Miles Teller/Brandi Carlile (11.01.2025)

NYC Mayoral Debate

• Hmm, risky but intriguing cold open choice.

• I'm OK with Kenan's meta jokes up top even if they're not quite landing.

• Not crazy about Tellers' Cuomo impression. He's no Pete Davidson. He doesn't quite have the voice down and looks a little too youthful to pull off this role without prosthetics, but I did like the "honk honk, squeeze squeeze" joke.

• Hey, Ramy Youssef as Zohran Mamdani! Good choice. I mean, even if they can't find a real "take" or "hook" for Mamdani that won't get people up in arms, it obviously did matter who they cast in this role and they recognized that.

• Shane Gillis as Curtis Sliwa. Ok, fine. Whatever. I'll take it. Even though i would probably much rather see literally anyone else's take on this role he's actually been given some of the funniest and most deranged lines in this.

• I'm not too crazy about how the show seems to be reverting back to the Baldwin-as-Trump #Resistance era trope of front loading the show with non-current cast member cameos in flash-in-the-pan political roles...but this time strictly applying that approach to local NYC politics.

• Already, the fake sponsor gags strike me as something that should get cut for being too NYC centric "inside baseball" for a wide audience.

• Hey, Kam Patterson as Eric Adams! Glad to see him get his first impression and it...kinda works for him?

• Ok, a JAJ Trump walk on. At this point, it couldn't possibly make this any worse.

• At least the "Phantom" reference is something a bit new and different for a JAJ Trump impression.

• Hoo boy, this one was sadly easy for me to tune out of knowing a lot of it would sail gently over my head as a non-New Yorker. It was performed well upon rewatch and everyone looked like they were having fun, but...something still felt a bit off to me. C-

Monologue 

• I figured we would get a sincere heartfelt SNL fan monologue from Miles tonight. I appreciated his Roxbury Halloween story and his acknowledgment of how off base their costumes looked. Yeah, they never had mustaches.

• Miles ending on his story of he and his wife having survived losing their home in the Pallisades fires was touching. Wow, we really are throwing it back to season 44 with the "heartfelt SNL  connection monologue" with these vibes, huh? B-

What Did I Do Last Night?

• Speaking of throwing it back to seasons 44-47 vibes, it's a post monologue game show sketch...with Kenan as a host named "Gay Fopay". Fantastic.

• I guess setting this during the morning after Halloween night makes this topical enough to feel like it's premise is at least 20-25 years past its "sell by" date.

• Well, at least this isn't solely based around the contestants questionable social media posts.

• I'm actually glad Jane had a walk on mid sketch because I legitimately couldn't tell if she or Veronika were the sole female contestant when this began.

• I gotta say, this is making decent use of Ben, Veronika and the rest of this year's featured players. I especially liked the call back of Bens' security footage showing Veronika biting him as well as Ben being relieved to find that his consolation prize just for watching that footage is just getting to sit in a chair.

• I even got a kick out of Kams' sudden walk on being to just play the trumpet and upset the contestants.

• I gotta say, upon rewatches of the sketch there actually is a writerly, detail oriented nature to this sketch that I enjoyed. I especially liked all the absurd details they applied to Miles' character in the first round and how both his and Veronikas' characters both encountered the same two people and the same stop sign. 

• I had heard in dress rehearsal Miles was dressed as a K-Pop demon hunter but (of course) the detail that he stole his costume from a child stayed the same. I would like to see that as I do genuinely wonder how differently this played at dress with that change being made. B+

Property Brothers

• Wow, they're REALLY committed to a season 44 throwback, huh? Ok, I guess Miles Teller resembles both of these guys enough to make this work.

• Ah, THERE’S the topical twist that makes this unique to season 51. I'm not crazy about this being the second appearance of JAJs' Trump in the first third of the show, but hey...this was probably written days before the cold open was.

• Chloes' Melania isn't really blowing me away or anything (obviously she's no Cecily Strong), but then again none of her impressions have. I did like the Halloween/Christmas joke, though.

• This reminded me a bit of Chloes' much better Jennifer Coolidge. I don't know if it's something about her facial expressions (which she honestly nailer better than the voice) paired with the fact that Coolidge did play a wacky accented lady on Two Broke Girls and Chloes' voice is quite reminiscent of that, but there were very light traces of Coolidge in Chloes' performance.

