth above screencap for this Update).
— Tracy is quite stumbly throughout this commentary.
— An overall decent Tracy commentary with a few really good laughs, but the commentary felt like it should’ve gone further.
— A big laugh from Darrell’s President Clinton asking “You’re gonna miss me, aren’t you?” after going on about how overly straitlaced and well-behaved the next president is going to be. (Turns out that prediction would end up being off by only one presidency. “Overly straitlaced” and “well-behaved” would describe Obama more than Bush Jr.)
— The premise of this Clinton commentary is starting to feel a little like a rehash of the cold opening Darrell’s Clinton did earlier this season in the Christina Ricci episode, but he’s making this a lot of fun.
— Clinton’s promises of the wild things he’ll do for the remainder of his presidency are very funny.
STARS: **½


SIEGFRIED AND ROY’S NIGHT OF 1000 TIGERS
Siegfried (host) & Roy’s (CHK) Night of 1000 Tigers is a wildlife benefit

— Very funny make-up on Cheri as the famous cat-looking woman.
— A few minutes later into this sketch, and this sketch hasn’t been doing much for me.
— I love Alan’s ad-lib when the smoke blocks his view of the cue cards.
STARS: **


HELLO DOLLY
(host)’s collectible creations are a vehicle for psychoses

— I like Ana’s passing mention of her marriage being ruined by “Hurricane Carol”.
— Funny line from Alan, regarding him being a “knock-kneed scab-picker” in his childhood.
— Another funny line from Alan, telling critics of his Husky Doodle doll, “I’d just like to spray you down with a little can of hush.”
— An overall okay Hello Dolly sketch, though I’m starting to get a little tired of Ana’s character’s constant mentions of troubled things in her life.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Waiting For Tonight”


BAND SHOT

— The show comes back from commercial just to show the SNL Band immediately playing the show back to commercial. As I said in my review of season 21’s Christopher Walken episode, that’s always a sign that the show has run long and had to cut a scheduled sketch at the last minute.


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty unmemorable episode. A few highlights, but I wasn’t too crazy about the show as a whole, and I’m having a hard time remembering a lot of sketches even right after having just watched this episode. Alan Cumming was a pretty fun and solid host, and had an English-type wit about him. I just wish he was given better material.
— This season’s been having a bit of a forgettable run of episodes lately. The Jennifer Aniston episode from all the way back in November was the last episode I was crazy about.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Freddie Prinze Jr.)
a very slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Julianna Margulies

Posted on

January 15, 2000 – Freddie Prinze Jr. / Macy Gray (S25 E10)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

NBC SPECIAL REPORT
at a press conference, Elian Gonzalez (CHK) badmouths the USA

— Boy, this season sure feels like it’s had a lot of NBC Special Report cold openings that begin with Parnell’s Tom Brokaw.
— Funny initial visual of Kattan’s Elian Gonzalez being carried into the scene.
— Elian’s slams on Miami are funny.
— A lot of Elian’s lines have been getting a pretty lukewarm audience reaction so far.
— Not sure we needed this cold opening to turn into a song.
STARS: **½


OPENING MONTAGE
— Don Pardo must be feeling ill, as he sounds awful tonight. His voice is hoarse and has no energy, making him sound half-asleep. His announcements in tonight’s episode would later be replaced in reruns with announcements where he sounds like his usual self.


MONOLOGUE
flu-ravaged cast may necessitate cancellation of host’s SNL episode

— Interesting monologue premise of everyone having the flu. When Freddie Prinze Jr. mentioned who at SNL is sick, I wish he mentioned Don Pardo, considering how bad Don legitimately sounded in the opening montage.
— When Lorne says they’re gonna have to replace tonight’s episode with The Best of Rob Schneider, I love Tim stopping mid-drink to yell “No!”, which is funny when you remember that Tim used to be castmates with Rob Schneider.
— A good laugh from the rectal thermometer bit with Cheri and Will.
— A hilarious bit with Tracy listing his STD symptoms as flu symptoms, then angrily exclaiming “DAMN!” when being corrected by Freddie.
STARS: ****


COLONEL BELMONT’S OLD FASHIONED HORSE GLUE
Colonel Belmont’s Old Fashioned Horse Glue has no artificial ingredients

— Ehh, not too sure about this premise. Will’s solid delivery is helping to elevate this iffy material.
— I like the quick shot of Parnell passing by the camera with a wheelbarrow of horse hooves while saying “Horse comin’ through!”
STARS: **½


WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE
contestant (WIF) quits after winning $100

