Tag: Mick Jagger

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May 19, 2012 – Mick Jagger with Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters, and Jeff Beck (S37 E22)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW
Dooneese pursues Italian singer (Jon Hamm)

— Tonight’s Kristen Wiig Farewell Tour begins with the return of this recurring sketch.
— Ugh, I am so tired of the dumb sexual-related finger jokes this recurring sketch always has Fred’s Lawrence Welk do.
— When this episode originally aired, it wasn’t publicly confirmed beforehand that this was Kristen and Andy’s final episode. We only had rumors to go by. But as soon as I saw Jon Hamm show up as Kristen’s love interest in this cold opening (making this the second consecutive episode he’s cameod in), I knew for certain that this was indeed Kristen’s final episode.
— A funny brief appearance from Kate.
— The woman of the hour, Kristen Wiig, makes her first appearance of the night, to a huge round of applause from the audience.
— Same-old, same-old Dooneese stuff. Jon is at least fun in his performance, though.
— Hmm, Dooneese’s sisters leave early, before the conclusion of the musical number? That’s actually different.
— And now we get another change of pace, with Dooneese actually getting her man for once. For all of my criticisms of this recurring sketch in general, Dooneese getting her man was actually a nice, fitting way to officially end it (before SNL, of course, fails to resist reviving this sketch in Kristen’s season 38 hosting stint and, for some asinine reason, Paul Rudd’s season 39 hosting stint).
STARS: **½


MONOLOGUE
host answers questions that he is frequently asked about his career

— A lot of charm from Mick Jagger in this nicely simplistic, old-school-feeling monologue.
— A nice bit of a variation of the usual “Stick around, we’ll be right back” tagline.
STARS: ***½


SECRET WORD
Mindy Grayson & fey tough-guy actor (host) blab the answers

— Tonight’s Kristen Wiig Farewell Tour continues with another recurring sketch that I will absolutely not miss seeing on a regular basis anymore.
— Bill seems to be giving his Secret Word game show host character a bit of a sillier tone in these past few Secret Word installments, mainly that goofy laugh that he’s added.
— Meh at writers James Anderson & Kent Sublette’s (or is it just Anderson who writes these sketches?) on-brand decision to have Mick’s character be a “closeted” gay actor.
— Ugh, cue all of Kristen-as-Mindy-Grayson’s constant musical numbers.
— Wait, the sketch is already over? Wow, I’m glad they actually kept this installment fairly short, and we only got one musical number from Kristen’s Grayson. Too bad they didn’t attempt to do anything different and special with Grayson to end this final Secret Word installment (before SNL, of course, brings it back in Kristen’s season 42 hosting stint), like they did with Dooneese at the end of the cold opening.
STARS: *½


KARAOKE
Mick Jagger karaoke mimicry wows all insurance conventioneers but (host)

— Well, it’s certainly nice to see an actual original sketch for once tonight.
— A pretty fun Mick Jagger imitation from Fred.
— An obvious conceit with Mick playing against type in this particular sketch about people imitating Mick Jagger’s singing style. There’s at least a pretty fun charm to the execution of this.
— Funny turn with Bobby’s horrible Mick Jagger impression still wowing the crowd.
— Good ending with Mick, while alone in the room, sadly singing a very somber version of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”. Also a nice touch with the screen doing an iris out on him.
STARS: ***½


LAZY SUNDAY 2
CHP & ANS rap about a trip to see the Sister Act musical

— Ah, our final Digital Short during Andy’s SNL tenure.
— The audience goes absolutely WILD when the “Lazy Sunday 2” title shows up onscreen.
— Much like how the Jon Hamm cameo in the cold opening made it official to me back at this time in 2012 that this was indeed Kristen’s final episode, I realized back in 2012 that this was indeed Andy’s final episode right from the decision to have tonight’s Digital Short be a Lazy Sunday sequel.
— Parns!
— This sequel will obviously never top or even match the original Lazy Sunday, but it’s still a fucking blast so far. Much like the original, I am absolutely loving the combo of Andy and Chris’ furious hardcore rapping, the catchy beat, the ridiculous things Andy and Chris are rapping about, and the onscreen graphics & text.
— Ooh, an awesome sudden turn halfway through this short, in which Andy and Chris stop the song and update its beat to sound more 2012-ish.
— Andy, in one lyric: “Still waitin’ on a f(*bleep*)kin’ YouTube check!”
— The final lyric of this short, delivered mostly by Andy: “On these New York streets, I honed my fake rap penmanship, that’s how it began, and that’s how I’mma finish it! (*thrusts arms at the camera before the screen cuts to black while a gunshot sound effect plays*)” I cannot think of a more perfect, epic, and poignant way to close out Andy’s final Digital Short as a cast member. This overall Lazy Sunday sequel was absolutely great, and doubles as a fantastic send-off for Andy.
STARS: ****½


POLITICS NATION WITH AL SHARPTON
Al Sharpton (KET) muddles coverage of economic issues

