Tag: Usher

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May 12, 2012 – Will Ferrell / Usher (S37 E21)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

BIDEN’S ROOM
petulant Joe Biden (JAS) commiserates with his buddy George W. Bush (WIF)

— Not only is this merely the third and final appearance Fred’s Obama has made all season, but it’s the final appearance his Obama ever makes. At the very beginning of the following season, the Obama impression would (rightfully) be handed off to the then-newly-promoted-to-repertory-player Jay Pharoah. Good fucking riddance to Fredbama. Four-and-a-half damn seasons I had to suffer through that lousy impression.
— Good conceit with the “sympathetic father/angsty adolescent son” dynamic between Fred’s Obama and Jason’s Joe Biden. An interesting and fun new angle on Jason’s Biden impression, and he’s pulling this new take on Biden off well.
— Fred’s Obama: “You’re a great vice president.” Jason’s Biden, in an aggravated manner: “Well, you know, some people say I’d make a great president!” In hindsight, it feels quite significant hearing that in 2020, for obvious reasons.
— The very welcome return of Will Ferrell’s George W. Bush. HUGE applause from the audience in response to him appearing in this.
— I like this pairing of Jason and Will, as well as the concept of Bush being Biden’s imaginary friend. Lots of very fun interplay between them here.
— Will’s Bush impression actually seems more accurate than usual tonight, with him imitating Bush’s distinct hand mannerisms, something Will never did in previous Bush appearances.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
for Mother’s Day, WIF goes script-free to express love for his mom [real]

— I’ve been noticing that Will’s voice seems hoarse throughout this episode. I think I recall it later being revealed that he was a bit under the weather the week of this episode, but I can’t remember for sure.
— Will’s mother, Kay, makes her third SNL appearance. The previous two were: 1) in SNL’s Mother’s Day Special from 2001, back when Will was still a current cast member, and 2) during the goodnights of Will’s season 30 hosting stint, where Will’s mother, father, and wife were shown seated together in the audience.
— I remember, when this originally aired, an online SNL fan pointed out that Will looks as old as his mother. Heh, I hate to say it, but it’s true. Will has always looked older than his actual age, even when he was an SNL cast member (rather hard to believe he was only 28 when he first joined), but I’ve noticed he’s especially seemed to age A LOT in recent years, starting somewhere around this time in 2012. Hell, he’s a year younger than then-current cast member Fred Armisen, yet you sure couldn’t tell from looking at them in this episode.
— Funny bit with Will’s supposedly off-the-cuff “Wally, lower the cue cards!” being seen on the cue cards that Wally lowers.
— A very funny topical reference to the Time Magazine breastfeeding cover photo controversy.
— Some pretty good laughs from Will’s clumsy, awkward Mother’s Day speech.
— A genuinely sweet ending between Will and his mom.
STARS: ***½


ONE-A-DAY EXTRA STRENGTH NASAFLU
(KRW) hopes Nasaflu will put an end her husband’s (WIF) sneeze-yells

— At least Will’s naturally-hoarse voice this week is fitting for a commercial where he plays someone with a cold. Is that why they wrote this?
— Will’s odd-sounding sneeze is hilarious.
— Kristen’s playing a good straight man here. Feels interesting, by the way, seeing this particular pairing of her and Will, especially in the homestretch of her SNL tenure.
— Okay, this is starting to get a little old, despite Will’s amusing sneeze-yells. The writing is VERY thin.
— Good ending.
STARS: **½


ALTERNATIVE PROM
Marty & Bobbi perform a medley at an LGBT prom

— A surprise return of The Culps AND Ana Gasteyer! I’m glad we’re seeing these solid Culps characters again, 10 years after their last appearance.
— Given how heavily associated these characters are with the late 90s and early 00s, it’s an interesting novelty hearing them make mention of modern technology like WiFi and mobile devices.
— It’s also an interesting and fun novelty seeing The Culps cover popular 2010s songs during their usual medley.
— Even after a 10-year hiatus from playing these characters, Will and Ana are just as great at playing them as they’ve always been.
— Overall, the usual quality entertainment from these Culps sketches, further heightened by how refreshing it felt seeing these characters after such a long absence.
STARS: ****


STAY FREE MAXI PADS LADIES LONG DRIVE CHAMPIONSHIP 1994
Pete Twinkle & Greg Stink cover female golfers during O.J. Simpson chase

— Another surprise return of a recurring sketch co-starring a former cast member. Feels very random seeing the return of both this sketch and Will Forte tonight of all episodes, but I would certainly never NOT welcome a Forte cameo with open arms. I also love that we’re getting a cameo from him in a Will Ferrell-hosted episode, as it gives us a gathering of the two legendary Wills of SNL history. Too bad we don’t get any direct interaction between them tonight, though.
— Speaking of Forte, it’s great hearing his cameo actually receive the audience applause it deserves, unlike his cameo in the preceding season’s Elton John episode, which was frustratingly met with dead silence from the audience.
— Interesting change of pace with this recurring sketch suddenly turning into a breaking news special report of the O.J. Simpson car chase, complete with SNL showing the famous footage of the White Ford Bronco speeding down the highway. Footage of that being used in a comedic context always automatically cracks me up.
— Interesting seeing then-writer Mike O’Brien in such a visible, front-and-center (albeit brief and silent) appearance.
— Decent way to work Ferrell into this sketch. I’m glad they didn’t resort to just lazily having him dress in drag to play Kristen’s female opponent.
— Jason: “When your uterine lining looks like the elevator from The Shining!…………(*long pause*)………..Stay Free Maxi Pads!” Other than that great one-liner, the feminine hygiene slogan one-liners from Jason aren’t quite as strong or standout as they usually are in this recurring sketch.
STARS: ***½