— SNL would later replace this sketch with the dress rehearsal version. In that version, Will wears a wig, whereas he has his real hair in the live version I’m currently reviewing of this sketch.
— Solid turn with Will foolishly calling it quits early after winning $100 from the first question, resulting in him getting booed off the set.
— Overall, short and sweet. The fact that they surprisingly concluded this sketch so early after such a big set-up is what made this so funny.
STARS: ***½


BOY BAND BLOWOUT 2000
(host) is the new lead singer of 7 Degrees Celsius

— The 7 Degrees Celsius sketch now becomes recurring, an exact year after it debuted in the second January episode from the preceding season.
— Parnell’s delivery in these 7 Degrees Celsius sketches always makes me laugh.
— Like the first installment of this sketch, this sketch is a spot-on parody of boy bands from this era, but tonight’s installment is lacking what I loved in the first installment.
— Wow, the audience is absolutely DEAD during the Ana/Cheri portions of this sketch, despite the fact that Ana and Cheri have several lines designed to get laughs.
— Funny visual of Parnell dragging around a giant computer mouse during the band’s AOL song.
— Also during the AOL song, I love Jimmy making internet dial-up sounds with his mouth.
— Good ending with Horatio’s son appearing.
— Hey, why didn’t this overall sketch have the manager character, played by Will? He usually steals these 7 Degrees Celsius sketches.
— Overall, some laughs here, but as a whole, 7 Degrees Celsius doesn’t work as a recurring sketch.
STARS: **½


JENNY CRAIG
Monica Lewinsky (MOS) likes the phallic dishes possible with Jenny Craig

— A pretty obvious and one-joke premise of Molly’s Monica Lewinsky liking phallic-looking meals.
— Overall, meh, this didn’t do much for me, which makes tonight’s episode 0-for-2 in pre-taped commercials that work for me.
STARS: **


MODELS
ugly models (RAD) & (CHO) have high self-esteem; Angie Everhart cameo

— Jimmy’s delivery of the word “mofo” was worth a laugh.
— Jimmy’s character mentions having a sister named Gloria, which seems to be an inside reference, as Jimmy actually does have a sister named Gloria in real life.
— I got another laugh from Jimmy, this time with him going through the trouble of getting his drink just so he could do a very delayed spit-take in response to finding out about the two ugly models.
— Funny reveal of Rachel and Cheri’s model characters being models for the “before” pictures in before/after ads.
— Random Angie Everhart cameo. And geez, she entered to COMPLETE SILENCE from the audience. They gave her entrance absolutely NO response. In fact, they’ve been quiet during this sketch in general, which is the third time I’ve made that observation in this episode review so far. What’s going on with tonight’s episode?
— I like Freddie asking “Is it a Sandra Bernhard thing?” when trying to figure out the ugly models’ hotness.
— Overall, some laughs, but a somewhat forgettable sketch as a whole.
STARS: **½


THE SOPRANOS
television critics offer gushing quotes in praise of The Sopranos

— The increasingly hyperbolic Sopranos newspaper/magazine reviews are a riot.
— One review: “Compared to the guy who created The Sopranos, Michelangelo is a douche bag.”
— Parnell’s always-great voice-over work is making the already-hilarious dialogue he’s reading come off even funnier.
— Parnell, in his reading-off of one particular review: “’Ohh….ughh…ohhhh…Sopranos!’ ejaculates Robert Conner of Entertainment Weekly.”
STARS: ****½


DOCTOR’S OFFICE
irresponsible Dr. Beaman (WIF) tells (CHP) & (MOS) about their baby