— Boy, I don’t envy Kenan having such a tough act to follow. Seems like an odd choice to place this Politics Nation sketch IMMEDIATELY after that epic Lazy Sunday 2 short with nothing in between, not even a commercial break.
— More of the same from the previous installment of this sketch earlier this season, with Kenan-as-Al-Sharpton’s constant misreadings and mispronunciations, but it’s still working.
— Some decent back-and-forths between Kenan and Jason.
— A very funny random emphysema line from Kenan’s Sharpton at the end of this.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL GUEST INTRO


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host & Arcade Fire perform “The Last Time”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Stefon’s summer entertainment advice is characteristically off-the-mark

— Stefon’s popularity has now gotten to the point where, while Seth is in the middle of introducing Stefon’s commentary, the audience (who have been very lively all throughout this episode) starts cheering enthusiastically well before Seth even utters Stefon’s name, as they can tell Stefon’s about to appear just by what Seth’s saying early on in the intro.
— This ends up being Stefon’s final appearance before his writer, John Mulaney, leaves SNL. Stefon does continue making appearances the following season (Bill’s final season), but it’s a noticeably much smaller number of appearances, all of which require Mulaney to come back to SNL to guest write.
— Stefon: “The whole thing is hosted by crossdressing founding father Ginjamin Franklin.” Didn’t I once hear that Ginjamin Franklin was a cut-after-dress-rehearsal Will Forte-starring piece from Will’s SNL tenure?
— Funniest bits in tonight’s Stefon commentary are his explanation of what Roaming Draggers are, his “I went to prom with her” addendum to his mention of a deep-voiced female bodybuilder, and his demonstration of Jewish Fireworks.
— Wow, not only has tonight’s Update already ended, but Seth didn’t even say his usual sign-off (“For Weekend Update, I’m Seth Meyers”), and instead simply said to us, right after Stefon’s commentary ended, “That’s Stefon! Have a great summer!” I like that change of pace.
— Another reason I’m shocked at how soon tonight’s Update ended is because I misremembered it having a Garth & Kat commentary as part of tonight’s Kristen Wiig Farewell Tour. (Maybe I was getting this Update confused with the one from the episode Kristen hosts the following season.) Thank god this didn’t have a Garth & Kat commentary, plus it would’ve really dragged down what was Seth’s first decent Update in a while, after his Updates had been in a slump lately.
STARS: ***


SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AT AN OUTDOOR MUSIC FESTIVAL
grungies groove at a competition

— This is Abby’s last of many celebrity impressions over her four-year tenure, as this ends up being the last episode before her firing. At least she’s going out doing one of the more amusing impressions she’s gotten to do in a while (Jewel). Certainly better than the weak Ke$ha impression she did in a then-recent reality show sketch (America’s Next Top Empire State Of Mind Parody Artist) in which she, much like in this sketch, played one of three celebrity judges.
— Fitting casting of Mick as Steven Tyler, and he’s giving a funny performance.
— I got a good laugh from the “Hey, YOU tell me another one of my songs” bit regarding Fred’s Santana always relying on the same song.
— Bill’s Dave Matthews impression is coming off even more fun than it usually does.
— Despite all the praise I’ve been giving to Bill and the performers playing the celebrity judges, the actual main comedic body of this sketch (the dance sequences from the contestants) isn’t making me laugh at all. These dances aren’t remotely funny. Hell, not even Taran can get a laugh from me, and I’m usually always a sucker for getting to see him comically dance.
— Good gag with Fred-as-Santana’s mustache turning out to be a removable one that’s attached to his hat when he tips it. Between Fred’s pretty fun Mick Jagger imitation in the Karaoke sketch and some solid moments he’s having in this So You Think You Can Dance sketch, why oh why couldn’t this be Fred’s final episode??? He would’ve went out on an actual good note with the funny moments he’s been having in this episode, after being so badly past his prime these past few seasons. Can’t believe I still have another season to put up with him. (Then again, he does end up going out on a good note with some highlights in his actual final episode.)
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host & Foo Fighters perform “19th Nervous Breakdown”

host & Foo Fighters perform “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll”

— I just realized an interesting coincidence: Foo Fighters have been the musical guest of Kristen’s first AND last episode as a cast member. As far as I know, the only two other cast members in SNL history who’s respective SNL tenures are bookended by the same musical guest are, coincidentally, members of this season’s (37) cast: Bill and Vanessa. (The musical guest of Bill’s first and last episode is Kanye West, and Vanessa’s is Katy Perry.) And I’m not counting one-episode-only cast members, so don’t any of you point out that Emily Prager and Laurie Metcalf technically count as cast members who’s respective SNL tenures are bookended by the same musical guest, you smart alecks. 😉