THE 100TH DIGITAL SHORT
ANS, Jorma Taccone & Justin Bieber [real] celebrate greatest hits of 100 Digital Shorts

— Ah, a celebration of this being the 100th Digital Short.
— Speaking of which, SNL Archives claims this is actually the 101st Digital Short (see here). Which short are they including that Lonely Island themselves aren’t? Not everything that SNL Archives and Lonely Island count as a Digital Short was actually billed on the air as a Digital Short (e.g. the Peyton Manning-starring United Way ad, and at least one of the Virgania Horsen pieces), which further adds to the confusion over what does and doesn’t count as a Digital Short.
— WHAT THE FUCK??!?? Are you kidding me, SNL?!? Justin Motherfucking Bie– oh, forget it. Bieber’s not worth me tainting my review of this wonderful celebratory 100th Digital Short by launching into another one of my anti-Bieber bitchfests.
— Great throughline, with the “Tonight, we’re going to suck our own (*bleep*)” gag.
— Reba! Shy Ronnie! Punched Before Eating! Ras Trent! Laser Cats! Threw It On The Ground! And many more! I am absolutely LOVING all of these returns and callbacks, and I also love how it’s reminding me of when I reviewed each of those shorts.
— Speaking of Reba, I kinda mentioned this in my review of the preceding episode, but I think Kenan’s Reba appearance in this short ends up being his final drag role on SNL before he would publicly take a stand in 2013 against dressing in drag on SNL. We’ll see, though.
— Lots of hilarious fast-moving gags and callbacks all throughout this. So fast-moving, that it’s hard for me to catch them all in one straight viewing.
— Fantastic cameos from several celebrities who starred in an iconic Digital Short in the past.
— Hilarious bit with Will crashing this short to “suck his own dong”.
— Will: “Three Best Ofs – count ’em, bitch!”
— Ah, there’s Akiva, showing up with Andy and Jorma during the conclusion of the song. Where the heck was he before that? I guess he wasn’t able to make it to the filming of those portions of this short. At least his replacement, Bieber, managed not to ruin this short.
— Overall, wow. An absolutely phenomenal and epic celebration. Knowing in hindsight that this ends up being the second-to-last Digital Short before Andy’s departure from SNL also adds to the meaningful feel. Speaking of which, Lazy Sunday, the short that the following episode’s Digital Short will be a special sequel to, wasn’t mentioned AT ALL in this 100th Digital Short celebration. This omission baffled SNL fans at the time, given Lazy Sunday’s popularity and huge importance in how it was the first Digital Short to become an online sensation, but knowing in hindsight about the following episode’s short, I guess that’s why they intentionally left out a Lazy Sunday mention in this 100th short.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Scream”


WEEKEND UPDATE
incredulous SEM says “Really!?!” to Time Magazine breastfeeding cover

Nicolas Cage (ANS) pictures himself in Liam Neeson’s [real] movie roles

— Another solo-Seth-helmed edition of “Really?!?”, though unlike the other solo Seth ones, the title screen of this one doesn’t have the words “with Seth” under the word “Really?!?”. It looks naked without it.
— Meh, some of Seth’s quips during tonight’s “Really” segment are pretty corny. His delivery is fairly on-point here, at least.
— Hmm, is it really necessary to continue the Get In The Cage segment AFTER the epic one with the real Nicolas Cage? That one seemed like the logical time to retire this segment. (Then again, SNL is the same show that continued the Joe Pesci Show and Judge Judy recurring sketches from the late 90s AFTER the respective cameos from the real Joe Pesci and Judge Judy.)
— Ugh, there goes Seth’s annoying habit of loudly giggling off-camera during guest commentaries, this time during the Get In The Cage bit.
— Andy-as-Cage’s “Puerto Rican Beetlejuice” line was particularly funny. The rest of this commentary, on the other hand? Meh. Old hat. It’s washing right over me.
— Hmm, another Germany joke from Seth? Are we in for another instance of Seth working in a fun German accent after the punchline?
— Yep, there it is.
STARS: **½