— Ah, here’s an absolute all-time favorite of mine.
— The first half of this sketch (up until the part where Dr. Steven Poop enters) would later be replaced in reruns with the dress rehearsal version, which is probably the version of this sketch that most people are familiar with today. The most noticeable difference between the live and dress versions of the first half of this sketch is the opening phone conversation that Will’s character has. In the live version I’m currently watching, the phone conversation concerns a baseball that Will accidentally left inside of a patient he operated on. In the dress version, the phone conversation Will has is with his wife and concerns him denying to her that there’s anyone there named Mark and having her prove she’s his wife by asking her what their cat’s name is.
— I absolutely love how Rachel’s playing the same character she just played mere minutes ago in the Models sketch. A huge rarity for sketches to overlap like that within a single SNL episode. Unfortunately, the joke of Rachel reprising her Models character in this sketch would later be lost in Comedy Central’s 60-minute version of this episode, as they cut out the Models sketch but leave in this doctor sketch, thus causing viewers to not be aware that Rachel’s character in this doctor sketch was intended as a callback to an earlier sketch. Even without that knowledge, though, her character still works in this sketch.
— Will, to the person he’s talking to on the phone: “His (Parnell) big, sweaty, fat face, sucking in air like a dying fish. Between you and me, I’d like to stomp on his head till my foot’s covered in brains.”
— Will, to Parnell and Molly: “Your father may never again have what we call a human face.”
— I love how ,when trying to find the first names of Molly and Parnell’s Framingham couple, Will guesses at one point “Funk and Blowfish Framingham?”
— Will, to Parnell, in regards to Parnell’s wife, who’s Caucasian: “Tell that Asian wife of yours to shut up too!” I am absolutely loving the completely random humor all throughout this sketch.
— Man, once again tonight, most of the audience is absolutely dead during this sketch. Is tonight’s audience sleeping their way through tonight’s whole show? The dress rehearsal version of the first half of this sketch that’s shown in reruns has a more responsive audience.
— A particularly classic portion of this sketch with Tim entering as Dr. Steven Poop, telling Parnell and Molly that there’s nothing he can do for their lost baby, then doing the robot and then telling them “That’ll be $5,000. Good day to you both.” In the dress rehearsal version of this sketch, Dr. Poop was played by Freddie Prinze Jr. Thank god they gave Tim the role for the live show, as there is NO WAY IN HELL Freddie Prinze Jr. made the role anywhere near as funny as Tim did.
— When Tim makes his exit after doing the robot, Will and (especially) Molly both memorably lose it and crack up out of character. This is understandable when you’re aware of the aforementioned last-minute casting change for the role of Dr. Poop, thus meaning that none of Tim’s scene partners in this sketch witnessed him doing the robot before this sketch went on air. Parnell is the only performer in the scene right now who’s still staying completely in character and isn’t breaking, making this the very first sketch that SNL fans would take notice of Parnell’s admirable Phil Hartman-like ability to stay in character and keep a sketch afloat even when others around him are breaking.
— Parnell: “You vondruke!” Will: “Is that an actual curse word???”
— The audience has gotten a lot more responsive in the second half of this sketch, after Will and Molly’s character break woke them up.
— Great turn with Parnell inexplicably letting Will’s loss of their baby slide and then sleazily telling Molly “Now let’s start makin’ another one.”
— I love how even the ending of this sketch is bizarre and nonsensical, with Will’s exaggerated “Thank god”, “Yikes!”, and “That was rooouuuugh!” while taking long pauses in between each of those lines.
— Overall, this sketch was an absolute absurd masterpiece.
STARS: *****


CHARLIE ROSE
Ricky Martin (CHK) & Enrique Iglesias (host)

— Good Charlie Rose impression from Darrell.
— An initial laugh from the exaggerated hair on Kattan’s Ricky Martin.
— I like how out-of-place it is seeing Darrell’s Charlie Rose interviewing and admiring two young Latin singing sensations.
— Charlie Rose, to Enrique Iglesias: “Your debut album sold over 6 million copies. What’s with the mole?”
— This is Freddie’s first performance all night that has gotten anywhere close to a laugh from me. I’ll also give credit to him for managing to keep a straight face during all of Kattan’s wild gestures and facial expressions while sitting right next to him.
— Charlie Rose, to Enrique Iglesias: “Your music makes me wanna take my clothes off and dance in the rain.” That funny line now kinda takes on a bit of a different meaning in light of shady things we now know about the real Charlie Rose.
— The Ricky/Enrique portions of this sketch are starting to run out of steam for me. Not even Enrique’s punch to Ricky’s face made me laugh much (though I remember finding it hilarious when I first saw this sketch as a teenager). Darrell’s Charlie Rose has been the only thing left that’s still making me laugh in this sketch.
STARS: **½


WEEKEND UPDATE
a la Catherine Zeta-Jones, CHO announces she’s engaged to a 4 year-old

— Colin continues his bad habit of muttering unnecessary ad-libs after his news jokes, some of which ruin the occasional news jokes of his that actually make me laugh.
— Colin sounds slightly low-energy tonight, which fits the oddly low-energy feel of tonight’s episode in general.
— Cheri’s commentary about dating a 4-year-old actor has its charm, though I’m not laughing all that much.
— Update is over already? This Update felt unusually short.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Try”


GIFFORD HOME
(host) beholds domestic strife of Frank (DAH) & Kathie Lee (CHO) Gifford

— I love Darrell’s Frank Gifford occasionally entering the room and saying bitter one-liners in his professional announcer’s voice.
— A few minutes later into this sketch, and Darrell has been providing my ONLY real laughs in this whole sketch (kinda like the Charlie Rose sketch earlier tonight). Cheri-as-Kathie-Lee-Gifford’s constant ranting and flirting with Freddie aren’t doing much for me.
— Okay, Cheri’s Kathie Lee finally got a laugh from me, with her line “I swear, if I wasn’t a born-again Christian Jew…”
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Why Didn’t You Call Me”