THE CALIFORNIANS
long-lost father (host) & amnesiac (Steve Martin) slur

— This sketch has officially become recurring, joining what I call “The (*groan*) Club” (which is a large group of this era’s dreadful recurring sketches that make me type out “*groan*” at the beginning of my review of each installment.) Hopefully, the number of sketches in “The (*groan*) Club” will decrease significantly now that Kristen’s leaving, as I recall SNL cutting back big-time on recurring sketches the following season (which is just one of the things that makes that season so refreshing).
— Feels odd seeing a Californians sketch buried towards the end of an episode.
— Far less breaking in tonight’s Californians installment than the first one.
— Ugh, the usual painfully unfunny parade of “comical” California accents, mock-dramatic close-ups of performers mugging into the camera, characters crowding around a mirror to stare at themselves, and bad soap opera cliches.
— I didn’t want to laugh at Bill’s exaggerated Californian delivery of “I’m your broooooooooo, bro”, but I giggled in spite of myself.
— It’s at least nice to see Abby get her own bit in this sketch, as this ends up being her final actual sketch role.
— I got a laugh from Vanessa’s “Ay, no!” during the mock-dramatic close-up of each character saying “No way!” into the camera.
— Steve Martin out of absolutely nowhere.
— Hmm, hate to say it, but it’s kinda cringey seeing Steve do the obligatory goofy Californian accent, which is coming off way too tryhard when he does it, at least at his then-current age. (I could see 1970s Steve Martin making it somewhat funny, or at least natural.) He’s doing absolutely nothing to save this sketch, unfortunately.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “Tea Party” with Jeff Beck & SNL Band


SHE’S A RAINBOW / GOODNIGHTS
cast members & LOM dance with departing KRW to “She’s a Rainbow”

CHK, AMP, RAD, CHP, WLF sing “Ruby Tuesday” with cast members & others

— Well, folks…….this is it. The very special send-off of Kristen Wiig.
— You can tell from the look on Kristen’s face as soon as she joins Mick onstage how emotional it’s going to be for her to get through this piece. Man, just looking at her genuinely emotional facial expression is putting a lump in my throat right now. As I said in some earlier episode reviews, a byproduct of doing this SNL project on a daily basis is that it causes me to develop a certain attachment and a (albeit one-sided) connection to the respective casts I review, even casts and individual cast members who I have some issues with. And Lord knows I’ve had my share of issues with Kristen during the later years of her SNL tenure, though my issues are far more with how SNL mis-utilized and over-utilized her.
— Interesting visual of Kristen dancing with each of her castmates. It’s a novelty seeing what Kristen’s real-life dynamic with her castmates is like, since it feels like we’ve rarely seen Kristen act as herself on camera during her SNL tenure. It’s always been hard for me to get a bead on what her real-life personality is during her SNL tenure.
— Aww, Bobby. Talk about putting a lump in my throat. Poor Bobby is clearly fighting back a lot of tears during and after his dance with Kristen.
— The decision to have Kristen’s generally-overshadowed and often-reduced-to-playing-second-fiddle-to-her female castmates grouped together (instead of each having their own moment with Kristen one-by-one, like each of Kristen’s male castmates are getting) and circling around Kristen all feels sadly fitting in a (bad) way. Seeing Kate among those women just feels odd, though, for various obvious reasons. Seeing Abby among those women just feels depressing, given what we now know of her SNL future (or lack thereof).
— A fun silly dance that Kristen and Seth do together, again showing the different dynamic Kristen has with each of her individual castmates.
— Much like Bobby, Jason is visibly choked up during and after his dance with Kristen. I remember some SNL fans at the time wondered if Jason’s emotions here were partly due to the fact that he himself may possibly be leaving the show, which was rumored at the time. (He ends up returning one more season, though it apparently took him a long time to come to that decision.) There was also a lot of disappointment among those SNL fans over the possibility of this being Jason’s last episode, because he got next-to-nothing to do tonight, and his only actual sketch appearance had him in a dull, completely forgettable straight man role. Even when introducing Mick Jagger’s second musical performance, Jason did it in such an overly serious, almost somber manner, as if he wasn’t in a very good mood, or was dreading how tough and emotional he knew it would be for him to get through the Wiig farewell piece coming up later in the show. I’m sure I’m looking too much into that, though.
— As more apparent signs that Andy’s leaving with Kristen, 1) he gets the special honor of playing the piano (no idea if he’s actually playing or not, though) next to Mick and Arcade Fire during this Wiig farewell piece instead of playing one of Kristen’s fellow “graduates” like the rest of the cast is, and 2) he gets the honor of being the final cast member who Kristen dances with here.
— Wow, when the “She’s a Rainbow” song transitions into the more upbeat “Ruby Tuesday”, former cast members Chris Kattan (who, with that hairstyle, I initially thought was future cast member Beck Bennett, until I realized that would be impossible), Rachel Dratch, Amy Poehler, and Chris Parnell can suddenly be seen joining the celebration. I could swear I had remembered Will Forte (who would’ve been making a cameo for the second consecutive episode, much like Jon Hamm) being among those former cast members who show up here, but during my current viewing, I can’t spot Will anywhere. Was I misremembering his appearance, or is he there and I’m just having a hard time finding him onstage?
— Interesting segue into Mick giving the goodnights speech that hosts typically give, while this special Kristen Wiig celebration is still going on.
— I love that the Wiig celebration and singing of “Ruby Tuesday” continues as the ending credits roll. I’m always a sucker for special goodnights where SNL does something out of the ordinary for it.
— Overall, well, what a farewell. I feel like I should take some issues with it, like I’ve seen some online SNL fans take over how overly sentimental it was and how it (especially the decision to have Lorne himself come out and dance with Kristen) supposedly overinflated the importance that Kristen had to SNL. Maybe I’m starting to become a softy at my ripe old current age of 36, or maybe it’s because of that aforementioned attachment that doing this SNL project makes me develop towards cast members I have to watch and review on a daily basis, even cast members I have issues with, or maybe I’m just always biased towards whenever SNL does something special and meta for the final segment of a season finale, but, aside from the part with Kristen’s female castmates, I actually liked this Wiig farewell. That’s all I can really say, as simplistic as it sounds. I can’t find any detailed, persuasive ways to defend this Wiig farewell piece more than all the stuff I said above, but, yep, I…I liked it.
STARS: N/A (not sure this warrants a rating, and even if it does, I wouldn’t quite know what to give it)