• The portrait of Trump as Halos' Master Chief almost got me. Also, I did like the Clinton joke. That did give off a vibe of JAJ adding a new dimension to his Trump that Jon Schneider described much better than I could.

• Perhaps my favorite line from JAJ in this was his "send me the white day laborers" joke. The "payment for the renovation" bit at the end felt like the obvious thing this was building up to but the ICE gag was something I genuinely didn't see coming as I had forgotten that the Property Bros were actually Canadian. B-

NHL PSA Shoot

• So, it's an entire sketch based on how wrong it is that in the era of "The Washington Commanders" there is somehow still an actual hockey team named "The Nashville Predators"? Let's just see how far they can stretch this.

• Something about this feels very season 41 but the way they doubled down on it feels more season 45 as this goes along. 

• Upon a second viewing, this reminds me more of Jon Hamms' "Pat Finger" ads more than anything.

• At least Ashley and Andrew are here to save this. I especially liked Dismukes "Asian man plays cello" joke and his reveal that he and Midge are writers.

• Out of all the unfortunate "predator" juxtapositions, I most liked how they got an actual child extra to stand directly in front of Miles and how he revealed his name and position to be "Chase Kidd, Right Wing, Predator".

• Man, this REALLY didn't have an ending, did it? C-

Gone Without A Several Trace(s)

• Ah, it's the classic "men are hopelessly dependent dum-dums who never listen to their wives or pay attention to their kids" trope. Cutting edge comedy right there.

• Still, framing this as a modern Netflix true crime documentary makes this work better. The various bits of hidden camera footage saved this for me.

• Perhaps my biggest laugh in this came from Kenan later guessing that his wife went to "the boob store" and encountering his own children with sheer bewilderment...but that doesn't quite say great things about this episode so far. C+

NewsPoint

• Wow, this is such an old framework for a sketch it would've seemed out of date 40 years ago.

• Seriously, this reminded me more of "The Friday Edition" from Fridays and  and In Living Colors' "Background Guy" sketches so much I'm surprised neither Melanie Chartoff nor Jim Carrey made cameos.

• Still, I'm willing to give it a chance just to see how they modernize it and make it work in 2025.

• Ok, at least there seems to be a little variance to this in execution.

• It's not a terribly great sign for this episode when my biggest laughs here are coming from some very basic physical comedy from Mikey and Bowen (who took a surprisingly long time to start acting unprofessional in this) but at this point I'll take any genuine laughs I could get.

• Speaking of, is anyone else starting to forget that Mikey Day is still in the cast at this point? I'm predicting this is going to be his last season.

• Miles immediately complaining about getting reported to HR and suddenly trying cover up anime boobs on his computer screen. worked for me as did Kam suddenly promoting his OnlyFans.

• Ok, the visual of streams of paper flowing out of a printer that electrocutes Bowen is a surprisingly strong ending to this. B+

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che 

• Already we're opening with Jost just lazily riffing on Trump giving out candy to trick or treat footage. Great. Yeah, that "Thriller" joke wasn't telegraphed as hell.

• Ok, well...I did like his "Nut up, kids!" and "circling vultures" jokes. Also, looking back I think I can appreciate that Texas Tylenol joke a bit more for the subtle nod to King Of The Hill.

• I liked Che's "SNAP benefits/2nd amendment" and "Trump bathroom renovation" and "Kid Rock" jokes but the "Nobel peace prize" and "Sliwa/Guilliani" jokes weren't worth the risk.

• Well, I guess with the news of George Santos prison release they had to trot out Bowens' impression one more time.

• Still, I like how Bowen seems like he's less visibly miserable to be playing Santos. I did also like the gags with him stealing Josts' wallet to find it filled with photos of all the female cast members and him answering his "calls" on a two way prison glass phone.

• Dismukes and Padilla as "two people who just hooked up" talking about "the government shutdown". I gotta say, they are exhibiting an unseen chemistry that really started selling this right from "try something smaller".

• Between this and the principals' office sketch from the season premiere...are we sure it was Emil Wakim who Ashley was supposedly dating from the cast? B-

Steak Knife Slasher Gar-girl

• It's nice to finally get a patented strange Andrew Dismukes sketch at this point in season 50.