FLACKO AND TEDDY’S WORLD OF MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY TREES
(TRM) & (host) sell dried-up Christmas trees as important MLK Day icons

— Much like with the “Is It Date Rape?” sketch from season 19’s Shannen Doherty episode, the opening background music for this sketch is the theme music from the 1967 version of Casino Royale. This same theme music would later memorably be used in a classic Will Forte dancing coach sketch with Peyton Manning.
— Funny concept of selling dried-up Christmas trees as Martin Luther King Day trees.
— A laugh from the badly-doctored photo of Martin Luther King with an MLK Day tree.
— Tracy: “In the words of Dr. King himself: I have a dream, blah blah blah, buy one of those trees from these two guys on TV.”
— Tracy’s a natural in this sketch. Freddie, on the other hand, ehh. While I appreciate that Freddie’s going for an actual characterization (which is more than I can say for most of his performances tonight), his delivery here has a vibe of trying too hard.
— SNL would attempt a second installment of this sketch two seasons later in a Gwyneth Paltrow-hosted episode, with then-newbie Dean Edwards replacing Freddie Prinze Jr.’s Flacko character as a new character named Rufus, but the sketch would end up getting cut after dress rehearsal. (I forget what Tracy and Dean’s characters were selling in that installment of this sketch.) The writers of that cut sketch seemed to mistakenly think that Tracy played Flacko in the first installment of this sketch, as the cut second installment had Tracy’s character named Flacko instead of Teddy.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

— Nice touch with having the camera show an MLK Day tree placed next to the stage (the second above screencap for these goodnights).

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty weak episode, and the first episode in a LONG time that I’ve felt negatively about (the first one since all the way back in season 23, to be more precise). While there were a few particularly great things like Doctor’s Office and The Sopranos, they were far outnumbered by things that were underwhelming. This episode as a whole felt a bit off, especially how several portions of the show had a weird low-energy vibe and a dead audience, the latter of which is quite a contrast from the loud, rowdy, energetic audience in just the last episode, with Jamie Foxx.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jamie Foxx)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Alan Cumming

Posted on

January 8, 2000 – Jamie Foxx / Blink-182 (S25 E9)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

HILLARY MOVES OUT
Bill (DAH) pays little attention as Hillary (ANG) Clinton moves out

— This cold opening immediately starts off with a funny line, with Ana’s Hillary Clinton asking Darrell’s Bill to get off his fat ass and help her.
— Some funny barbs between Bill and Hillary.
— After Will’s Vladmir Putin says he’s getting rid of Boris Yeltsin’s things, we get a funny reveal of Yeltsin’s things just being a whole bunch of empty liquor bottles.
— Vladmir Putin, on Mikhail Gorbachev’s son, Mikhail W. Gorbachev: “The Russian people aren’t stupid enough to vote for someone just because he has his dad’s name.” Bill Clinton: “The American people are.”
— I like the cutaway to Hillary’s “Oh, really?” facial expression after Bill says on the phone “I don’t think people should do something that’s wrong just because it makes them feel good.”
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
Oliver Stone (WIF) repeatedly interrupts host with extraneous directions

— A lot of energetic Jamie Foxx fans in the audience tonight.
— Will is funny as Oliver Stone.
— The stand-up portions of this monologue with Jamie are strong enough on their own without the constant interruptions from Will, even if Will is funny here. Jamie’s certainly funny enough to carry his own stand-up monologue.
— Kattan’s Al Pacino is having me in stitches. Jamie seems genuinely amused by him too, as he’s noticeably trying to hide his laughter. Crazy make-up on Kattan’s Pacino, by the way. I recall an SNL fan once saying that Kattan’s Pacino in this monologue resembled a caveman more than it resembled Pacino.
STARS: ***½


HAMBURGER HELPER ANTIBACTERIAL
blue goo restores old meat to edibility

— It can never be said enough how great Parnell always is at playing commercial spokesmen.
— A pretty funny disgusting visual of some kind of blue antibacterial goo being mixed into the hamburger meat.
— Ana, on how Hamburger Helper Antibacterial tastes: “It stings a little at first… but then it’s good!”
STARS: ***


COUPLES COUNSELING
Jennifer Lopez (CHO) & armed Puff Daddy (host) seek relationship advice

— After playing Mariah Carey several times in the past, I guess it makes sense that Cheri would now be cast as Jennifer Lopez.
— The aforementioned Jamie Foxx fans in the audience are particularly loud during this sketch.
— Jamie’s Puff Daddy impression is cracking me up.
— Very funny line from Cheri’s J.Lo, about how she won the MTV video award for “Best new ass”.
— Good part with Tim responding to Puff Daddy throwing money at him by saying “That is not going to solve your problem, but I do like it.”
— When Cheri’s J.Lo breathes with her butt, Jamie cracks up out of character and tries to hide it, for the second time tonight.
— Hilarious part with Puff Daddy playing the background music from, I think, Sting’s “Every Step You Take” on a radio while dancing around the room and trying to give J.Lo heartfelt words.
STARS: ***½


PILLOW TALK
(WIF) engages cellmate (host) in pillow talk- “Am I still your bitch?”