THE 2012 FUNKYTOWN DEBATE
groovy mayoral candidates (KET) & (WIF) face off

— Certainly a fun-seeming and unusual premise.
— I mentioned before that it feels odd in hindsight seeing the SNL tenure of the then-new Kate overlap with that of the on-her-way-out Kristen, but the same goes for seeing Kate paired with the also-on-her-way-out-whether-she-knows-it-or-not Abby.
— Fitting use of Usher.
— I’m not exactly finding myself laughing at this sketch so far.
— Holy hell at that…that…that voice Fred’s doing.
— Yeah, I’m currently three minutes into this sketch, and I’m still patiently waiting for the actual humor or entertainment to finally start.
— I remember, when this originally aired, a number of online SNL fans were bothered by the goofy, bug-eyed camera-mugging Kate kept doing when she and Abby were seen dancing in the background throughout this sketch whenever Taran was shown speaking. There’s been one or two other sketches in this early stage of Kate’s SNL tenure where I’ve also noticed her making unnecessary “funny” faces at the camera when somebody else is speaking. Kinda disheartening to see that her habit of mugging the camera for attention and audience approval, which is something I see modern-day online SNL fans complain about Kate often doing in 2020 as if that’s a new habit she recently developed due to staying at SNL too long, was actually a habit of hers right from the very beginning.
— Yet another Kristen Wiig entrance that receives automatic applause from the audience.
— Jay making his entrance in a diaper and pacifier kinda made me chuckle, at least, but that’s probably just me being desperate for an actual laugh by this point of the sketch. And I can’t help but feel kinda bad that making a non-speaking walk-on in a diaper and pacifier is the ONLY thing Jay does in this entire episode. After his huge upswing in airtime in the Josh Brolin episode, Jay’s airtime has unfortunately gone right back in the crapper. He does almost NOTHING in the final three episodes of this season.
— Overall, what a colossal disappointment. Sure, this sketch’s atmosphere, performances, and costumes were fun on the surface, but that got extremely old once you realized this sketch had absolutely NOTHING ELSE going for it. Not sure why that works for What Up With That, but not this sketch. Then again, What Up With That has actual JOKES.
STARS: *


BROADWAY SIZZLE
(WIF) accidentally sings women’s parts on cable access

— Hmm, SNL debuting a potentially-recurring Kristen Wiig-co-starring TV show sketch in Kristen’s second-to-last episode as a cast member? A questionable decision, to say the least.
— Speaking of which, SNL later does try to bring this sketch back in the following season’s Martin Short-hosted episode, but the sketch doesn’t make it past dress rehearsal that night. In that version, Kristen’s co-host character is replaced by a new co-host character played by Kate.
— Once again, as I’ve said in some past episode reviews, I know it ain’t right to judge a non-recurring sketch by its first 30 seconds, but my god, I’m already getting the horrible feeling that I’m going to be bored to death by this Broadway-themed sketch. The mixture of James Anderson and/or Kent Sublette’s typical style of writing (I can’t remember if this was written by both of them or just Anderson when I once saw the writing credits for this sketch long ago) and the Broadway-centric humor is a deadly combo for my comedic tastes.
— I just realized that this sketch is surprisingly Bill’s first appearance all night. Geez. Really, SNL? And unfortunately, his first appearance of the night has to be in this laughless, dull tripe. Hell, knowing Anderson and/or Sublette, I’m surprised they didn’t have Fred in Bill’s role in this sketch, as that casting choice would’ve been completely on-brand for them, for various reasons.
— Oof. Not even Will’s comical delivery can save this dull-as-hell material.
— Overall, not a single fucking laugh from me at any point during this sketch. Man, what the hell has happened to tonight’s episode ever since Update ended?
STARS: *


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Climax”


ANNIVERSARY TOAST
Hamilton & other unwanted toasters mar a 25th wedding anniversary party

— A random return of the “wedding/funeral speeches” sketches from all the way back in season 34, last done in that season’s finale that Will hosted, though he’s playing a different character in tonight’s installment of the sketch than the one he played in the installment from the season 34 finale.
— Will: “You loaned me money for chef’s school. Fast-forward 3 months, now I’m a professional psychic.”
— Bobby’s “WHAAAAAAAAT?!? (*mic drop*)” routine in this recurring sketch manages to get me every time.
— Great to see the return of Will Forte’s Hamilton character. As usual, his lines are killer.
— Didn’t care for Kristen’s ending line, “There’s a finger in my salad!”, as it felt like a very inferior variation of her funnier “There’s a body in the bathroom!” ending line from the first installment of this sketch.
— Overall, this sketch as a whole was okay, but paled in comparison to the two previous installments of this sketch.
STARS: ***


ALMOST PIZZA
Rerun from 4/7/12


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A certainly fine pre-Weekend Update half, including some really strong stuff, but the episode was never the same once Update ended. Hell, even Update itself was kinda meh, but Update’s been in a slump these last few episodes in general. Reminiscent of this season’s Lindsay Lohan and Jonah Hill episodes, this episode suddenly crashed-and-burned HARD with two horrible segments that immediately followed Update. And even the rebound the show experienced afterwards with the 10-to-1 sketch was only mild and that sketch wasn’t quite as funny as previous installments of it were. Despite reportedly being a bit under the weather, Will Ferrell provided plenty of laughs in this episode and was as strong as ever when stepping into his old characters/impressions (Marty Culp, George W. Bush), but not even he could do anything for the aforementioned doomed first two post-Update sketches.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
The 100th Digital Short
Biden’s Room
Alternative Prom
Stay Free Maxi Pads Ladies Long Drive Championship 1994
Monologue
Anniversary Toast
One-A-Day Extra Strength Nasaflu
Weekend Update
The 2012 Funkytown Debate
Broadway Sizzle


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Eli Manning)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 37 comes to an end, with host Mick Jagger. It’s the final episode for veterans Andy Samberg & Kristen Wiig, as well as four-season cast member Abby Elliott.