• The premise of Andrew derailing a police press conference regarding a murder case feels like a vast improvement on whatever they were trying with his "mob boss who wants to try out his stand up material as he is bleeding out from a drive by shooting" sketch from last season.

• I liked how everyone got more and more into his increasingly insane premise as this went on to the point where Ashley just started screeching semi-coherently (shades of Cecily there?) at JAJ and Miles just before Ben Marshall showed up and revealed himself to be the murderer as Dismukes reveals Gar-Girls' incredibly bizarre origin story. 

• Also, it's incredibly nice to see JAJ get to shine in a non-Trump/non-dorky dad straight Chara role again. This is something I'd like to see more of. B+

Italian Restaurant 

• Hmm...shades of Sandler & Carvey in "Fresh Pepper" from season 20. I don't mean that in a derogatory way.

• Interesting roles for Miles & Marcello here. Haven't seen a sketch that literally invokes the portmanteau "pizza-pasta" this hard on the show in recent years.

• As this goes along, it's starting to remind me a bit more of the "bellisima" sketches from the early 90s with Kirstie Alley.

• I gotta say, the things that really perked up my eyes and ears during this were Miles & Marcello literally throwing salad in Mikeys' face, Kenans walk-on as the chef (he zags just when you think he is going to zig) and Mikey winning the waiters over with even dumber puns than "get the foccacia". Glad I didn't "ankle" this episode entirely. (iykyk) B-

Ranking The 51st Season From Best To Worst

1. Amy Poehler/Role Model (10.11.2025)
2. Miles Teller/Brandi Carlile (11.01.2025)
3. Sabrina Carpenter (10.18.2025)
4. Bad Bunny/Doja Cat (10.04.2025)

Overall Thoughts 

• Well, this was a pretty uneven episode that got off to a slow start but it really delivered as the night went on just as I was hoping it would. Miles Teller is still a very game host and writing-wise, they really cleared the low bar they set with his previous episode a few years ago.

• I'm starting to think I might have the opposite reaction to this episode than I did Miles previous one where I ended up going a lot easier on this and recognized in hindsight that I was a bit too generous. I'm already getting the sense that I might have been a bit harder on this episode than most other fans already.

• Cast usage felt strange tonight, too. Ben, Veronika, Chloe, Ashley and Andrew were used a lot but only the latter two stood out in a way that made people feel they "dominated" the show. Ashley and Andrew were given lead roles that allowed them to showcase their budding natural chemistry, so that helps.

• Bowen and Marcello had surprisingly light nights. Kenan and JAJ were used in the capacity everyone expected them to be used in and everyone else was featured so little you almost forgot they were in the cast.

• Still, considering how the last two episodes went...this somehow feels like SNL...restabilizing itself?

Closing Thoughts 

• Anyway, that ended up being a fine episode that got off to a rocky start.

• Next week, Nikki Glaser makes her hosting debut. This is probably the episode I'm most excited about mostly because I've been a fan of hers for years (hell, I was actually in the audience of her 2022 HBO special "Good Clean Filth"...I'm so far in the back of the theater you can't possibly see me but trust me, I'm there). 

• Plus, she's the only proven comedian host we've had so far this season besides Amy Poehler. In fact, I'm so excited about this episode that I actually asked my current We Heart Hader cohost Deej Barens if I could be a guest on her other podcast Saturday Night Ladies and after having run it by her two other cohosts...they all said yes to my pitch!

• So, tune in to the episode of the Saturday Night Ladies podcast that will be dropping on Tuesday, November 11th (and feel free to check out some of their other episodes too while you're at it) where I will be their first straight, white cisgendered male guest where I plan to talk about Nikki Glasers' cross over appeal to both male and female audiences and what she brings to the show from her own unique place in the current stand up scene.

• In fact, because of this...I may push back my own review of Nikkis' episode on this blog until Tuesday, November 11th rather than Sunday, November 9th. Hope you understand me mot wanting to spoil what I might say om a podcast I am getting to be a guest on. See you then!

Zach Braff/Maroon 5 (05.19.2007)

 The following blog post is a companion piece to the newest episode of the We Heart Hader Podcast. Give us a listen, won't you?