— A good laugh from the turn early in this sketch with Will asking Jamie “Am I still your bitch?”
— After Tim’s deep-voiced character first speaks, Jamie tells him “Love your voice, man”, which is an ad-lib. SNL would later replace this sketch with the dress rehearsal version in reruns, which doesn’t contain that ad-lib of Jamie’s.
— After a funny start, this sketch has been pretty much just washing right over me these last few minutes. I haven’t laughed in this for a while. This sketch kinda feels like an excuse to say “bitch” a whole bunch of times, which lost its novelty early on in this sketch.
— Okay, I finally got a laugh again, from Jamie’s delivery of “…till I kill yo ass” while having a sinister smile on his face.
STARS: **


A MESSAGE FROM JOHN GOODMAN
plastic surgery won’t affect how John Goodman [real] portrays Linda Tripp

— John Goodman! I’m surprised that this is his first cameo all season, after his plethora of cameos in the preceding season.
— Funny bit with Don Pardo introducing John as “former cast member John Goodman”. When John then corrects Don, Don humorously responds “Good lord, you sure do hang out a lot for a guy who doesn’t work here.”
— Good fake-out with John claiming he’s retiring his Linda Tripp impression, only to obnoxiously reveal that he’s just kidding.
— John’s goofiness at the end is pretty funny.
STARS: ***


NICK BURNS, YOUR COMPANY’S COMPUTER GUY
during a software upgrade, (host) challenges Nick Burns’ tech preeminence

— Nick Burns officially becomes recurring.
— Nick Burns, on the complicated computer help he’s giving: “They teach this type of stuff on Blues Clues.”
— The Jamie Foxx fans in the audience go “Ohhhhh!” when Nick Burns makes a fat joke about Horatio.
— Jamie one-upping Nick Burns is a pretty solid premise.
— Ha, now a Jamie Foxx fan in the audience yells “YEAH, JAMIE!” after one of the times Jamie one-ups Nick.
— I like how western showdown music has now begun playing during Nick and Jamie’s tense confrontation.
STARS: ***½


BACKSTAGE
TRM tells host he’s happy to have another black guy at SNL to hang with

— SNL does a follow-up to a classic piece from the Garth Brooks episode earlier this season.
— Tracy, to Jamie: “We only get one black host a year. It was either gonna be you or Alan Keyes.”
— Tracy going on about how he cracks up every time he sees Lorne is really funny.
— Tracy reprises his great one-liner “Get me a soda…. BITCH!” to Lorne. While I still laughed, this was nowhere near as funny as the first utterance of that one-liner earlier this season. Plus, tonight’s utterance didn’t have the great build-up that the first one had. In tonight’s sketch, Tracy just flat-out said the line practically as soon as Lorne showed up. That’s not as funny.
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE
his sight restored, Stevie Wonder (host) is shocked by his own appearance
cartoonist Jasper Hahn’s (HOS) drawings are naughty when half-finished
John Rocker’s (WIF) supposed message of peace turns into a racist tirade