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May 17, 2008 – Steve Carell / Usher (S33 E12)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

POUNDER SCHOOL COMMENCEMENT
at commencement exercises, (host) reads graduates’ naughty-sounding names

— Already an interesting sight right out of the gate in this cold opening, not only with the host being front-and-center, but the entire cast (minus the Update-only Seth) being present as well. The latter feels appropriate and fitting for the season finale cold opening.
— Meh not only at the premise with each student having a dirty-sounding name (the type of gag SNL has done to better effect before), but also at the fact that the dirty-sounding names are just tired, old cliches everyone’s heard before. I guess the fact that these cliched dirty names are given normal, non-dirty middle names here is supposed to make it funnier, but meh. Even more disappointing, this cold opening was surprisingly guest-written by the great Jack Handey. You’d sure never guess so from the content in this, as it’s completely different from and nowhere near as creative as Handey’s trademark humor.
— The subversion with Dick Hertz turning out to be a prank name instead of the name of an actual student is at least kinda funny.
— A long-haired(!) Colin Jost has a very quick non-speaking walk-on as one of the students receiving a diploma (the third-to-last above screencap for this cold opening).
— The whole “Nail ‘er” runner, with the sequence of names actually reading out an entire, dirty conversation, is actually fairly clever.
— Boy, all the tired dirty names in this cold opening being said in such rapid succession is almost starting to give me a headache.
— Nice little touch with how, after the camera zooms in on Steve Carell delivering his LFNY, the camera cuts back to a wide shot so we can see the cast throwing their graduation caps into the air.
STARS: **


OPENING MONTAGE
— The theme music has a bit of a different sound tonight. Speaking of which, tonight’s theme music would later be replaced in reruns with the dress rehearsal version, which has the traditional sound of this season’s theme music.


MONOLOGUE
after host succumbs to a panic attack, his wife NAW calms him down

— Pretty funny reveal from Steve that he drank six Red Bulls and ate a whole bunch of Sour Patch Kids before the show to keep his energy up.
— The conceit of Steve doing hyper, out-of-it actions are the type of thing he’s always good at executing.
— This is the second monologue in these past three episodes to have a gag in which the host is surprised to find himself locked out of either 1) one of the backstage rooms, or 2) the entire backstage.
— Fun audience interaction bit with Steve sitting in the audience.
— Nancy Walls! Given her short-lived and forgotten-by-many-people SNL tenure, it feels surprising that she’s making a cameo, but also feels refreshing to see her on SNL again after I got used to reviewing her when I covered season 21.
STARS: ***½


THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE
Barack Obama (FRA) & Hillary Clinton (AMP) split parallels NBA playoffs

— Interesting format to this, which I remember finding out was a spoof of a then-current NBA playoffs ad that I’ve never seen to this day, but can still enjoy the format of this spoof.
— Some decently funny lines from Amy’s Hillary Clinton the occasional times she and Fred’s Barack Obama aren’t reciting the same thing in unison.
— Kinda funny how almost-creepy Amy and Fred’s faces (especially the mouths) look when the opposite halves of them are melded together like this.
STARS: ***


DEAL OR NO DEAL
picky dad (WLF) & coy model (KRW) vex contestant (host)

— Good to see Fred’s Howie Mandel impression in another Deal Or No Deal parody, after how much he (and Antonio Banderas) consistently cracked me up in SNL’s previous Deal Or No Deal parody.
— A promising-seeming role for Will, as Steve’s grumpy, ranting father.
— A stand-out and popular lengthy sequence with Kristen fooling around with the suitcase. This is also one of many things that I remember solidified to me back then that Kristen was getting pushed as SNL’s new star. I also remember thinking to myself after this episode originally aired that Kristen had now officially become the lead female of this cast, and that the longest-tenured female of this cast, Amy, was on her way out (so much so, that I remember speculating Amy wouldn’t return the following season, which I ended up being wrong about).
— The ending was a bit flat for me, and I was left feeling a bit underwhelmed by the whole Fred/Steve/Will portions of this sketch.
STARS: **½


TWO A-HOLES DO KARAOKE
on stage, uncooperative A-holes exasperate karaoke emcee (host)

— I got a good laugh from Kenan dedicating his karaoke singing of “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” to Anna Nicole Smith.
— Wow, we haven’t seen the Two A-holes in what feels like a long time. I think their last appearance was in the Jeremy Piven episode all the way back in January 2007.
— The Two A-holes are killing as usual, even if there are no particular stand-out parts that I feel like pointing out in this review.
— The cutaway to an angry Steve having steam coming out of his ears might have been a bit too much for the tone of these Two A-holes sketches.
STARS: ****


THE JAPANESE OFFICE
Ricky Gervais [real] intros the original, Japanese version of The Office