Bush' s Summer Vacation

As he prepares for a full length summer vacation, President George W. Bush (Sudeikis) denies that the true purpose of the Iraq War was to install a US controlled puppet government in Baghdad or to lower gas prices for American consumers by stating that the Bagdhad government isn’t exactly an ally and that gas prices are soaring. While speaking, he unsubtly glances over at Vice President Dick Cheney (Hammond) for approval on each of his talking points…except his last point conceding that the war was an incompetently run disaster. He then hands control of the government over Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice who will take his place while he is on vacation.

• Wow…Jason sure was blinking a lot at the beginning. Wonder if that was intentional, part of his Bush impression or a subtle “morse code” type gag that they thought most viewers wouldn’t notice?

• On the surface, this was another largely forgettable Sudeikis as Bush cold open without a whole lot going for it but it becomes more accessible as it goes along. Another timeless criticism of how poorly the Iraq War went that you may not have needed to be around this particular week in May of 2007 to fully “get”. Pretty straightforward stuff.

• I did like Sudeikis as Bush’s line about what a mistake it turned out to be for him to trade Sammy Sosa for Harold Baines when he was the owner of the Texas Rangers. I also liked the cuts to a silent Darrells’ various “thumbs up/winking A-OK” signs and the cut to him having disappeared when Jasons’ Bush admits the war was run incompetently. 

• Maya’s Condoleeza Rice seems to just be her current Oprah impression mixed with a vocal inflection that would become her Michelle Obama (pun unintended, but unavoidable) but she really gives it her all in what many were speculating would be her final LFNY as a cast member. C+

Monologue 

As a tribute to his home state of New Jersey (and a not-so-subtle plug for his new movie “Garden State”) Zach Braff sings “New Jersey State Of Mind” (and a brief Jersey-fied version of “On Broadway”) with support from Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg and Kenan Thompson.

• As hot and cold as I’ve always run on Zach Braff, I have to say that I appreciated his shout-out to the Church Lady and Toonces when outlining how big a fan of this show he was as a kid. 

• As for this being a showcase for Zachs’ singing, I found it a little self-indulgent. I wouldn’t say it was off-putting though. The worst thing I could say about it would be it felt like something you might have seen Joe Piscopo do in his “Club Piscopo” Showtime special from a few years back…but y’know, a little hipper and more contemporary.

• I did get a kick out of his jokes about how Jersey’s governor drives the fastest out of all the other US governors (this had to have been before the days of Chris Christie, right?) I also liked how HBO's setting of The Sopranos in Jersey “felt right” despite the state having only the 4th highest Italian-American population in the nation.

• The only real comedic highlight of this were Andy, Amy, Maya and Kenan walking on stage dressed as various Jersey landmarks so obscure that Zach just had to straight up tell them all just what the hell they were dressed as (especially Samberg with his “why am I dressed as a sandwich? Not that I mind” line). Other than that, this was pretty unremarkable. C+

Digital Short: Puppy Love

An apartment subletter (Braff) is disappointed when he finds out that his dog (Jorma Taccone V/O) has seduced yet another crushed potential tenant (Samberg) into giving him a plate of ham from the fridge…until the dog himself admits it was meant to be.

• Hmm…strange that they would hard cut to a digital short rather than a commercial coming right off the end of the band vamping to the finish line of a big musical number. That seems like the type of thing that never happens before, but OK.

• Anyway, this digital short wasn’t up to much either, but it was fun, brief and to the point. This may not be my favorite digital short of all time, but that early lo fi season 31/32 style of these shorts really saved this for me and I got a kick out of Jormas’ voice over on the shots of the dog.

• Yes, this may have been the same basic premise as the season 18 fake ad “Canis” (a long, dramatic sexy buildup to a man kissing a dog) but I prefer this execution of the gag better than the overblown Calvin Klein type ad. C-

Prom Committee

Bethany “B.J.” Jacobs (Poehler) and Lauren “B.J.” Carlton (Rudolph) both want a James Bond themed prom but are forced to hear lame suggestions for alternate themes from their classmates. These include “Remember The Night We Mets” from Mets super fan Billy Zerillo (Armisen), “Get To Know Lyle Kane” from dweeby valedictorian Lyle Kane (Forte), “Garden State” from Garden State superfan Brian Bernstein (Braff), “Pink Floyd' s The Wall” from crunchy stoners Skooch (Thompson) and Mando (Sudeikis), an abstinence theme from repressed virgin couple Beatrice Mitchell (Wiig) and Mitchell (Hader) and the proposal of a virtual Middle Earth themed prom from even dweebier hobbit cosplayer Lomax (Samberg). Ultimately, the final decision comes down from the schools’ suspiciously Connery-esque Principal MacDoogal (Hammond).

