January 10, 2009 – Neil Patrick Harris / Taylor Swift (S34 E12)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW
Rachel Maddow (ABE) interviews Roland Burris (KET) and Rod Blagojevich (JAS)

— After Abby spent her first four episodes doing practically nothing, getting no comedic roles or, hell, barely even any speaking roles, SNL returns from Christmas break with Abby suddenly front-and-center in the lead role of this cold opening. This was a huge shock to viewers like me back when this originally aired.
— Abby’s a strong impressionist in general, but her Rachel Maddow leaves a little to be desired. The voice is too high-pitched. I recall some people saying her Rachel Maddow sounds more like Abby attempting an impression of Drew Barrymore attempting an impression of Rachel Maddow. I will admit, though, that Abby is at least nailing Maddow’s demeanor and smirk.
— Kenan’s bit is very repetitive, but I’m getting some amusement from it.
— I’m getting very cheap laughs from Jason’s Rod Blagojevich referring to Abby’s Maddow by the names of famous lesbians (Billie Jean King, Ellen, K.D. Lang).
— Abby even gets to deliver her first LFNY, in what’s only her fifth episode as a featured player.
— I’m sure this is going to sound like an odd comparison, but Abby’s SNL trajectory in her first five episodes reminds me of that of Melanie Hutsell’s. Much like Abby joining SNL with Michaela in mid-November of this season, Melanie joined SNL with another woman (Beth Cahill) in mid-November of season 17. Melanie would then spend her first four episodes doing practically nothing, getting no comedic roles or, hell, barely even any speaking roles. Then Christmas break happened, and in SNL’s first episode back from that break, which was Melanie’s fifth episode, she suddenly has a BIG night with two big showcases: the very first Delta Delta Delta sketch and a Jan Brady commentary on Weekend Update. Just replace those two showcases with getting to star in the cold opening and saying LFNY, and everything I just said above about Melanie mirrors Abby’s early trajectory EXACTLY. The similarities between Abby and Melanie’s trajectories even continue a little past their respective first five episodes. After their first season, Abby and Melanie were the only ones out of the three newest white female featured players in their respective cast (Abby, Michaela, and Casey this season, Melanie, Beth Cahill, and Siobhan Fallon in season 17) to make it to the following season…and some SNL fans felt that Abby and Melanie were the least deserving out of their respective trio of new white female featured players to make it to the following season.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
Mark Wahlberg (ANS) & his entourage rib host about How I Met Your Mother

— Great line from Neil Patrick Harris about Doogie Howser being one of the first TV shows created on a dare.
— Very funny story from a bitter Neil about SNL choosing Fred Savage as a host over him in 1990. And, as an SNL nerd, I absolute LOVE Neil referencing specific things from Fred Savage’s episode and pointing out “flaws” like Savage playing a mini Church Lady in the cold opening.
— A hilarious self-deprecating little reference to Neil’s sexual orientation, with the “Why won’t you kiss me???” “Later!” exchange between his childhood girlfriend and him in the 1990 story we’re told.
— Bill’s always good at playing wiseguy New Jerseyites who go “Ohhhhh!”
— I absolutely love Neil’s snarky deconstructions of the audience members’ jokes about his mother.
— Great to see the return of Andy’s Mark Wahlberg.
STARS: ****


TODAY
Hoda Kotb (MIW) endures Kathie Lee Gifford’s (KRW) buffoonery

— The debut of a recurring spoof of the Kathie Lee Gifford & Hoda Kotb-hosted Today show.
— Michaela gets the, uh, “honors” of being the first of SEVERAL Hoda Kotb impersonators in these Today sketches.
— I never watched the real Kathie Lee/Hoda-hosted Today show, and thus, I never knew if that famous mugging face Kristen always makes as Kathie Lee when laughing (as seen in the second above screencap for this sketch) was a dig at how the real Kathie Lee laughs, or if it was just a characterization choice Kristen added to her impression. In my past viewings of these Today sketches, I never cared much for Kristen’s performances in them, whether they’re accurate to the real Kathie Lee or not. These sketches have always seemed very thinly-written and one-note to me.
— Though it’s a VERY thankless and generic role, I am kinda liking Michaela’s portrayal of Hoda and the way she’s playing off of Kristen’s Kathie Lee. Michaela’s bringing a certain something to this thankless, generic role that I’ve always felt is missing from the subsequent performers who play this role after Michaela’s firing.
— Not caring at all for the exercise sequence, despite a fun upbeat performance from Neil.
— Something about the execution of the bit with Michaela’s Hoda accidentally punching Kristen’s Kathie Lee in the face didn’t work for me.
STARS: *½


SAVE BROADWAY
Broadway characters meet at Sardi’s to form a musical theatre rescue plan

— I recall this being a very fun and memorable full-cast sketch.
— An excellent lead straight man performance from Jason.
— Michaela’s “Wow, that’s racist” response to Jason making fun of her green skin was very funny.
— I got a huge laugh from Jason making the incorrect assumption that Kenan’s from The Color Purple, IMMEDIATELY AFTER having claimed nobody in Broadway is racist.
— Funny comment from Abby (finally playing her first actual comedic role, given that even her Rachel Maddow earlier tonight was technically just a straight role with no comedic lines) about her puppet giving massages behind a store…with her mouth.
— I love how everybody in the cast, one-by-one, is getting their individual chance to shine in this sketch. Even musical guest Taylor Swift gets a chance, showing an early glimpse of what a good host she’ll make the following season.
— Fred being cast as one of the members of Blue Man Group is even funnier when you’re aware he used to be the drummer for that group in his pre-comedian days.
— I howled at Jason telling Blue Man Group, “You know, sometimes, you guys can be a bunch of blue dicks.”
— This sketch is such a blast.
— A funny ending with The Fiddler On The Roof committing suicide off-camera by jumping off the roof. I also like the little detail with him yelling “OY!” as he jumped off the roof.
STARS: *****


GROUP THERAPY
Penelope’s nimiety scatters a group therapy session; Liza Minnelli cameo

— I like Will’s on-edge, temperamental character.
— Standard Penelope stuff so far, but, as I said in some previous episode reviews, this character somehow always works for me, despite the one-note nature of her sketches.
— I like the twist with Penelope somehow even popping up in the stress video that’s played on the TV.
— A surprising cameo from a tomato-holding Liza Minnelli, as a callback to a line earlier in this sketch with Penelope claiming her best friends are a tomato and Liza Minnelli. Fun performance from Minnelli, and I especially like her delivery of the line “Tomato and I wanna hit the town.”
STARS: ***


THE DOOGIE HOWSER THEME
host & a band of Doogie Howser look-alikes perform his TV theme song

— A great nostalgic feel as soon as Neil starts playing the Doogie Howser theme song. It’s also very infectious hearing the audience applaud that.
— Ooh, I love how this is now involving the cast, one-by-one, each in a Doogie Howser wig & costume while playing an instrument, altogether making a Doogie Howser orchestra. This is yet another very fun full-cast piece tonight’s episode is giving us.
— The mock-melancholy close-up of Neil with a tear rolling down his cheek was the absolutely PERFECT ending.
— Overall, while this wasn’t laugh-out-loud funny, nor was it trying to be, I found this to be beautiful, fun, and VERY entertaining. One of my personal favorite Digital Shorts.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Love Story”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Charles Barkley (KET) shrugs off his recent drunk driving arrest

WLF sings about banes he loves as much as the Bowl Championship Series

— The official first Weekend Update of the solo Seth Meyers era.
— The Weekend Update opening title sequence has been altered to remove Amy Poehler’s individual close-ups and to seemingly airbrush her out of the shots she and Seth were both in (the latter of which makes some of those photos now look rather odd, as we now see a big unoccupied space next to Seth in those photos, such as in the first above screencap for this Weekend Update). Seth also now has a smaller Update desk.
— Something about Seth’s voice sounds slightly hoarse to me tonight.
— Kenan’s Charles Barkley impression seems to get less and less accurate each time it appears. The first time he played him (in that fantastic Iconoclasts sketch with Kristen’s Bjork), he did a spot-on imitation of Barkley’s distinctive marble-mouthed voice. By tonight’s episode, after having played Barkley a few times previously, Kenan’s impression has become just a VERY slight variation of Kenan’s own voice, with zero attempt at imitating Barkley’s marble-mouthed-ness. It still works for me, though, because I always find Kenan amusing in the Barkley role.
— Funny bit in Kenan-as-Barkley’s story, with him using the word “hamburger” as a substitution for the word “B.J.s”.
— Kenan’s Barkley: “My analogies are like a blimp trying to make out with a bicycle.”
— Another Will Forte Update song!
— I love Will’s sarcastic ode to hateable things he “loves”. I particularly like the self-censored “S my D!” threat from Will.
— Funny interlude in Will’s song, with him holding his utterance of “fffffff” when asking Seth is he’s allowed to say the f-word.
STARS: ***½


TWO FIRST NAMES
host & other celebrities treasure double appellations

Billy Bob Thornton (ANS) & Joe Pantoliano (WLF) like to wear Kangol

— Fun concept, and I love that “Say My Name”-based theme song.
— When learning Bill’s Daniel Day Lewis ISN’T named Daniel Dave Lewis, and thus, doesn’t have two first names, I love Neil telling him a tense, deadpan “Take your one…first…name AND GET THE HELL OFF THE SHOW.”
— Good Billy Bob Thornton impression from Andy.
— Interesting seeing an impression of Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Michaela is actually nailing it. It probably helps that Michaela previously worked with Julia in The New Adventures Of Old Christine.
— Darrell’s Tommy Lee Jones complaining about Harrison Ford having two last names makes me think it would’ve been fun to see SNL eventually try a “Two Last Names” variation of this sketch.
— Neil, during his sign-off at the end, after finding out the “Louis” in Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ name is part of her last name: “Julia No-Second-First-Name Dreyfus will be nowhere near here, because she’s a monster.”
STARS: ****½


FRAN & FREBA
long-fingernailed air traffic controllers (KRW) & (host) guide planes

— Right out of the gate, I’m getting the bad feeling that I’m in for a rough sketch.
— I like Neil’s delivery of his line about his character’s JanSport backpack.
— Even though this is the type of hacky and poorly-written man-in-drag role that I praised the then-recent John Malkovich-starring Judy Blume sketch for NOT being, Neil is at least pretty fun in his portrayal, a testament to what a great host he is.
— Two minutes into this sketch, and the bad feeling I got from the start of this sketch has not gone away. Aside from Neil’s performance, I’m not enjoying the material itself, nor anything else in this sketch.
STARS: *½


FROST/OTHER PEOPLE
David Frost (host) grills Richard Nixon (DAH) & other ’70s figures

— Pretty fun concept of David Frost interviewing wacky 70s celebrities.
— Bill’s David Bowie impression is cracking me up.
— Some of the still photos of Neil as David Frost are really funny.
— I like the running gag with Jason interrupting each interview while resembling the celebrity being interviewed.
— A particularly funny part with Neil’s Frost grilling Fred “Rerun” Berry about the Doobie Brothers episode of What’s Happening.
— Very fun and amusing seeing Jason do the trademark Rerun dance with Kenan.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Forever & Always”


BURGER KING
Whopper virgins (FRA), (MIW), (BOM) have extreme reactions to hamburgers

— Good concept for a spoof of Burger King’s Whopper Virgins campaign, even though I myself have never seen any of those actual Whopper Virgins commercials (I didn’t have cable for a while around this time in 2008/early 2009, and I basically only used my TV during that time to watch new SNL episodes on Saturdays).
— I got an oh-so-wrong laugh from the “She’s not a virgin” and “It was her uncle” disclosures about the state of Michaela’s sexual virginity.
— Bobby is an absolute riot in this sketch. I love his goofy, jovial, laughing character.
— Michaela’s odd attempts to eat the Whopper are cracking me up.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS


IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very fun and solid episode. There were some particularly strong highlights, including two full-cast pieces that happen to be among my all-time favorite SNL pieces (Save Broadway and The Doogie Howser Theme). Neil Patrick Harris was an excellent host, and it boggles the mind how this is, to this day in 2020, his ONLY hosting stint.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Save Broadway
The Doogie Howser Theme
Two First Names
Monologue
Frost/Other People
Burger King
Weekend Update
The Rachel Maddow Show
Group Therapy
Today
Fran & Freba


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Hugh Laurie)
a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Rosario Dawson

December 13, 2008 – Hugh Laurie / Kanye West (S34 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

BLAGOJEVICH HEARING
profane Rod Blagojevich (JAS) asks U.S. Senate for a personal bailout

— (*groan*) Boy, am I getting tired of the overuse of the C-SPAN framing device for this season’s cold openings and sketches. It smacks of laziness to me on Jim Downey’s part.
— Funny initial visual of Jason in that Rod Blagojevich wig, and I got a laugh from his bleeped-out intro statement.
— Funny line from Casey’s Elizabeth Dole about Blagojevich being a disgrace to any other state besides Illinois.
— Great to see Bill’s hilarious Robert Byrd impression back. By the way, this sadly ends up being Bill’s ONLY appearance all night.
— Some of the bleeps of Jason-as-Blagojevich’s expletives are timed a little awkwardly (and at one point, accidentally gives away the fact that Jason says “frick” in place of the actual f-word), which is guess is to be expected for a live sketch. Probably the reason why a bleep-filled Rahm Emanuel sketch that Andy does the following season is pre-taped in advance.
— I love Will’s incredulous delivery of “You want the…government to pay you extortion money……..in return for not burning down the U.S. Capitol Building????”
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host avoids music royalties with a medley of Christmas song snippets

— Among his many thanks at the beginning of this, Hugh Laurie thanks “Sweetcheeks”, as a nice little callback to his previous SNL monologue, in which he named the collective audience Sweetcheeks while lovingly addressing them. I wonder how many audience members in tonight’s episode got the reference.
— After how fantastic Hugh’s previous monologue was, I’m looking forward to this.
— Hugh calling 2008 a bad year and saying it had so many downers seems kinda trivial in hindsight, in comparison to our current year (2020, for anyone reading this in the future). Also, I was about to ask, what downers in 2008 are Hugh referring to, because I don’t recall ’08 being known as a bad year, until I just now remembered the financial crisis, which was huge. Are there any other big downers in 2008 Hugh was referring to?
— Very funny bit with Hugh giving a tiny chapstick to an audience member as a Christmas gift.
— An okay bit with Hugh singing a medley of Christmas classics that consists only of three-second snippets of each song, so SNL won’t have to pay royalties. Something seems kinda cliched about that gag, but Hugh’s making it work.
STARS: ****


BRONX BEAT WITH BETTY & JODI
British butcher’s (host) accent makes Betty & Jodi flirty

— Another Maya Rudolph cameo this season. A planned Bronx Beat sketch actually got scrapped from the last episode Maya cameoed in earlier this season, the Jon Hamm episode, due to a then-pregnant Amy going into labor and giving birth hours before the live show.
— This is the final Bronx Beat installment with either Amy or Maya still in the SNL cast, as tonight is Amy’s final episode as a cast member, which is presumably the reason SNL brought this sketch back tonight. (This sketch would continue to make occasional appearances after this, when either Amy or Maya are hosting SNL.) Speaking of which, this sketch also has the distinction of appearing in Maya and Amy’s respective final episode as a cast member.
— Good part with Amy and Maya eagerly making Hugh say British versions of American words.
— Amy’s character, in regards to her and Maya’s character: “I wish we had accents.”
— A particularly great and raunchy part with Amy and Maya asking Hugh what his favorite meat body part is. Amy and Maya’s characters seem even hornier than usual tonight, which is certainly saying something.
STARS: ****


DYSFUNCTIONAL CHRISTMAS DINNER
(JAS), (host), (CAW), (WLF), (KRW) are on hair triggers at holiday dinner

— Here’s a sketch I’ve always had very fond memories of, and has (rightfully) been played in many SNL Christmas compilation specials.
— The performers are doing such a great job conveying the tenseness of this dinner.
— The “Anyone need more wine?” “YES!” bit is very funny.
— I’m enjoying the running gag throughout this sketch with everybody yelling “Sit down, Judith!” whenever Kristen angrily gets up to leave. During one of those “Sit down, Judith!” sequences, I particularly love how Jason yells “CHAIR, BUTT, NOW!”
— Hugh’s sudden “DAMMIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!” outburst absolutely SLAYS me every time I watch this sketch.
— Funny sudden turn with Hugh’s random, tender singing of “Silent Night”, and how he’s eventually joined in by everyone else.
STARS: ****½


WEDDING TOAST
wedding reception emcee (JAS) can’t stem the flow of unwanted toasters

— This is the first edition of this series of wedding/funeral speech sketches, featuring the same cast of oddball characters.
— Great to see Jason so prominent in tonight’s episode so far, especially given how little he had been appearing the last few episodes prior to this. In fact, he didn’t appear in the preceding week’s John Malkovich-hosted episode AT ALL. Speaking of which, I remember it was pointed out by some online SNL fans back at this time in 2008 that Jason looks really sullen during the goodnights of the episode I’m currently reviewing. It would be revealed not too long after this episode’s original airing that Jason was going through a rough divorce at this time, which perhaps explains his unhappy demeanor in this episode’s goodnights. I also used to think it explained his aforementioned absence in the Malkovich episode, as I assumed maybe Jason asked Lorne for a week off so he can deal with the personal hardships he was going through in regards to his divorce, but when watching and reviewing that Malkovich episode yesterday, I was surprised to notice that not only could Jason be seen during that episode’s goodnights despite his mysterious absence from the show itself, he was also all smiles in those goodnights, looking like he was in an upbeat mood. For anyone who’s seen the James Franco-made behind-the-scenes documentary on that Malkovich episode, was Jason shown in it? Was he in any of the sketches that got cut from the live show? Thanks in advance.
— I love Hugh’s very dry voice in this sketch.
— I see that both Fred and Kristen are, separately, playing characters that have a look that’s very quintessential of typical Armisen and Wiig characters. That’s not a bad thing to me in this particular sketch’s case, as I’m enjoying Fred and Kristen’s characters here.
— Bobby steals this sketch with his very random “(*grabs mic*) WHAAAAAAAT?!? (*drops mic in a badass manner*)” bit.
— Jason’s a great frustrated straight man.
— Oh, we now get the debut of Will’s racist, anti-Obama character, Hamilton, probably my favorite aspect of this series of wedding/funeral speech sketches. He even eventually gets spun off into his own sketches in season 35.
— Once again, Will is excellent at pulling off ballsy, touchy humor.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Love Lockdown”