The Office- even in Japanese, familiar show characteristics are evident

Regis Philbin (DAH) endorses tampons in a Japan-specific commercial

— Nice to see Ricky Gervais on SNL.
— I like Gervais’ snarky comments about the American version of The Office.
— Obviously spot-on casting of Bill as Dwight, given how people used to always point out the resemblance between Bill and Rainn Wilson back in these days (no idea if people still do nowadays). In fact, when this short originally aired, I remember initially thinking for a brief second that that really was Rainn Wilson when the camera first cut to Bill as Dwight.
— Even the Japanese-themed recreation of The Office’s opening credits is spot-on.
— The concept of this Digital Short brings the Rabin To Shuri sketch (the Japanese version of Laverne And Shirley) to mind, though I’ve personally always liked this Digital Short more.
— Great to see the return of Kristen and Jason’s spot-on Pam and Jim impressions from Rainn Wilson’s monologue the preceding season.
— Hilarious random Japanese commercial with Darrell’s Regis Philbin endorsing tampons.
— Good brief cutaway to a silent Kenan as Stanley doing a Sudoku puzzle instead of his usual crossword puzzle (which I remember was pointed out to me by someone in response to my original 2008 review of this episode, after I incorrectly stated Kenan’s Stanley was doing a crossword puzzle in this).
— Ricky Gervais’ ending comment, in regards to this whole short: “(*while laughing*) It’s funny….’cause it’s racist.”
STARS: ****


MCCAIN 2008
John McCain [real] touts his oldness & aversion to pork barrel spending

— Here we have our latest of MANY cameos from presidential candidates during this 2008 presidential race. At least this particular cameo is from John McCain, who’s always fun and a great sport on SNL.
— Some decent laughs here and there, and McCain is likable as expected, but this sketch feels kinda on the forgettable side.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “This Ain’t Sex”


WEEKEND UPDATE
John McCain [real] encourages Democrats to prolong nomination indecision

Jesse Jackson (DAH) & Al Sharpton (KET) warn Barack Obama to be careful

— Seth’s joke about someone being chosen for a position by being the last person in the room to shout “Not it” was a joke already used by either Seth or Amy before, and will continue to be used by them (or just Seth) for years.
— A second appearance tonight from John McCain.
— I love McCain’s sly “That’s right, fight among yourselves” comment when Seth and Amy are disagreeing with each other.
— A good laugh from McCain making a point about how exciting it would be to have the presidential conventions end with us still not knowing who the nominee is.
— The “They take it away” examples from Darrell and Kenan’s Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are decent.
— Funny how, in my preceding episode review, I asked, in reaction to a fun interaction piece between Seth and Amy in that episode’s Update, “Why don’t we get these interaction bits between Seth and Amy more often?” Cut to one episode later, and we get TWO interaction bits between Seth and Amy in tonight’s Update. Odd coincidence, but I appreciate it.
— Seems to be a lot more Update jokes than usual tonight, perhaps a conscious decision from SNL due to this being the final Update of the season.
STARS: ***


THE CHARLIE FLITT SHOW
weight losers cut fat & lifesize photos

— Amy’s real-life pregnancy is really starting to show by this point.
— Ohhh, god. All of a sudden, the characters in this sketch take the time to give some praise to Jared Fucking Fogel, even throwing in a flattering comment about how hot he is in person. Boy, has this portion of this sketch aged like milk. In hindsight, this is also unintentionally a warm-up for something very unfortunate that’s in store for me in the very next episode: a cameo appearance from…guess who?
— I laughed at Steve’s passing mention of overcoming an addiction to Google Image Search.
— An okay running gag with Steve jumping through old overweight photos of himself at the oddest times.
— What was with Darrell’s very delayed, awkward delivery of his sole line of this entire sketch?
— I like overweight Bill’s very halfhearted “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know” when he, Amy, and Kristen are all embracing each other.
— Despite some occasional laughs, this sketch as a whole is gradually kinda losing me, especially during Steve’s musical number at the end.
STARS: **


CPR TRAINING
(host) busts through (ANS)’s chest while conducting a CPR training course

— An initial cheap laugh from the blood starting to flow after Andy’s chest has been pushed through. I see we’re in for another traditional blood-spurting sketch.
— After Steve casually says, in regards to Andy’s bleeding, “Not too bad, from where I’m standing”, I love Kenan responding “Man, where are you standing? That is BAD.”
— A pretty good laugh from the visual of Andy’s lung inflating like a balloon when Steve is giving him mouth-to-mouth. I also LOVE Kristen’s shocked facial reaction to that when the camera cuts to her about to say something in response to that (the last above screencap for this sketch).
— Not sure what to think about the turn at the end with Usher giving a brief PSA. Felt kinda like a weak ending.
— An overall okay sketch, but, much like with the rather forgettable Knife Salesmen sketch from the preceding season’s Shia LaBeouf episode, this SNL era continues to struggle in their attempt to create a memorable blood-spurting sketch for the ages. Also, this CPR Training sketch, in hindsight, feels like a precursor to the (much better, IMO) Acupuncture sketch from the episode that Kristen hosts in season 38.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Young Jeezy [real] perform “Love In This Club”


BLESS THIS CHILD
rough-housing parents-to-be (host) & (KRW) serenade a stand-in stunt baby

— At first glance, it almost appears we’re getting a genuinely tender, semi-serious sketch to close out the season, before we see the comedic conceit. Lots of fun and very amusing little random and unsafe things Kristen and Steve are doing with their baby while singing. They’re both pulling this off so well.
— Pretty funny reveal that Kristen and Steve’s baby is just a doll (in the universe of the sketch, not just in real life), and that they’ve decided they’re ready to move on to having a real baby of their own.
— Steve took the potentially-iffy ending involving him spinning a dummy of Kristen around and made it a lot of fun instead of corny.
— Overall, I found this to be a solid and well-performed season-ending sketch.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An average and slightly forgettable season finale. Not bad, but not the most exciting way to end this season, especially considering the lengthy solid streak that I feel SNL was on prior to this, from somewhere around the Amy Adams episode to the Shia LaBeouf episode.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Shia LaBeouf)
a step down