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Definitely a special-feeling episode, particularly the two big sendoff pieces (Lazy Sunday 2 and She’s a Rainbow) for our departing veterans. Having the usual show-stealing Stefon commentary on Weekend Update also added to the episode’s big atmosphere. And I love how the special musical performances Mick Jagger did with various famous groups/artists added even further to the big, unique, exciting feel of this episode. A lot of the normal live sketches, however, including the cold opening, were weak, with the only exceptions being Karaoke and Politics Nation. Mick Jagger was a fun and likable host in this episode. Makes it kinda hard for me to believe John Mulaney’s claim that Mick was a grouch behind the scenes all week, but I guess maybe that was something Mick was able to switch off whenever he was on camera.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Lazy Sunday 2
Monologue
Karaoke
Weekend Update
Politics Nation with Al Sharpton
So You Think You Can Dance At An Outdoor Music Festival
The Lawrence Welk Show
Secret Word
The Californians


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Will Ferrell)
about the same


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

 


HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (2010-11)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 38 begins, with host Seth MacFarlane and three new additions to the cast

Posted on

December 8, 2001 – Hugh Jackman / Mick Jagger (S27 E8)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

WHITE HOUSE CALL
Al Gore’s (DAH) phone call interrupts George W. Bush’s (WIF) meeting

— Aside from the special 9/11 tribute cold opening from the season premiere, this is the first cold opening all season that doesn’t have a political figure either giving an address to the nation or a press conference. However, this cold opening is still political, still stars several political figures, and still doesn’t stop the ENDLESS streak of Darrell and Will being the ONLY people in the entire cast who get to say “Live from New York…” this season so far. This endless Hammond/Ferrell LFNY cycle is getting ridiculous.
— Ha, Seth Meyers fittingly being cast as General Myers (yes, that’s a real person).
— Good make-up job on Dean as Colin Powell, but geez, they end up not even giving Dean ANY lines whatsoever during this cold opening. He just silently sits there the whole time. And this ends up being his only appearance all night (yeah, I know, no surprise there).
— I like Will-as-President-Bush’s sarcastic, bitter delivery of “Thanks, Dad!” after mentioning that he has to deal with the Saddam Hussein situation that should’ve been resolved 10 years ago.
— So far, we get dual roles from Darrell in this cold opening, playing both Dick Cheney and Al Gore, the latter impression making its first appearance since the 2000 elections.
— Darrell’s Gore droning on and on over the phone to Will’s Bush is okay and is providing consistent chuckles, though isn’t anything hilarious.
— Something about Darrell-as-Cheney’s whispery, angry way of saying “Mr. President, I am BEGGING you – Get. Off. The. Phone!” cracked me up.
— Kinda unusual how serious and bland Will’s Bush is coming off in this cold opening, playing the normal straight man to Darrell’s Gore without any of the usual Bush-isms or anything. Perhaps SNL is still experimenting with appropriate ways to portray Bush in a post-9/11 world.
— Now we get THREE Darrell Hammond roles in this sketch, with him now appearing as Donald Rumsfeld. Wow. At this point, I can’t even tell which Darrell impression is live and which ones are pre-taped. You’d guess that Darrell’s Gore is live, since he does, by far, most of the speaking and also says “Live from New York…” at the end, but I think I recall once hearing from someone who was in the audience for this episode that it was actually Darrell’s Rumsfeld that was live.
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— A Cartoon By Robert Smigel is credited, but no cartoon ends up airing tonight, presumably due to the show running long.


MONOLOGUE
host sings “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”

— The “gently hold Rachel Dratch” segment with Rachel tightly hugging Hugh Jackman is actually a reference to an SNL promo that Hugh and Rachel did earlier that week, in which she tightly hugged him the entire time, IIRC (I haven’t seen the promo since 2001, so my details may be a little off).
— Tracy’s walk-on is priceless. I also like the random little pose he holds for the camera right before walking off.
— Hugh is coming off charming, fun, and loose here, even making good ad-libs in reaction to some of the particularly loud audience members.
— A decent Christmas musical number with Hugh and the female cast members (minus Tina). I typically excuse joke-less singing in monologues when it’s a Christmas song like this.
STARS: ***½


LOOSE BEAR
hallucinogenic laxative literally scares the crap out of you

— Good premise with replacing the use of a laxative with a hallucinogen.
— Great visual look to the hallucination sequence with Amy in the woods.
— A pretty good laugh from Amy waking up with her hair standing on end while proudly telling her husband “I just got the crap scared out of me!”
— I like how the professional voice-over at the end says “Get scared sh(*bleep*)less” and “Side effects may include uncontrollable pissing and heart failure.”
STARS: ***½