• Man, when I remembered this sketches’ existence…I started looking forward to reviewing this particular episode a bit more! Still, even this had its weaknesses. 

• Amy and Maya really made the most out of their stereotypical bitchy high school girl roles, even if they got a little too…snide at points. I liked the opening joke about each of their “B.J’ initials but the constant vocal fry soaked “thanks BJ”s got old pretty fast (especially since I have a vague memory of watching this sketch in a VH-1 rerun of this episode where any and all utterances of the initials “B.J’ were obnoxiously bleeped out.

• Freds’ character seems the most out of place in this sketch. It’s like he’s playing a 1970s high schooler stuck out of time. It’s the type of character you’d most expect to see from Billy Crystal in season 10. I know Fred has this weird affinity for playing stereotypical Brooklynite sports fans but in THIS sketch it’s a real “square peg in a round hole” situation.

• Ah, the debut of Will Fortes’ criminally underrated Lyle Kane character. Even his brief appearance here may have been my biggest laugh of the entire sketch. This character would go on to make a much bigger splash in the very next episode (which would be the following seasons’ premiere).

• Zachs’ character in this sketch I wasn't crazy about. I guess it just barely qualifies as him making fun of himself? With lines like “Looking out at all of you, I think, “Wow! What a generation we are’” he almost seems more aged out of this sketch than Fred does and his talk about “alienation” makes him seem like a mid-80s/early 90s teenager stuck out of time. I wouldn’t say it detracted too much from this sketch because Amy and Maya played their disgust off him well.

• Kenan and Jasons’ stone characters were very silly and were pretty different from the types of characters they usually played early on in their tenures (but we would still see Kenan play this type of character more frequently later on).

• Bill and Kristen were committed as ever to playing their extreme sexual tension off each other very well without it coming off like they were trying too hard. I especially liked Bills’ “after prom/after marriage” line (although I wonder if there was any discussion with the censors regarding the leadup to Bills’ exit? The initial audience reaction made it seem like a crucial visual gag may have had to play out offscreen.

• Andy’s geeky Tolkien fan wasn’t as laugh out loud funny as anything else in this sketch but it was a silly enough gag to start closing this sketch out on. The best part of Andy’s character was him setting up Forte for the line about wanting to go to a real prom “and get laid for real”.

• Darrell just doing his Connery impression as the schools’ principal wouldn’t have seemed like it would work on paper but it was just absurd enough to close this already slightly off the wall sketch out. The line about how “the two B.J.s were the most convincing” really may not fly today but other than that…this might have been the most wholesome use of Darrell Hammonds Sean Connery impression outside of the first Celebrity Jeopardy sketch with Martin Short. B-

Deep House Dish

Dj Dynasty Handbag (Thompson) and T’Shane (Samberg) bring on performers Shereals Davis (Rudolph), G-Thug (Braff), Francesca Freem (Poehler) and her “backup dancer” Forte

• This sketch wasn’t in back to back episodes of the shows’ actual run but somehow ended up in chronologically back to back episodes that Deej & I reviewed for this podcast. We didn't intentionally set up our season 32 coverage that way, I assure you.

• Anyway, while this sketch being in this episode seems to suggest your typical season finale burnout, there were some fun moments in this.

• We’re off to a promising start with Kenans’ reaction to Andy’s alternately decent and senselessly bad jokes about Paris Hilton going to jail. I loved how Kenans’ “laughing” just consists of him rapidly shaking his shoulders up and down in near silence with a small grin on his face.

• I wasn’t crazy about Mayas’ song or interview but I did get a chuckle out of the title “It’s My Bootys’ Duty”.

• Zach as G-Thug was something that was slightly better than it had any right to be. I liked the title of his song/album being “I’m Riddled With Bullet Holes” and him ending his performance by shouting “G-Thug, I’m violent yo.” The interview portion didn’t add much beyond some telegraphed jokes but I did get a chuckle out of Andy shrieking at Zachs’ “scary face”.

