Tag: Rihanna

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May 16, 2015 – Louis C.K. / Rihanna (S40 E21)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

SUMMERTIME
Hillary Clinton’s (KAM) focus on presidency leaves no time for summer fun

— I recall it being pointed out in an online article that, when Leslie says “And I’m going to Spain” in this cold opening, someone onscreen can be heard farting if you listen carefully, and the article went into a very deep analysis trying to figure out which cast member in question was the culprit (I kid you not). Understandably, I have no desire to chime in on that analysis, I just wanted to put the story out there for anyone reading this.
— Pretty fun concept of Kate’s Hillary Clinton desperately trying to relate to random beach-goers. She has a lot of great bits here.
— I love how this is using the whole cast, especially given how this is the season finale. I prefer my season finale full-cast sketches to be at the very end of the episode, but I’m not complaining at all about the placement of this particular one.
— Solid walk-on from Darrell Hammond’s Bill Clinton.
— A particularly good line from Kate’s Hillary detailing how her final day as president will go.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host does stand-up about mild racism, Middle East strife, child molesters

— A piece of confetti can be seen falling from above when Louis C.K. enters the front of the stage. The confetti must be for a sketch later tonight.
— A good laugh from how Louis’ random “I grew up in the 70s, so…I’m not racist” statement is immediately followed by him saying a “HOWEVER…”.
— Huge laughs from the examples Louis gives of mild racism.
— I love Louis’ “Cuz I like this one a little more” aside to us when using an even worse mock-y gibberish voice for one of his two daughters over the other.
— Great analogy Louis makes between himself/his fighting two daughters and America/Israel/Palentstine.
— Oh, here’s the famous child molester bit in this monologue.
— Man, this whole child molester routine is not only EXTREMELY risky (easily one of the riskiest things aired on SNL in recent years), but pays off by being absolutely freakin’ priceless, particularly the “molesting children must be REALLY good…….from the child molester’s point of view, for them to risk so much” bit, and the Mounds bar analogy Louis makes to child molesting. This whole segment puts this monologue over the top as my favorite of Louis’ SNL monologues, which is saying something, as I’ve loved all of the monologues he’s done up to this point.
STARS: *****


THE SHOEMAKER AND THE ELVES
masochistic elves (KET) & (VAB) goad shoemaker (host) into punishing them

— Oh, no. The debut of a recurring sketch that I never liked.
— Even when currently watching this with a more open mind, I’m still finding myself not enjoying it. And something about Kenan’s delivery is somehow making this material even worse, which is rare at this point of Kenan’s run, where his delivery usually salvages sketches for me.
— At least Aidy has a fairly funny brief walk-on.
— Odd turn at the end with Louis’ character asking us viewers who he should pick between his wife and the elves, and telling us to give our answer via text. That whole bit is obviously fake, but if this was the Dick Ebersol era, that call-in phone number would’ve actually been real, and we’d have gotten the voting results at the end of the show. This Elves sketch ain’t worth all of that effort, though.
STARS: *½


SPRINT STORE
to avoid angering boss (LEJ), (host) is stuck with a sassy black accent

— An awkward brief moment with Leslie accidentally saying one of her lines too early while Louis is still speaking, resulting in Leslie making an “Oops” gesture and dropping character to tell Louis “I’m sorry, go ahead”, which is completely out of place for the mean, rude character Leslie’s supposed to be playing in this sketch.
— Despite how dodgy this “Louis talking in a mocking, stereotypical black voice” premise initially seems, it actually ends up turning hilarious with Louis’ character claiming that’s his real voice and having to keep up that facade to prevent Leslie from finding out he was initially mocking her. Louis is slaying me here, and is selling this concept so well.
— Love the “One year later” screen being shown immediately after Louis worriedly asks how long is he going to have to keep up his “black voice” facade.
— A priceless twist at the end with Louis getting busted on faking his “black” voice all these years. I absolutely love Leslie’s angry lines to him after that.
STARS: ****½


THE WOODWORKERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
diners’ failure to use toothpicks jeopardizes lumberjack’s (host) future

— A hilarious random twist ending to this short-but-sweet commercial.
— The ending mock-dramatic close-up of Louis with a tear rolling down his cheek is great.
— Also funny work from Beck as the passionate jingle singer in the background.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Bitch Better Have My Money”


WEEKEND UPDATE
TV show credits place blame for ISIS with George W. Bush & Dick Cheney

Tom Brady (TAK) uses charm & platitudes to dodge blame for Deflategate

PED is losing interest in Harry Potter & is amazed that he’s on SNL

Riblet once again steals the spotlight from MIC with his news delivery

— Funny bit with the sitcom-esque closing credits for ISIS. I especially love the “Sit, Ubu, sit”-esque Halliburton Productions vanity logo.
— Taran at least seems to be attempting more of an impression of Tom Brady’s voice here than he did the previous time he played him. His Brady voice here still doesn’t sound very accurate, but then again, Brady doesn’t have an easily-imitable voice.
— A pretty funny novelty to see Colin displaying some acting, in the shots of him being charmed by Taran’s Brady.
— Good ad-lib (“That was a rare Brady flub there, huh, Michael?”) from Taran after flubbing a line.
— Nice to see this season of Update be bookended by a commentary from Pete.
— A very funny comment from Pete in regards to how he and his high school friends would’ve used and ruined Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak.
— A meta, self-deprecating end to Pete’s commentary, with him pointing out his lack of range as a cast member, and asking “How did I get on this show, Colin??? Did my mom seen an NBC executive hit a kid and drive off?”
— Ooh, I like this special segment for this season finale Update, where Colin and Michael each tell an Update joke that was cut after dress rehearsal earlier this season.
— A good intentionally-groanworthy “…if your boyfriend was jalapeno business” punchline from Colin in the cut-after-dress joke he tells here.
— I love this particular way Bobby’s Riblet character suddenly pops up, though I’m surprised it interrupted Michael from doing a cut-after-dress joke.
— The usual laughs from Riblet, even if this is just treading the same ground as always and they’ll never top him stripping down to a suit and removing the sides of his hair during his previous commentary.
— Ha, another Mikey Day walk-on in a Riblet commentary (the last above screencap for this Weekend Update), back when Mikey was just a writer.
— An overall strong final Update of the season, and a perfect example of the growth this new Jost/Che era experienced over the course of this inaugural season of theirs.
STARS: ****


COUPLES RETREAT
Gemma & her new overbearing boyfriend (host) order champagne & shrimp

— Hmm, I had absolutely no prior memory of a Gemma sketch appearing in this episode. Louis seems like he’s an odd fit for this particular role of Gemma’s obnoxious bro-type boyfriend, which Dwayne Johnson previously played to perfection.
— Blah, even Gemma’s song here is in the EXACT SAME melody of her bananas song from the first installment of this sketch. Lazy.
— This sketch in general is just repeating the EXACT SAME beats from the first installment, and I already wasn’t crazy about it the first time.
— I do kinda like the way Louis is playing this role, but he’s got nothing on Dwayne Johnson in that department.
STARS: *½


ACTOR LINE-UP
actors suspected of mugging treat police line-up as audition opportunity

— An interesting rarity of Kyle being seen with his natural stubble all throughout this episode’s live sketches. Did he say to himself, “Ehh, fuck it – it’s the season finale. Why bother shaving?”
— Fun concept of a police line-up of actors, each of whom humorously treats this line-up as an audition. The execution of this is great.
— I love how Taran, Kyle, Beck, and Louis are each giving their actor characterization its own individual flavor, each of which is so spot-on.
— All of the interplay between the actor characters is not only funny, but it’s actually very charming.
STARS: ****½