JARRET’S ROOM
spycamera footage reveals (JER)’s embarrassing behavior

— A fairly funny “2001: A Space Odyssey”-esque entrance from Gobi and his bong. Probably his most memorable gimmicky entrance in these Jarret’s Room sketches.
— Geez, Horatio is particularly over-the-top here (even moreso than usual in these Jarret’s Room sketches), and Jimmy is particularly giggly in response to Horatio’s over-the-top antics. Granted, these antics from Horatio and Jimmy fit their stoner characters in this sketch well, but still…
— This sketch has gotten a lot better once Hugh has entered. He’s very funny in this, and is even making Horatio and Jimmy’s usual unprofessional antics come off tolerable.
— The spy cam footage of Jeff is providing lots of laughs.
— Overall, this recurring sketch, which started out poor in the preceding season, continues to show a lot of signs of improvement this season, but I’m still wary on how long these improvements will last.
STARS: ***½


THE ROBERT GOULET ALL HOLIDAY SPECIAL
Robert Goulet’s (WIF) All-Holiday Special embraces all seasonal aspects

— Goulet!
— This sketch was cut after dress rehearsal from the preceding two episodes.
— I love Will-as-Robert-Goulet’s line “There’ll be some Jewish stuff too”, and him proceeding to demonstrate that with half-assed singing of a small portion of “The Dreidel Song”.
— Okay, I have a lot of confusion in regards to the (hilarious) Sherlock Holmes / “It’s Monica Lewinsky’s underwear” scene. Is this scene live or taped? Is Will and Darrell’s laughing genuine or part of the script? Why is this portion of the sketch shown in the “dress rehearsal outtakes” bonus feature in Will’s first “Best Of” DVD, considering this scene is from the live version, not the dress rehearsal version? Was this scene originally taped at dress rehearsal and then aired during the live show? Even if so, it still doesn’t make sense why they would put this scene in a collection of “dress rehearsal outtakes” on a DVD.
— Considering this sketch got cut from the preceding two episodes, I wonder if the Phantom Of The Opera scene was a new addition this week to utilize Hugh’s singing talent. If this scene was in the version of this sketch that got cut from the last two episodes, I wonder who played Hugh’s role. I don’t know if Billy Bob Thornton can sing or not, but Derek Jeter? Ha! It’s certainly amusing to picture him playing a singing Phantom of the Opera.
— I got a laugh from Goulet telling his old friend, the Big-Horned Sheep, “Oh, boy, this special is doomed.”
STARS: ***½


SEARS PHOTOGRAPHERS
artsy photographers (host) & (SEM) shoot family at Sears portrait studio

— So far, I’m having mixed feelings about these characters of Seth and Hugh’s, though Hugh is fun here (once again tonight).
— Did Chris almost lose his voice just now?
— Funny part with Rachel’s old lady character asking if she should take off her sweater as well, after Ana was told to remove her sweater.
— I like the “Get rid of the ugly one!” line in regards to the twin boys.
— Overall, this was a little better than I expected it to be. Not bad overall. Seth continues to do well as a newbie this season. At what point in his SNL tenure does he start becoming the bland, milquetoast, disappointing sketch performer that I had always remembered him being? Or did I just underrate his sketch-performing skills in the past? I’ve been surprised in this SNL project of mine to see how much I’ve actually been liking his sketch-performing skills so far.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “God Gave Me Everything”


WEEKEND UPDATE
in a terrible re-enactment, Geraldo Rivera (CHK) dodges a bullet

Drunk Girl (JER) undergoes mood swings while talking to JIF

— While I’ve gotten tired of Chris’ Terrible Reenactment routine, I admit to laughing in spite of myself at his goofy, cartoonish, over-the-top delivery of “FEETS, DON’T FAIL ME NOW!”
— We get the debut of Drunk Girl. Good to see the underused-so-far-in-his-tenure Jeff Richards get a big showcase.
— I remember back at this time in 2001, one online SNL fan’s first impression of this then-new Drunk Girl character was that Jeff was just doing a rip-off of Chris Farley’s Gap Girls character. I can see the similarities (especially in the voice), but those similarities are clearly just a coincidence, as Jeff is going more for a caricature of actual drunk girls. And he’s doing an absolutely spot-on and funny imitation.
— Drunk Girl’s overall debut tonight was good. Too bad that, from what I remember when this SNL era originally aired, I eventually ended up getting tired of Drunk Girl pretty fast in her subsequent appearances.
— Short Update overall.
STARS: ***½


HELLO DOLLY
doll designer (host) thinks he should be getting more action

— This recurring sketch makes its final appearance.
— I like the spelling of “Bwowin’ Bubboos”.
— Interesting revelation about Ana’s character when she and Hugh mention how they believe that dolls shouldn’t be played with by children.
— A hilarious Jist Discoverin’ doll (which, until recently, I had always misremembered as being in the Sean Hayes installment of this sketch). While the broadness of the humor of this particular doll feels a little out of place for this usually subtle, low-key sketch, it’s making me laugh a lot. Also, something about this bit feels appropriate for the final doll to ever be displayed in this series of Hello Dolly sketches, even if it may not have been intended at the time for this to be the final installment of this sketch.
— Overall, although I had slowly been getting tired of this recurring sketch during the last few preceding installments, tonight’s wasn’t bad overall.
STARS: ***