WEEKEND UPDATE
David Paterson (FRA) gives criteria for senator replacement candidates

incredulous SEM & AMP say “Really!?!” to Rod Blagojevich’s obstinance

wandering David Paterson (FRA) interrupts AMP’s emotional valedictory

— The final Weekend Update of the Amy Poehler era.
— The debut of Fred’s David Paterson impression. Judging from things I’ve read in the comments section of some of my recent reviews, I take it these David Paterson commentaries are not looked back on fondly by most SNL fans nowadays. I personally recall really liking the first few Paterson commentaries (before they got run into the ground, in typical Fred Armisen fashion) back when they originally aired, so we’ll see how these Paterson commentaries hold up for me after all these years.
— Lots of cheap blind jokes so far in tonight’s Paterson commentary, though I’m enjoying Fred’s performance.
— Seth, to Fred’s David Paterson: “Governor, what do you have against New Jersey?” Paterson: “Unfortunately, a southern border.” I feel like I should be ashamed for laughing so much at that.
— Fred’s Paterson got yet another laugh from me just now, by saying his crazy life is the plot of a Richard Pryor movie.
— There goes our obligatory instance of a blind Fred Armisen wandering around lost in front of the camera, blocking the person speaking to the camera. That routine is still making me chuckle, but I found it funnier when Fred previously did it as his blind stand-up comedian character, Pep Walters.
— Great to see a “Really?!?” segment in Amy’s final Update.
— Some strong lines from Amy in tonight’s “Really?!?”, especially the bit about how she uses circus tickets as a codename for weed when ordering it over the phone. I also like her delivery of “The first time I saw you, I thought you were walking away”, regarding Rod Blagojevich and his odd hair.
— Ah, now we get a special, tender goodbye message from Amy, acknowledging that this is her final episode. This is actually making my eyes start to tear up a bit, to be honest. The nature of this SNL project of mine, with me doing daily reviews in chronological order, gets me so attached to certain SNL cast members, much moreso than I had ever been before. I also feel like it was just yesterday when I reviewed Amy’s very first episode (Reese Witherspoon/Alicia Keys from season 27), which is part of why it now feels very emotional for me to see Amy’s goodbye message. Doing this SNL project is such an interesting ride for me.
— Right in the middle of Amy’s tender goodbye message, we get ANOTHER sudden interruption from Fred’s wandering Paterson again blocking the camera. I admit, that bit is actually working more for me here than it did earlier in this Update. I especially like how, while blocking the camera, Fred’s Paterson orders $50 worth of “circus tickets” over the phone, as a callback to something Amy said during the “Really?!?” segment in tonight’s Update.
— It’s interesting how, in each of the two episodes Amy appeared in after her maternity leave (the preceding week’s John Malkovich episode and tonight’s episode), she only appeared in one sketch and Weekend Update. You’d figure SNL would instead be utilizing Amy more than ever in her final two episodes as a cast member, as SNL often tends to do for veteran cast members when they’re about to leave. I feel like Amy’s small amount of appearances in her final two episodes was a conscious decision on her part, as this was probably her way of willingly phasing herself out of the show, and she also probably didn’t want to step on the toes of the two women who were added to the cast during her maternity leave (Abby and Michaela). If that’s true, then I appreciate that classy move of Amy’s. It could’ve been interesting, though, seeing her interact with the new girls in a sketch. I can’t imagine how surreal it would’ve felt seeing Amy and Michaela side-by-side in a sketch.
STARS: ***½


LAMPS
musical features luminaires that sing, dance, take hostages

— Hmm, not too sure about this premise.
— I like Andy’s exaggerated delivery of “THIS IS WHAT’S…HAPPENING…SHARON!” What was with the odd long pause afterwards, though, before the camera cut to an exterior shot of the store?
— After a scene transition, the camera accidentally catches Michaela tying a gag over her own mouth, when we’re supposed to believe the lamps were the ones who tied the gag over Michaela’s mouth.
— Meh, I’m not caring for this sketch. Not even the part with Will’s grandfather clock character suddenly getting shot did anything for me.
— Very lame twist ending, with this turning out to be a preview for a Broadway play.
STARS: *½


THE CAT’S CHRISTMAS LETTER
(KRW) dictates a holiday letter in the voice of the dead family cat

— Pretty funny when Kristen clarifies to Hugh that the pun word “purrrrrrr-sonal” has to be typed with seven ‘r’s.
— I like Hugh questioning why Kristen is writing a Christmas letter from a dead cat. I also like Kristen responding to Hugh’s unhappiness over that by telling him a stern, deadpan “Tough tacos.”
— Some good tension between Kristen and an uncooperative Hugh throughout this sketch.
— Blah, I didn’t like that corny “I’ll make wuv to you” ending. Second consecutive sketch tonight with a lousy ending.
STARS: ***


COOKIES
at a somber company meeting, (FRA) can’t stop snacking

— In each of the last two Christmas episodes prior to this, we got an absolutely epic, legendary, and viral music video Digital Short: Lazy Sunday in season 31’s Christmas episode, and Dick In A Box in season 32’s Christmas episode. (Season 33 didn’t have a Christmas episode, due to the writers’ strike.) So how does Lonely Island continue that tradition in tonight’s Christmas episode? By having the Digital Short be a very unassuming, forgettable, no-reason-to-be-pre-taped, throwaway, non-music video short starring Fred playing a mincing gay man, a tired archetype that Fred’s already played to death prior to this. Really, Lonely Island? Perhaps they should’ve saved their fantastic Jizz In My Pants short from the preceding episode for tonight’s episode instead. Jizz In My Pants would’ve continued the “every Christmas episode has an epic music video Digital Short” tradition nicely.
— I’m now two minutes into this short, and, man, I’m finding this insufferable. (*sigh*) You know, I gotta say, stuff like this short and that awful Boy George commentary Fred did on Weekend Update in the preceding episode make me kinda understand why some people feel THIS season is when Fred’s infamous decline started, a viewpoint I had always disagreed with in the past. (Now that I think about how the remainder of this season goes, Fred does have some more awful stuff coming up later this season, including some painfully unfunny Bernie Madoff pieces.) However, I personally still say his decline doesn’t hit FULL SWING until season 35 (one of several things I’m kinda dreading about that season as we get closer and closer to it in this SNL project of mine). As I said in a somewhat recent episode review, I now consider seasons 32-34 to be Fred’s very hit-and-miss “Something unfortunate is looming ahead” years. His decline as a cast member is so gradual that it’s kinda hard for me to pinpoint when exactly it started, but, yeah, I still feel by this point in season 34 that he still has enough good stuff that somewhat balances out his bad stuff. And, again, it’s not until season 35 when I feel that the really bad, annoying, anger-inducing stuff becomes Fred’s almost-entire output. So, in other words, if you already haven’t been liking Fred by this point in season 34, things sadly get EVEN WORSE in his subsequent seasons.
— Kenan makes his ONLY appearance of the entire night in a small walk-on at the end of this 10-to-1 pre-taped Digital Short, meaning he makes no live appearances tonight.
— I admit to getting a cheap laugh from the reveal that the cookies Fred has been stuffing into his mouth all throughout this short are actually laxatives.
— Funny bit at the very end where, right before the screen cuts to black, Jason, after giving it some thought, reaches for a cookie, despite having just learned that those cookies are laxatives.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Heartless”


GOODNIGHTS


IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An episode with a good first half, but a very forgettable second half. Overall, not one of SNL’s more memorable Christmas episodes, nor one of their more memorable season 34 episodes, but still not too bad an episode as a whole. This sure pales in comparison to Hugh Laurie’s first episode, though. I also wasn’t too crazy about some of the roles SNL utilized Hugh in tonight.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Dysfunctional Christmas Dinner
Monologue
Bronx Beat with Betty & Jodi
Wedding Toast
Weekend Update
The Cat’s Christmas Letter
Blagojevich Hearing
Cookies
Lamps


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (John Malkovich)
a big step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
We enter the year 2009, with host Neil Patrick Harris

December 6, 2008 – John Malkovich / T.I. (S34 E10)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

A MESSAGE FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE DESIGNATE
Hillary Clinton (AMP) puts a positive spin on becoming Secretary Of State

— Amy makes her return from maternity leave, and memorably begins this cold opening by saying, as Hillary Clinton, after turning her chair towards the camera, “You thought I was gone, didn’t you?!?” A very nice way to welcome Amy back into the show.
— I had gotten so used to SNL without Amy the last few episodes that it feels kinda odd seeing her again, especially knowing that two new women have joined the cast during her maternity leave. It does feel good and special seeing Amy back, though, especially knowing this is the homestretch of her SNL tenure.
— Solid performance from Amy in this.
— Darrell’s Bill Clinton, to us: “You voted for change…but you ain’t never gonna change this (*points to himself and Hillary*).”
— Amy’s Hillary, regarding herself and Bill: “Like the south, vampires, and Britney Spears, we will rise again.”
— There’s something charming and sweet I find about the little touch Amy throws in right after her and Darrell’s LFNY, where Amy ad-libs a kiss onto Darrell’s hand right before the camera cuts to the opening montage.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host spoils the mood while reading The Night Before Christmas to children

— Feels so good seeing John Malkovich hosting SNL again. Not only is he one of my favorite actors, but he’s one of my all-time favorite SNL hosts, and his season 19 episode has always been one of my personal favorite SNL episodes ever.
— Impressive how fast we see the SNL crew assembling the Christmas set on the home base stage.
— I love John’s little, sing-songy “Itchy, itchy” when removing his Santa hat. The studio audience has no idea how to react to that.
— Fantastic concept of John telling kids about Christmas in his usual dry, creepy manner.
— I absolutely love John’s asides to the kids throughout the story. I particularly love the non-sequitur “When I was a child, we used to suck on pennies…and it was a delight.”
— Overall, this monologue is a favorite of mine.
STARS: *****


GAS RIGHT
(FRA) silences farts by applying Breathe Right concept to butt

— There’s a “So dumb, it’s funny” charm to this concept, but I’m still kinda meh on it. SNL has gotten better mileage from fart humor at times before.
— Fred’s jovial delivery of his ending line, “They spread your buttcheeks apart!”, made me laugh.
STARS: **½


NEW GIRL
off-putting traits of mostly-sexy Shana (KRW) disenchant her co-workers

— This character of Kristen’s makes her debut.
— An interesting different type of voice from Kristen.
— Kristen’s pulling off her sexy character’s very unsexy actions really well.
— A good Kenan Reacts facial expression (the second-to-last above screencap for this sketch) in response to Kristen-as-Shana’s diarrhea story.
— John is well-cast in the offbeat role as the only person enamored with Shana’s unsexy actions.
— Even the bathroom humor is coming off fine here. Speaking of which, there apparently was originally going to be a fart in this sketch. I recall hearing from someone that one portion of the James Franco-made behind-the-scenes documentary on this episode (which I haven’t seen myself) shows writer Paula Pell intensely studying various fart sound effects when trying to figure out a fart sound effect to put into this Shana sketch. There ends up being no fart in the aired version of this sketch, which is for the best, especially given the fact that this sketch was preceded by a fart-based commercial.
STARS: ***½


COOL OBAMA
unretributive Barack Obama (FRA) keeps it cool regarding political rivals

— Fred’s Barack Obama voice sounds deeper and more accurate than usual tonight. Some online SNL fans have speculated that SNL may have used a vocal modifier in this pre-tape to make Fred’s voice sound deeper. If that’s true, it’s too bad SNL doesn’t use that vocal modifier in the subsequent live appearances that Fred’s Obama makes.
— An interesting piece, and a different use of Fred’s Obama.
— This is well-shot, and I like the 1960s-like graphics, especially during Fred-as-Obama’s jazz-like, sing-songy spiels about how he “keeps it cool”.
STARS: ***½


LA RIVISTA DELLA TELEVISIONE CON VINNY VEDECCI
Vinny Vedecci & son (BOM) interview host

— I really could’ve done without the return of a staple these Vinny Vedecci sketches always begin with, in which the interviewee has a very taken-aback reaction to Vedecci starting the interview by speaking to them in Italian, then the interviewee explains to Vedecci that they don’t speak Italian, leading to Vedecci arguing in Italian with Fred’s character (though I do like how John Malkovich gets involved in the arguing tonight). It is SO tiring and unnecessary how almost every Vinny Vedecci sketch begins that way. They actually refrained from doing that in the Shia LaBeouf installment of this sketch, so I don’t understand why they returned to it tonight.
— I absolute LOVE the vocal Malkovich impression that Bill’s Vedecci is now doing. Absolutely SPOT-ON.
— The “Being Vinny Vedecci” porno clip is hilarious.
— The debut of Bobby as Vinny Vedecci’s son.
— A big laugh from Vedecci stopping his son’s crying by inappropriately giving him a cigarette.
STARS: ****


VIRGANIA HORSEN’S PONY EXPRESS
Virgania Horsen’s Pony Express is an equine-based custom delivery service

— Odd how this second Virgania Horsen ad opens with the “An SNL Digital Short” title screen, when the first Virgania Horsen ad from the preceding season didn’t open with that.
— Like last time, I’m loving all of the Tim & Eric-esque low-budget awkwardness in this.
— “Stermp” (a variation of stamp) sounds like something another Kristen Wiig recurring character, Target Lady, would say.
— When Virgania Horsen is interacting with male characters played by herself, I’m getting laughs from the awkward flirtatious(?) looks Horsen gives into the camera as both herself and the male characters she’s playing.
STARS: ****


CALCULATOR
getting a calculator for Christmas fulfills twins’ (FRA) & (host) wishes

— I recall some online SNL fans pinpointing this as one of the earliest examples of the huge decline Fred takes in his later seasons. While this is definitely a dumb and questionable sketch, and I can understand why it’s disliked among some SNL fans, I’ve personally always had a soft spot for it. Part of the reason is because I love seeing John Malkovich do something as silly as this sketch, and I like this pairing of him and Fred as these offbeat characters.
— Turns out John is just as fun in this role as I had remembered.
— There’s a dumb likable charm I’m finding to this whole sketch. That’s the best defense of this sketch I can give to anybody who dislikes this sketch.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Whatever You Like”


WEEKEND UPDATE
wounded Plaxico Burress (KET) fails to heed his own gun ownership tips

Boy George (FRA) sees nothing wrong with his treatment of gay prostitutes

9-year-old (ANS) offers manipulative & cynical advice on talking to girls

— Similar to what I said in the cold opening, I had gotten so used to Weekend Update without Amy that it feels a little odd seeing her back at the desk.
— Pretty funny gun tips from Kenan as Plaxico Burress.
— I’m enjoying the voice and accent Fred’s using as Boy George.
— What’s with the smiling/giggling reactions Fred keeps giving Seth throughout this commentary? Even Seth looks taken aback by it.
— This Boy George commentary isn’t doing it for me. It’s pretty much a pointless, rambling mess. I think we’re seeing another early example of SNL giving Fred free rein to go on the air and waste airtime by doing whatever the hell stretched-out thing wants.
— Amy’s jokes seem a little better than usual tonight, but maybe it just seems that way to me because I perhaps subconsciously missed her presence during her hiatus (which, if so, is kinda odd, given the fact that I’m usually not crazy about her as an Update anchor). Between how refreshing I found Amy’s presence in the cold opening earlier tonight and now this, I guess this is a case of absence making the heart grow fonder. I also wonder if it’s because, in hindsight, I consider Amy to be the last pillar of stability before the female cast really falls apart as Wiig Mania hits full swing, with Kristen being utilized more than ever, a lot of particularly badly-written Wiig characters making their debut (e.g. the “Thomas!” lady), and Kristen’s female castmates infamously being sidelined on a frequent basis in favor of her.
— A lot of good laughs from the inappropriate advice Andy’s little boy character is giving about talking to girls. I particularly love the “cat on your fat” double entendre.
— I love how the audience initially has no idea how to react to Seth’s joke about White House staff members “putting their nuts on the Bush family’s toothbrushes”.
STARS: ***½


THE LOST WORKS OF JUDY BLUME
preteen Gertie (host) undergoes unnatural body changes in Judy Blume book

— Kenan’s singing of the “Lost Works of Judy Blume” theme song is making me laugh.
— I’m usually very iffy on men-in-drag humor in more recent SNL eras like this one, but the visual of John dressed like this in a “tender” Judy Blume spoof is very funny. His portrayal of this character is also helping to prevent it from being hacky like some men-in-drag sketches. And the fact that it’s John Malkovich playing this role gives it a great creepy, unsettling, disturbing tone.
— This is the closest to a noteworthy role Abby has gotten so far in her SNL tenure, and it’s still just a forgettable straight role that doesn’t let her show her comedic chops.
— A good laugh from John-as-Gertie’s description of her first period, which lasted months.
— I’m liking Michaela’s realistic off-put facial reactions to Gertie’s odd actions.
STARS: ****


JIZZ IN MY PANTS
(ANS) & (Jorma Taccone) are premature ejaculators

— A rarity to have two officially-billed Digital Shorts in the same episode. I really like the rare times that happens, though, as it gives the episodes an interesting feel.
— This has always been one of my personal favorite Digital Shorts. I haven’t watched this one in ages, so I’m VERY eager to revisit it right now.
— When this originally aired, I remember how surprising it was seeing Jorma Taccone in a co-starring role. Sure, he and Akiva Schaffer made appearances in bit roles in some previous Lonely Island shorts, but this is the first one to feature either Jorma or Akiva in such a front-and-center main role.
— I absolutely LOVE the melody to the non-chorus parts of this song. It sounds quite “West End Girls”-esque (a Pet Shop Boys song), though I don’t know if that’s intentional.
— Many memorably hilarious bits throughout this song, and I especially like how the jizz-in-pants reactions from Andy and Jorma are provoked by increasingly innocent things.
— A very random Justin Timberlake cameo (for the second episode this season) as a supermarket janitor.
— Very catchy chorus towards the end of the song.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Swizz Beatz [real] perform “Swing Ya Rag”


J’ACCUZZI
host reprises Dangerous Liaisons role in an onstage hot tub

— An absolutely hilarious random concept.
— Very funny visuals of dramatic Dangerous Liaisons scenes being portrayed so seriously in a hot tub.
— Spot-on casting of Michaela as Glenn Close’s character from Dangerous Liaisons, as Michaela does have a strong facial resemblance to Close.
— I love John’s dialogue in the interstitial pre-taped interview scenes with him.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS


IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very solid episode. There was a good quality for almost the entire night (even the segment I found to be the weakest, Gas Right, wasn’t too bad), and there were some strong, memorable, and inspired bits. The post-Weekend Update half was particularly great. John Malkovich is now 3-for-3 in hosting SNL episodes that I love. Speaking of John, he was, once again, a great host. It’s criminal that SNL never made him a frequent recurring host. He should be well into the Five Timers Club by now.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Monologue / Jizz In My Pants (tie)
J’accuzzi
La Rivista Della Televisione con Vinny Vedecci
Virgania Horsen’s Pony Express
The Lost Works Of Judy Blume
A Message from the Secretary of State Designate
New Girl
Calculator
Cool Obama
Weekend Update
Gas Right


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Tim McGraw)
a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Hugh Laurie hosts the Christmas episode. It’s also Amy Poehler’s final episode as a cast member.