THE WOODWORKERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
switch from physical to virtual books threatens lumberjack’s livelihood

— The twist at the end is a very funny and unexpected continuation of the Woodworkers Association ad from earlier tonight.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “American Oxygen”


FORGOTTEN TV GEMS WITH REESE DE’WHAT
lesbian housewife (KAM) is vehicle for sitcom hijinks

— Feels like we just saw Reese De’What, as he appeared only three episodes prior to this.
— Tonight’s Reese De’What anecdote about a rude thing he once told his wife is an improvement over the not-as-funny-as-usual one from the last installment of this sketch three episodes prior.
— A questionable premise, but the performances in the sitcom scenes are pretty fun. Not the best sketch to end a season on, though.
— Reese De’What’s “body surf” line cracked me up.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

— Some actually funny antics from Rihanna during Louis’ goodnights speech, with her playfully goofing around behind his back.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Yet another strong Louis C.K.-hosted episode, making him 3-for-3 in that department by this point of SNL’s run. While this episode did have a few misfires and a questionable choice for a 10-to-1 season-closing sketch (all of which just so happen to have been written by James Anderson and Kent Sublette, unsurprisingly), literally all of the other segments in this episode were great and received a rating from me in the 4-5 star range. Damn impressive. This overall episode was a very nice way to end the season, which is a refreshing turnaround from how insanely frustrating and underwhelming the preceding season’s tired-cameo-filled finale was. (In fact, come to think of it, this Louis C.K. season finale I just reviewed featured no cameos AT ALL, which makes this episode even more refreshing in comparison to the preceding season’s finale.)


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Monologue
Sprint Store / Actor Line-Up (tie)
The Woodworkers Association Of America (both parts)
Summertime
Weekend Update
Forgotten TV Gems with Reese De’What
Couples Retreat
The Shoemaker And The Elves


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Reese Witherspoon)
a big step up


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS ENTIRE SEASON, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS, IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER (Note: The 40th Anniversary Special is not included in this)


HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (2013-14)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 41 begins, with host Miley Cyrus, and one new addition to the cast

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November 10, 2012 – Anne Hathaway / Rihanna (S38 E7)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

ELECTION NIGHT
at home on election night, Mitt Romney (JAS) comes to terms with defeat

— Good to see Kate’s Ann Romney impression back after the breakout moment she had as her earlier this season, though she doesn’t get anything noteworthy to do in this particular cold opening.
— I like the use of a beer can-opening sound effect when Jason’s Mitt Romney opens a milk carton.
— A good laugh from Taran’s Tagg Romney once again threatening to punch someone.
— Funny running gag with Taran entering as a different Romney son while having the exact same look each time.
— Jason’s Romney, regarding Paul Ryan weightlifting in the Romney house: “Well, I’d like to see him carry Wisconsin!”
— Taran as one of Romney’s sons: “Come inside, father. Donald Trump is doing a very amusing thing where he’s racist………”
— What in the world is with the “Mitt & Ann Forever” part??? Why’d SNL feel the need to put that in this? I’m all for putting some heart and sentimentality into some of your comedy, which this season has done well quite a few times so far, but this “Mitt & Ann Forever” thing just felt odd and unnecessary.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host & theatrical cast members sing SNL-linked “One Day More” variant

— As usual, I love the genuinely very emotional, overjoyed look Anne Hathaway always has on her face whenever she enters the stage at the beginning of her monologues.
— When Jason mentions he’s been on the show for 8 seasons, I, as an SNL nerd, like how he adds in as an aside, “two as a writer”.
— A great part of the song with Anne singing the lyric, “What a show I could have done…if they’d let me play Stefon”, a lyric that Anne makes complete by doing the Stefon hands-over-mouth thing. The Stefon mention, combined with the fact that this musical number is Les Miserables-based, makes me wonder if John Mulaney wrote this, given the fact that the episodes he would later host traditionally have a big musical sketch based on Les Mis and other Broadway musicals. Then again, I’m confused about John Mulaney’s status as a writer this season. I had always been under the impression that he left the show after the preceding season and only occasionally came back as a guest writer this season to write Stefon pieces for Weekend Update, but there was an earlier episode this season where I spotted his name among the rest of the writers in the goodnights credits, and I’ve recently seen a clip from a stand-up special of his where he mentioned that he was an SNL writer for four-and-a-half seasons. So was he only on for half of this season?
— I particularly love the part of the song where Tim and Aidy sing about Sundays AND Saturdays being their day off, and that they’re not in the show much because “we are new”. How does that explain all the airtime their fellow newbie Cecily’s been getting, though?
— While we’re on the subject of Tim and Aidy’s airtime, I’ve noticed that the respective trajectory of their airtime so far this season has been the exact opposite of each other, with Aidy being invisible the first few episodes, then gradually getting bigger roles after that, while Tim was given a decent amount of big roles his first few episodes, then pretty much disappeared after that.
— I was iffy on this monologue’s musical number at first, given my aversion to musical monologues and my lack of familiarity with Les Miserables, but after a minute or so, I’ve gotten really into this number. It’s very catchy (especially once it gets amped up), Anne and the cast are putting their all into this, and I like the meta-ness of the whole number.
— Now this musical number has gotten even better, as the whole cast is getting involved. When this monologue originally aired, I couldn’t help but notice how awkwardly out-of-place Fred looked standing with the rest of the cast by this late stage of his SNL tenure. I still feel the same way about that during my current viewing.
STARS: ****


GIRLFRIENDS TALK SHOW
Kyra’s (CES) new pal (host) estranges Morgan (AIB)

— And Aidy’s stock continues to rise. And I love that the two main roles in tonight’s lead-off sketch are played by two new featured players.
— This soon-to-be-recurring sketch makes its debut.
— Anne’s been given the generic role of this typical teenage girl archetype, but Anne is nailing it so much. I love her delivery in this.
— I got a big laugh from Aidy suddenly saying, as an insult towards Anne, “It looks like clothes dead women are found in!”, then shaking her head side-to-side in a sassy way. Unfortunately, IIRC, that shaking-her-head-side-to-side-in-a-sassy-way goes on to be a move that Aidy overuses quite a bit these first two seasons of her SNL tenure. She’d eventually drop it, thankfully.
— Aidy continues to have some funny reactions to being sidelined by Cecily for Cecily’s other best friend. I especially like her surprised delivery when asking Cecily, “You have a basement???”
— A funny story from Cecily about how crazy her boyfriend is.
— An overall good debut for this recurring sketch. When this SNL era originally aired, I recall quickly getting really tired of this recurring sketch after only two or so appearances, but we’ll see how I’ll now feel about this as a recurring sketch in these re-watches of mine.
STARS: ***½


THE LEGEND OF MOKIKI AND THE SLOPPY SWISH
Mokiki (TAK)’s Sloppy Swish dance enthralls (host)