— Boy, did Colin mush-mouth his way through his first joke, even moreso than usual. Only half a season left, folks, until we get a much-needed change of Update anchors.
— It feels like a nice rarity seeing a host doing an Update commentary.
— Rachel makes her only appearance of tonight’s entire episode in a silent bit role as Stevie Wonder’s helper. You’d figure the lack of Molly Shannon tonight would’ve opened up more roles for Rachel. (Molly is completely absent in tonight’s entire episode, and unlike the last time that happened, we don’t get a re-aired season 23 commercial to make up for her absence, either.)
— Jamie is very funny as Stevie Wonder.
— Jamie-as-Stevie’s horrified reactions as soon as he sees what he and his wife (Tracy in drag) look like are a freakin’ riot. He is slaying me in this.
— Some of Colin’s jokes are getting a VERY rowdy, uproarious audience reaction (especially as soon as Linda Tripp’s photo showed up on the Update news screen). The Jamie Foxx fans in the audience strike once again, I take it?
— Horatio’s Jasper Hahn character makes his debut. He looks a lot different in this initial appearance, as Horatio’s not wearing the bushy wig nor the mustache that he would wear in subsequent Jasper Hahn appearances.
— A good laugh from Jasper Hahn initially drawing Floppy The Dog as a naked woman’s body.
— When making a drawing of a moose that initially resembles a penis and testicles, I love Jasper’s unintentional double entendre of how much the moose “likes to go deep in the forest”.
— I like how the audience boos as soon as John Rocker’s picture shows up on the Update news screen.
— Ha, and now Will has shown up as John Rocker. Tonight’s loud, rowdy, energetic audience is perfect for this commentary, which is intended to rile the audience up.
— Will’s characterization of Rocker is freakin’ PRICELESS, and is making Rocker look like the bigoted moron he is. This Update commentary is very daring, so much so that something like it would probably never see the light of day in a modern-day SNL episode, especially not with the various slurs Will’s Rocker is yelling.
— John Rocker: “I eat rat poison cuz I can’t read the box!”
— I like Will’s Rocker ending his commentary with “Help me, Daddy! I’ll suck your peepee!”
— Overall, a bit of a better Update than usual for the Colin Quinn era. I wonder if tonight’s rowdy audience heightened my enjoyment compared to Colin’s usual Updates.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “All The Small Things”


SHOWTIME AT THE APOLLO
lame acts compete for audience acclaim

— Cheri’s raunchy song is cracking me up.
— Jamie’s character is odd but funny.
— Not sure what else to say about this overall sketch. It felt a little like it was lacking a point or a real comedic throughline, but it entertained me enough, I guess.
STARS: ***


STEREOTYPICALLY JEFFREY
(HOS) takes heat for pigeonholing stereotypically-black co-worker (TRM)

— A rare big night for Tracy. Kinda sad that the only times he seems to get a significant amount of airtime in these early seasons of his is when SNL has a black host.
— Parnell’s embarrassing mannequin story was a good start to this sketch.
— In addition to Tracy, Horatio has also been having a rare big night. Until tonight’s episode, his airtime seemed to be diminishing lately.
— I love how Jamie’s defense of Tracy slowly turns into him listing off a whole bunch of horribly stereotypical things about him.
— Parnell: “I’m a white guy and I liked to sleep in a Batman costume and expose myself to tollbooth operators. Does that mean all white people do that?”
— Horatio, when being humbled after getting called out on his racism towards Tracy’s character: “We can ride my burro over to my adobe hut and have tacos with Pepe and the other 50 guys who hang out in his hatchback.”
— Tracy coming back to the office to steal a laptop was probably a cheap ending, but made me laugh anyway, just because of how well Tracy sold it.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “What’s My Age Again?”


A MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY MOMENT
Martin Luther King Jr.’s (host) initial dream was mundane & recurring

— There goes Tracy once again tonight.
— Jamie even manages to make a Martin Luther King impression funny.
— Jamie’s MLK describing his bizarre, irrelevant dream in his usual powerful voice is fairly funny.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A decent episode, though barely anything stood out as great (which has become a trend these last few episodes). I do kinda like how the focus on racial humor and urban comedy, along with the loud, rowdy audience, gave this episode a different feel from other episodes in this era. Like other former In Living Color cast members who have hosted SNL, Jamie Foxx’s sketch comedy experience came in handy here and played a part in making him a fun host.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Danny DeVito)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Freddie Prinze Jr.

Posted on

December 11, 1999 – Danny DeVito / R.E.M. (S25 E8)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

NBC SPECIAL REPORT
Arnold Schwarzenegger (DAH) says the world will be unaffected by Y2k

— The debut of Darrell’s Arnold Schwarzenegger impression.
— I’m finding Darrell’s Arnold impression better here than it would later be. Even though it’s still not all that spot-on here, his impression is a lot funnier to me than his later version.
— Some laughs from the odd things Darrell’s Arnold says are going to be the same when the new millennium enters.
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— After mysteriously not appearing in the last episode’s opening montage, the 25th anniversary SNL logo and Jimmy Fallon’s season 25 opening montage photo is back. However, Chris Kattan’s opening montage photo hasn’t been changed back to the season 25 version, though it eventually would.
— A noteworthy Don Pardo blooper, in which he accidentally announces the SNL Band as “Musical guest R.E.M.”. Then when R.E.M.’s picture shows up afterwards, Pardo pauses silently when realizing his mistake and then awkwardly just says “R.E.M.”. Then when Danny DeVito’s picture shows up afterwards, Pardo again pauses silently and then says kinda half-heartedly “Your host Danny DeVito”, without preceding “your host” with the usual “and”. SNL would later fix all of these mistakes in reruns.