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


HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (2006-07)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 34 begins, with host Michael Phelps, and one new addition to the cast

Posted on

May 1, 2004 – Lindsay Lohan / Usher (S29 E18)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

PREPARATION
Dick Cheney (DAH) coaches George W. Bush (WLF) before 9/11 testimony

— It’s both odd and kinda redundant how this is the second consecutive cold opening with Darrell’s Dick Cheney preparing someone for their 9/11 testimony (Condoleezza Rice last time, President Bush this time).
— Will makes his first appearance as present-day Bush, after previously playing young Bush in a 1960s sketch.
— President Bush: “I’m George W. Bush, and I approve this muffin.”
— Dick Cheney to President Bush, regarding the public’s perception of him: “They think you’re like Rain Man… without the math skills.”
— Bush reading his answers off of his leg is really funny.
— Is it just me, or does Darrell’s Cheney voice sound kinda hoarse in this cold opening? Is Darrell under the weather this week?
— Some pretty good laughs from Bush’s various examples of body language.
— Will’s Bush impression continues to be a lot of fun and a big step up from both Chris and Darrell’s takes on Bush. It also helps that Will has been given better writing here than Chris and Darrell typically got in their respective Bush sketches.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host, Hilary Duff (RAD), Avril Lavigne (AMP) end their respective feuds

— Seeing a young, baby-faced, loaded-with-potential Lindsay Lohan makes 2004 feel so long ago.
— Oh, the innocent days where the worst thing that could be seen about Lindsay Lohan in a tabloid is her little “teen queen” feud with Hilary Duff.
— The return of Amy’s Avril Lavigne, which never fails to amuse me. What makes it even more amusing this time around is the fact that Avril Lavigne is actually the musical guest in the very next episode.
— Chris: “When do you turn 18?” Hilary Duff: “(in a gleeful manner) Never!”
STARS: ***


TURLINGTON’S LOWER BACK TATTOO REMOVER
Turlington’s (CHP) Lower Back Tattoo Remover erases age-discrepant art

— A huge laugh from the time-lapsed sequence of a “Pretty Lady” tattoo on a thin woman’s back turning into the words “Pretty Sad” when her body has grown much older and saggier. I remember when this originally aired back in 2004, I didn’t even notice that the sagging tattoo read “Pretty Sad”, and thus, I didn’t understand why Chris subsequently said the line “Pretty sad indeed.”
— Great bit with Amy exclaiming “Mother(*bleep*)!” in response to the tattoo remover burning her skin.
— As usual, Chris is fantastic as the spokesperson.
— Very funny ending bit about Amy having a child from a crazy weekend in Jamaica.
STARS: ****


JARRET’S ROOM
stoner (host) moves in & meets a weed-smoking robot

— This ends up being the final Jarret’s Room sketch.
— I remember when tonight’s episode originally aired, I and some other online SNL fans were surprised that SNL didn’t save Jarret’s Room for the following week’s episode, given a certain weed-lover who’s hosting that night (you’ll see who it is at the every end of this review) and who seemed like he would fit perfectly into the weed-centric Jarret’s Room.
— Wow, DJ Jonathan Feinstein’s Britney Spears/Toxic bit got cut off surprisingly fast by Jarret. Was SNL afraid of giving some viewers certain “feelings” over seeing Seth in that bodysuit?
— For once, Gobi makes a straightforward entrance instead of one of his trademark weed-centric gimmicky entrances.
— Jarret mentions that he and Gobi are finally moving off campus after tonight’s episode. I recall how, when this originally aired, many online SNL fans took this as a sign that Jimmy’s leaving SNL at the end of this season. IIRC, Jimmy’s departure wouldn’t be publicly confirmed until earlier in the same day of his final episode.
— A funny asinine flashback sequence of something that we saw happen literally just a few seconds ago.
— The Will Forte-voiced weed-smoking robot is absolutely stealing this sketch and is making this easily one of the better Jarret’s Room installments. A good way for this recurring sketch to go out.
STARS: ***½


HOGWARTS ACADEMY
Hermione’s (host) newfound cleavage bewitches Harry Potter (RAD)

— Hoo, boy. Here comes a sketch that…uh, will certainly be…uh, interesting to discuss by today’s standards.
— And there famously walks in Lindsay as a cleavage-sporting Hermoine.
— As just a 19-year-old when this sketch originally aired during the less-self-aware year of 2004, I had no issue with SNL doing a sketch inappropriately centering around a 17-year-old’s cleavage. 19-year-old me even partook in this sketch’s male characters’ ogling of said cleavage, as much as I don’t want to admit that anymore. Now that I’m in my mid-30s and times have certainly changed, I’m able to recognize how troublesome this sketch is. It’s a shame that this sketch doesn’t hold up too well anymore, because I recall liking this sketch a lot back when it originally aired… and, no, not just because of Lindsay’s cleavage. 19-year-old me got a lot of laughs from the sketch’s humor, performances, and plenty of what I deemed to be quote-worthy lines. (Unfortunately, my old review for this episode that I did back in 2004 when this episode originally aired is lost, unlike most of the other season 29 reviews that I originally did back then.) The fact that Harry Potter was something I was never into, and yet this sketch could still get a lot out laughs out of 19-year-old me says a lot about this sketch.
— An amusing visual of Horatio entering in that wig and beard.
— Ugh, right after I give Horatio a compliment, he has to piss all over it by cracking up at himself as usual.
STARS: **½