— SNL’s first post-Lonely Island music video.
— I love this absolutely bizarre character for Taran. When this originally aired, this was yet another thing that had me thinking Taran was definitely on his way to becoming SNL’s next Will Ferrell, as I could easily picture Will doing something like this Mokiki bit in the late 90s.
— Kenan is great as the narrator.
— So many fun visuals of Taran’s Mokiki doing the “Sloppy Swish” dance move in various locations in the city.
— A very funny slow motion shot of Bobby mouthing “What the fuck” after Mokiki crashes Bobby and Kate’s picnic.
— Great fake-out with Mokiki and Anne’s pending kiss turning out to be him vomiting venom on her face.
— Oh, I love Anne now turning into a female Mokiki clone.
— An overall excellent, memorable, and catchy piece. SNL’s post-Lonely Island shorts have all been knocking it out of the park so far.
STARS: *****


HOMELAND
Saul (BIH) wants unstable Carrie (host) to do an interrogation

— I’ve never watched Homeland, but I’m currently only about 40 seconds into this sketch, and this Homeland spoof is already working for me just for Anne’s performance alone. Her performance in this is priceless.
— Now I’m noticing good supporting work from the cast, especially Taran’s funny performance and that great voice Bill’s doing.
— Very funny walk-on from Nasim.
— The “jazz freak-out” Anne’s doing is particularly hilarious.
— Bill: “Let me tell you something one of my 10 rabbis once told me…”
— Man, I’m loving practically everything about this sketch.
STARS: ****½


MCDONALD’S FIRING
McDonald’s employees Niff (BOM) & Dana (CES) badmouth their co-workers

— Bobby saying “We goin’ out on top like Seinfeld!” made me laugh even harder than it probably should’ve.
— It looks kinda dumb how, all throughout this sketch, Bobby and Cecily are facing and staring directly at the camera while telling off the co-workers who are located TO THEIR LEFT SIDE. I know Bobby and Cecily are just following the staging directions they were given, but this sketch shouldn’t have been directed this way in the first place.
— There are a lot of things about Bobby and Cecily’s characters that have the potential to be a little too annoying to watch, but it’s actually working well here, and I’m enjoying their insults to each co-worker of theirs. I also like how this sketch is using what appears to be the full cast, for the second segment tonight.
— I got a big laugh from Bobby and Cecily saying in unison, to one co-worker, “(*to the tune of the McDonald’s “I’m lovin’ it’” jingle*) Ba-da-ba-ba-ba, go kill yourself!”
— I like Kate’s deadpan “…….Yes.” when rudely asked by Bobby and Cecily if her weird-looking leg had been burned.
— Now this truly is a full-cast sketch, as even the Weekend Update-only Seth has gotten involved as the voice of the co-worker heard through the phone.
— Even with his mere facial expressions and body language, Tim is very funny as the old worker. Good to see him get something funny to do again after practically disappearing the last few episodes prior to this.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Diamonds”


WEEKEND UPDATE
confident Barack Obama (JAP) will use mandate to set the political agenda

same-sex couple from Maine (FRA) & (BIH) relishes marriage equality

Drunk Uncle feels the election is representative of national decline

— Feels a little weird seeing Jay’s President Obama impression appearing on Weekend Update.
— Jay-as-Obama’s looseness here is pretty fun, especially the “Bounce with me” part.
— Hmm, a new outfit has been created for infants so they can clean the floor as they move around the house? Looks like SNL predicted the future with that (wretched) Swiffer Sleepers commercial they did 10 years prior.
— Wait, we’re still doing these “A Gay Couple From (insert place here)” bits all these years later? Another example of how Fred seemingly has little to offer this season other than bringing back old, tired recurring bits that don’t fit in the new, fresher direction SNL has been going in this season. I can’t even remember the last time this “A Gay Couple From (insert place here)” bit appeared prior to this. I think it was the “gays in the military”-based one from the Gerard Butler episode all the way back in season 35.
— I surprisingly have no memory at all of this Gay Couple From Maine commentary, even though I remember the rest of this episode fairly vividly. Maybe it’s for the best that I don’t remember this Maine commentary, especially since I never liked any of these “A Gay Couple From (insert place here)” bits. They’re at least progressive in terms of SNL’s portrayal of gay people, but I don’t find any of these characters funny.
— I did at least get a laugh just now from Bill (in what I’m assuming was an ad-lib) giving Fred a playful slap on the face while their characters are flirting with each other.
— I’m getting my usual amusement from Drunk Uncle, even if I can’t find any standout parts to mention here.
— Okay, I found one standout part I laughed at just now in the Drunk Uncle commentary, which him bitterly exclaiming out of nowhere, “Jeeewwwspapers!”
— Is it necessary to repeat that “That’s not me” “That’s not anybody” exchange between Drunk Uncle and Seth? That exchange was funny the first time it was used in Drunk Uncle’s last appearance prior to tonight’s episode, but it doesn’t work with repetition. IIRC, they even go on to have Colin Jost carry on the tradition of delivering the “That’s not anybody” line in Drunk Uncle’s appearances after Seth leaves.
STARS: ***


ELLEN
dancing precedes Ellen’s (KAM) interview with Katie Holmes (host)

— Good to see Kate’s Ellen DeGeneres impression back after its debut in that Bond Girls pre-tape earlier this season, even if I don’t find the idea of her starring in a straightforward spoof of Ellen’s talk show all that exciting.
— Cute appearance from Vanessa and Nasim.
— Great to see the return of Anne’s Katie Holmes impression from a Miley Cyrus Show sketch two seasons prior.
— Overall, not a bad sketch, though certainly not memorable.
STARS: ***


AMERICAN GOTHIC
American Gothic subjects (JAS) & (host) tried to bring levity to painting

— Kenan gets a good line after lightheartedly pointing out that the stereotype of Asians loving their cameras is apparently true: “Then again, I was 20 minutes late to work today.”
— A fairly interesting-seeming concept showing the making of the American Gothic painting.
— Simplistic humor here, but Jason and Anne are executing it really well.
— Good ending.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Stay”


FLARITIN
Flaritin is the fake Claritin for attention-seekers with fake allergies

— Kind of a rarity for a new pre-taped commercial to debut at the end of an episode. I think they only do that when there’s time to kill at the end of an episode.
— I like Vanessa’s delivery of her angry spiel about being lactose intolerant.
— Some laughs from the listed-off fake allergies you can claim to have when taking Flaritin.
— The premise is kinda flimsy and dumb, but the execution is okay enough.
— Good ending with Vanessa sneezing an exaggerated amount of nasty-looking mucus onto Kenan’s face.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

— As usual, such a charming goodnights speech from Anne that stands out a bit from usual hosts’ goodnights speeches in these years.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid episode, in what’s been a streak of good episodes lately. The first half of this episode was strong, and, while things slowed down a little in the second half, that half was still good. There impressively weren’t any segments in this episode that I disliked. Another benefit of this episode was that it contained no pre-existing recurring sketches at all, which is further proof that this season has refreshingly been focusing very little on recurring sketches. Much like in her previous two hosting stints, Anne Hathaway did a great job as a host. It’s a damn shame this ends up being her final hosting stint (as of 2020).