November 22, 2008 – Tim McGraw / Ludacris and T-Pain (S34 E9)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

AUTOMAKER BAILOUT HEARINGS
auto execs (WLF), (DAH), (JAS) request billions at Congressional hearing

 

— Looks like we’re in for another overlong, mostly-full-cast, Jim Downey-written political sketch in this SNL era.
— So far, this has the usual dry Downey humor that used to work so well in his prime, but comes off as a bit of a slog in this era.
— Not only am I liking the voice Bill’s doing as Walter Jones, but I’m hearing a lot of Dan Aykroyd’s Jimmy Carter impression in Bill’s voice here, which makes this yet another Bill Hader/Dan Aykroyd comparison I’ve made in my reviews.
— The “No one watches C-SPAN” bit is pretty funny, especially Jason saying “You could run a snuff film on C-SPAN and no one would notice.”
— Kenan’s upbeat delivery of “I’m a union man!” made me laugh a lot, for some reason.
— Bobby’s already getting a good laugh from the audience just from his mere demeanor and facial expression. Impressive for someone so new on SNL.
— Despite an iffy start, I’ve been finding this cold opening to be decent enough.
— Blah at the “Ford needs to build gayer cars” request from Fred’s Barney Frank. Such a cheap, lazy joke about Barney Frank’s homosexuality.
— Surprisingly, this is Fred’s very first solo LFNY, despite this being his seventh season on the show.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host touts country & hip-hop commonalities, sings “Real Good Man” excerpt

— I like the mileage this monologue is getting out of the incongruous host/musical guest line-up of this episode.
— This monologue has turned into Tim McGraw performing a snippet of one of his songs (“Real Good Man”), though it’s not a full-fledged musical performance in which he goes over to the musical guest stage in SNL’s studio (ala Jon Bon Jovi, Hammer, etc.).
— Yet another season 34 monologue that only features the host. Nice to see this trend still going strong.
STARS: ***


CLEAR RITE
deluded aspiring inventor (KRW) is proud of her Clear Rite dental device

— This seems like the type of bit than Kristen can sell well.
— A laugh from the awkward ending of Fred’s scene.
— This sketch is overdoing the bit with Kristen’s character uncomfortably sucking on her upper teeth.
— When this sketch originally aired, I remember how jarring it felt to see Tim McGraw show up with his real hair, given the fact that he’s usually always seen wearing his trademark cowboy hat.
— This sketch has fizzled out for me after a while, though it’s bounced back a little when Tim came on.
STARS: **½


DATELINE
Keith Morrison (BIH) takes prurient interest in tragedies

— The debut of both Bill’s Keith Morrison impression and the Dateline sketches the impression appears in.
— Bill’s Morrison impression is a RIOT. Everything about his impression and performance is so damn funny, mainly his delighted vocalizations when hearing grisly murder details.
— I absolutely love how the format of this sketch kinda feels like a throwback (whether intentional or not) to the Bob Waltman Special sketches that Kevin Nealon used to do.
— A great laugh from Bill’s Morrison bluntly answering, with a smile, “I do” when Tim asks him “Do you get some sort of strange delight in all this?”
STARS: ****½


TURKEYS
in the woods, (FRA) & other turkeys run from hunters’ gun blasts

— This was originally cut after dress rehearsal from the season 32 episode that Ludacris hosted. Funny coincidence that they brought the sketch back tonight when Ludacris is the musical guest, despite him not being kept in tonight’s version of this sketch. They should’ve kept him in it, just because it’s funny to imagine him doing a sketch like this.
— A fairly fun concept to this.
— Wow, what the heck is going on with the greenscreen in the background? It seems to have malfunctioned halfway through this sketch, and also seems to have screwed up the brightness of the screen (as seen in the last above screencap for this sketch).
— This sketch isn’t living up to its potential, despite the fun vibe. This hasn’t been going anywhere interesting for me.
STARS: **


LIVE ANOTHER DEATH
bumpkin (host) crashes James Bond’s (BIH) Casino Royale poker game

— This sketch has a meh feel so far. The redneck stereotype jokes with Tim’s character feel tired, and the audience seemingly agrees with me, judging from their very tepid laughter.
— This meh sketch has suddenly gotten really funny with Tim’s whole reaction to Pussy Galore’s name. I especially like him pulling out his phone and recording her saying her name.
— Pretty funny bidet comment from Tim right before his exit.
— Nice beer-themed 007 graphic at the end.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guests perform “One More Drink”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Bill Clinton (DAH) will enjoy role as Husband Of The Secretary Of State

Arianna Huffington (MIW) analogizes the failures of George W. Bush

Zell Miller (WLF) supports Saxby Chambliss because he has a fancy name

— I guess to assure us Amy is still coming back after her maternity leave (I’ve pretty much completely forgotten she’s still in the cast by this point), Seth says during his sign-on, “Amy Poehler is still on assignment”, which the audience actually laughs at.
— Seems kinda soon to have Darrell’s Bill Clinton do another Update commentary, but I can’t complain much, and I guess SNL has to find ways to keep Darrell relevant this season, given how horribly he had been struggling for airtime lately.
— Standard “Clinton is a horndog” stuff during Darrell’s commentary as him, but I did get a pretty good laugh from his ending line, “The last thing I want to do…is screw Hillary.”
— Great to see Michaela Watkins with her own Update commentary in only her second episode, especially given how practically non-existent she and fellow newbie Abby Elliott (the latter of whom has yet to appear in tonight’s episode, by the way) were in the preceding episode. Also great that this Update commentary is utilizing the Arianna Huffington impression that Michaela already had in her repertoire (there’s a pre-SNL online sketch with Michaela’s Huffington that was circulated back when it was first announced that Michaela and Abby were added to the SNL cast). It does feel a little odd, though, seeing this in hindsight after having gotten used to future cast member Nasim Pedrad’s recurring Arianna Huffington commentaries on Update years later.
— Solid comment from Michaela’s Huffington at the end, making an analogy between the Iraq War and sex.
— Seth’s joke about Angelina Jolie’s breasts feels uncomfortable in hindsight, given what would later happen to Jolie.
— Will reprises his memorable Zell Miller impression for the first time in years! Interesting seeing it appear outside of the Hardball sketches.
— I laughed harder than I probably should’ve at the name Mortimer Fap when Will’s Miller is running down what he considers to be normal names.
— Will’s Miller is unfortunately not getting anywhere near as worked up or purple-faced as he usually gets, which is saying something, given how he’s still delivering his lines loudly and angrily in tonight’s commentary.
— I got a laugh from Will-as-Miller’s unintentionally offensive complaints about America being run by Browns and Blacks.
STARS: ***


BLIZZARD MAN
musical guests collaborate with Blizzard Man at a recording session

— The first Blizzard Man sketch in quite a long time.
— (*groan*) Despite the fact that Kenan is seemingly playing the exact same technician character he played in the first installment of this sketch, he acts like he’s never seen Blizzard Man before and didn’t expect his rapping to be so bad. Lazy writing.
— Speaking of lazy writing, this sketch is using the same basic joke as the previous Blizzard Man sketches, but it always works for me, so I can’t complain much.
— Why does this recording studio room have a doorbell?
— Very funny look of Tim’s character.
— I’m enjoying T-Pain’s straight man performance here.
— Ooh, I like this sudden turn with Blizzard Man imitating T-Pain with a tall hat and autotune.
— Something about the ending (before the newspaper headline) came off kinda awkward.
STARS: ***½


THANKSGIVING DINNER
Jeff Montgomery is an uninvited guest at a family Thanksgiving dinner

— Abby Elliott finally makes her first appearance of the night…and unfortunately, it’s a nothing role. Two episodes into her SNL tenure, and I’ve already been starting to forget she’s joined the cast.
— The Jeff Montgomery character makes his second and final on-air appearance (assuming the similar-looking, similarly-dressed, and similar-acting unnamed character Will previously played in the MySpace Seminar sketch from the season 31 Julia Louis-Dreyfus episode wasn’t the true debut of Jeff Montgomery). He has a Valentine’s Day-themed sketch that gets cut after dress rehearsal later this season, in which he’s teamed up with a similar character played by that night’s special guest, Dan Aykroyd.
— I love seeing this character, but they’ll never top his classic first appearance from earlier this season.
— I like how the family’s trying to figure out how the hell Jeff Montgomery is there at their Thanksgiving dinner when none of them invited him. I also like Montgomery trying to downplay the fact that he snuck into this dinner.
— The running bit in this sketch with each character at the table, one-by-one, in order of appearance, answering Montgomery’s questions with a one-word statement, feels awfully reminiscent of a running bit in that Fall Foliage sketch from the Josh Brolin episode earlier this season. It feels a tad unnecessary in this Jeff Montgomery sketch.
— Meh at this reveal from Montgomery: “I’m an escapee from a mental institution……f-f-for Thanksgiving!” Why did they change his original identity as a sex offender? Him being a mental institution escapee feels too tame and dull in comparison to that.
— A hilarious disturbing reveal of Montgomery having eaten the family’s dog. I also love how uncomfortably silent everything gets right after that.
STARS: ***½


DALE BRITCHES’ DOWN HOME PHONY PHONE CALLS
Dale Britches’ (host) phony phone calls are ultra-gentle pranks

— I’m not too crazy about this premise, but the performances are making it work decently enough.
— The premise of this sketch, with very tame “pranks” that lead to a friendly conversation between the prankster and prankee, would later be repeated in a Punk’d parody starring Jeff Bridges, when Bridges hosts in season 36.
— I absolutely love Bill’s psychotic “AH’M GONNA KEEEEELL YEEEWWW!” rant over the phone. Something about the goofiness of Bill’s performance also has a bit of an old-school SNL feel that I love. I can easily picture Dana Carvey giving this same goofy performance had this sketch appeared in the late 80s/early 90s. Interesting how Bill’s been reminding me of various earlier SNL eras tonight: his Dan-Aykroyd-as-Jimmy-Carter-esque voice in the cold opening, his Bob Waltman Special-esque Dateline sketch, and now this.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guests perform “Chopped N Skrewed”


UNO’S
sticky bar surface is the result of Mark Payne’s incompetent mixology

— Much like Jeff Montgomery, the Mark Payne character makes his second and final on-air appearance tonight. He has at least two appearances that get cut after dress rehearsal later this season: one in which host Rosario Dawson plays his girlfriend (which I remember surprising me when I first read the details of this cut sketch, because I assumed before then that Mark Payne was supposed to be openly gay), and another in which host Tracy Morgan plays, I think, Payne’s similar-acting former boss in a flashback (I would imagine Tracy’s performance as a Mark Payne-esque character basically comes off the same as his characterization of Brian Fellow.)
— I forgot to mention this in my review of the heavily-criticized-by-online-SNL-fans-back-in-2008 first installment of this sketch, but, among those many criticisms from online SNL fans towards the first installment, one criticism claimed that Bobby’s Mark Payne seemed like a ripoff of Nick Kroll’s Fabrice Fabrice character.
— Mark Payne’s first few comical lines in tonight’s installment are being met with DEAD SILENCE from the audience. Ouch.
— I like Payne’s line, “It’s newer than a baby’s thoughts!”
— The audience is getting a little more into this sketch as it progresses.
— I see Payne’s odd obsession over the stickiness of the bar surface has replaced his odd obsession with the pepper smell in the first installment of this sketch.
— Funny bit with Payne failing to catch the drinking glass he throws in the air, due to his lack of depth perception.
— Abby stuck in yet another nothing role tonight, not even saying a single word this time.
— Mark Payne somehow seems even more intentionally annoying in this second sketch of his (which is certainly saying something), but, much like his first appearance, I’m still enjoying him, annoyingness and all. Maybe it’s a good thing, though, that this ends up being his final on-air appearance. Bobby has much better stuff than this, though it’s a testament to his strength as a performer that he can make me like such an annoying character as this.
— I’m enjoying the interplay between Mark Payne and Kenan’s character.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS


IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very average and pretty forgettable episode. Not bad, but it sadly puts an end to the long consecutive streak of solid episodes that preceded this, starting with Anne Hathaway. Still, I can’t complain too much about tonight’s episode.


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

I now introduce what will be a regular feature in my post-show wrap-ups:
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Dateline
Thanksgiving Dinner
Blizzard Man
Weekend Update
Uno’s
Automaker Bailout Hearings
Dale Britches’ Down Home Phony Phone Calls
Monologue
Live Another Death
Clear Rite
Turkeys


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Paul Rudd)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
John Malkovich

November 15, 2008 – Paul Rudd / Beyonce (S34 E8)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

THE OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT ELECT
blundering Joe Biden (JAS) promises to be as entertaining as Sarah Palin

— The fact that SNL’s first post-election cold opening is oddly about vice president elect Joe Biden, and not, you know, the ACTUAL president elect himself, Barack Obama, seems to be an admission from SNL that they’re far more confident in Jason’s Biden impression than they are in Fred’s Obama impression. And yet Lorne STILL keeps Fred in the Obama role for four damn years. Unbelievable.
— Jason’s Biden assuring us that he can be as entertaining and wacky as Sarah Palin kinda seems like a thinly-veiled way for SNL themselves to assure us viewers that SNL can continue to be entertaining after all the Palin stuff they got lots of acclaim and media attention from.
— Lots of pretty funny “wild” lines and hot takes from Jason’s Biden throughout this.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— Added to the cast tonight are Abby Elliott and Michaela Watkins, the former being the first second-generation cast member in SNL history, as she’s the daughter of season 20 cast member Chris Elliott.

— As yet another sign of how old he’s getting, Don Pardo bizarrely announces Michaela Watkins as “Michaelllliallia Watson”. I kid you not, folks. You gotta feel bad for Michaela. I’ve heard several different SNL cast members (including Casey Wilson) mention what an honor and a very important moment they consider it to hear Don Pardo call out their name during their first episode. So, to picture Michaela backstage eagerly awaiting to hear Don announce her name during this episode, only to hear Don spit out…THAT? Poor girl.