DRESSING ROOM
musical guest mulls onstage moves while talking to self (JIF) in mirror

— Mick Jagger’s opening line about how he’s made an appearance on SNL in every decade up to that point makes me realize that that tradition would continue in the following decade, as he hosts in 2012. I wonder how many other people can say they’ve appeared on SNL in each decade (not counting the 2020s yet, obviously), either as a host, musical guest, or cameo. Paul Simon and Steve Martin are the only other ones who come to mind at this point. Are there any others?
— Fun premise, and the whole mirror thing is a good setting for Jimmy to do a Mick Jagger impression alongside the real thing.
–I love the whole “Pointin’ at you” bit.
— Jimmy and Mick are playing off of each other very well here, and I’m liking all the wordplay between them.
STARS: ****


FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE
from his Fortress of Solitude, Superman (host) phones home to Krypton

— Funny awkward turn during Superman and Jor-El’s conversation, with them running out of things to say, accurately emulating a realistic conversation between a father and son. Will is particularly funny at pulling this off, and I especially like the part where he asks “You need any money?”
— A good laugh from the visual of Jor-El and his wife angrily whispering to each other when she forces him to talk to Superman again.
— Odd how this is the second sketch tonight with Rachel playing a grandmother.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Visions Of Paradise”


VERSACE
male model (host) pays a visit to Donatella Versace’s (MAR) bathroom

— This sketch has officially become recurring.
— Donatella Versace: “I do my show from the bathroom because I need to be near the toilet.”
— The return of Mr. Pantyhose Leg, Versace’s hand puppet.
— Maya’s characterization of Versace is a little funnier tonight than it was in it’s debut (I especially like the new addition of her occasionally crossing her eyes at random times), and she has some good lines throughout this sketch.
— Good to see Mick Jagger in another sketch tonight.
— Decent bit with Versace getting electrocuted in the bathtub.
STARS: ***


CHRISTMAS KANGAROO
host remembers his father’s (WIF) traditional Christmas kangaroo fights

— (*sigh*) Well… THIS sketch is going to be difficult to approach. On one hand, I’ve absolutely loved this sketch in the past and basically considered it to be a Will Ferrell classic. On the other hand, while reviewing this era during this project of mine, I’ve been disheartened to discover how heavy this era is on hacky “lol gay stereotypes = funny” humor that does not hold up (especially after SNL themselves would permanently burn me out on that type of humor during the original run of season 30, a season that is particularly rife with terrible gay stereotype sketches; the same goes for seasons 35 and 36, though to a lesser extent), which worries me that this sketch will now come off to me as yet another example of hacky “lol gay stereotypes = funny” humor. Plus, I’ve recently seen some online comments making a point about how bad and offensive this sketch is in that it presents the conceit of “rape turning a man into a lisping, flamboyant gay stereotype = funny”. I’ve been so unsure and torn in how I should approach this sketch for my review, but ultimately, I’ve decided to just go into the sketch with a blank slate, and, well, I’ll react how I’ll react.
— I love the scene with Will violently fighting the Christmas Kangaroo.
— Funny detail with a six-pack of beer being among the presents that Will is seen pulling out of the Christmas Kangaroo’s bag of gifts.
— The visual of Will being… er, sodomized by someone in a cheap kangaroo costume makes me laugh out loud in spite of myself, I’m not gonna lie.
— Ehhh, there goes the turn with Will having turned into a gay stereotype who welcomes being raped by the kangaroo.
— Hugh is great as the narrator.
— I do find it amusing how Will named the kangaroo Freckles.
— Hugh’s line about “a giant marsupial taking their old man to Browntown” still slays me, I gotta admit. Not only a killer line, but great delivery from Hugh on it too.
— Overall, yes, I can see why some people have a big problem with this sketch, but, despite certain aspects that indeed don’t hold up, I was able to get a lot of enjoyment from other aspects of this sketch for its fun silliness and for what Hugh brought to this.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Although not quite as strong as I had remembered it to be, this was a consistently good episode that was entertaining. While there was barely anything that stood out as particularly great to me, there weren’t any sketches I disliked either. Even recurring sketches that I’m usually iffy on or I had been getting tired of had good installments tonight (Jarret’s Room, Hello Dolly, Versace). Hugh Jackman was a great host and added a lot to every role he played.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Derek Jeter)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Ellen DeGeneres hosts the Christmas episode

Posted on

February 6, 1993 – Luke Perry / Mick Jagger (S18 E12)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Bill (PHH) & Hillary (JAH) Clinton greet oddballs & (Giorgio Armani)

 