RIDING WITH BILLY JOEL
erratic chauffeur Billy Joel (HOS) sings while driving recklessly

— A funny spoof of Billy Joel’s drunk-driving woes from around this time, even if it feels kinda wrong for SNL to spoof such a thing. (Then again, the Harry Potter sketch that I had just watched prior to this sketch has kinda numbed me to other cases of “wrong” humor on SNL).
— I’ve been one of Horatio’s harshest critics this season, and even *I* can admit that he’s doing a killer job in his portrayal of a drunken Billy Joel.
— A memorable blooper in which a mailbox that gets thrown onto the car from off-camera gets stuck on the windshield accidentally, which completely blocks the performers from the camera, leaving the female performers in genuine hysterics. Horatio solves this predicament with an ad-lib in which he leans out of the car window to his side and uses his beer bottle to shove the mailbox off of the windshield. Excellent save from Horatio.
— Speaking of the mailbox, I wonder if that’s the same mailbox that was used in a similar manner then-recently in the Donnie G. And Sidecar sketch from the Ben Affleck episode.
— Wow, a particularly over-the-top shriek of “YOU NEED HELP, BUSTER!!!” from Maya to Horatio’s Billy Joel.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Ludacris [real] perform “Yeah!”


WEEKEND UPDATE
list-loving Jorge Rodriguez (HOS) failed the GED test many times

— A very odd and unprecedented moment in SNL history occurs right now, in which, right as Jimmy’s about to deliver a joke (a Donald Trump joke, no less), a voice from a real audience member actually interrupts the show by audibly calling out “Hey, Jimmy?”, and Jimmy immediately turns towards the voice in the audience and responds “Yeah?” (which says something about Jimmy, as I feel most Weekend Update anchors would’ve just ignored an audience member calling out their name). The audience member then says what sounds like “Yeah, up here” (it’s hard to tell exactly what he said, as he’s speaking from quite a distance and obviously isn’t mic’ed), and Jimmy just goes “I’ll talk to you later on, my brother” and then ad-libs towards the camera “I hate when my father gets drunk” (which I swear is an ad-lib Jimmy also used in a previous Update, but I’m not 100% sure). There’s actually a backstory to this whole incident. According to an online comment in 2004 from an SNL fan who stood on the standby line to get tickets for this episode, there was a guy on the line who kept obnoxiously bragging to everybody that if he gets a ticket to the show, he’s going to make SNL history by interrupting the show from the audience and asking Jimmy Fallon a question during Weekend Update. Most of the people on the standby line probably assumed the guy was just bluffing, but as they later saw, he ended up following through on his word.
— The Bill Clinton book cover that SNL made up (first screencap below) reminds me a lot of a made-up book cover that SNL used in a presidential address cold opening that Darrell’s Clinton did in the Julianne Moore episode from season 23 (second screencap below).

— Meh, another Horatio Update commentary with him interacting with Jimmy, which almost always spells doom.
— Horatio’s at least not going off the rails with typical unfunny ad-libs and laughing-at-himself antics that his Update commentaries often feature, but ugh, this commentary with his character listing off a whole bunch of things is comedy death to me.
— When Horatio’s character asks if anyone’s seen his friend Pepe, Jimmy ad-libs “I think he was just up there”, pointing towards the portion of the audience that the aforementioned audience member who interrupted Jimmy earlier in tonight’s Update was seated. When the audience is laughing and applauding this ad-lib of Jimmy’s, Jimmy can be heard saying “He got removed”, acknowledging that the audience member got kicked out for his interruption.
— Tonight’s Update is doing quite a number of callbacks to bits Jimmy and Tina did earlier this season, such as Jimmy and Tina’s conversation about dirty Dutch terms, and the punchline of an STD joke being Jimmy turning to a side camera and saying “You’re welcome”.
STARS: **½


DEBBIE DOWNER
at Disney World, gloomy Debbie Downer (RAD) dispirits a family reunion