• Amy’s song with Will slowly gyrating his ass at the camera (because the songs’ hook has the lyrics “keep your brown eye winking up at me”) was probably the best “song” portion of this by default, but again…the interview portion of this didn’t do much for me. C+

TV Funhouse: Decision ‘08 - Spring ‘07 Cleaning

Oprah Winfrey (Rudolph) lets all the candidates from this years’ US presidential primary air out all their previous dirty laundry so that hopefully, their insane revelations will all be forgotten by the time the polls open next year.

• Well, this may not be the most well remembered Smigeltoon in SNL history but it certainly sticks out in some peoples’ minds.

• It’s basically a list of rapid fire insane statements that almost goes on too long until it aims for “going on until long after it stopped being funny and then circles back to being funny again” territory.

• There’s a bit too much chaos in this to list any individual lines but the ones I liked the most were from Guiliani, Gore, Obama, Richardson, Edwards and McCain (especially when John McCain suddenly beats up Mitt Romney out of nowhere and then simply states “I just did that”)

• It’s sweet of them to include Mayas’ actual headshot along with the head of her animated Oprah character as one of the requisite closing credit headshots at the end of this. 

• Hmm, looking more closely at these credits I see Louis CK has a writing credit (and I think I can guess what lines he may have pitched) so I think the less said about this one, the better. Moving on… B-

Song Memories II

At a bar, four best friends (Braff, Forte, Hader, Sudeikis) reminisce to “The Weight” by The Band about incredibly risky church hookups that ruin weddings, smuggling dads’ heroin filled condoms through airports, drunk driving school buses and mailing poop until they suddenly strip to Kool & The Gangs’ “Jungle Boogie”.

• This was nearly a carbon copy of the first of these sketches from this season's Rainn Wilson/Arcade Fire episode. They go just a little bit less dark. Zach was the weak link in this but thankfully he's the only thing dragging it down. 

• They start to establish a pattern with these at this point that thankfully wouldn’t stick all the way through subsequent installments. You can see the pattern in the types of stories the guys tell. Sudeikis gets his penis injured in the most inappropriate setting possible, Hader tells a story about his dad, Forte endangers school children in a relatively PG-13 way, the host seems to be the wild card but so far usually tells a story involving human waste.

• Still, Forte and Hader prove they have the likable personalities to put such highly questionable humor over so easily (Hader more so than Forte in this case although Forte probably gave me my biggest laugh in this) and that's what truly makes these sketches work. They're really the glue holding these together. 

• I had a lot more to say about this sketch in a previous episode of We Heart Hader, so feel free to listen to that at your own leisure. C+

Maroon 5 Performs “Makes Me Wonder” and “Won't Go Home Without You”

• Well, it’s Maroon 5…and it’s one of their weaker periods…and Adam Levine still thinks pretty highly of his own “sex symbol” status. What else NEEDS to be said?

• Hey, here’s a fun fact. Since lead singer Adam Levine makes a cameo in the “Iran So Far” digital short in the very next episode of SNL (the following seasons’ premiere) this at least puts him right up there with Bad Bunny as another host/musical guest with consecutive appearances in back to back live episodes (even if Adam here isn’t officially billed as either one in the following seasons’ premiere). 

• That’s neat and I only really bring it up because the “Iran So Far” digital short has to by default be my favorite thing he’s ever done on SNL (which isn’t saying much, but still…)

Weekend Update w/Poehler & Meyers

Aunt Linda (Wiig) reviews the biggest movie sequels of the summer

Sam Waterson (Armisen) chastises Amy for her Law & Order joke

Whitney Houston (Rudolph) details her summer plans, laughs off a potential lawsuit from Bobby B and brings her own special brand of brownies 

• Amy’s best jokes: Immigration reform bill, Bin Laden, American Girl auditions

• Seth’s best jokes: Bush leads orchestra, Miami road rage, German sex shop

• Nice to see Aunt Linda again. I got a kick out of her opening line being “I can push myself” as well as her Pirates Of The Caribbean and Rush Hour 3 reviews. This being the summer of 2007, I gotta say it’s a shame we didn’t get to see Linda's review of The (first) Simpsons Movie.

• Amy’s Law and Order joke was well done. I like Armisen' s Sam Waterson just fine mostly for how loopy he plays the role (whether he’s aiming for that or not). It’s one of those impressions where the voice isn’t quite right but you can see what the performer is aiming at for it to work.