MONOLOGUE
host is disappointed he missed all the election-related excitement at SNL

— I like Paul Rudd saying that appearing on SNL right after their exciting election year has ended is the equivalent to being in Times Square on New Years Day.
— Ha, after I said the cold opening seemed like a thinly-veiled way for SNL themselves to assure us their show will be fine without the Palin stuff, now we get a monologue that features SNL openly assuring us that their show will be fine without the Palin stuff. I guess there really was a concern from SNL that they’d lose the publicity and ratings boost they got from the Palin stuff.
— Funny bit with Kristen’s impression of a mild Janet Napolitano being a very unfitting replacement for Tina Fey’s Palin impression.
STARS: ***½


SPROINGO
audible cue marks activation of Sproingo erectile dysfunction treatment

— I almost want to say Kristen and Jason are playing the same married couple they previously played in the Jar Glove commercial earlier this season, though that would mean this Sproingo commercial takes place before the Jar Glove commercial, since Jason’s character got killed in Jar Glove.
— Meh, not crazy about this commercial.
— Okay, I got a laugh just now from the drooping sound effect when the medication stops working.
STARS: **


AFFECTIONATE FAMILY
Austin Vogelcheck’s (host) over-affectionate family makes (ANS) uneasy

— OH, NO. The debut of a recurring sketch that I’ve always fucking DESPISED.
— When this originally aired, I remember thinking it came off as a very inferior kissing-themed variation of the famous Bird Family sketch from the season 25 Julianna Margulies episode. I don’t see those similarities as much anymore, probably because, due to how often this Affectionate Family sketch ended up recurring over the years, I now see it as its own entity. A very bad entity, but it’s own entity nonetheless.
— (*groan*) A minute-and-a-half into this, and I already can’t wait for this insufferable sketch to end.
— I remember being so disappointed to eventually learn that Bill writes or co-writes these sketches.
— Not a single laugh from me during this sketch.
STARS: *


SCARED STRAIGHT
Lorenzo McIntosh’s scare tactics fail to intimidate delinquent teens

— This sketch has officially become recurring.
— Like last time, I’m getting laughs from Kenan-as-Lorenzo-McIntosh’s movie plot references and crude prison rape lines.
— Kenan’s delivery of “You just transformed from a man to a BITCH!” had me howling.
— I love the little detail of McIntosh pronouncing Socrates as “so-crates”.
— Overall, while this was pretty much a carbon copy of the first installment, I still enjoyed this, though not quite as much as last time.
STARS: ***½


EVERYONE’S A CRITIC
host’s nude portrait of ANS horrifies viewers

— A good laugh from the sudden turn with Andy randomly asking Paul, in a dramatic manner, “…………Can I paint you?”
— The “huh huh huh-huh-huh-huh” music playing on the radio is hilarious.
— Lonely Island continues to make homoerotic humor work much better than the rest of SNL tends to.
— I like the fake-out with a shirt-wearing Andy initially being shown from the waist up during his portrait posing, making you think he’s fully clothed, only for the camera to cut to a wide shot and reveal that he’s completely bottomless.
— Holy fucking hell at the violent mass death sequence (complete with a “Don’t open your eyes, Marion!” Indiana Jones reference) when everybody at the auction is reacting negatively to the reveal of Paul’s painting. I absolutely LOVE this. This very detailed mass death sequence is so beautifully dark, disturbing, AND funny. Michael O’Donoghue would’ve been proud.
— This mass death sequence is also quite a unique way for Abby Elliott and Michaela Watkins to make their very first SNL appearance. At least that’s better than this being the final appearance of newbies, as would later happen with most of the season 39 newbies (Noel Wells, Mike O’Brien, Brooks Wheelan, John Milhiser), who get the dishonor of making their final SNL appearance in a very similar mass death sequence in another Digital Short, When Will The Bass Drop, leading to online jokes that SNL killed those newbies off.
— Casey makes her ONLY appearance of tonight’s entire episode at the end of this pre-taped short, meaning she makes no live appearances tonight. I hate to say it, but, with two new women being added to the cast tonight, the writing is clearly on the wall for Casey in regards to her SNL future.
— Solid ending.
STARS: ****½


SONGWRITER SHOWCASE
open mic song by (host) & (KRW) details minutiae of a package delivery

— Funny story from Will’s character about his wife.
— In a genuine blooper, Will misreads the names of Kristen and Paul’s characters off the cue cards, and then, when correcting himself, ad-libs “I can’t read my own writing.” Does that mean Will wrote this sketch?
— Catchy melody to Kristen and Paul’s song.
— A funny little touch during the song, with Kristen leaning back in an absurdly far manner.
— The lyrics to the song just being a very long and overly detailed description of a package delivery is very funny.
— I like Will’s slow burn each time the camera cuts to his reaction throughout Kristen and Paul’s song.
— Yeah, I’m definitely getting the feeling Will wrote this sketch. Kristen and Paul’s song turning into an endless recitation of the very long tracking number of the package feels kinda like a variation of the long misspelling of the word “business” in Will’s legendary Spelling Bee sketch (though I don’t even know if Will himself wrote that sketch). This Songwriter Showcase sketch is nowhere near as memorable or epic as that Spelling Bee sketch, but I’m still enjoying it a lot.
STARS: ****


SONG MEMORIES
“Garden Party” evokes yucky anecdotes by (host) & other icky reminiscers

— Hopefully, this will be a return to form for this recurring sketch, after the disappointingly subpar installment of this sketch that last appeared when Ashton Kutcher hosted the preceding season.
— I love the big change of scenery for this sketch. Having tonight’s installment take place inside a car during a road trip is fun.
— The twist to Bill’s story, with his girlfriend being Sarah Palin’s pregnant daughter, is hilarious, as is his addendum shortly afterwards: “I dumped her on November 5th” (the day after the 2008 presidential election).
— The audience is REALLY into this sketch.
— Great addendum from Will to his story: “Still failed; my friend does coke, too.”
— Funny little random bit with Jason casually offering mushrooms to his friends.
— The whole bit with Paul’s vibrating cellphone is cracking me up.
— Wow, a gory ending all of a sudden, with Bill’s character accidentally getting his brains blown out all over the back window of the car via gunshot, complete with realistic effects. The dark humor fan in me absolutely loves this. In fact, the dark humor fan in me has been getting quite a lot of kicks from this episode in general, between the mass death sequence in the Digital Short and the realistic-looking gunshot to the head Bill takes at the end of this sketch.
— Overall, one of the better installments of this recurring sketch, and definitely a bounce back after the weak Ashton Kutcher installment of this sketch.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “If I Were A Boy”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Snagglepuss (BOM) & The Great Gazoo (WLF) lament gay marriage vote result

Justin Timberlake [real] recaps SNL episode he would’ve done next week

— I got an unintended chuckle from some audience members booing Seth’s joke about Laura Bush never taking her hand off of her pocketbook during her meeting with the First Lady elect, Michelle Obama.
— Ha, we’re getting the return of a routine from earlier this season in which Seth and/or Amy (just Seth in this particular case) constantly do the same joke multiple times in a row with a different punchline each time. I always love this routine, and I especially love the fake-out tonight in which, after initially doing the same Germany Robbery joke multiple times, Seth turns to the next camera to introduce the next guest commentary, only to suddenly cut himself off and turn back to the first camera to continue doing the same Germany Robbery joke.
— More booing from tonight’s audience, this time when Seth mentions the state of California passing Proposition 8 earlier that week, banning gay marriage. I love Seth’s ad-lib in reaction to that booing.
— Fun Snagglepuss impression from Bobby. I think I recall once hearing Bobby say that he did this Snagglepuss impression in his SNL audition.
— Kind of an odd choice of having Snagglepuss’ lover be The Great Gazoo from another Hanna-Barbera 1960s cartoon, The Flintstones (I personally would’ve chose some other 1960s Hanna-Barbera character), but it’s working enough, I guess.
— A surprise Justin Timberlake appearance, which gets tonight’s already-lively audience even more hyped up.
— Is Justin’s comment about having to cancel a hosting gig he was booked for the following week true? There wasn’t an official announcement in the press of this booking prior to tonight’s episode.
— Oh, I am absolutely LOVING this whole very meta bit with Justin acting out a rundown of how his episode the following week would’ve went. There are so many fun things here, such as Justin doing an imitation of various SNL characters and impressions that he says would’ve appeared that night (e.g. Vincent Price, Nicholas Fehn, Target Lady), him mentioning that night’s Digital Short would’ve been a lazy, Thanksgiving-themed carbon copy of “Dick In A Box” (of which Justin openly and rightfully admits “Bad idea, should NOT have done that”), him mentioning Kenan In A Dress would’ve been one of the Weekend Update commentators, his goodnights speech including him thanking Senator Chris Dodd for appearing (which I take it is a self-deprecating dig at how SNL has had so many cameos from presidential candidates during the 2008 presidential race). I even love the little details, such as Justin actually humming the then-current SNL theme music when imitating Don Pardo’s opening montage announcements, and Justin saying his monologue includes Andy and Bill as backup dancers “because they’re not in anything else”. I know how polarizing Justin is among hardcore online SNL fans, so your mileage definitely may vary on what I’m about to say, but, as an SNL nerd, I’m finding Justin’s whole meta SNL episode rundown to be a fucking BLAST. This is such a spot-on and fun spoof of not only the formula of a typical SNL episode from this era, but also the formula of a typical Justin Timberlake-hosted episode.
STARS: ***½


BEYONCE VIDEO SHOOT
male dancers (BOM), (ANS), (Justin Timberlake) muss musical guest’s video

— (*sigh*) Yet another episode this season in which Darrell makes his ONLY appearance of the night in a very brief, awkward, pointless, non-impression role. His whole bit in this sketch bombs HORRIBLY with the audience, by the way. It’s starting to get just plain sad seeing him still on the show this season. SNL has clearly been struggling to find ways to use him in this 14th season of his. No wonder he finally ends up leaving after this season.
— I think I recall hearing Bobby wrote or co-wrote this sketch. By the way, for a newbie, Bobby is impressively holding his own in this sketch among the far-more-popular-at-the-time Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake.
— A very thin and one-note sketch, but it’s pretty fun, mainly due to the performances from Andy, Bobby, and Justin. However, I was never as crazy about this sketch as a lot of people seem to be.
— Paul is making the best of a role that would’ve come off as a meh role under most hosts.
— Something about Beyonce’s acting isn’t working for me here.
— Funny reveal of Andy, Bobby, and Justin being Paul’s stepsons.
— I like Paul’s silly dancing at the end.
STARS: ***½


LEDGE JUMPER
(WLF) & (BIH) try talking suicidal (host) off a ledge by saying “don’t”

— As always, I can’t get enough of the great pairing of Will and Bill.
— The names of Will and Bill’s characters, Louis and Jamie, are based on Louis and Jamie Klein, two long-time SNL viewers who are well-known for attending SNL every single week. This is actually the second Will Forte-starring sketch to use Louis and Jamie Klein’s first names in a sketch; the first was the Pepper Grinder sketch (a personal favorite of mine, even if I’m apparently in the very small minority) in the season 30 episode that Will Ferrell hosted. Forte was very close with the real Louis and Jamie Klein during his SNL tenure, so the fact that their names were used in both the Pepper Grinder sketch and tonight’s Ledge Jumper sketch may mean that Forte himself wrote those sketches.
— I love Will’s line about Paul becoming a Jackson Pollack painting on the pavement if he jumps off the ledge.
— I got a big laugh from Will, after acting like he’s tenderly going to attempt talking Paul off the ledge, asking Paul a very blunt “Sir, what is your freakin’ problem?!?” through a bullhorn.
— So many laughs from Will’s constant “DON’T”s through the bullhorn.
— Paul: “If you say ‘don’t’ one more time, I’m gonna jump off this building!” Will: “DO NOT.”
— Hilarious how Will requests that Paul zip up his sweatshirt and put on his hood to help the cleanup crew with the “splashback” that will inevitably occur when he hits the pavement after jumping off the ledge.
— The ending of this sketch with Paul finally committing suicide, not to mention all the talk earlier in this sketch about the mess Paul’s body will leave on the pavement after jumping to his death, continues the dark, disturbing theme in tonight’s episode.
— The gag with Bill pulling out his car keys and shutting off the car alarm that goes off after Paul jumps to his death off-camera is the return of a gag that SNL seemed to like using in season 21 (it was used in both the Gary Macdonald sketch from that season’s John Goodman episode, and the Roofers sketch from that season’s Steve Forbes episode).
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”


PARKING LOT WORKERS
jokey (BIH) & (host) are in denial about their stake in same-sex marriage

— Great to see the usually-underused Bill Hader getting so many big roles tonight. Great voice he’s doing in this sketch, by the way.
— In addition to the dark, disturbing theme in tonight’s episode, we’ve also been getting a big focus on gay/homoerotic humor tonight. The latter theme is supposedly intentional. While I don’t know if this has ever been confirmed, rumor has it that the gay/homoerotic theme tonight was the SNL writing staff’s way of objecting to Proposition 8 being passed.
— The two new girls, Abby Elliott and Michaela Watkins, have only appeared in very tiny bit roles all night, roles that might as well have been given to extras. A disappointing way for them to debut. What’s up with this? Was SNL intentionally trying to break Abby and Michaela in very slowly, for whatever reason? Did Abby and Michaela have more noteworthy roles that were cut after this episode’s dress rehearsal? Were they not hired until AFTER this week’s sketches were already written, and thus, SNL could only squeeze them into very tiny bit roles?
— I’m enjoying the progression to this sketch, and it’s an interesting commentary on homophobia and gay marriage.
STARS: ***½


CLEARING THE AIR
(BIH), (host), (FRA) reiterate relationship tangles

— Hmm, “A Movie By Fred, Bill & Noah”. Noah, by the way, is movie director Noah Baumbach.
— Wow, Bill in yet ANOTHER big role tonight. Hell yeah!
— An interesting and very different-feeling short film for this SNL era. I’m enjoying it, even if it’s not laugh-out-loud funny.
— I remember some online SNL fans back at this time in 2008 wondered if the waitress in this short (the fourth above screencap for this short) was played by newbie Abby Elliott. That’s clearly not her. It’s just an unknown (to me, at least) extra playing that role, which gives this short film even more of an “outsider” feel, as if it wasn’t originally made for SNL (despite involving two then-current SNL cast members and tonight’s host), but ended up airing on SNL anyway, much like some of the “outsider” short films that aired on SNL in the 70s and 80s.
— Given the aforementioned gay/homoerotic theme in tonight’s episode, I remember how, back when this episode was originally airing, some people in an online live discussion thread for this episode made a prediction that this short was going to end with a twist that the Tracy who Fred, Bill, and Paul are all talking about dating is a man, since Tracy is a unisex name. That prediction would turn out to be wrong, as we end up never getting that twist ending. I haven’t been paying attention to if any gender pronouns were used by Fred, Bill, or Paul when referring to Tracy, though, but I think it’s safe to say we’re meant to assume Tracy is a woman. (If I’m wrong, I apologize.)
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS


IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Yet another in a long line of good episodes, though I don’t feel this episode is quite as strong as the last few. Still barely anything to complain about, though, besides a few lowlights right after the monologue. Even the big focus on gay/homoerotic humor was mostly handled a little better than I would’ve expected. I also felt Paul Rudd had a decent presence, and he worked well with the male cast, Bill Hader and Andy Samberg in particular.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ben Affleck)
a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Tim McGraw

November 1, 2008 – Ben Affleck / David Cook (S34 E7)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

QVC
John & Cindy McCain [real] sell merchandise on QVC with Sarah Palin (TIF)

— John McCain making a cameo just a few days before the election. This was presumably a last-ditch effort from him to garner up some desperate votes, as the writing was CLEARLY on the wall for him by this late stage of the election.
— Feels a bit odd seeing Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin impression being paired with the real John McCain, but it’s always nice to see Tina’s Palin during these 2008 elections, and McCain is always a fun sport on SNL.
— A funny reveal from a sad McCain that, while Barack Obama purchased airtime on three major networks, he and Tina-as-Palin could only afford QVC.
— A lot of fun laughs from the ’08 election-related products McCain and Tina’s Palin are selling as part of an agreement with QVC.
— An absolutely classic part with Tina’s Palin “goin’ rogue” and secretly advertising “Palin in 2012” shirts to a side camera, then saying she’s not going anywhere after the election (“I’m certainly not goin’ back to Alaska”).
— At the time this originally aired, I assumed this would be the last time we’d ever see Tina’s iconic Palin impression. The impression would end up making a handful of appearances over the years after this election, mostly in Tina Fey-hosted episodes.
STARS: ****½


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Given the direction of this monologue, the punchline of Ben Affleck announcing his endorsement of John McCain’s presidential campaign is predictable, but still funny enough.
— An overall very short and simple monologue. I’m at least glad this is the FIFTH consecutive episode that has a host-only monologue (again ignoring Oliver Stone’s brief interruption of Josh Brolin’s monologue). This has got to be the longest streak of host-only monologues since all the way back in the 80s. (I’ve heard that SNL would later return to the trend of host-only monologues at some point in season 44, but I personally can’t say for sure, as I’ve been on a hiatus from watching new SNL episodes since a few months into season 44.)
STARS: ***


JAR GLOVE
Rerun from 9/13/08


THE VIEW
Elisabeth Hasselbeck (KRW) & Alec Baldwin (host) argue politics

— SNL’s very first View sketch since the original, Tina Fey-written run of View sketches in the late 90s. Tonight’s installment launches a new run of these sketches.
— I never cared for Fred’s Joy Behar in these View sketches.
— I have mixed feelings on Casey’s Jennifer Aniston impression. On one hand, I can definitely see what she’s going for in the voice, and her impression is giving me mild laughs. On the other hand, the voice is pretty far off, feels too much like a work in progress (Casey stated in an interview the summer prior to this season that she was working on an Aniston impression that she hoped would get on SNL), and, in hindsight, this impression pales badly in comparison to the absolutely spot-on Aniston impression that future cast member Vanessa Bayer would later memorably do.
— Kristen’s political rants as Elisabeth Hasslebeck are making me laugh in this first sketch. However, I recall this going on to become a rather annoying staple of this era’s View sketches, even if it’s accurate to the real Hasselbeck’s political rants.
— Feels interesting seeing an impression of SNL favorite Alec Baldwin. Ben’s impression is pretty spot-on AND funny.
— Ben’s Baldwin, to Kristen’s Hasselbeck: “I can’t figure out if I wanna kiss you…or throw you off a cliff.”
— This sketch is okay, but really pales in comparison to the well-loved run of View sketches from the late 90s. Tonight’s sketch lacks that spark that the late 90s View sketches had.
STARS: ***


COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
Keith Olbermann’s (host) egoism flavors indignant hyperbole

— Ah, here’s a sketch I’ve always had very fond memories of.
— Right out of the gate, Ben’s Keith Olbermann impression is ALREADY slaying me. His voice and delivery are absolutely hilarious to me. I recall some unimpressed online SNL fans back at this time in 2008 criticizing Ben’s Olbermann impression (“Since when does Keith Olbermann speak in a half-British accent?”, I remember one of those SNL fans asking). While I admit Ben’s impression is certainly not spot-on in terms of nailing Olbermann’s voice, his performance as Olbermann is so damn fun and hilarious that I can EASILY overlook any inaccuracies in the impression, plus he’s at least nailing Olbermann’s general demeanor.
— Funny interview between Ben’s Olbermann and Kenan.
— Ben-as-Olbermann’s intentionally hammy, exaggerated, over-the-top delivery and camera-mugging during the “Worst Person In The World” segment is freakin’ priceless.
— A hilarious and particularly memorable “Special Comment” segment, with Ben’s Olbermann ranting INSANELY in a spitting-mad manner in regards to his building’s no-pets policy. I am practically on the fucking floor laughing at Ben’s execution of this segment.
— Funny touch throughout Ben-as-Olbermann’s no-pets policy rant with him constantly turning from one camera to another, eventually including a ridiculously-placed ceiling camera.
— Quite a long sketch (a sign of this being a Jim Downey-written piece, I take it?), especially for one that mainly consists of just the host speaking to the camera, but I have absolutely NO complaints.
— Overall, great to see this sketch still holds up. This sketch remains a personal favorite of mine. Ben absolutely KILLED IT in this mostly-solo sketch, and he was given lots of very funny material to back him up.
STARS: *****


TARGET
UPS driver (host) wants to get romantically involved with Target Lady

— (*groan*) Another Target Lady sketch.
— At least we get a very funny character from Ben. And the premise of him falling in love with Target Lady is a good and much-needed change of pace for this recurring sketch.
— I admit that, the more these Target Lady sketches appear, the funnier I’m gradually finding the running bit with Target Lady revealing the convoluted usage she intends to get out of the items that she leaves the cash register to get.
— Ben’s message over the P.A. is cracking me up.
— Bobby managed to make the most of his small appearance here (his ONLY appearance all night, by the way).
— Love the bit with Ben scanning Target Lady with the handheld scanner device and then saying “Just what I thought…PRICELESS!”
— Overall, by far the best (and first good) Target Lady sketch I’ve covered so far, thanks to Ben’s great character and performance.
STARS: ***


STATEN ISLAND ZOO
giraffe-themed follow-up to “Sloths!!” is equally zoologically inaccurate

— A somewhat questionable decision to do a follow-up to/variation of the epic Sloths installment of this sketch, which will be hard to top or even equal.
— I’m now a minute into this, and I gotta admit, despite my initial reservations, I’m actually loving the hell out of this Sloths follow-up/variation.
— Ha, we actually get a brief cameo from one of the sloths in the original Sloths sketch, yelling “GIRAFFES, MOTHERF(*bleep*)ER!” into the camera.
— Meh, Jason’s puzzled ending message after the Giraffes video, in which he just says a very taken-aback “I…I…”, pales badly in comparison to Kristen’s ending message from the Sloths version of this sketch.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Light On”


WEEKEND UPDATE
John McCain [real] presents his last-ditch campaign strategy options

Patrick & Gunther Kelly explicate voting machine issues with a song

Aunt Linda has negative reactions to new television season’s offerings

— I’m slowly getting used to seeing Seth anchor Update without Amy, but there’s still a bit of an odd feel.
— Among the cheers from the audience when McCain’s commentary is introduced, he receives some loud boos. Showing what a good sport he is, McCain doesn’t let it visibly bother him, and, in response to it, even laughs and mugs hammily in a good-natured manner (screencap below).

— Another fun Update commentary from McCain. I particularly like the part about him pulling “The Sad Grandpa” move.
— Odd coincidence that McCain’s booed-by-the-audience-early-on Update appearance is immediately followed by Seth doing a “Booed At Rally” joke about Sarah Palin.
— Wow, this is the first time we’ve seen Fred and Will’s Patrick & Gunther Kelly characters in years. This also ends up being their final appearance.
— Will’s insanely high-pitched singing in these Kelly Brothers commentaries never fails to get me.
— Although these Kelly Brothers commentaries have always used the same joke, it always works for me, especially when we’ve gotten a long break after their last appearance before this.
— I see SNL is still trying to figure out how to do Update without Seth having a co-anchor, as I’ve been noticing tonight has VERY few jokes in between the guest commentaries. Almost reminiscent of how the Dick Ebersol era’s later years (seasons 9 and 10) would sometimes have Updates (or Saturday Night Newses, rather) that have the anchorperson doing literally only ONE news joke in between each of the guest commentators.
— Speaking of recurring characters we haven’t seen in a while, we now get the return of Aunt Linda. Unfortunately, this is a character I’m NOT happy to see back, nor does this end up being her final appearance. This character only worked for me the first time she appeared.
STARS: ***


NIGHT SCHOOL MUSICAL: SENIOR YEAR EQUIVALENT
middle-aged students sing about adult concerns

— An okay concept for a High School Musical parody.
— During her lyrics in the song right now, I like Casey’s whole bit about what she’s going to smoke.
— Another episode this season in which Darrell makes his ONLY appearance in an awkward, small, non-impression, walk-on role that feels like SNL just threw him into out of desperation, just to give him something to do. As I said in a recent episode review, I’m starting to forget Darrell’s even still in the cast this season.
— Casey’s been standing out in this sketch. It’s nice to see her getting a lot of focus here.
— Funny look of Ben’s character.
— Ben seems to not know most of the lyrics to the song that he and the other performers are singing in unison, as he can be seen only moving his mouth to a few of the words.
STARS: ***


GRADY WILSON’S PUT THE FIRE BACK IN YOUR MARRIAGE TECHNIQUES
Grady Wilson’s (KET) sex DVD

— The debut of Kenan’s Grady Wilson sketches.
— I wonder why they gave Kenan’s character the same name of a character from the 70s sitcom Sanford & Son.
— The mere bluntness of Kenan’s sex demonstration scenes is hilarious, as are the sex moves he demonstrates.
— Very fun sketch, and Kenan is selling the hell out of it.
STARS: ****


MOVIE PITCH
(host)’s queer brother Stefon (BIH) puts homoerotic spin on a movie pitch

— Ladies and gentlemen, we have a major recurring character debut! And, boy, does this particular character eventually gain larger-than-life popularity. One of the biggest recurring characters in the history of SNL.
— It’s frustrating that Bill’s ONLY appearance all night is in a sketch airing so damn late in the show, but, knowing in hindsight that this sketch is basically a huge turning point for Bill, especially in terms of airtime, this will hopefully be the last time I will ever have to complain about how much SNL consistently underutilizes this brilliant performer.
— Being so used to seeing Stefon as a Weekend Update-only character in his subsequent appearances, it certainly feels interesting in hindsight seeing him make his debut not only in a sketch, but an unassuming, late-in-the-show sketch at that.
— Right out of the gate, Stefon is a hilarious character. And I’m loving the contrast his bizarre, raunchy, homoerotic movie pitch has to Ben’s family-friendly, cliched movie pitch. I’m sure people say Stefon works better as a Weekend Update character, and that’s most likely true, but we’ll see how I’ll feel about that when I reach this character’s stint as an Update correspondent.
— Feels a bit odd in retrospect not seeing the Stefon trademark of Bill breaking in reaction to some of the lines he’s reading cold off the cue cards. Obviously, this was before writer John Mulaney started the tradition of making last-minute changes to some of Stefon’s lines to surprise Bill on the air.
— I love Jason describing Stefon’s movie pitch as “some kind of half-remembered gay nightmare”.
— A funny ending fake freeze-frame on Stefon.
— A surprisingly fairly short sketch, further adding to my point of how unassuming this Stefon debut comes off. Nobody, not even Bill or Mulaney themselves, would’ve ever guessed back at this time in 2008 the heights this character’s popularity would eventually reach. In fact, we don’t even see Stefon make his second appearance until a year-and-a-half later, at a time when his original sketch from tonight’s episode was almost completely forgotten by most SNL fans.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Declaration”


BIERHOFF BROS. HOUSE OF GERMAN COATS
Bierhoff Brothers’ (FRA) & (host) coat for German tourists is overdone

— Ben gives yet another fun performance tonight, as I love the German accent he’s using here.
— I’m getting a bit of a Hans & Franz vibe from Fred and Ben’s characters. In fact, this sketch is almost basically what a Hans & Franz sketch would be like if they advertised coats instead of hosted a bodybuilding show, and didn’t spout off catchphrases every 20 seconds.
— Ben seemed lost on what he was supposed to do while displaying the Sausage Pouch. I think SNL’s crew forgot to give him a sausage for this portion of this sketch. The crew has strangely been making mistakes like this these past few episodes. In the preceding episode, they forgot to give Fred a handheld microphone for the Barack Obama Variety Half Hour sketch.
— The red flag, removable sleeves, and tent features of the German coat are pretty funny.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS


IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— The streak of solid episodes continues. Much like in most of the last few episodes before this, there wasn’t a single sketch I didn’t like tonight, and there were a few standout strong segments, one of which is a personal favorite of mine (Countdown With Keith Olbermann). We also got some noteworthy recurring character debuts tonight, with Grady Wilson and (especially) Stefon. Ben Affleck, despite some sloppiness here and there, continues to be a fantastic recurring host, and had some really strong moments tonight. He even managed to make a Target Lady sketch work for once.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jon Hamm)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Paul Rudd makes his hosting debut, in an episode that would be dubbed SNL’s “gayest episode ever” at the time, due to an unusually big focus on gay/homoerotic humor. (I’ll explain why that episode focuses so much on that type of humor when I review the episode.) We also get two new female additions to the cast.

October 25, 2008 – Jon Hamm / Coldplay (S34 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

BIDEN/MURTHA RALLY
dumb statements of Joe Biden (JAS) & John Murtha (DAH) imperil campaign

— A new impression from Darrell in this late stage of his SNL tenure. I can’t judge the accuracy of his John Murtha impression, as I have no real familiarity with Murtha, but Darrell’s impression is coming off pretty funny.
— Some laughs from Jason’s Joe Biden making a bold, suspiciously specific prediction that Barack Obama will be tested by a huge crisis early in his presidency.
— Some of Darrell-as-Murtha’s ignorant, rude comments are making me laugh.
— Seems pointless to have all those cast members (Kenan, Andy, Bobby, Casey) playing supporters in the background, when they don’t have anything to say or do in this.
— Jason’s Biden: “Gird your loins! By the beard of Jupiter, GIRD! YOUR! LOINS!”
— The fact that, after the Jim Downey-voiced “Next on C-SPAN” bit towards the end, the camera cuts back to Jason and Darrell’s Biden and Murtha just to show Jason setting up and saying a tacked-on-seeming LFNY, makes it obvious that this wasn’t the original choice for the cold opening tonight. Indeed, the cold opening in this episode’s dress rehearsal was the Barack Obama Variety Half Hour sketch we’ll be seeing later in tonight’s episode. In fact, in the syndicated 60-minute version of this episode shown on cable channels, this Biden/Murtha cold opening is replaced with the original dress rehearsal version of the Barack Obama Variety Half Hour sketch, complete with the original LFNY. What’s interesting and odd about that is the NBC rerun of this episode didn’t do that, IIRC. The NBC rerun still left in the live Biden/Murtha cold opening and still kept the live version of the Barack Obama Variety Half Hour as a sketch placed later in the show.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Some pretty funny outlandish lies Jon Hamm is making up about what Mad Men contains, in an attempt to help the show’s ratings. Reminds me a bit of Robert Hays’ monologue from season 6, though I feel this is being executed a lot better.
— I particularly like the mention of John McCain freaking out from supposedly smoking weed on Mad Men.
— Ignoring Oliver Stone’s brief and pointless cameo in Josh Brolin’s monologue in the preceding episode, this is the fourth consecutive episode with a real monologue that only involves the host. I’m really liking this trend.
— Jon is already showing lots of promise as a host. He handled this host-only monologue well for a first-time host.
STARS: ***½


TRICK OR TREAT
trick-or-treater Jeff Montgomery (WLF) may or may not be a sex offender

— Ah, a Will Forte classic.
— This was previously cut after dress rehearsal from the preceding season’s Brian Williams episode.
— I love the very random, playful “You’re the bitch, bitch! WHAAAAAAT?” bit from Will’s Jeff Montgomery character at the beginning.
— An absolutely classic turn right now. Jon: “What exactly IS your Halloween costume?” Jeff Montgomery: “(matter-of-factly) I’m a sex offender.”
— Hilarious part where, as supposedly part of his Halloween costume, Jeff Montgomery both recites a court-ordered “I’m required to inform you that I’m a sex offender and I’m living in…. etc.” statement and tries to get Jon to sign and date a legal form.
— Such a perfect display of the ballsy humor Will is so good at pulling off.
— So many laughs throughout this sketch, especially how Jeff Montgomery keeps trying to downplay the fact that he’s a real sex offender.
— A great absolutely speechless reaction from Jon when Montgomery reveals that the crime he’s guilty of is “only” sexually assaulting five teenagers.
— A very funny terrible segue with Montgomery asking Jon if he’s looking for a babysitter.
— Overall, simply perfect.
STARS: *****


RAS TRENT
dreadlocked collegian poseur (ANS) is a wannabe Jamaican

— A very catchy song. Even Andy’s intentionally-horrible singing is catchy as hell.
— This short is a lot of fun, and we’re getting lots of amusing little visuals and actions from Andy throughout the song.
— A particularly hilarious part with Andy suddenly mumbling his song in a low volume when walking past actual Rastafarians.
STARS: ****


MAD MEN / TWO A-HOLES AT AN AD AGENCY IN THE 1960S
Roger (John Slattery) & Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) vet A-holes pitch

— Funny line from Elisabeth Moss’ Peggy about how she’s not allowed to own a watch because she’s a woman.
— Great bit with Casey as Joan.
— Ha, this turns into a Two A-holes sketch out of nowhere! A fun turn in this Mad Men parody. This ends up being the final appearance of the Two A-holes, despite Jason and Kristen both remaining in the cast for several years.
— I love the little “Yes, I HEARD HER!” bit when Jason keeps telling Jon’s Don Draper what Kristen said in regards to her meal request.
— Great bit with the Two A-holes licking all the sandwiches on the platter and saying “These are ours.”
— Funny bit with the hula-hoop suspenders.
— A very strong mock-dramatic speech from Don Draper about hula-hoops and suspenders, and it’s hilarious how it moves Bobby’s Harry to tears.
STARS: ****


THE BARACK OBAMA VARIETY HALF HOUR
confident Barack Obama (FRA) will do his infomercial as a variety show

— Maya Rudolph makes her first SNL appearance since leaving the cast. SNL having to resort to bringing her in a cameo to play the role of Michelle Obama is yet another painfully obvious sign that SNL’s then-current cast doesn’t have a black woman. Since I couldn’t stand Maya back in these days (I’ve come around on her in more recent years), I remember being worried back at this time in 2008 that SNL would have to bring her back in a cameo every single time they needed to do a sketch involving Michelle Obama (gee, it’s a good thing we don’t have to worry about anything like that on SNL in our current times, RIGHT?!?!?!?!?!? [/end sarcasm]), but it would turn out that the only other time Maya ends up playing Michelle Obama again after tonight’s episode is when Maya hosts years later in season 37.
— Fun concept of Fred’s Barack Obama using his half-hour infomercial time to do an old-timey variety show.
— Apparently, SNL’s crew members forgot to give Fred a hand-held microphone before this sketch, as he’s awkwardly forced to lean into Maya’s microphone when they’re both singing.
— The “Our House” musical number with Kristen’s Nancy Pelosi, Andy’s Rahm Emanuel, and Bobby’s Barney Frank is hilarious.
— A fun and fitting “Don’t You Forget About Me” number with Darrell’s Bill Clinton.
— I love the Obama/JFK/Clinton mini-sketch.
STARS: ****


DON DRAPER’S GUIDE TO PICKING UP WOMEN
Don Draper’s (host) guide to picking up women suggests you act like him

— A good laugh from Kristen saying “Marry me, I wanna have your children!” in reaction to Jon’s Don Draper staying silent whenever she asks him a question.
— Here we have Amy, in pre-taped form, making her only appearance of the night, because she went into labor during afternoon rehearsals the same day of tonight’s episode, and subsequently gave birth at the hospital.
— Great ending to Amy’s scene, with her reacting to Don Draper telling her his name by looking into the camera and sultrily saying “Let’s get me out of this skirt.”
— A very well-executed piece so far.
— Excellent delivery from Jon during his whole fast-paced rundown at the end, regarding what to do to be like Don Draper.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Viva La Vida”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Robo-Call (WLF) is ashamed he’s being used to impugn Obama’s character