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
The Legend Of Mokiki And The Sloppy Swish
Homeland
Monologue
McDonald’s Firing
Girlfriends Talk Show
American Gothic
Election Night
Ellen
Weekend Update
Flaritin


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Louis C.K.)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Jeremy Renner

Posted on

May 5, 2012 – Eli Manning / Rihanna (S37 E20)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

FOX & FRIENDS
Obama is criticized while Rupert Murdoch (FRA) is defended

— Good to see this new-ish recurring sketch now being used as a cold opening for the first time.
— The usual funny idiotic statements from the three hosts, especially Bobby’s Brian Kilmeade.
— A particularly hilarious line from Bobby’s Kilmeade, during the discussion of a hologram Tupac Shakur: “But if Tupac was a hologram, the bullet would’ve gone right through him.”
— Good bit regarding the whole “What’s black and white and lies?” joke.
— The rapidly-scrolled list of fact corrections seemed shorter than they usually are in these Fox & Friends sketches.
— I like Taran playfully messing with Vanessa during his, her, and Bobby’s group LFNY.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host gives audience members bad advice regarding authentic NYC culture

— For an athlete, Eli Manning’s delivery is coming off well here.
— Corny premise, but Eli’s likability and execution of the material is making it come off decent.
STARS: ***


AMAZON.COM
the most-desired Mother’s Day gift from Amazon is Fifty Shades Of Grey

— A rare SNL sighting of Jason’s natural beard.
— A hilarious conceit with various moms each being walking in on while pleasuring themselves to Fifty Shades Of Gray. Feels like an interesting novelty seeing a comedy piece do this type of “somebody getting walked in on masturbating” humor with women instead of men.
— Some great laugh-out-loud moments, such as Kristen’s daughter innocently mistaking Kristen’s vibrator for a microphone, a masturbating-in-the-bathtub Vanessa immediately following her family’s cheerful greeting of “Happy Mother’s Day!” by angrily saying “Get the f(*bleep*)k out of here!”, the reveal of Vanessa wearing a dish-washing glove under the bathwater during her self-pleasure, and Taran noticing Nasim happens to have a photo of Joel McHale next to her during her washing machine humping.
STARS: ****½


MOTION CAPTURE
host tries out victory moves during Madden NFL motion capture session

 

— Taran’s Tim Tebow, when asked if he’s ready: “Thy will be done.” Jason: “Let’s leave it at the door, Tim, alright?”
— What the heck was that sound glitch with the music after Jay’s Victor Cruz stops dancing?
— Much like the monologue, the main premise is pretty dumb, but Eli’s execution is making it work.
— A huge laugh from Kenan’s Ray Lewis saying, in regards to the motion capture suit, “I’m not wearin’ them funky-ass pajamas.”
— I love Eli’s delivery during the following exchange between Jason and Eli in regards to the grenade-throwing bit Eli mimed: “You’re a quarterback; that’s how you throw?!?” “That’s how I throw a grenade.”
— Hilarious bit with Eli eating the sandwich that he mimed making and dropping onto the floor.
— Andy doing his usual good work in his usual scene-stealing goofy walk-on, one of the last instances we’ll ever get to see of him doing that as a cast member.
STARS: ****


TEXT MESSAGE EVIDENCE
embarrassing flirty texts exonerate defendant (host) in murder trial

— Some laughs from the increasingly embarrassing texts that Eli explains and re-enacts in a very straightforward manner. Part of why that’s working is because it’s Eli Manning, of all people, doing that.
— I absolutely howled at Bill’s amused delivery of “I was gonna say……..” after Eli explains that the banana in the photo is larger than his actual penis.
— Jason’s straitlaced, deadpan readings of texts like “You out?” “You up?” “Who dis?” “Sup?” is very funny, and an example of the type of thing Jason always has the great ability to easily mine laughs out of.
— Bill’s eagerness to hear the rest of Eli’s embarrassing internet search history is pretty funny.
STARS: ***½


LITTLE BROTHERS
host participates in Little Brothers program to avenge fraternal bullying

— Ah, doing an Eli Manning-starring variation of the classic Peyton Manning-starring United Way ad, I see.
— A priceless turn with Eli’s horrible, brutal treatment of the first big brother shown in this commercial.
— A particularly dark and hilarious archery bit.
— Strong reveal that Eli’s only doing all of this to get even with how his own big brother, Peyton, treated him.
— While this commercial, for me personally, doesn’t quite reach the classic status that the aforementioned Peyton Manning-starring United Way ad did, it’s still VERY strong.
STARS: ****½


WXPD NEWS NEW YORK
ancient Herb Welch holds no truck with Occupy Wall Street protesters

— Jason has been all over tonight’s episode so far. Very nice to see that after how invisible and on-his-way-out he came off in the preceding episode. I also find it interesting how tonight’s episode is heavily utilizing him in the type of “glue” roles that Phil Hartman was regularly utilized in during the second half of his SNL tenure.
— I’m glad we got a bit of a break from this recurring sketch until this episode, as the formula was showing slight signs of weariness in the last installment prior to tonight’s. Tonight’s installment also ends up being the final one during Bill’s tenure as a cast member, despite the fact that Bill still has one season remaining as a cast member. I’m surprised that this is the final installment of this sketch (not counting the one that would later appear in Bill’s season 40 hosting stint) after only two seasons and five installments, because it feels to me like it appeared more often. I guess SNL wanted to end this recurring sketch before it got completely stale. If only they could show that self-awareness with recurring sketches more often.
— A particularly funny un-PC comment from Herb Welch when Nasim’s Hispanic news anchor character is speaking to him: “I’m trying to press 2 for English.”
— A change of pace with the Herb Welch-made Occupy Wall Street video package.
— The ending of the Herb Welch report (before Jason’s character asked the crew to cut away from Herb) felt kinda weak.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Talk That Talk”


WEEKEND UPDATE
tanning mom Patricia Krentcil (KRW) overestimates her attractiveness

Admiral General Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen) & Martin Scorsese [real] plug

— I remember, back at this time in May 2012, I desperately wanted the “Tanning Mom” who was in the news at the time to be played on SNL by the then-new Kate McKinnon, as I felt she looked very fitting for that particular role. I ended up being disappointed to see that SNL went the easy route of just casting the popular veteran Kristen Wiig in the role. The funny thing about that is, if that Tanning Mom lady was in the news in, say, 2018 instead of 2012, I can picture some SNL fans wanting Tanning Mom to be played on SNL by one of the newer women in the cast at that time, like, say, Heidi Gardner, only to end up getting disappointed that SNL ended up going the easy route by casting the popular veteran Kate McKinnon in that role.
— Not caring for the gasping-for-air thing Kristen’s Tanning Mom keeps doing throughout this commentary. The rest of this commentary isn’t doing much for me either, for that matter. The writing is meh, and Kristen’s performance is coming off strangely kinda bland, like she’s kinda going through the motions or something. Perhaps a sign that she’s counting down the days until her final episode.
— I know Seth has an annoying habit of sometimes being heard giggling off-camera while an Update correspondent is doing their bit, but even for his standards, he’s giggling WAY too loudly and openly off-camera during one portion of the Tanning Mom commentary right now.
— Quite a number of Seth’s jokes tonight are getting a bit of a tepid reaction from the audience. I can’t blame the audience much, though. Tonight’s jokes ain’t that great. Between the preceding episode and this one, Update’s been in kind of a slump lately.
— Ah, a Sacha Baron Cohen cameo as The Dictator, much like how we got a Sacha Baron Cohen cameo as Borat when the first Borat movie came out in 2006. (Why didn’t Cohen make an SNL appearance in 2009 when his Bruno movie came out? Then again, come to think of it, Bruno was a summer movie, IIRC.)
— I’m getting my expected laughs from Cohen’s Dictator shtick, though I liked his Borat cameo from 2006 better.
— An even bigger surprise to this Sacha Baron Cohen cameo is a Martin Scorsese cameo within it. Scorsese’s a good sport to do this.
STARS: **½