— Oh, here’s a VERY famous SNL sketch.
— My first laugh in this sketch comes from Kenan’s name being Billiam. Even just his delivery of that name is inherently funny.
— I like how the opening title sequence and theme music feel kinda like a throwback to SNL’s late 80s/early 90s era, which had tons of characters with their own opening title sequence and theme song. I recall this Debbie Downer sketch being the beginning of somewhat of a revival of title sequences and theme songs for recurring characters, as we’ll be seeing quite a number of them the following two seasons.
— Naturally, Jimmy and Horatio are the very first performers to break in this sketch (the fifth above screencap for this sketch), while the other performers initially remain unfazed.
— And there we go. Rachel’s line flub, “The media’s so sensitive there… so secretive…”, as well as Jimmy’s laughter at said line flub, is what officially causes Rachel to start losing it, setting off a chain reaction around the table. The famous widespread meltdown has officially begun.
— Wow. Just wow. It is truly something to see this sketch gradually meltdown so badly. Very unprecedented in SNL history up to this point. (Seems to be quite a number of unprecedented moments happening tonight). I’m usually against how unprofessional this particular SNL cast has slowly been becoming around this season, and of course, I’ve been very vocal of my dislike of the undeserved free rein Jimmy and Horatio are often given to carelessly derail sketches with their laughing and other unprofessional antics, but goddammit, everybody’s breaking is a fucking RIOT in this sketch, and their simultaneous laughter combined with the audience’s uproarious reactions is very infectious.
— What makes Rachel’s breaking here even funnier is the fact that, as part of the sketch, the camera has to frequently do “Wah-wahhhhh” zoom-ins on Debbie Downer’s face, and thus, we get lots of zoom-ins of Rachel fighting unsuccessfully to keep a straight face so she can do her character’s trademark deadpan looks into the zoomed-in camera.
— Now here comes one PARTICULARLY epic part, and the moment that, in my opinion, officially propels this sketch into legendary status: Rachel literally crying with laughter when struggling to deliver the big line “By the way, it’s official: I can’t have children.” A freakin’ classic moment.
— Another truly classic moment right now, with Horatio being seen using a fucking MICKEY MOUSE WAFFLE to wipe off his tears from laughter.
— Fred is the ONLY performer keeping a straight face (aside from what appeared to be genuine giggling from him after he and the others posed together for a photo). According to an SNL fan who went to this episode and was also among a crowd of people outside 30 Rock getting autographs from cast members after the show, Fred, while giving autographs, was asked why he didn’t join in on his fellow performers’ laughing in the Debbie Downer sketch. Fred explained that he had no clue why they were laughing and he didn’t feel that he should laugh just because THEY were laughing. A very admirable display of professionalism from Fred. Too bad it wouldn’t last, though, as his later seasons on the show are quite fraught with breaking from him, especially whenever he teams up with Bill Hader.
— Overall, a historic, legendary, and hilarious meltdown among the performers, with a few very memorable and great little ad-libs, making this sketch an all-timer. I can definitely see some people finding this sketch overrated, but for me, this sketch deserves the hype.
— It’s really too bad that the importance and novelty of this sketch is slightly diminished by the fact that SNL would turn this into a recurring sketch later on – a bad decision. It should’ve been obvious to SNL that the only reason this first Debbie Downer sketch was such an instant hit is because of the huge extent that the performers broke during it. The written material itself was only mildly funny at best. And the very tepid, blooper-less second installment of this sketch, in the following season’s Ben Affleck-hosted season premiere, pretty much bombs with the audience and further proves how not-so-great the written material behind Debbie Downer always was, and how wrong it was for SNL to assume people wanted to see more of these sketches without the performers breaking.
STARS: *****


CLUB TRAXX
hook of young pop duo D.A.D.I. (RAD) & (host) is lesbianism

— Ugh, this sketch once again. This thankfully ends up being the final installment.
— The clip of Amy performing dance music onstage (the second above screencap for this sketch) truly looks like something straight out of Deep House Dish, a recurring sketch that SNL would debut a few seasons later (and would draw my ire, as I I recall absolutely despising those sketches with a fiery passion back when they originally aired). It even looks like Amy’s performance in this Club Traxx sketch is using the exact same Deep House Dish performance stage and exact same Deep House Dish onscreen graphic of the  singer’s name and title of the song they’re performing, though I’m only going by my memory of what Deep House Dish typically looked like (I haven’t watched an installment of that sketch in ages).
— I’m getting a pretty good laugh from Will’s open-shirt performance.
— The D.A.D.I. stuff with Rachel and Lindsay is doing nothing for me.
— Nothing else to say so far. I’ve complained enough about this recurring sketch in past installments, and am ready to happily see this sketch enter retirement.
STARS: *½


SLEEPOVER
hyper preteen Kaitlin (AMP) welcomes sleepover veteran (host) to her home

— The debut of another recurring sketch that I recall despising with a fiery passion back when it originally aired. I’ll try to go into this debut with an open mind tonight, as I’ve seen some people make a good case when defending this recurring sketch.
— This recurring sketch debut was cut from the preceding episode, where I assume host Janet Jackson played the same role Lindsay is playing here.
— I’m actually finding a slice-of-life-ish charm to this sketch, just like defenders of this recurring sketch always claim it has. I especially like the charm of Amy-as-Kaitlin’s interactions with Horatio’s Rick, particularly when he helps get her out of a lie she told Lindsay regarding having a pool. Also, as people always point out about these sketches, it’s astounding how the usually breakable Horatio is consistently able to keep a straight face at Amy screaming in his face.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Burn”


17TH ANNUAL ADULT MOVIE AWARDS
fear of FCC produces truncated broadcast

— Some pretty good cheap laughs from the endless barrage of fictional porn star names.
— I like the little joke of some non-porn-star celebrity names being thrown into the mix, such as Jimmy Kimmel and SNL’s own Darrell Hammond.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fun episode; in fact, it’s easily one of the more upbeat episodes of this season. This episode wasn’t perfect, but, unlike a lot of this season’s episodes, it had a consistently entertaining and fun vibe that made even some of the misfires more forgivable. There were even some all-time memorable and funny bloopers, such as the Billy Joel mailbox-on-the-windshield incident and the entire Debbie Downer sketch.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Janet Jackson)
a mild step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Snoop Dogg