Ralph Nader (BIH) wrongly expects to supply unneeded campaign excitement

yet again, Nicholas Fehn doesn’t manage to gain any rhetorical ground

KET & MAR sing “We Love You Amy” in support of absent new mother AMP

— Ah, here we go. Seth’s very first solo Weekend Update, a few months before that would become a regular thing. I remember how eager I was to see tonight’s Update back when it originally aired, as I was very curious to see how Seth would handle anchoring Update alone, and was also very curious to see SNL’s very first solo-anchored Update since all the way back to May 2000.
— Just as I was expecting, it feels odd seeing Seth do Update by himself. Doing these daily reviews of mine has gotten me SO used to seeing Amy as Seth’s co-anchor.
— Will is very funny as Robo-Call.
— I love the detail of Robo-Call drinking from a flask of oil.
— Didn’t care for the corny, predictable joke of Robo-Call’s older brother being RoboCop.
— Robo-Call: “Next week, Robo-Call supposed to tell black people, election canceled.”
— It’s starting to feel kinda lonely and empty seeing Seth as the sole anchorperson, but not lonely and empty in a bad way, if that makes sense. And Seth is doing fine by himself, handling his first solo Update well.
— Bill’s Ralph Nader commentary was previously cut after dress rehearsal from a Weekend Update Thursday special that aired just two days before this.
— Bill’s doing a good vocal impression of Nader, though he’s not even bothering to imitate Nader’s facial mannerisms, mainly the twitchy eye. Jimmy Fallon previously nailed the facial mannerisms when impersonating Nader in a season 26 sketch.
— OH, GOD. Nicholas Fehn ONCE AGAIN. However, I’ve always had a theory that, if it’s indeed true that these Nicholas Fehn commentaries are always improvised, then SNL’s decision to have a Nicholas Fehn commentary in tonight’s Update probably wasn’t made until just hours before the show, when SNL realized that they needed to fill in some extra time left over in this Update due to Amy’s sudden absence. So they asked Fred if he could do a Nicholas Fehn commentary, knowing he can easily make up stuff on the fly as this character. If this theory of mine is correct, I guess I can cut SNL some slack for dragging this character out once again tonight. NEVER AGAIN, though, SNL.
— Just like the last appearance Nicholas Fehn made earlier this season, I’m stone-faced during his shtick tonight. The novelty of this character, and what made him work so well the first two times, are long gone by this point.
— A nice, sweet musical number from Kenan and Maya, honoring Amy.
STARS: ***


VINCENT PRICE’S HALLOWEEN SPECIAL
in 1959, Vincent Price’s (BIH) Halloween Special isn’t family-friendly

— Wow, this is the first time this recurring sketch has appeared in THREE SEASONS. I think I recall hearing new writer John Mulaney is the one responsible for bringing this recurring sketch out of the mothballs.
— Funny opening bit with Bill-as-Vincent-Price’s malfunctioning rising chair.
— Kristen’s voice as Gloria Swanson is a riot, as is her whole “I’m a pirate, arrr” spiel.
— I am absolutely loving Jon’s brash one-liners as James Mason, as well as Bill-as-Price’s reactions.
— Here we have the first inclusion of Fred’s Liberace impression in a Vincent Price sketch. This impression of Fred’s would go on to be a staple of this recurring sketch.
— Vincent Price to Liberace: “Save your sassy asides for your windowless bars!” That’s actually a clever, well-written, and interestingly-detailed line. So, naturally, it receives DEAD SILENCE from the audience.
— Jon continues to absolutely kill it in this sketch. His performance here is even more impressive when you’re aware of the backstory. I can’t remember all the exact details of the story, and I may have my facts about it wrong, but, IIRC, the story is that Jon played Dean Martin in the dress rehearsal version of this sketch, but he struggled badly through the impression. After talking it over with Lorne and company after dress rehearsal, it was decided that he would play James Mason instead of Dean Martin, and he ended up knocking it out of the park.
— This sketch has gotten me in such an upbeat mood that even the token gay jokes from Fred’s Liberace are making me laugh. We’ll see if my lenience towards the gay Liberace jokes will hold up in subsequent installments of this sketch, because, from what I’ve heard from some other fans fairly recently, the abundance of gay Liberace jokes supposedly really drags down the later installments of this sketch.
— Though it’s just a little thing, I love Bill-as-Price’s pronunciation of “tissue”.
STARS: ****½


JON HAMM’S JOHN HAM
host endorses bathroom-based meat dispensing system

— A questionable concept on paper, but you can already tell from the start that Jon’s performance expertise, natural funniness, and charm is going to sell this in spades.
— Hilarious visual of the toilet paper-esque ham dispenser.
— As expected, Jon’s execution of this is simply fantastic.
— Jon’s ending line, when quoting the slogan of his product: “If it feels like a slice of ham, don’t wipe your ass with it.”
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Lost!”


PAT FINGER
Pat Finger (host) seeks votes to be on city council of Butts, New York

— Wow, two consecutive sketches featuring only Jon Hamm? When this episode was originally airing, I took the fact that the last 25 minutes of this episode oddly consisted only of solo Jon Hamm sketches and Coldplay musical performances as a possible sign that the SNL cast wasn’t even in the building anymore by that point. I wondered if, after the Vincent Price sketch, the cast went to the hospital to visit Amy and her new baby. I even kinda assumed the goodnights were, in a somewhat similar fashion to SNL’s occasional ice-skating goodnights, going to show the cast in the hospital room with Amy and her new baby, with all of them waving to the camera, while Jon and Coldplay wrap up the show in the SNL studio. I’m sure that all sounds silly (and probably corny) to some people. Anyway, those assumptions of mine about the cast turned out to be completely wrong. I guess the fact that the only sketches in the last 25 minutes of the show all featured Jon Hamm by himself is a huge sign of how much trust he quickly earned from SNL as a performer, which is incredible, given the fact that this is his first time hosting, and it wasn’t universally known before this episode how funny this man is capable of being. You can tell he must’ve really impressed Lorne and company over the course of the week.
— Also, the aforementioned fact that the last 25 minutes of this episode consist only of solo Jon Hamm sketches and Coldplay musical performances kinda serves as an interesting glimpse of what an SNL episode would look like without any cast members. Though I guess SNL already sorta did do that with the second-ever episode back in season 1, which consisted almost entirely of musical performances.
— An extremely juvenile sketch, but the amazing Jon Hamm is, once again tonight, selling it, and is making it come off “fun dumb” instead of “bad dumb”.
— I like the little throwaway mention of Jon’s character’s great-grandfather being named E.T. Finger.
— Funny panicked reaction from Jon’s character when realizing how dirty his new last name, Deldeaux, will sound in his campaign slogan, right before the camera cuts away from him.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Yellow”


GOODNIGHTS
musical guest performs “Lovers In Japan”

— A special edition of the goodnights, as Jon throws to ANOTHER Coldplay performance. (I don’t know if this has ever been confirmed, but I’m assuming all of these extra Coldplay performances that we’ve been getting tonight are to fill up the extra time left over from Amy’s sudden absence.) However, as soon as Coldplay begins to play their song for these goodnights (“Lovers In Japan”), the goodnights suddenly get cut off in the original live airing I’m currently watching.


IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very strong episode, continuing the solid streak that I feel this season has been on ever since the Anne Hathaway episode. Not only did I enjoy every single segment tonight, but, aside from Weekend Update, every rated segment from Trick-Or-Treat all the way to Jon Hamm’s John Ham received a rating from me ranging from 4-5 stars. Very impressive. And Jon Hamm….wow. From the expert way he handled this hosting stint like a total pro and veteran, you’d never guess this was his first time hosting. One of the most incredible hosting performances I’ve ever seen from a first-time host. In fact, back when this originally aired, I remember noticing lots of similarities between the way Jon handled his first hosting stint and the way Alec Baldwin handled his first hosting stint in 1990. And, even though I don’t feel this first Jon Hamm-hosted episode is quite on the same level as that first Alec Baldwin-hosted episode (one of the absolute best SNL episodes of all time), this Hamm episode is still fantastic, and my review of it has probably one of the highest rating averages in this SNL project of mine. Also, even though, in terms of episode quality, I’d give the edge to Alec’s first hosting stint, in terms of hosting performances, I’d give the edge to Jon’s first hosting stint, because of the way he was able to perfectly carry several solo segments.


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


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
Ben Affleck

October 18, 2008 – Josh Brolin / Adele (S34 E5)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

PALIN PRESS CONFERENCE
TIF yields press conference bit to Sarah Palin [real]; Alec Baldwin cameo

— Some good lines from Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin here, though, unlike her previous appearances, there aren’t any classic one-liners here.
— Funny bit with Tina’s Palin taking the time to entertain the press with “some fancy pageant walkin’”.
— And here we have the heavily-hyped Sarah Palin cameo, which I remember dreading back when it was originally announced before this episode aired.
— A pretty funny Mark Wahlberg walk-on, looking for Andy Samberg after the famous sketch Andy did about him in the preceding episode.
— The cameos continue, as we now we get a surprise Alec Baldwin cameo (back in the days when you could still say “a surprise Alec Baldwin cameo”).
— Good bit with Alec mistaking the real Sarah Palin for Tina while badmouthing Palin.
— I love Tina’s panicked delivery of “Byeeee!” when hearing the real Palin is there.
— A blink-and-miss-it visual of Tina and Palin both being onscreen together as they pass by each other, which I’m guessing disappointed some viewers who were expecting more interaction between the two. I personally say it’s probably for the best that this is the closest to an onscreen interaction we got between them. Plus, SNL has a very hit-and-miss track record with their “celebrity meets their impersonator” pieces.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host tells how he prepared to portray George W. Bush; Oliver Stone cameo

— Very lame opening joke where the movie about a prominent political figure that Josh Brolin mentions he was recently in turns out to be No Country For Old Men based on John McCain.
— An okay though very basic bit with Josh breaking down how to do a Bush impression.
— A sudden Oliver Stone cameo, which unfortunately prevents this from being the third consecutive episode with a real monologue that only involves the host. The Oliver Stone cameo is brief enough, though, that this can still be mostly considered a host-only monologue.
STARS: ***


MACGRUBER
unexpected stock portfolio collapse becomes a distraction to MacGruber

— Good to see a MacGruber runner relating to the stock market crash.
— A big laugh from the obligatory end-of-sketch explosion cutting off MacGruber’s “What the f–” reaction to seeing the current state of his stocks.
STARS: ****


SURPRISE
at a restaurant, surprise-loving Sue spoils (host)’s marriage proposal

 

— This character of Kristen’s has officially become recurring.
— If you remember, I didn’t care for the first installment of this sketch when I reviewed it. And if my memory of how the subsequent installments of this sketch goes serves correct, I’m sure I’ll care even less for them.
— Yep. I’m now a few minutes into this sketch, and I haven’t been caring for it AT ALL. Just feels like a pale imitation of the already-overrated-to-me first installment of this sketch.
— (*groan*) Here we have yet another display of Fred’s classic Asian stereotype routine, this time complete with the ol’-fashioned “mispronouncing ‘r’s and ‘l’s” trait.
— The bit with Kristen’s Sue smashing a glass over her head to keep herself quiet, which actually made me laugh a lot in the first installment of this sketch, was pulled off too awkwardly tonight.
— We even get a repeat of the gag from the first installment where Sue jumps through a window multiple times, which, much like the glass-smashing-over-the-head bit, came off even less funnier in this second installment.
STARS: *


MACGRUBER
mugging takes priority over escape from unstable mafia hideout

   

— That theme song lyric about toilet paper being a luxury for the now-broke MacGruber hits a little too close to home during our current times in 2020.
— I love MacGruber smashing a beer bottle in half to threaten his two assistants to finally give him their watches.
STARS: ****


THE SUZE ORMAN SHOW
destitute (host) receives unhelpful advice from Suze Orman (KRW)

— SNL is gradually turning into The Kristen Wiig Show as we speak.
— Fitting to do this sketch during the financial crisis going on at the time.
— Odd coincidence: all three times a Suze Orman sketch has appeared by this point of SNL’s run, it was in an episode that also had a MacGruber runner (the Jonah Hill and Shia LaBeouf episodes from the preceding season, and now tonight’s episode).
— As usual, Kristen’s portrayal of Suze Orman is very fun, as are all of her line deliveries.
— Funny lines from Josh about how bad his life is now that he’s broke, though these lines feel like a variation of the lines Jason previously said as a barrel-wearing Richard Fuld about how bad his life is now that he’s broke, in an earlier Weekend Update from this season.
— A good laugh from the Master Pussies book that Kristen’s Orman shows.
STARS: ***½


WAHLBERG’S CONFRONTATION
in criticizing ANS’s impression of him, Mark Wahlberg [real] confirms it

— And here we have our obligatory confrontation between Mark Wahlberg and Andy.
— Not only is this the “celebrity meets their impersonator” piece that I basically thanked SNL for refraining from doing with Tina Fey and Sarah Palin earlier tonight, but this is also a “celebrity claims they’re nothing like their impersonator’s impression of them, then goes on to act exactly like their impersonator’s impression of them” piece. Meh.
— Even for a “celebrity claims they’re nothing like their impersonator’s impression of them, then goes on to act exactly like their impersonator’s impression of them” piece, this feels lazily executed.
— I do at least like the touch of how, after telling Josh “Say hi to your mutha for me, alright?”, Wahlberg adds in “…and to your stepmutha”, a reference to the fact that Josh’s stepmother is Barbra Streisand.
STARS: **


I’M NO ANGEL
pregnant barfly (AMP) embodies Gregg Allman’s (WLF) perfume

— Ah, a very memorable Amy Poehler sketch.
— A great way to get mileage out of Amy’s real-life pregnancy.
— I’m always interested in dialogue-less sketches (or mostly dialogue-less, in this case).
— The catchy “I’m No Angel” song playing is adding to the entertainment of all the very funny stuff happening onscreen.
— An odd minor thing I’ve always noticed Casey doing in the background of this sketch: after her jealous waitress character storms off, Casey seems kinda lost on where she’s supposed to go, then she strangely ducks behind the bar counter, where we can no longer see her, and then………she just stays under the bar counter? Why does she do that? And does she seriously stay hidden under that bar counter for the whole remainder of the sketch? I again ask, why?
— I like this exchange between Josh and Amy: “When’s your baby due?” Amy: “Yesterday.” Josh: (*looks into the camera with a sleazy smile*) “PERFECT.”
— I remember, back when this episode originally aired, some people in an online live discussion thread for this episode wondered if Josh’s chair breaking and him falling onto the floor after a pregnant Amy gets off of his lap was a real blooper. It seems obvious to me that that was an intentional part of this sketch. (Plus, why else would the camera hold on Josh just sitting there doing nothing for a few seconds before his chair breaks?)
— Very funny walk-on at the end from Will as Gregg Allman, capping this sketch off really well.
STARS: ****½


MACGRUBER
MacGruber’s anal ping-pong ball launch is a desperate money-raising act

— I love the haggard, destitute state MacGruber is now in.
— The whole bit with the ping-pong ball trick MacGruber does is absolutely HILARIOUS. One of the funniest things I’ve ever seen in a MacGruber short, which is saying something.
— Kristen’s disturbed facial expression after MacGruber’s ping-pong ball trick is absolutely perfect (the last above screencap for this short).
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Chasing Pavements”


WEEKEND UPDATE
presidential candidate Tim Calhoun extends his harebrained hustings

Jean K. Jean offers his perspective on European issues of the day

after Sarah Palin [real] demurs, AMP performs the prospective veep’s rap

— TIM CALHOUN! Sadly, this ends up being his final appearance, despite Will still remaining on SNL for over a season-and-a-half after this episode.
— Will-as-Calhoun’s delivery of “Boo!” when revealing that’s his middle name had me howling.
— I love Calhoun’s “blind Pole” bit, especially his line about how it helps that she, the “blind Pole”, has no sense of smell.
— Calhoun’s overall commentary killed as always. I’m gonna miss the hell out of this character. For me, he knocked it out of the park in every single appearance. One of the consistently funniest recurring characters in SNL history.
— I continue to find Jean K. Jean’s Update commentaries to be pretty good, and carried by Kenan’s charm. I particularly like his comments about Carla Bruni.
— A second Sarah Palin appearance tonight.
— Yes! Here we have Amy’s legendary Sarah Palin rap, one of my absolute favorite things that both Amy and SNL in general have ever done.
— Not only are we getting fantastic comical rapping and lyrics from Amy, but they’re being accompanied by some awesome visuals, such as Fred and Andy as the Eskimos, Jason as a dancing, snowmachine outfit-wearing Todd Palin, and a “mother-humpin’” moose (that’s Bobby inside that costume, by the way…and if you look closely through the eyes of the costume, you can even see Bobby’s distinctive eyes and eyebrows) getting shot by Amy.
— Overall, an absolutely classic Palin rap from Amy. And the fact that she did all of this while THIS far into her pregnancy (she gives birth the following Saturday), AND in the same episode she did that I’m No Angel sketch, is incredible, and speaks volumes of her commitment as a performer and what a trouper she is.
STARS: ****


FART FACE
businessmen Carl (WLF), Jerry (BIH), Jim (host) fling “fart face” epithet