IN MEMORIAM
a clip of Adam Yauch on SNL marks his passing


WHAT IS THIS?
game show emcee (ABE) quizzes (host) on their relationship

 

— A true shocker, as we get Abby in a starring role in a live sketch as an original, non-celebrity character, for the first time in all four years she had been on the show. (That Deidra Wurtz: Downsizing Expert piece from the preceding season also starred Abby as an original, non-celebrity character, but that was pre-taped, not live.) I wonder if that’s a record for the longest a cast member was on the show before they got to lead a live sketch in a non-celebrity-impression role.
— Ah, Vanessa’s always solid at getting laughs out making cheesy, light-hearted statements, like her opening statement here.
— Good turn with how the “What is this?” that Abby asks Eli is a serious, emotional question about their relationship, unlike the far-more innocent “What is this?” questions she asked the other two contestants.
— Abby is executing this well, making me wish we got to see her get non-impression lead roles like this more often during her SNL tenure. When this episode originally aired, I saw this sketch as a sign that Abby was suddenly trying to prove her worth because she was aware there was a possibility she might get fired over the approaching summer. Sadly, despite her pretty solid effort, this sketch still doesn’t prevent her from getting fired that summer. (Then again, I’ve heard some conflicting stories regarding the circumstances of her departure, so please correct me if she wasn’t fired.) She got a raw deal getting fired just when she FINALLY started slowly but surely finding her niche on the show with some pretty well-done stuff in the second half of this season (this sketch and the Bein’ Quirky With Zooey Deschanel sketches). Plus, it’s possible that her airtime could’ve increased the following season with Kristen no longer there to hog up all the female roles. (Then again, if they kept Abby that season, either Cecily Strong or Aidy Bryant might not have gotten hired.)
— I like the running gag with Bill’s odd names for simple things (e.g. referring to the moon as a “nighttime sun”).
— For some odd reason, the audience seemed to completely stop laughing during the entire final minute of this sketch. I feel bad for Abby in that regard.
STARS: ***½


HELGA LATELY
Swedish version of Chelsea Handler, Helga (KAM), is a boozy floozy

Catch Up Mit Du Khlardashians- (NAP), (VAB), (ABE) mirror USA’s Kardashians

— Second consecutive sketch starring a female cast member who’s either new or underused. Great to see the then-new Kate already starring in her second sketch in only her third episode.
— A fairly fun and out-of-the-ordinary way to do a Chelsea Lately parody. I’m glad they’re taking this approach instead of just generically doing a direct parody.
— Taran playing yet another sassy gay role.
— For obvious reasons, it feels so weird seeing Kristen playing a supporting character in a Kate McKinnon-starring sketch.
— Showing how new she is, Kate accidentally started saying her “We’ll be right back… etc.” line too early when Fred was supposed to speak. Knowing what a pro Kate would later go on to be, it’s actually kinda charming in hindsight to see this display of early-era greenness from her.
— Pretty fun to see Kate start really getting loose in the second half of this sketch, during her one-on-one interview with Eli. In particular, her casually sitting with her legs spread comically apart is something that would later go on to be a recognizable Kate McKinnon trait.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Where Have You Been”


MISS DRAG WORLD
tall queen (host) is upset about not winning Miss Drag World 2012 title

— James Anderson strikes once again, I see.
— Fred in drag strikes once again, I also see.
— At least there’s no Kenan in his usual drag. Speaking of which, is it safe to say we’re officially past the point where Kenan’s final drag role appeared on SNL? I don’t think he’s played a woman all season. I think we can pinpoint that Disney Channel School Of Acting commercial from the preceding season’s Miley Cyrus episode as containing Kenan’s final drag role.
— Wait, I just remembered, the very next episode has Kenan reprising his Reba McEntire role, in the special 100th Digital Short.
— I’m only a minute into this sketch so far, and it’s already coming off PAINFUL. Is SNL fucking kidding me putting this on the air?
— I know it’s usually considered fun seeing athletes do ridiculous, silly things on SNL, but I just feel embarrassed for Eli in this sketch. The material he’s been given here is WRETCHED and is doing him no favors.
— Ugh, there’s Fred doing that damn Paul Lynde-esque laugh that he does way too often when playing gay men (which itself is something he does way too often on SNL, though Taran’s slowly been taking that away from him lately, as I’ve been noting).
— WTF at the casting of Kristen in this particular role?
— Overall, yeah, this sketch was a straight-up disaster.
STARS: *


THE ESSENTIALS WITH ROBERT OSBORNE
square (host) didn’t mesh with Cheech (FRA) & Chong (BIH)

 

— That first Cheech & Chong clip with Eli’s Richard character came and went without a single laugh from me. How is this supposed to be funny?
— Yeah, as this sketch continues to go on, it’s continuing to not work AT ALL. The humor of the incongruity between Eli’s Richard and Fred & Bill’s Cheech & Chong is coming off lame as hell. Boy, did tonight’s pretty solid episode die off horribly ever since that Miss Drag World sketch reared its ugly head.
— I did kinda get a chuckle just now from Eli’s cheesy smile as the camera zooms in on him at the end of the moon scene (the fifth above screencap for this sketch).
— Fun delivery from Jason at the end when his Robert Osborne gets high from smoking weed. Leave it to good ol’ Jason to add some much-needed life to this boring-as-hell sketch.
STARS: *½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Minus Weekend Update, this episode was consistently good until the show suddenly bottomed out with the terrible last two sketches. Several really strong pieces in this episode.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Little Brothers
amazon.com
Fox & Friends
Motion Capture
Text Message Evidence
What Is This?
WXPD News New York
Helga Lately
Monologue
Weekend Update
The Essentials with Robert Osborne
Miss Drag World


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Josh Brolin)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Will Ferrell

Posted on

October 30, 2010 – Jon Hamm / Rihanna (S36 E5)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

A MESSAGE FROM THE VICE PRESIDENT
Joe Biden (JAS) thinks we should emulate Chilean miners’ good attitudes

— A coincidence I’ve noticed: every single episode hosted by one of the main stars of Mad Men (Jon Hamm in each of his three hosting stints, and January Jones in her one hosting stint) has had Jason’s Joe Biden appear in the cold opening.
— A big laugh from the “Are you above ground?” question in the Joe Biden Checklist, and how that’s the ONLY question.
— Jason’s Biden is getting his usual laughs here.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host improvises ad slogans for products suggested by audience members

— Two consecutive monologues that rely on audience interaction? Are we in the 1993-94 season again?
— Why’d SNL officially stop using their writers as fake audience members ever since the late 2000s? It used to always be pretty fun seeing writers in these audience monologues.
— Jon Hamm is fantastic in his “on-the-spot” ad slogans that he comes up with after each audience suggestion.
— Andy’s always funny as this type of smarmy, smug character.
— Great sly delivery from Bill of the line “I mean, hey…it’s Jon Hamm.”
STARS: ****


RONNIE AND CLYDE
Shy Ronnie & musical guest are 1930s bank robbers

— This Bonnie & Clyde setting is an interesting and creative concept for a Shy Ronnie sequel.
— The usual laughs from Andy’s Shy Ronnie routine, and his “Ha-HAAAAA!”s in particular always slay me.
— Funny bit with Rihanna briefly returning to the bank just to bring a random Jon Hamm with her to have sex.
STARS: ****


VINCENT PRICE’S HALLOWEEN SPECIAL
in 1960, Liberace (FRA) taints Vincent Price’s (BIH) Halloween special