MONOLOGUE
host is sprayed with apple after receiving Mr. Peepers as a gift

— Great to see Danny DeVito hosting for the first (and what would end up being only) time in this era.
— Danny mentions that this is his fifth time hosting, and that he’s joined “The Five Club”, as he calls it. Someone at SNL didn’t do their research, as this is actually Danny’s SIXTH time hosting, not fifth. Some people have a theory that SNL isn’t counting Danny’s season 9 episode, because he didn’t host it alone – Rhea Perlman co-hosted with him. However, I think it’s a real stretch that SNL wouldn’t count that. Co-hosting the show with someone else still counts as hosting. After all, Alec Baldwin’s fifth hosting stint had him mention in passing in his monologue that it was his fifth time hosting, which means they were counting his fourth episode, in which he co-hosted with Kim Basinger.
— I like how Danny’s making a big deal about how he’s the last guy in the millennium to host SNL.
— Will, on the gift SNL is giving to Danny: “We asked Lorne to chip in, but he refused.”
— They waste the prestigious so-called final monologue of the millennium on a Mr. Peepers bit??? And right after we just saw him a mere two episodes ago?
— I got a laugh from Mr. Peepers ripping right through the winter backdrop.
— Danny is a blast in this monologue and is helping make this Mr. Peepers bit more tolerable than usual.
— Danny, on this whole Mr. Peepers bit: “Trust me, my kids are at home and they love this, so screw it!” If that’s truly the case, then who am I to argue?
STARS: *** (mainly just for what Danny brought to this)


PRESS CONFERENCE PLAY SET
kids can practice media relations with the Press Conference Play Set

— Ehh, not too sure about this premise, though the execution has its charm at points. However, this commercial feels a little out of place on SNL.
— I laughed at the messy-haired kid at the end who panickedly said “I will no longer be trying new foods.”
STARS: **½


THE DELICIOUS DISH
after Y2k meltdown, chef (host) is permanent guest of Margaret Jo & Terry

— Surprisingly, this is the first time this sketch has appeared in a year. This also ends up being the only installment of this sketch that we’ll be seeing this season.
— A great scenario of Delicious Dish dealing with the apocalyptic aftermath of Y2K.
— I like the passing mention of a roving sex gang.
— Funny line about Danny being Delicious Dish’s only guest in every episode ever since Y2K struck.
— A great dark turn this takes with Danny’s character and his defeated demeanor.
— A good laugh from Molly’s line about spending the night with bikers in exchange for a packet of ketchup, and how Ana immediately changes the subject.
— A hilarious reveal of Danny’s clam chowder having been made out of whiteout and dice.
STARS: ****½


MANGO
Christmas Fairy (Michael Stipe) shows why Mango’s dad (host) rebukes him

 

— Mango continues to be shoved down our throats this season. Oh, and also, do we really need Mr. Peepers AND Mango in the same episode? A certain somebody in the cast needs to come up with some new characters.
— Kattan’s portrayal of Mango seems to be getting increasingly more goofy and animated with each passing appearance this season.
— This feels like the first time in a while we’ve seen Horatio. His airtime has been getting pretty bad these last few episodes. He wasn’t even in any sketches in the preceding Christina Ricci episode.
— I guess it’s fairly interesting seeing Mango’s family.
— Danny’s anger towards Mango is making me laugh.
— Nice inclusion of Michael Stipe as the Christmas Fairy.
— In the black-and-white 1944 scene, I like the detail of Guava’s admirers outside of his dressing room being sailors.
— Funny Jimmy Stewart impression from Jimmy.
— Decent running bit with the occasional references to R.E.M. songs.
— Overall, not too bad for a season 25 Mango sketch, even if I still wasn’t all that crazy about this as a whole.
STARS: **½


METAL SHOP
in shop class, Sully & Denise videotape an interview with teacher (host)

— This sketch officially becomes recurring.
— Jimmy’s Sully character becomes more defined, as this is the first time we see him wearing his traditional Nomar Garciaparra Red Sox jersey.
— The debut of Horatio’s Boston Teens character, Frankie. With this addition, I like that this recurring sketch stars three of the four newer people in the cast (Jimmy, Rachel, and Horatio), giving this recurring sketch a “new SNL generation” feel.
— Sully’s line about getting Denise nipple warmers for a Christmas gift was very funny.
— Horatio’s performance is providing good amusement.
— Funny bit with Danny showing his glass eye to the camera.
STARS: ***½


HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE LADIES’ MAN
Leon Phelps sings “Merry Christmas To The Ladies”