— Oh, here comes a sketch that was fairly notorious back in these days. This sketch was infamous for both focusing on such a dumb, immature subject matter AND bombing horribly with both the audience and general SNL fans. Bill would appear on a talk show a month or so after this episode’s original airing (I can’t remember which talk show it was, but I want to say Letterman), and he talked about how awkward and self-conscious he felt performing this sketch to a dead audience, especially since he was aware that this episode was being watched by a higher number of people than usual, due to Sarah Palin’s heavily-hyped guest appearance (this was one of the highest-rated SNL episodes ever at the time). All that being said about this sketch, I fully disclose that I’ve always LOVED this sketch, and will defend it to the grave. This sketch has always been one of my biggest SNL guilty pleasures, so much so, that I can recite pretty much the entire sketch by heart.
— As I always say, the rare pairing of Will and Bill is always a treat, and is a pairing SNL should’ve done more often.
— The ridiculousness of Josh’s mature businessman character plugging his ears like a child so he can’t hear Will and Bill’s secret conversation is funny.
— I love the following exchange, regarding Josh’s continued use of the nickname “Fart Face” for Will’s Carl character: Bill: “If you’ve spent any time with Carl, you’d know his face does not smell of farts…but rather a face.” Josh: “Odor-wise, I’d agree, but I’m talking about appearance. See, I believe that if a fart did have a face, it would look EXACTLY like Fart Face.” Will: “How dare you!”
— The way such a ridiculously immature concept is being performed so dead-seriously by Will, Bill, and Josh is making this sketch work so well.
— Yet another great exchange: Josh: “You served me the Kool-Aid, Jerry, I just drank it.” Bill: “Well, spit it out!” Josh: “No way. I don’t wanna stain Fart Face’s rug.” Will: “Jim, you know full well that the Kool-Aid we’re referring to is metaphorical! And spitting it out will not damage anything in this office!”
— Hilarious turn with Will and Bill suddenly pulling a “fart face turnaround” on Josh.
— I am absolutely loving how insanely intense this is now getting, especially Will’s over-the-top screaming during his and Bill’s taunting of Josh. An unleashed Will Forte ranting and raving like a madman NEVER fails.
— Hmm, the audience isn’t quite as dead during this sketch as I had remembered, though their laughter is very tepid, especially compared to how much I’m busting a gut during this sketch.
— Love the ending.
— Overall, this sketch continues to be one of my favorite SNL guilty pleasures. (I feel a little less guilty about it nowadays, after the sketch’s notoriety seems to have gradually been forgotten over the years, but I still feel guilty for the rating I’m about to give this sketch, a rating that I’m sure will raise some eyebrows). I love this sketch SO much.
STARS: *****


NARC SCHOOL
(host), (KRW), (WLF), every other student is actually a cop

— I remember that, back when this originally aired, I felt the melody of this sketch’s theme song sounded awfully similar to the melody of the MacGruber theme songs, but I don’t hear it quite as much now, 12 years later.
— I love Will’s delivery of “Are you guuyys talking druuuuuuuugs?”
— The narcs’ bad attempts to pass themselves off as teen students are pretty funny.
— Darrell (who I’m starting to forget is still on the show this season) makes his ONLY appearance of the night in a very brief, non-impression, almost-pointless role. He’s coming off SO awkward in this role that there’s almost a “So bad, it’s good” quality to his performance.
STARS: ***


READITRADE.COM
ReadiTrade.com is the online financial tool of choice for panic sellers

— Tonight’s episode continues to get TONS of topical mileage out of the financial crisis going on. That makes this episode an interesting time capsule in hindsight.
— When Jason’s spokesman character is listing off things you can sell at ReadiTrade.com, I got a laugh from him saying “sell drugs” in a discreet, whispery voice.
— A funny bit where, when we’re being shown how easy it is to use the ReadiTrade.com website, the ReadiTrade website page on Kenan’s laptop is just a simplistic page that has the word “SELL” written in big letters.
— Even though it wasn’t that funny in itself, something about Fred’s freeze-framed yell of “WHYYYYYYYYY?!?” cracked me up.
— Overall, despite the above highlights, I found this commercial as a whole to be a tad forgettable.
STARS: **½


NEW YORK UNDERGROUND
Trevor Dix (BIH) overhypes a ho-hum musician (FRA)

— Well…THIS is certainly different for this SNL era.
— I absolutely love Bill’s delivery and voice in this.
— Great photos of various fictional bands (the one in the third above screencap for this sketch includes yet another sighting of a bearded then-writer Colin Jost, and I believe our very first onscreen John Mulaney SNL sighting).
— Even though Fred’s portions of this short almost feel like an early preview of the annoying, hard-to-figure, self-indulgent shtick that would dominate the later years of his SNL tenure, it’s working for me in the unique, pre-taped format of this particular short. Also, this short, especially with the involvement of both Bill and Fred, feels kinda like a precursor to “Documentary Now”. Fred would later have an even better “Documentary Now” precursor on SNL, with the Ian Rubbish pre-tape he does in his final season.
— Bill, when making pretentious analogies in regards to how much Fred’s singing moves us: “We’re an obese 15-year-old seeing ourselves naked for the first time.”
— I found this overall piece to be fairly solid, and a fun change of pace for this SNL era. I wonder if they originally intended this to become a recurring segment. We end up never seeing this return.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Cold Shoulder”


FALL FOLIAGE
(host) can’t interest former co-workers in a tour of the fall foliage

— Another office sketch tonight. I almost wonder if this is the same set from the Fart Face sketch.
— Speaking of the Fart Face sketch, this Fall Foliage sketch is something else that I remember kinda bombing with the audience (though this never gained the notoriety of Fart Face), at least the first half of the sketch.
— A big night for Will. He’s appeared in almost EVERY SINGLE SEGMENT tonight, even including a photo in the New York Underground piece. This just may be the busiest night he’s ever had during his entire SNL tenure.
— I’m liking the subtly-creepy-but-jovial nature of Josh’s character, and Josh is performing this well.
— Hmm, a fairly interesting recurring bit throughout this sketch, with the employees at the table each answering “No” one by one.
— Good turn after Josh leaves, where it’s revealed that he’s just some random nut who last worked at this company 13 years ago and just shows up every fall. This turn has awoken the dead audience.
— When Bobby asks “And he just comes back every fall?”, I love Will’s delivery of his answer: “Yyyyyyup.” A funny little moment that caps off Will’s strong and very busy night in this episode.
— The whole “He allowed me to be raped” part with a deadpan Kenan probably won’t sit well with some people, especially nowadays, but I admit to getting laughs from it.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS


IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— This episode contained an impressive number of pieces that I find fantastic (the MacGruber short with the ping-pong ball trick, I’m No Angel, Tim Calhoun, Amy Poehler’s Sarah Palin rap, Fart Face), though I’d say the episode as a whole was just pretty good, due to the number of average or weak pieces that made up the rest of the episode. Still not much to complain about, though.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Anne Hathaway)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Jon Hamm makes his hosting debut

October 4, 2008 – Anne Hathaway / The Killers (S34 E4)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
Gwen Ifill (Queen Latifah) & debaters Sarah Palin (TIF) & Joe Biden (JAS)

— Good to see Queen Latifah reprising the role of Gwen Ifill, which she previously played in a Dick Cheney/John Edwards vice presidential debate sketch when she last hosted SNL in 2004, a sketch that, fittingly enough, ended with Latifah’s Ifill saying “I’m going back over to Public Television with Jim Lehrer where you won’t be seeing me for another four years.” Sadly, the only reason Latifah is reprising her Gwen Ifill role four years later is seemingly because of SNL’s lack of a black female cast member this season. (Sure, Maya Rudolph was a cast member when Latifah last played Ifill in 2004, but I assume the reason SNL gave the Ifill role to Latifah instead of Maya that night is not only because they wanted to work the host into the sketch, but because SNL couldn’t pass up the coincidence that a black woman happened to be hosting their show the same week they needed someone to play Ifill. Plus, Latifah has more of a resemblance to Ifill than Maya does.) IIRC, this decision to bring Latifah in a cameo tonight to play Ifill ended up really opening the media’s eyes to SNL’s lack of a black female cast member at the time (these people in the media also seemed to be completely unaware that Latifah had actually played Ifill before), leading to a few (or maybe just one, I can’t remember) articles criticizing SNL for their lack of diversity in the cast. A month later when Michelle Obama becomes First Lady-elect, the number of these articles on SNL’s lack of diversity would increase, as these article authors felt it was important for SNL to have a black female cast member to play Michelle. How does SNL answer these criticisms? By announcing the hiring of two white female cast members a week later (Michaela Watkins and Abby Elliott). Make of that what you will, folks. Nah, I don’t REALLY think SNL’s hirings of Michaela and Abby was an intentional “Fuck you” to the media. (Though if it was, it’s kinda amusing in hindsight what a huge contrast that is to how SNL would take similar media criticisms five years later in 2013, when SNL would cave in and famously hold mid-season auditions for a black female cast member.) Oh, and yes, I’m aware Michaela and Abby’s hirings probably had more to do with Amy’s pending departure. By why hire TWO women to replace Amy when you already had the still-pretty-new Casey Wilson, still struggling for airtime? I’ve always looked at the double-hiring of Michaela and Abby as a sign of Lorne having a huge and unearned lack of confidence in Casey as a performer. Wow, I am getting more and more off-topic in this long-winded tangent of mine.
— Funny bit with an “unbiased” Latifah-as-Ifill plugging her Obama book.
— As usual, Tina’s Sarah Palin is killing here. And, while seemingly not as well-remembered or quoted among viewers as the Palin portions of this sketch, Jason’s Biden is holding his own here and has a good share of strong lines.
— Some really good facial reactions from Latifah’s Ifill after some of Tina-as-Palin’s inane spiels.
— Tina’s Palin: “I believe marriage should be a sacred institution between two unwilling teenagers…”
— There’s the famous “Oh, are we not doing the talent portion?” part with a flute-holding Tina-as-Palin. This is the moment that, for me, officially propels this already excellent debate sketch to an all-out classic.
— I love the “Joe Biden…is better…than THAT” part of Jason-as-Biden’s closing statements.
— Great ending line from Tina’s Palin: “And for those Joe Six-Packs at home playin’ a drinking game: maverick.”
— Overall, not only yet another SNL Palin cold opening that knocked it out of the park, but this is one of my personal favorite debate sketches SNL has ever done.
STARS: *****


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Back when this originally aired, I remember being surprised that Anne Hathaway was willing to make light of the scandal she had recently been in in regards to a boyfriend of hers. In hindsight, her being willing to do that is ALREADY a good sign of what a great sport she’s going to be as an SNL host.
— The Nigerian prince premise isn’t all that great, but Anne’s delivery and execution of the material is making it charming enough.
STARS: ***


THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW
Dooneese (KRW) is sisterly quartet’s freak

— Ladies and gentlemen, we have a major recurring character debut!
— Back when this originally aired, I recall not caring for this debut, and dismissing it as another example of how the “wacky Kristen Wiig character” trope was going more and more downhill. I would end up disliking this sketch even more when it would become recurring. I’ll try to keep an open mind in my current viewing of this sketch.
— An impressively pretty fast costume change for Anne, given the fact that this sketch is appearing immediately after the monologue, with no break in between.
— The audience actually applauds when Amy’s non-comedic character introduces herself, which I guess shows how popular of a veteran Amy is by this late stage of her SNL tenure. I feel bad for Casey receiving absolute silence from the audience when she follows Amy’s intro with her own intro.
— A funny reveal of what the last sister, Dooneese, looks like.
— Pretty fun performance from Kristen, and this sketch is being executed pretty well.
— I remember an online SNL fan having a theory that the name of Kristen’s Dooneese character was actually supposed to be a certain other, much more normal-sounding name (I forget the name), but Dooneese ended up becoming her regular name because of a line flub Anne Hathaway made in this sketch when saying Kristen’s character’s name while angrily yelling at her. I don’t agree with this theory, because I haven’t noticed any inconsistency or flubbing of Kristen’s character’s name during my current viewing of this sketch. Kristen introduced herself as Dooneese right from when she was first shown in this sketch, and Anne didn’t seem to mess up on the name of Kristen’s character at all during the aforementioned part with her angrily yelling at Dooneese. (And yes, I’m watching the live version of this episode, not the rerun, though I don’t recall any changes being made to the rerun version of this sketch.)
— Overall, not a bad debut at all. I felt that this flowed much better than some of the other wacky Kristen Wiig sketches that have aired around this time (late season 33, early season 34). I’m glad I was able to come around on this inaugural appearance of Dooneese’s. This definitely now works for me as a one-off sketch. As a recurring character, however? Mm. I’ll still try to keep an open mind like I did in tonight’s installment, but if the subsequent Dooneese appearances are as repetitive and redundant as I remember, don’t expect glowing reviews from me.
STARS: ***½


BAILOUT PRESS CONFERENCE
Nancy Pelosi’s (KRW) financial sympathy cases don’t deserve a bailout

— Jason makes his first George W. Bush appearance in over a year. This also ends up being the final appearance his Bush makes during Bush’s presidency. (He has just one remaining appearance after that, long after Bush’s presidency, in a Weekend Update commentary he does with then-cast member Jay Pharoah as Kanye West.)
— Funny Barney Frank voice from Fred.
— I almost thought Kristen’s Nancy Pelosi introduced Bobby’s character under the name Michael McKean, interestingly enough. Turns out his character is named Michael McCune.
— I’m enjoying the faces Jason’s Bush is seen making in the background during other people’s speeches.
— Much like the New York Times sketch from the James Franco episode earlier this season, this appears to be a rather long, mostly-full-cast (I think Andy is the only non-Seth cast member missing from this), Jim Downey-written political sketch. And much like the New York Times sketch, this is a rare example of me liking that type of rather long, mostly-full-cast, Jim Downey-written political sketch from this era.
— Amy gets another big audience reaction with her mere walk-on, though she did do something funny this time to earn the big reaction.
— Darrell and Casey is SUCH an odd pairing.
— Speaking of Darrell and Casey, their segment in this sketch would end up causing controversy. The couple they’re playing, Herbert and Marion Sandler, is actually a real-life couple, and during this portrayal of them by Darrell and Casey, a graphic of the names Herbert and Marion Sandler is displayed on the bottom of the screen with a subtitle saying “people who should be shot”. The real Herbert and Marion Sandler ended up taking huge offense to the “people who should be shot” bit, and, IIRC, threatened legal action against SNL and/or NBC. SNL was forced to remove Darrell and Casey’s entire segment from all reruns of this sketch, in a VERY glaring edit. This results in Darrell and Casey being seen standing with the other characters in the background throughout this entire sketch, but never getting their own segment to speak in, unlike the other characters they were standing in the background with, rendering Darrell and Casey’s presence in this sketch completely pointless.
— I love Will’s voice as George Soros, and he has some really funny lines here.
STARS: ***½


BOYS NIGHT OUT
music helps (BOM) & (host) make a connection on the dance floor of a club

— I’m liking this dance sequence with Bobby and Anna, even if there are no jokes within it. This dance sequence is also a pretty fun showcase for newbie Bobby.
— Now we get an actual joke, with Bill, Fred, and Kenan’s slow-motion cheering-on of Bobby being walked past by Andy in normal motion, and him briefly looking back at them with a puzzled look. Funny bit.
— Overall, kind of an odd sketch, mainly in how few and far in-between the jokes were, and how, at first glance, this sketch almost comes off a tad pointless, but I enjoyed it. Not sure if this can be considered a slice-of-life sketch, but I liked the realism in certain portions of it, especially Bobby and Anne’s conversation with each other after their dance sequence.
STARS: ***


EXTREME ACTIVITIES COMPETITION
WLF referees Extreme Activities Competition pitting ANS against KRW

— Ooh, you can already tell right from the beginning that this is going to be a lot of fun.
— The format of this feels kinda like it’s intended to be in the tradition of the Andy Popping Into Frame and People Getting Punched Just Before Eating shorts (both of which I love). The only thing missing from tonight’s short is a continuation of the story arc in which there’s some kind of rivalry/friction between Andy and Will, one of the best aspects of the Popping Into Frame and People Getting Punched shorts.
— This is such a blast so far.
— I particularly love the “Become Jane” bit involving Anne, a nod to her role in the movie Becoming Jane.
— I just now realized how rare it feels seeing Kristen star in a Lonely Island Digital Short. And seeing how fun she is here, it makes me wish she did stuff like this with the Lonely Island a lot more often during her SNL tenure.
— Strong ending regarding Will’s referee character.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Human”


WEEKEND UPDATE
WLF intends to document every bailout package yea & nay vote via song

— Seth’s joke about O.J. Simpson being found guilty for “armed robbery, assault, and kidnapping, but really murder” has stuck with me over the years. It’s definitely the type of O.J. joke Norm Macdonald would’ve done back in the day. Even the structuring and wording of the joke feels Norm-esque.
— Will being introduced under the name Orville Willis Forte IV when appearing as himself here seems to confuse some SNL fans, who assume Will was randomly using a fake name here. Orville Willis Forte is actually Will’s real, full name. I’m not sure if the “IV” at the end of the name is also real, or if he just added it for comedic effect in this Update commentary to make his naturally old-timey, fancy-sounding name sound even more old-timey and fancy. Can anyone confirm if his name really does end with an “IV”? Thanks in advance.
— Yes, a traditional Will Forte Update song! I just now realized we didn’t get any at all in season 33.
— A fun and ridiculously-repetitive yea/nay song from Will.
— I love Will’s passive-aggressiveness in regards to Amy interrupting his song.
— A good laugh from Will actually restarting his ridiculously long song from the beginning.
— I think that’s then-writer Colin Jost (sporting long hair AND some stubble) making YET ANOTHER appearance in a comical Update photo, this time in the ostriches photo (the fifth-to-last above screencap for this Weekend Update).
— I love the bit right now with Amy constantly re-telling the “world’s heaviest man gets married” joke, with a different punchline each time. This bit with telling the same joke multiple times with a different punchline would end up being an occasional recurring gag that Amy and Seth, or just Seth alone, would do in some future Updates. I think even Cecily Strong does it at one point when she’s Seth’s co-anchor during Seth’s final season.
— Great fake-out with Seth initially having a disapproving reaction to Amy doing various punchlines to the “world’s heaviest man gets married” joke, only to end up doing one himself.
— Overall, I feel this was Seth and Amy’s strongest Update in a long time.
STARS: ****


SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS
Mary Poppins (host) is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious disease vector