— This ends up being the final Vincent Price Special sketch. I recall this installment being VERY disappointing. We’ll see how I’ll feel about it now.
— This must be by far the earliest spot a Vincent Price Special sketch has ever aired in an episode. These usually air much later in an episode.
— As an unintentional full-circle aspect of these Vincent Price Special sketches, Kristen plays the same celebrity in tonight’s installment that she played in the very first installment: Judy Garland.
— Jon reprises the John F. Kennedy impression he did in the Barack Obama Variety Half Hour sketch from Jon’s first hosting stint.
— This sketch is going particularly heavy on the sexual innuendos, more than previous installments of this sketch did.
— Even for this sketch’s standards, the running gag with Kristen’s Garland popping pills seems too touchy. It’s rubbing me the wrong way.
— I did get a cheap laugh from the “sausage” gag at the end.
— Overall, meh. My recollection of this installment being disappointing was sadly right, though I don’t dislike it quite as much as I did when it originally aired. But between the still-good-but-not-as-strong-as-usual penultimate installment of this sketch from the preceding season’s James Franco episode and now tonight’s fairly mediocre installment, it’s probably for the best that they stopped doing this sketch after tonight’s episode.
STARS: **½


BACK TO THE FUTURE 25TH ANNIVERSARY DVD
unsuccessful screen tests on Back To The Future anniversary DVD

— Ah, a piece in the tradition of SNL’s legendary Star Wars Screen Tests from the season 22 Kevin Spacey episode.
— A nice way to work Jay’s great Eddie Murphy impression into the show.
— Lots of Colin Jost sightings all throughout this, as he plays the marker (as seen in the third above screencap for this segment).
— I’m surprised at how strong Jon’s Robin Williams impression is, even though Robin Williams impressions are probably very common.
— As expected, a fun piece, even if it doesn’t measure up to the quality of the aforementioned Star Wars Screen Tests.
STARS: ****


AUDITION
at an audition, (KRW) specifies what she is willing to do for a part

— A lot of laughs from the absurd things a deadpan Kristen lists off that she is and isn’t comfortable doing in the role she’s auditioning for.
— Ooh, even though it’s just a very small and minor part of an otherwise solid sketch, I did NOT like Kristen’s sudden loud, angry, over-the-top “NOOOOOOOO!!! GIVE IT TO MEEEEEEEEE!!!” outburst when she’s told she didn’t get the part. Her delivery of that outburst felt strangely forced and too out-of-place for the tone of this sketch. This is the second consecutive episode that I noted Kristen coming off too forced in her execution of an over-the-top bit. I wonder if this is a sign that she’s become very tired of the loud, over-the-top things the writers keep having her do in sketches, when, as most of this sketch is proving, she’s far better at lower-key, deadpan stuff.
— Jon’s absurd rant is very funny.
— Love the whole ending gag with Jason jumping out the window, revealing they’re on the first floor as he lands safely on his feet right outside the window, dusts himself off, then nonchalantly walks away.
STARS: ****


BACK TO THE FUTURE 25TH ANNIVERSARY DVD
more Back To The Future screen tests have actors not chosen for the film

— The debut of Bill’s freakin’ SPOT-ON Alan Alda impression. That voice is so damn impressive, almost eerily so. The voice also makes his already-humorous dialogue even funnier.
— The vibe of this second Back To The Future screen test piece feels even more fun than the first one. I also love how many SNL cast members from the 80s are being impersonated in these two BTTF pieces: Eddie Murphy, Gilbert Gottfried, and Joan Cusack.
— A decent Gottfried impression from Taran (Jimmy Fallon did a better one on SNL in the past, though), but it’s his Pee-Wee Herman at the end of this piece that’s far more dead-on and impressive.
STARS: ****½


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


WEEKEND UPDATE
James Carville (BIH) assesses Tea Party’s impact on midterm elections

SEM groans as Garth & Kat think up & perform disjointed Halloween songs

— The usual laughs from Bill’s James Carville.
— (*sigh*) Get this Garth & Kat mess the fuck off my screen.
— I probably said this before, but I cannot believe the freedom Fred and Kristen are given to waste airtime doing this lousy and self-indulgent improv bit on live TV. And not just mere airtime, but LOTS OF airtime. Tonight’s Garth & Kat commentary feels like it’s going on forever.
— While I’m still ranting about this Garth & Kat trash, let me just disclose the pure, genuine joy it brought me to see these two characters absolutely BOMB with the audience when they would later perform in SNL’s 40th Anniversary Special. Unlike SNL’s usual easy-to-please studio audiences filled with regular people, SNL’s celebrity-and-alum-filled studio audience in that 40th Anniversary Special was NOT having this Garth & Kat shit, and their un-amusement towards it brought such a perverse smile to my face. I had the same delighted reaction when that Californians recurring sketch also bombed (to a lesser extent) with the audience in that same anniversary special. So happy to see that it’s not just internet nerds like me who can’t stand such frustrating, self-pleasing Fred Armisen/James Anderson-written nonsense like Garth & Kat and The Californians, as I was always baffled by their popularity.
STARS: **½ (that overlong and unbearable Garth & Kat segment alone made me dock half a star from this otherwise-extremely-average Update)


I DIDN’T ASK FOR THIS
viral video victims don’t like being laughed at

— For someone who got promoted to a repertory player at the beginning of this season, it feels like we haven’t been seeing much of Bobby this season. Because of this, it’s refreshing seeing him star in this sketch.
— Bobby’s reaction to the screamer video is freakin’ priceless.
— So many laughs from Jon’s ridiculous stretched-out cry, spoofing a real-life viral video from the reality show Intervention.
— The clip of Jon crying has gotten even funnier when an autotuned version of it is playing on the screen behind him while he’s sincerely pouring his heart out in a message he’s delivering into the “Serious Cam”.
— All of the other characters trying to stifle their amusement after the autotuned clip of Jon was shown is very funny.
STARS: ****


HIGHWAY COPS
motorcycle-sharing (JAS) & (host) prefer gayety to policing

— Where is this sketch GOING?!? I’m currently over two minutes into this sketch, and the closest to a “comedic” conceit I can find is homoerotic implications with Jason and Jon’s friendship, and lots of hamminess from Kenan. (*groan*) I admit, though, that some of Kenan’s lines regarding his dead wife are making me chuckle.
— Why does it sound like Jon and Jason are cracking up off-camera during the close-up of Kenan in one of his many phone conversations right now?
— What’s with the use of Nasim in every photo of Kenan’s various love interests? Is it because Nasim’s the only non-white female cast member this season?
— Aaaaaaaaaaand now we have a “hilarious” man-on-man kiss between Jason and Jon, as a cheap attempt at a “funny” punchline. THAT’S what all of this was leading up to? Fucking oof.
STARS: *½


DARLIQUE & BARNEY
the lounge act of Darlique (KRW) & Barney (host) comprises fake arguments

— I don’t like how this sketch is immediately reminding me of the bad lounge singer sketches that Maya Rudolph often starred in back in season 30, but I’ll try to keep an open mind.
— Jon’s performance is at least fun, as is the interplay between him and Kristen.
— Overall, a little meh, but I didn’t hate the overall sketch as much as I was worried I would.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Only Girl (In The World)”


AMERICAN AMERICA PRESENTS: DOG IN PURSE WITH DAVID SPADE
by FRW- in a club, an irked chihuahua (DAS) dishes on celebrities