— I love Rob’s psychotic, secretive spiel about his “notes” that he’s handing to Phil’s Clinton.
— Kevin just walking on and responding to Clinton’s greeting with “You black son of a bitch!” was priceless.
— Farley is dead-on in his imitation of trash-talking wrestlers.
— Funny segment at the end, with Clinton’s formal apology to the prime minister of Italy for the rough treatment he received by the White House guards when being mistaken for a crazy person.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
Obi-Wan Kenobi (PHH) counsels host on what to do on-stage

— Some good laughs from Phil as a Obi-Wan Kenobi giving Luke advice, and Luke constantly pointing out how ill-conceived this idea is. This is being executed well.
— I love the part with the “audience member” (writer David Mandel) suddenly yelling “You suck!” to Luke, and Obi-Wan then advising Luke to “kick his ass and take his wallet”.
— I got a big laugh from Phil pointing out how much Luke is bombing in his monologue (“I’m the only thing getting any laughs!”).
STARS: ****


CHAMELEON XLE
— Rerun from 11/14/92


THE TAMPON PRINCE
Prince Charles (DAC) abdicates to be Camilla Parker-Bowles’ (JUS) tampon

— The BBC1 station ID at the beginning is the same one used in the recurring Simon sketches.
— Good makeup and prosthetics on Dana’s Prince Charles.
— Very funny announcement from Prince Charles that he will live as a tampon in Camilla Parker Bowles’ “trousers”.
— I love how they’re actually showing the tampon transformation process.
— Mick Jagger’s delivery as the butler is priceless and has gotten a great audience reaction.
— Dana’s angry “I can’t walk away, I’m a tampooooonnnn!” outburst cracked me up.
— This ends up being Dana’s final lead role during his tenure as a cast member, as tonight is his last show. He appears in one more sketch later tonight, but it’s just a supporting role.
STARS: ***½


YARD BOY
dumb yard boy (host) doesn’t catch older woman’s (JUS) sexual overtures

— Odd how Luke is just now making his first sketch appearance of the night. I guess they couldn’t find a role for him in the preceding lead-off sketch.
— Very good characterization and delivery from Julia here.
— Despite Julia’s solid performance, this sketch hasn’t been going anywhere too interesting and feels kinda quiet for a sketch placed this early in the show.
— The ending with Phil made me laugh.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Sweet Thing”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Operaman sings about gays in the military & other current events
Mick Jagger (MIM) & Keith Richards (musical guest) debate censorship

— A much lighter-colored suit than usual for Kevin tonight.
— The usual funny news items from Operaman, especially the one about Bill and Hillary Clinton, and the one making fun of the “horror” of Al Gore’s dancing.
— This is the first Operaman commentary to end with roses being thrown at him from off-camera, which would go on to be a tradition for his commentaries.
— In retrospect, it sure is something nowadays to see an old Update joke making fun of cellphone users, where the punchline is that most people don’t care if people who use cellphones die.
— A very memorable Point/Counterpoint commentary right now, with Mike doing a dead-on and funny Mick Jagger impression while Mick does a dead-on and funny Keith Richards.
— I recall once hearing that this is the very first time in SNL history that a musical guest ever appeared on Weekend Update. [ADDENDUM: Not including musical guests who are also hosting that night.] If that’s true, then it’s surprising that it took SNL 18 years for that to happen, considering how many occurrences we’ve had since then of musical guests showing up on Update. Hmm, come to think of it, have there been many occurrences of that? It feels to me like there is, but now that I’m thinking about it, barely any examples are coming to mind. There IS Paul McCartney in the very next Update, though (plus the Update from the 2010 episode he’s a musical guest in).
— The “Mick, you ignorant slut” line was a great callback to SNL’s Point/Counterpoints from the original era.
STARS: ***½


MAGIC FISH TOWN MEETING
dwindling population of wish-granting magic fish is topic of town meeting

 

— Here comes a sketch that I’ve always loved. The oddball, creative humor is right up my alley, and this is a great ensemble piece for the cast. I’m curious who wrote this sketch. Jack Handey?
— I love the brief cutaway to a silent, big brain-having Al Franken. Actually, is that Al Franken? (the fourth above screencap for this sketch) I’ve always assumed it was him, as it looks like him to me, but it’s hard to tell with that makeup, and SNL Archives doesn’t list him in this sketch. The fact that Tom Davis is seated next to him kinda supports my theory that it’s Franken.
— The randomness of Mike pulling on his ear with one hand while spanking his behind with his other hand as he’s casually speaking cracks me up.
— Hilarious part with a regretful, long erection-having Adam asking if there’s a magic fish that can undo a wish.
— Phil’s head exploding out of nowhere during his poignant speech is a freakin’ riot.
— After the aforementioned head explosion, the shot of Julia standing up and asking “Who did that?!?” would later be replaced in reruns with the dress rehearsal version (and rather sloppily, might I add). The reason for this dress rehearsal substitution is because in the live version of that shot of Julia, you can see a glimpse of somebody trying to hide from the camera in the window behind her, while holding an unidentifiable object (screencap below).