— Fitting casting of Anne in this role, given the connection Anne has to Julie Andrews.
— A solid dark turn with Anne-as-Mary-Poppins’ explanation of what supercalifragilisticexpialidocious means.
— I love Bill innocently saying “Must be your cooking, Mary Poppins” in regards to his stomachache. I also love Anne-as-Poppins’ guilty facial reaction to that line.
— Another great turn, with Will’s Constable Jones also having contracted the disease from Mary Poppins.
— I always find Bobby and Casey to be a fun pair whenever they’re teamed together in a sketch.
STARS: ****


SIOUX CITY NEWS 3
gaffe-prone Sioux City TV news team is number one in YouTube viral videos

— Coincidentally, this sketch about news bloopers opens with a REAL blooper, with the screen accidentally freezing on Jason’s pre-taped intro shot for an absurdly long time while he’s speaking live.
— A fun concept of this sketch, and the execution is good. It’s even more fun to guess which real-life famous news blooper each scene is seemingly spoofing. The one that’s easiest to guess is the one with Bobby panicking and falling on the floor when the lizard (or iguana) jumps onto his suit. The real-life version of that scene is a very famous and frequently-seen YouTube clip.
— Amy’s scene didn’t work for me, but it was brief enough to not negatively affect this otherwise solid sketch.
— I remember someone in an online live discussion thread for this episode back in 2008 speculating that Will vomiting during the group shot at the end may not have been a spoof of a real news blooper, but rather a spoof of a real photo of a children’s hockey team posing together in a group shot. One of the little boys in that photo started vomiting right as the photo was snapped.
STARS: ****


MARK WAHLBERG TALKS TO ANIMALS
Mark Wahlberg (ANS) talks to a dog, a donkey, a chicken, a goat

— Oh, here’s an absolute classic. I had completely forgotten until now that this sketch comes from this episode.
— Such a priceless random concept, made even funnier by Andy executing it with a hilarious performance as Mark Wahlberg.
— Andy’s Wahlberg to a donkey: “You eat apples, right? I produce Entourage.”
— I literally cannot stop laughing during this sketch.
— Andy’s Wahlberg throughout this sketch: “Say hi to your mutha for me, alright?”
— Overall, an absolutely perfect sketch.
— This sketch would famously end up pissing off the real Mark Wahlberg, who would publicly complain about it (and, in the process, say the usual cliched “SNL hasn’t been funny in years” criticisms, and, at one point, even imply the then-current SNL cast is a group of no-names, by saying “I don’t even know who’s on the show anymore”), which somehow leads to SNL bringing him on in a cameo in the next live episode, with him attempting to prove he’s a good sport after all. Some people online back at this time in 2008 speculated that this whole thing with Wahlberg publicly complaining about SNL’s Mark Wahlberg Talks To Animals sketch was a publicity stunt devised by SNL themselves, and that Wahlberg’s “complaints” was his and SNL’s stealth way of setting up the cameo spot that SNL had secretly pre-arranged for him to make. Honestly, I don’t have a hard time believing that theory. Walhberg doesn’t seem thin-skinned enough to be offended by such a silly, harmless sketch, but then again, I admittedly don’t know much about Wahlberg’s real-life personality.
STARS: *****


I’M NOT GAY
(JAS) pretended to be gay for five years in order to be (host)’s roommate

— Interesting reveal that Anne’s gay roommate of several years was actually just pretending to be gay.
— Anne, on how convinced she was that Jason was gay: “But you cut my hair!” Jason: “Yeeaaahhh, I got REALLY lucky with that one!”
— Hilarious bit about Jason having made up a fake Wikipedia page about the non-existent disorder “boner-plasia”, in an attempt to fool Anne in regards to why he would always get erections whenever he and Anne would dance together.
— When Anne tells Jason she previously walked in on him having sex with men multiple times, I love Jason bluntly responding “Yeah, you gotta sell it! You gotta sell it!”
— After also being “outed” as straight, a depressed Bill gets a great laugh from the audience (and me) with his slow heterosexual strut as he’s making his exit.
— We get a display of Jason’s natural singing talent. He has a fantastic singing voice, a fact that I often forget.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Spaceman”


THE LESS PROVOCATIVE SONGS OF KATY PERRY
Katy Perry’s (CAW) less provocative songs lack girl-kissing scandal

— A rare solo lead role for Casey. This sketch was actually cut after dress rehearsal from almost EVERY prior episode this season, IIRC. Reminds me of the story of how Jay Mohr had to endure his Rock & Roll Real Estate Agent sketch getting cut from multiple consecutive episodes before finally making it on the air. I wonder if, much like Jay when that sketch finally aired, Casey is just plain tired and frustrated by this point from performing this Katy Perry sketch so many consecutive weeks.
— In hindsight, this sketch serves as an interesting snapshot of a time where Katy Perry was known only for the song “I Kissed A Girl”, and how a lot of people back then (including myself, I admit) incorrectly assumed she had “one-hit wonder” written all over her.
— I like Casey’s Katy Perry just helplessly shrugging at the camera after her very brief “I Saw A Boat” song.
— I love the review from Rolling Stone that simply states “No.”
— An overall decent sketch, but not the standout great sketch that Casey desperately needs by this point. (I still don’t understand how that fantastic paraplegic stripper sketch from near the end of the preceding season didn’t end up leading to a big break for Casey.)
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS


IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— The first strong episode of this season. (By the way, given this season’s reputation among many SNL fans for being very solid, I’ve been surprised to see what a slow start it’s had before tonight’s episode.) Not only did every single segment tonight work for me, but I found a lot of them to be particularly strong, especially the impressive streak of sketches rated 4-5 stars in the post-Weekend Update half. Even Update itself got a 4-star rating, too. In fact, every rated segment from the Digital Short to the I’m Not Gay sketch received a 4-5-star rating. That’s GOTTA be one of the longest uninterrupted streaks of segments receiving a 4-5-star rating in a review of mine.
— Anne Hathaway was a great first-time host, being funny, likable, charming, and fitting into the show really well. Even during her goodnights speech, her expressed genuine appreciation and joy for the experience SNL gave her was heartwarming. I look forward to her subsequent hosting stints.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Anna Faris)
a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Josh Brolin

September 27, 2008 – Anna Faris / Duffy (S34 E3)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

CBS EVENING NEWS WITH KATIE COURIC
Sarah Palin’s (TIF) answers don’t satisfy interviewer Katie Couric (AMP)

— The then-widely-anticipated return of Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin impression after the highly-acclaimed debut it made two episodes prior.
— I remember how the fact that SNL’s first two Tina-as-Palin sketches had Tina being paired with Amy made some online SNL fans back at this time wonder if SNL was intentionally going out of their way to have every Palin sketch star the familiar and popular Fey/Poehler duo, and one of those online fans said, paraphrased, “If this keeps up, then SNL’s spoof of the Palin/Biden vice presidential debate next week is going to have Amy dressing in drag to play Joe Biden.” As we know now, that (thankfully) doesn’t happen.
— What’s with the off-center camera angle on Tina at first, before the camera corrects itself very slowly?
— I’m getting consistent laughs from Amy-as-Katie-Couric’s rapidly-blinking non-verbal facial reactions to inane stuff said by Tina’s Palin.
— Hilarious comment from Tina’s Palin about how she and John McCain will make sure to get U.N. jobs back into American hands.
— A particularly well-remembered part with Tina-as-Palin’s long-winded, nonsensical, incomplete sentences-laden, constant topic-changing opinion on the bailout (that description of mine also kinda sounds like a description of Nicholas Fehn), which is actually almost a verbatim quote from Palin in the real Couric/Palin interview that this is spoofing.
— Yet another memorable part: Tina’s Palin, when not knowing how to answer one of Amy-as-Couric’s questions, saying “Katie, I’d like to use one of my lifelines.”
STARS: ****½


MONOLOGUE
asides to camera reveal extent of dumb-blonde host’s sad mental handicap

— I like the concept of this with Anna Faris disclosing mock-serious things about her dumb blonde persona into a side camera (complete with a music sting at the beginning of each disclosure). However, the actual disclosures themselves aren’t all that funny to me.
— Overall, a bit of a meh monologue for me, despite a fine performance from Anna.
STARS: **½


MAKING NEW FRIENDS
after a double date, faux pas-prone (JAS) & (host) beg their own pardon

— Interesting how this sketch appears immediately after the monologue, with no break in between, meaning Anna had to quickly go from the home base stage to the car set for this sketch, putting on a purple sweater in the process. To give Anna a little extra time, this sketch opens with a lengthy close-up of Jason driving the car while in the middle of a conversation with his passengers, one of whom is supposed to be Anna. Anna accidentally gives away the fact that she arrives on the set in the middle of that lengthy opening close-up of Jason, as you can hear an off-camera sound of her closing one of the car doors.
— When Jason and Anna are going on about how Casey and Bobby must hate them, I love Jason saying “A disgust usually reserved for that of pedophiles.”
— Some good lines from Jason and Anna recounting and questioning the morality of the ridiculous, inappropriate things they did during their dinner with Bobby and Casey earlier in the evening.
— I like the VERY oddball and random twist to the already-random “car driving off a cliff” ending (which initially brings the Toonces sketches to mind, though it’s not the same “car driving off a cliff” stock footage), with the car actually bouncing off the bottom of the cliff, then going back up the cliff and exploding when it lands back onto the road. A great bit of absurdity there.
STARS: ***½


FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
Jim Lehrer (CHP) moderates Barack Obama (FRA) & John McCain (DAH) debate

— Chris Parnell! Nice to see him in his first cameo since being fired (for his second time) after season 31. He ends up playing the moderator of ALL three Obama/McCain presidential debate sketches this election season (though the only one of those Obama/McCain debate sketches I’ll be reviewing is tonight’s, as the other two appear in Weekend Update Thursday specials). In the two remaining Obama/McCain debate sketches after tonight’s, the moderators who Chris plays are Tom Brokaw and Bob Schieffer.
— Given how horrible the last set of presidential debate sketches were back in season 30, not to mention the fact that 1) Fred and Darrell’s Obama and McCain impressions are so dull, and 2) I have almost NO memory of tonight’s debate sketch (besides one bit regarding Scarlett Johansson), I’m very wary to approach this debate sketch.
— Ugh, Fred’s Obama impression hasn’t improved much, if at all, since its last appearance in the preceding season. How could SNL not see how much this man is not working out in this role? How could Lorne just sit there and let such an important political impression be performed so poorly? FOR FOUR DAMN YEARS, I might add.
— Meh, the conceit of Darrell’s McCain proposing increasingly outlandish debate scenarios throughout this sketch is doing nothing for me, and just feels desperate on the writer’s part.
— Pretty funny bit with Darrell’s McCain claiming that, ever since way back in 1985, he was arguing for the surge in regards to the Iraq War.
— There’s the aforementioned sole part I remembered about this sketch: Fred-as-Obama’s offer of a dinner with Scarlett Johansson. Only mildly funny.
— I like Darrell’s McCain giving up and nonchalantly declaring, “At this point, I don’t really care anymore.”
— I guess the closing gag with Amy’s Hillary Clinton being shown on the side as backup in case McCain didn’t show up was fairly funny.
— At least this overall sketch was somewhat short compared to the overlong presidential debate sketches from season 30.
— Overall, pretty meh. While certainly not as insufferable as the season 30 presidential debate sketches, and while this sketch contained a few laughs, this sketch as a whole sadly was forgettable for SNL presidential debate standards. Of the two remaining Obama/McCain debate sketches, one being a town hall debate, and the other being a sit-down debate, I recall the town hall one actually being strong (and it includes a great tongue-in-cheek Bill Murray cameo as “William Murray”, a hapless, broken Chicago Cubs fan). I have no memory of the sit-down one.
STARS: **


BOAT RIDE
oblivious (host) doesn’t realize she’s not on a date with hit man (KET)

— Oh, no, Anna’s breaking out into song.
— A funny turn with the disturbing lyrics and details in Kenan’s own song, and it’s a good and much-needed contrast to Anna’s song.
— Kenan’s shifty, uneasy behavior and obvious lies throughout this sketch are all making me laugh.
— I like Anna now starting to get suspicious of Kenan through song.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Mercy”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Bill Clinton (DAH) fails to give unambiguous endorsement of Barack Obama

still-nervous Judy Grimes unwinds a string of verbal false starts

— First time in quite a while that Darrell’s Bill Clinton has appeared on Update.
— A memorable part at the beginning of this Clinton commentary, in which, when giving his thanks, Darrell’s Clinton finishes it with “And most especially…..thank you, Duffy.” I remember how, when this Update commentary was shown a little over a month later in SNL’s Presidential Bash special, they actually left in the “And most especially…..thank you, Duffy” line, despite the fact that it obviously makes no sense being aired out of the context of tonight’s episode. I can only imagine how much that line being left intact in the Presidential Bash special must’ve confused the hell out of viewers who didn’t see this Anna Faris/Duffy episode.
— A very Clinton-y line from Darrell’s Clinton right now: “Look – sometimes, women will be uncomfortable doing something at first…..”, which gets a huge and VERY extended audience reaction.
— I didn’t understand Seth’s punchline to the Ben & Jerry’s/breast milk joke (either that, or it was just a lousy joke), but his staring-down of the camera afterwards almost saved it for me.
— Surprisingly, this is Kristen’s first appearance all night.
— Judy Grimes has officially become a recurring character.
— Much like Nicholas Fehn (though not to the same extent), there’s an “If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all” air to Judy Grimes’ commentaries. And I know some of you readers have a very low tolerance for this character (I certainly did myself, back when this SNL era originally aired). However, the inane dialogue she’s spouting off in between her “just kidding”s in tonight’s commentary is increasingly amusing to me, and is making the general conceit of this character still work in this second appearance of hers. Hopefully, that’ll continue to hold true in her subsequent appearances, but we’ll see when we get there.
STARS: ***


SCORES
stripper (host) proposes a champagne room bailout for investment bankers

— When the girls are reacting to the bad news Bill delivers at the beginning, I got a laugh from Casey saying a high-pitched, exaggerated, almost-whispery “What? No. That can’t be.”
— I like Kristen’s heavy Russian(?) accent as one of the strippers, though I’m getting a bit of a Maya Rudolph vibe from this characterization of Kristen’s.
— A well-delivered mock-dramatic eloquent speech from Anna’s stripper character, and she has some funny lines within it.
STARS: ***


DEEP HOUSE DISH
overseas acts (KRW), (BOM) & (FRA) & (WLF), (host) sing

— Wow, this sketch hasn’t appeared in quite a long while. It completely skipped season 33. I certainly can’t say I missed seeing this sketch, though.
— I like Kenan’s non-sequitur statement into the camera, “It’s a political year……”, before immediately and nonchalantly changing the subject.
— (*groan*) Cue all the “Ooh-wee, T’Shane!”s from Kenan.
— Seems to be an unusual number of cast members who are barely appearing in any sketches tonight. Both Andy and Will are surprisingly making their FIRST appearance all night in this late-in-the-show sketch (and for Andy, this ends up being his ONLY appearance all night).
— I kinda like how the Bear Force singing group feels a lot different from the usual singers seen in these Deep House Dish sketches.
— When Andy apologizes to Bear Force for insulting them in their presence, something about the fact that Bear Force deliver their “Weeee forgiiiiive yoooouuuu” response not only in unison, but in a depressed, monotone, stretched-out manner, and also while not even being on camera (is that a technical gaffe?), is all amusing to me.
— Is it just me, or was Anna’s singing very out-of-sync with the beat during the first half of her song?
— Strangely, Anna’s delivery during her post-song interview is ANOTHER example tonight of a performer doing a foreign accent that reminds me of a typical Maya Rudolph characterization. Anna’s low-pitched heavy foreign accent here sounds downright Maya-as-Versace at times.
STARS: **


GOOGIE RENE’S SLIGHTLY STAINED WEDDING DRESS BASEMENT
Googie Rene’s (KET) store has bad gowns

— The debut of an occasionally-appearing character of Kenan’s.
— Speaking of Kenan, he’s been getting lots of airtime tonight.
— I like Kenan’s frantic, panicky delivery of “HEY, HOW YOU DOIN’?!?” into the camera at the beginning of this sketch.
— An okay recovery from Kenan when he has trouble delivering one of his lines.
— Funny example of how you can use a section of a PVC pipe to cover a stain on your wedding dress.
— I like this little throwaway exchange between Kenan and Anna: “Hey, what’s a macaw?!?” “It’s like a parrot.” “Oh, a smart bird.”
— No idea what to think of that VERY Kenan Thompson-y moment with Kenan pointlessly mugging all cross-eyed into the camera at the end when the camera zooms in on him saying his ending line.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Stepping Stone”


EX-BOYFRIEND
while on a date, everything reminds (host) of her sex-god ex-boyfriend

— Casey feels more prominent than usual tonight.
— Funny visual of Will in that lederhosen.
— I’m not all that crazy about this premise so far, but there are some chuckles throughout this, especially from some of Jason and Casey’s reactions.
— Predictable ending, but it was actually executed pretty well.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

— Amy is noticeably wearing a shirt that has a photo of Will as Clay Aiken. I was about to ask “What the hell???”, until I remembered that this shirt is from a sketch that didn’t make it on the air tonight. I barely remember the description I read years ago of this cut sketch, but I think it involved Will as Clay Aiken meeting with fans of his. IIRC, this is right after the real Clay Aiken officially came out of the closet, so I’m guessing that played into the sketch.


IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Not too bad, but a forgettable episode. Not much memorable here at all, besides the Palin cold opening, but I at least liked a good number of the sketches.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (James Franco)
a very slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Anne Hathaway makes her hosting debut