— Wow, I had forgotten all about this until now. SNL starts what ends up being a short-lived attempt at a new run of cartoons, American America Presents, years after Robert Smigel’s long and successful run of TV Funhouse cartoons on SNL. These American America cartoons are made by former SNL writer (and short-lived featured player) Fred Wolf (listed as “FRW” in the above synopsis for this cartoon). Only two of these American America cartoons end up making it on the air; there are others that would never make it past dress rehearsal.
— The American America cartoons also usually feature the voice of a former SNL cast member as the main character. In tonight’s case, it’s David Spade.
— Some funny snarky and sleazy comments from the Spade-voiced dog, and it’s certainly nice hearing David’s voice on SNL again.
— Overall, not a bad debut for this American America series.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty good episode as a whole, though as a Jon Hamm episode, this did not live up to the phenomenal quality of Jon’s previous two episodes. He was still a great host tonight as usual, however. A damn shame this ends up being his final hosting stint, as of 2020. It makes no sense why he suddenly stopped hosting, especially after his first three hosting stints were all in back-to-back seasons. He seemed to be quickly on the way to becoming a five-timer.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Back To The Future 25th Anniversary DVD (Part 2)
Monologue
Ronnie And Clyde
I Didn’t Ask For This
Back To The Future 25th Anniversary DVD (Part 1)
Audition
A Message From The Vice President
American America Presents: Dog In Purse with David Spade
Weekend Update
Vincent Price’s Halloween Special
Darlique & Barney
Highway Cops


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Emma Stone)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Scarlett Johansson

Posted on

December 5, 2009 – Blake Lively / Rihanna (S35 E8)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

WHITE HOUSE CRASHERS
Tareq (BOM) & Michaele (KRW) Salahi photobomb Barack Obama (FRA) speech

— A topical spoof of the infamous White House crashers.
— I like Bill coming on as secret service agent and initially acting sternly towards the crashers, then backing off from them with an “Oh, it’s okay” gesture.
— Funny background antics all throughout this.
— Hilarious random inclusion of Jason’s Joe Biden as a friend of the crashers.
— Pretty funny when the crashers and secret service agents actually ask Fred’s President Obama to stop his speech and take a photo of them, which he does hesitantly.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
Swedish Chef (ANS) & other Muppets join host onstage for Christmas carol

— A very random excuse for a reprisal of the cast’s Muppets impressions, but I guess this is fun enough.
— Jason’s Fozzie voice sounds even more spot-on than it did in the Muppet Bus sketch from the preceding season.
— Jenny (in her only appearance of the night) takes over the Janice role last played by Michaela Watkins, who herself took over the role from Maya Rudolph. Kinda like the Hoda Kotb role, there almost seems to be a curse with the Janice role, as each individual cast member who has played Janice in this SNL era would end up no longer being on the show by the time SNL does the next Muppets sketch (though unlike Michaela and Jenny, Maya left on her own and wasn’t fired).
— A charming “Hark The Herald Angels Sing” performance from the Muppets.
STARS: ***


CARTER N’ SONS BBQ
Rerun from 11/7/09


VAGISIL SUPERSTARS OF BOWLING TOURNAMENT 1989
Pete Twinkle & Greg Stink cover 1989 ladies’ bowling tournament

— This sketch has officially become recurring.
— I’m getting a little tired of this era’s habit of always following up a “You’re watching (insert channel here)” station ID at the beginning of sketches by inserting a comedic one-liner about people who watch said channel (e.g. “You’re watching (insert channel here), which means you’re asleep and rolled over on the couch.”) Seems to occur about once an episode at this point of SNL’s run.
— Like last time, there’s a lot of fun and fantastic interplay between Jason and Will’s character, and the idiocy from Will’s character is always a hoot.
— Jason: “Vagisil – I scream, you scream, we all scream for vagina cream! (*long pause while the audience laughs*) Vagisiiiiil!”
— I recall hearing that one of the fake audience members in the background is Blake Lively’s real-life father (the man to Blake’s left in the background of the below screencap).

If that is indeed her father, that explains why her character singles him out by aggressively grabbing him briefly while she’s celebrating a strike at one point. I can also see a facial resemblance between the two of them.
STARS: ****


THE SITUATION ROOM WITH WOLF BLITZER
Elin Nordegren (host) abuses untrue Tiger Woods (KET)

— The debut of Jason’s Wolf Blitzer impression.
— Back when this originally aired, I remember not being happy by SNL’s decision to cast Kenan in the Tiger Woods role, as I felt back then that Fred would’ve been far more fitting in the role. All these years later, I now thank God SNL didn’t cast Fred in this role.
— I got a laugh from how Kenan’s Tiger Woods, after another brutal injury from his wife, begins his latest press conference by saying a lighthearted “Talk about a case of the Mondays!”
— Jason’s occasional mumbling as Wolf Blitzer is increasingly hilarious.
— An okay escalation to the scenes with Tiger Woods and his wife.
— I love the beast-like facial expression Blake makes when running after Kenan’s Tiger at the end of the sketch (screencap below).

STARS: ***


SHY RONNIE
musical guest’s duet with Shy Ronnie (ANS) is stymied by his mumbling

— Seemingly one of the most popular music video Digital Shorts in Lonely Island’s repertoire.
— Rihanna’s parts of the song are catchy.
— As someone who, all of his life, has been described as very shy and a low talker, I can really relate to Andy’s character.
— I love Shy Ronnie’s occasional “Ha-HAAAA!”s throughout this, especially after the “He pissed himself” part.
— Great turn with Andy’s Shy Ronnie suddenly breaking out into an audible hardcore rap when Rihanna has left, only to go back to his typical inaudbile shy mumbling when Rihanna briefly returns.
STARS: ****½


GOSSIP GIRL: STATEN ISLAND
less-glamorous borough has its share of drama

— Bill is always perfect at playing Italian wiseguys.
— The stereotypical New York-y wiseguy humor in this sketch in general feels bland, but the performances are pretty fun.
STARS: **½


KICKSPIT UNDERGROUND ROCK FESTIVAL
Under-Underground rock festival subjects attendees to hazards

— The debut of these Kickspit Underground pieces.
— A version of this got cut after the dress rehearsal of the infamous January Jones episode earlier this season, with January in Nasim’s role. Reportedly, that version had a different format from the one airing in tonight’s episode. Not sure if it was live or if it was pre-taped like tonight’s version.
— So many hilarious fake band names and extremely random events; way too many to single out the funniest, as they’re all slaying me. This is made even funnier by the rapid-fire pacing.
— Ass Dan!
— Excellent performances from Jason and Nasim. I can’t even imagine how awful January Jones must’ve been when trying to pull off this type of character in her cut-after-dress version of this (assuming her character was written to be like Nasim and Jason’s character’s in the aired version I’m currently reviewing).
— There’s the first instance of what would go on to be a running joke in these Kickspit pieces, with Ass Dan turning out to be dead.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Russian Roulette”