STARS: ****½


SNL HALFTIME SPECTACULAR
Michael Jackson (CSR) lip-syncs during the SNL Halftime Spectacular

— Quite a laugh from hearing Don Pardo imitate the Wayne’s World catchphrase “Not!” while announcing the (fake) sponsor Wayne’s World Potato Chips (a product that I’m almost surprised didn’t become a real thing, considering Wayne’s World’s huge popularity at the time).
— Wow, this is a VERY out-of-the-ordinary, unique piece for SNL. I absolutely LOVE how they’re going all out on this extensive, ambitious piece, exploring the entire studio. Very fun.
— Great touch with the Richmeister and Pat mascots.
— A lot of laughs from the blatantly lip-synced Michael Jackson song medley, with Rock’s MJ having a hard time keeping up with the rapid song changes.
— Now this is getting even more extensive and fun with the audience participation, involving audience members revealing a flipcard message.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Don’t Tear Me Up”


HIGH SCHOOL LIARS CLUB
contestants bluff to impress fellow students

— Right out of the gate, there are a lot of sloppy minor issues with this sketch: 1) The gameshow board is oddly already showing all the questions that are going to be chosen later in the sketch, instead of revealing those questions one-by-one as they’re each chosen. 2) One of the numbers covering a question on the board is sloppily hanging off, as if it were literally just pasted on in a hurry right before airtime. And 3) the usually-flawless Phil Hartman actually makes a big gaffe at one point while he’s reading the categories off the board.
— Not caring much for how this sketch has been going so far. Most of the contestants’ lies aren’t doing much for me. I do like Adam’s lies, especially how most of them randomly involve Canada, and when he resorts to stealing David’s police-station-burned-down excuse at one point.
— Another blooper: when the camera is supposed to zoom into the question on the board that states “How did you get to party with Van Halen?”, we instead see a number covering the question. I’ve never seen the rerun version of this sketch, but I’m betting it’s replaced with the dress rehearsal version to hide all of the sloppiness in this live version.
— The back-and-forths between David and Rob are funny.
— Does Farley have a sore throat? Something about his voice here sounds kinda hoarse to me.
STARS: **


SASSY’S SASSIEST BOYS
Russell Clark (PHH) with impudent heartthrobs

— Interestingly, this sketch is starring the exact same four lead performers from the High School Liars Club sketch that preceded this (Phil, Luke, David, and Adam), and they’re even playing the same type of role they each played in that sketch: Phil as the show’s host, and Luke, David, and Adam as the three young guests.
— Phil’s many “Sassy!” variations into the camera are consistently funny. This is a premise that could’ve gotten old FAST, but Phil’s performance is so funny.
— Good Christian Slater voice from David.
— Adam is hilarious as young, Marky Mark-era Mark Wahlberg.
STARS: ***½


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
on the need for plane crash-site security


QUEEN SHENEQUA’S DARK MOMENTS IN BLACK HISTORY
Super Bowl XXVII folly

— An awkward brief pause after Ellen introduces herself as Queen Shenequa, as if she were expecting a big response.
— Well… this sketch sure came and went. This ended up being a really weak piece and it fell flat. Another failed attempt at giving Queen Shenequa her own sketch.
— This was actually originally going to be the first of a three-part sketch tonight, but the second and third parts got cut after dress rehearsal. In the second part, the “dark moment in black history” that Queen Shenequa focused on was her friend taking back a cheating boyfriend who gave her a stolen diamond ring. In the third part, the “dark moment” focused on John Amos leaving the sitcom Good Times.
STARS: *½


SAYING GOODBYE
country boy (host) tells folks (MEH) & (PHH) goodbye before leaving home

— The audience is howling at Melanie throughout this sketch.
— I absolutely love Phil’s voice in this so far.
— Damn, Phil is giving one hell of a performance.
— Speaking of Phil, he’s been having a VERY big night in general. He’s appeared in literally almost EVERY SINGLE SKETCH in tonight’s episode, with most of his appearances being lead roles, in which he anchored the sketches like the consummate pro he is. And even in some of his smaller roles, he made a positive impact (e.g. the Yard Boy sketch). This episode is a great microcosm of Phil’s utmost importance as “The Glue” of SNL.
— Overall, wow, this was a wonderful slice-of-life, dramatic, emotional piece, in an era where sketches like this had pretty much become extinct. Phil was PHENOMENAL here, and Luke and Melanie were both very solid in their own right.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A decent episode, though I’ve always felt it comes off really average compared to the strong episodes that it’s surrounded by around this point of the season. Watching and reviewing the episode just now, my opinion of it is a bit higher than it used to be, even if it’s still not a particularly great or memorable episode. I appreciate how the second half of the episode contained a few interesting, creative, out-of-the-ordinary pieces (Magic Fish Town Meeting, SNL Halftime Spectacular, and Saying Goodbye), all of which I found to be strong.
— Farewell to Dana Carvey. Right out of the gate early in his SNL tenure, he had possibly the strongest first episode an SNL cast member has ever had, and played a pivotal role in helping SNL do an instant huge turnaround after the troubled season 11. He would go on to have a fantastic run and would become an SNL legend, as well as being in my personal list of top 3 favorite cast members of all time. Even though SNL prepared us for his departure by phasing him out to an extreme degree during his last few months on the show, I’m still going to miss being able to review him regularly.


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

 


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Harvey Keitel)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Alec Baldwin / Paul McCartney