— A nice change of pace for The Ladies Man.
— Fun song from Leon Phelps. I especially like the dirty lyric about licking his candy cane.
— Nice assistance from the two backup dancers.
— Leon: “Santa Claus comes but once a year, whereas yours truly has been known to come a lot more often than that.”
STARS: ***½


TV FUNHOUSE
“Fun With Real Audio” by RBS- intrusive journalists dominated 1999

— I’m getting good laughs from the raunchy direction the opening Barbara Walters scene is going.
— I like how this TV Funhouse is an amalgamation of various big news stories of the year.
— Funny visual of a fat guy loudly chomping on a hoagie in the background of President Clinton’s Early Show interview.
— Wow, a Columbine scene? Even for Robert Smigel’s daring standards, I’m kinda surprised he’s touching Columbine, though the scene is actually pretty tame.
— The Barbara Walters scene now gets even raunchier, with her hilariously bringing out a vibrator that has a replica of her own face on the top of it.
— Overall, some really funny stuff here and there, but in my opinion, Smigel has yet to have a great TV Funhouse so far this season. And why have all of his TV Funhouses this season so far been “Fun With Real Audio”?
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE
ALF & bitter teen Joe Franken [real] introduce the Al Franken Millennium

— I absolutely love that SNL is continuing the 10-year tradition of Al Franken declaring who the upcoming new decade will belong to, with us now seeing a middle-aged Al and teenaged Joe Franken, after the last decade bit they did together on Update 10 years earlier.
— I’m enjoying Joe Franken acting like a typical angsty teen who’s embarrassed of his father.
— Joe Franken, on how viewers don’t care about Al’s decade bit: “They just wanna see Jimmy Fallon, not some sad old guy with a tired bit.” Al’s frozen unhappy stare at Joe afterwards is also great.
— The overall Al/Joe Franken commentary was nice official closure to the traditional Franken decade storyline. Al’s declaration of “The Al Franken Millennium” guarantees that SNL will no longer do 10-year follow-ups on this.
— Funny bit with Colin accidentally pronouncing “dictator” as “dictrader”, and then making an ad-lib towards the audience’s reaction to that.
— The first of many Elian Gonzalez references that we’ll be seeing on SNL this season.
— I’m surprised we went through this entire Update without having a final “The Millennium” segment (a recurring segment they’ve been occasionally doing on Update this season), considering tonight would’ve been their last opportunity to do one. I thought I had remembered there being one more left that I haven’t reviewed yet.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Great Beyond”


ROCKETTES AUDITIONS
50 year-old Sally O’Malley (MOS) tries out for the Rockettes

— The first original, non-recurring sketch all night. Until now, this episode was shaping up to rival season 22’s Rosie O’Donnell episode as an episode comprised entirely of recurring sketches.
— There’s the debut of Sally O’Malley, who, as we know, would eventually become recurring.
— It feels weird calling Sally O’Malley a new character, probably due to her already feeling like a tired character that’s appeared many times before. Maybe that’s because of how Molly’s using basically the same voice she uses for her Helen Madden character, or maybe because of how increasingly one-note Molly has been becoming as a performer in general lately.
— Another fun performance from Danny tonight, who’s giving me my only real amusement in this sketch.
— The one Rockette on the left end of the screen screwed up the ending of the choreographed dance that she and the other Rockettes do in unison when making their entrance.
STARS: **


TRIAL
in court, Mrs. Parker & (host) show motherly love for their hoodlum sons

— After a one-sketch break, we’re back to non-stop recurring characters tonight.
— I like the tense back-and-forth exchanges between Tracy and Danny’s mother characters.
— This ends up going in the same direction as the last installment of this sketch, where Tracy’s character breaks out into a tender song, but I kinda like how the song has become a duet with both Tracy and Danny.
— The ending of this sketch gets awkwardly cut off due to the show starting to run long. There’s still a second R.E.M. musical performance remaining after this sketch, but because of how significant and relevant the particular song that R.E.M.’s about to perform is (“Man On The Moon”, as this is when the Andy Kaufman biopic of the same title was released and featured said R.E.M. song), I guess SNL didn’t want to risk it getting cut short for time, so they instead cut off the ending of this sketch. I believe they would later show this sketch’s full ending in reruns.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Man On The Moon”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An okay Christmas episode. Nothing special to me, and no sketches stood out as particularly great other than Delicious Dish, but I enjoyed the show enough, even with the overload on recurring sketches. Danny DeVito added his always-fun charm and energy to the show, in what unfortunately ends up being his last hosting stint to this day.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Christina Ricci)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
We enter a new decade and century. Jamie Foxx hosts the first SNL of both the 2000s and the 21st century.