WEEKEND UPDATE
gibberish helps make Bill Cosby’s (KET) hip-hop album socially-conscious

recently fired from a movie, Brittany Murphy (ABE) thinks she’s doing SNL

— WTF? Bill Cosby put out a hip-hop album in real-life at this time? How was I never aware of this ridiculousness?
— Kenan’s Cosby impression is always solid. However, given the fact that a certain other guest commentary coming up later in this Update would end up being the victim of very unfortunate timing, it casts a dark shadow over this Cosby commentary in hindsight as well, given what would happen in regards to Cosby’s own future.
— After his Charlie Brown joke, Seth’s ad-lib, “Charlie Brown cannot catch a break. First, that football getting pulled away, and then, uh….AIDS” was very Norm Macdonald-esque, especially the “and, then, uh”, the silent pause afterwards, and then the way he said AIDS in a very deadpan manner while staring down the camera.
— OH. NO. Here comes the aforementioned infamous commentary in this Update: Abby as a loopy, out-of-it Brittany Murphy, in what ends up being just two weeks before the real Brittany Murphy would unexpectedly die. One of the most unfortunate cases of timing in SNL history. Between the Cosby commentary earlier and now this, oof. Tonight’s choices for guest commentators have aged horribly.
— When this originally aired, Abby’s Brittany Murphy impression cracked me up, and I was happy to see Abby get some much-needed airtime, but man, this is now IMPOSSIBLE for me to watch and laugh at in retrospect. All the troubled loopiness in Abby’s portrayal, intended for comedic value, just comes off really sad now.
— Needless to say, the Brittany Murphy commentary would later get removed from all reruns. Can’t remember what, if anything, it was replaced with in the 90-minute NBC rerun. Perhaps a re-airing of a pre-taped ad from another episode?
— I didn’t get the “gay dude’s refrigerator magnet” punchline to Seth’s joke about where you can find a photo of Marilyn Monroe smoking marijuana.
STARS: **½


SKIRT SHOPPING
Virginiaca supports her stepdaughter (host) in an upscale clothes shop

— OH, GOD. And I had (mercifully) completely forgotten about this wretched Virginiaca character, given the fact that her last appearance was all the way back in season 33. Thankfully, tonight’s sketch ends up being her final appearance.
— And, of course, we have our 10,000th different white stepdaughter of Virginiaca’s, despite how we’re always told Virginiaca is married to the same man in every sketch.
— Not caring much for Blake’s attempt at an urban voice. It sounds too forced, especially compared to how natural Jaime Pressly and Scarlett Johansson sounded doing an urban voice in earlier installments of this sketch. At least this isn’t as cringey as seeing Ellen Page attempt a character like this.
— As usual, not a single laugh from me during this sketch. Also as usual, my only reaction is lots of groaning and cringing at all the awful attempts at urban humor and drag humor.
STARS: *


UPS
Andy Azula (BIH) ensures UPS will be identified with a man in a lady wig

— I vaguely remember the real UPS commercials this is spoofing. I remember finding this to be such a spot-on and funny spoof back when it originally aired.
— Solid performance from Bill, even if the material itself is merely okay.
STARS: ***


LATE NIGHT WITH CHRIS HANSEN
celebs get ambushed a la pedophiles

— Interesting how the Weekend Update-only Seth Meyers does the voice-over in the opening “You’re watching MSNBC” gag. Oh, and the fact that this “You’re watching MSNBC” gag is YET ANOTHER example of a station ID inserting a comedic one-liner about people who watch the channel just further proves a point I made earlier in this review about how this SNL era overuses this gag. Twice in the same night, SNL?!?
— Despite my well-documented fatigue towards the talk show sketch format, the idea of a Chris Hansen-hosted talk show being done in the style of To Catch A Predator is fun.
— Jason’s Philip Seymour Hoffman impression is always good to see.
— Amusing seeing Andy as Keanu Reeves.
— Funny visual of Bill’s Chris Hansen hiding behind his desk in a silly-looking crouching position.
— I love Andy-as-Keanu’s delivery of “What’s going ON?”
STARS: ***


UPS
Andy Azula (BIH) feels in command with his UPS whiteboard & lady wig

— A follow-up, making fun of how insanely frequently the real UPS ads were aired around this time.
— Again, like the first ad, I commend Bill’s solid execution of average material.
— Ah, we actually get funny material, with the ending gag involving Bill smugly adding a stick figure erection on the stick figure drawing of his body.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Young Jeezy [real] perform “Hard”


POTATO CHIP THIEF
at NASA, astronaut candidate (JAS) admits stealing (WLF)’s potato chip

— Oh, here comes a sketch that’s rightfully beloved by many SNL fans, and is rightfully considered one of the biggest highlights of this otherwise not-very-well-liked season.
— Will’s (and Blake’s) pronunciation of “potato chips” is legendary.
— Fantastic voice and delivery from Jason, coming off like a prototype to his also-well-loved Maine Justice character from later in his SNL tenure. On a similar note, Will’s character in this Potato Chip Thief sketch seems kinda like it could be the same character he previously played in the Dr. Uncle Jimmy’s Smokehouse & Outpatient Surgical Facility sketch, as he has a similar look and voice.
— I love the finger dance Jason does with his hand when reaching for a potato chip in the bowl.
— Another hilarious little detail, with Jason actually dusting himself off when he sees that Will’s about to return right after Jason has eaten one of the potato chips.
— A fantastic insane and intense turn this sketch suddenly takes when Jason is accused of being a potato chip thief.
— When Will is angrily telling Jason things he will never do now that he’s been exposed as a potato chip thief, I love how one of things an off-camera Jason yells is “Take it back!”
— Oh, hell yeah! Now we’re getting a dose of Will’s classic purple-faced screaming routine, this time complete with him crouching on top of a desk.
— The commitment to this sketch is incredible, and the fact that none of the performers are breaking is adding to the amazing execution of this.
— I love Jason’s teary, emotional breakdown when finally admitting he took the chip.
— Blake, who’s giving a great supporting performance in her own right, delivers her “You don’t take people’s potatuh chiiiips” line perfectly.
— And there’s the moment that, for me, propels this already-classic sketch further into a classic: Jason hawking back up the potato chip he ate and spitting it into Will’s hand.
— Seeing the aforementioned Jason-spitting-into-Will’s-hand part reminds me that the dress rehearsal version of this sketch would later be aired in reruns of this episode. (I wonder if the reason was to fill in the extra time left over from the removal of the Brittany Murphy commentary from Weekend Update.) The biggest differences I can remember in the dress rehearsal version are that 1) when Jason’s about to hawk up the potato chip, he stretches out the bit where he repeatedly looks back and forth between Will’s open hand and Will’s face a lot longer and more exaggeratedly than he did in the live version, and 2) unlike the live version in which all the performers keep a perfect straight face for the entire sketch, Blake helplessly cracks up when Jason spits up the potato chip into Will’s hand.
— Jason: “Well…this certainly did not end the way I had imagined it…in my un-dried dreams.”
— Man, even the ending of this sketch is epic, with the unique blocking of the performers during the mock-dramatic ending shot.
— Overall, such a masterpiece. In a season where Will has sadly been pretty invisible, and a season that also ends up being his final one, it’s great to see at least one more live sketch that focuses on Will’s trademark delightfully oddball humor.
STARS: *****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A decent episode. There was a lot of average material, and a few meh or flat-out bad things, but the show’s quality was given a boost with three standout very strong pieces: Shy Ronnie, Kickspit Underground Rock Festival, and (especially) Potato Chip Thief.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Potato Chip Thief
Kickspit Underground Rock Festival
Shy Ronnie
Vagisil Superstars of Bowling Tournament 1989
White House Crashers
UPS 2
Late Night with Chris Hansen
UPS 1
Monologue
The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer
Weekend Update
Gossip Girl: Staten Island
Skirt Shopping


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Taylor Lautner