• Nice to see a shaggy pre-Update photo of Colin Jost in the role of fictional soccer player “Otto Von Dildo” during Seth' s German sex shop joke.

• I was never all that crazy about Mayas’ all over the place Whitney Houston impression but thankfully it got right in and right out without going on for too long. C+

La Revista Della Televisione con Vinny Vedecci 

After Zach Braff admits he doesn’t speak Italian, talk show host Vinny Vedecci (Hader) yells at his producers (Armisen, Forte), shows a clip of Scrubs reedited as an intense drama and vamps with an impressions of Peter Faulk before a vomiting puppet gets the biggest reaction of the whole show.

• Hey, it’s another slightly weaker second installment of a recurring sketch that debuted this season AND the second sketch of this episode I have previously talked about on a previous podcast and blog!

• I liked how Bill just went into his Peter Faulk because Vinny knew Zach Braff' s first movie was “Manhattan Murder Mystery” and even though Peter Faulk wasn’t actually in it he just free-associated “mystery” with “Colombo” to get there.

• I liked how the Scrubs clip they showed was so outlandishly absurd when removed from any context that it could work as either comedy OR drama.

• I appreciated seeing writers Doug Abeles, John Lutz and John Solomon as additional crew members laughing at the puppet vomit

• Other than those, this does hit all the typical beats that every other Vinny Vedecci sketch would. Bill, of course, saves it with this performance as Vinny Vedecci was a very consistently funny character (well, until about season 35 anyway).

• I’m sure I had more to say about it when we covered all these sketches on the We Heart Hader podcast and when I compiled those notes into something for my blog, so again…feel free to check those out at your leisure. B-

Bronx Beat

Co-hosts Betty Caruso (Poehler) and Jodi Deitz (Rudolph) detail summer plans, complaining about their husbands and kids and interview 25 year old intern Mike Drucker (Braff) when their planned guest, chef Don Barbieri of “Chez Don” suddenly falls through.

• This is the fourth one of these sketches…which by itself isn’t remarkable unless you also consider the fact that this sketch debuted in this season and it is their fourth one in four months.

• Thankfully, this is an early one so Amy and Mayas’ characters are fairly restrained and more grounded and lived in than they would be in future installments. I’ve always run pretty hot and cold on these characters for this reason, so that’s nice to see

• So…they didn’t feel the need to explain why Zach' s character is 25 years old and still an intern?

• Well, what else is there to say about this besides the fact that this hits all the same beats and patter that you would expect from a Bronx Beat (and since it’s Bronx Beat there’s a lot of both of those things). Thankfully, due to the more restrained nature of this installment and the sense that they may still need to figure out what this sketch is at this point, this sketch was a LOT shorter than most Bronx Beats (or just felt a lot shorter, one of those two). C+

Melissa

Horny receptionist Melissa (Armisen) inappropriately hits on Zach Braff and annoys his agent Sandra (Rudolph) as they wait to take a meeting with producer Brian Grazer (Hader). Suddenly, Zach confesses his true feelings toward Melissa and they make out.

• Ugh, Fred Armisen in an Itchy and Scratchy like impossibly screechy voiced drag role. My least favorite thing he does on the show. Ending this on a homoerotic beat is not the best way to end the show or the season, guys (but I did like the goofy choice of music over that).I heard this got cut from the previous season's Tom Hanks/Red Hot Chilli Peppers episode. Wow…just, wow.

• I did get a kick out of Fred' s line about Zach being “down to earth…unlike Hank Azaria.” Maya got some good lines too and Haders’ sudden shouty appearance as Brian Grazer may have been the sole saving grace of this (as on brand as that is for me to say). D+

Overall Thoughts 

• Well, this episode wasn’t quite as bad as I remembered. Yes, with all the recurring stuff (and the stuff that was just made recurring with THIS episode) there is that “gassed out, running out the clock season finale vibe” that’s pretty common around May, but what dragged didn’t drag as much as thought it would and what held up then still holds up just fine now.

• Again, I’m not too crazy about Zach Braff (hell, the main reason we’re doing this episode is because Deej is a bigger Braff/Scrubs fan than I am and she pitched this episode to me) but he did a serviceable job here and was kept in check enough to not actively detract from the show. Its’ too bad such a fun and memorable season got such a lackluster finale instead of one it deserved.

Closing Thoughts

• Well, at this point I can pretty much confirm that my next blog post will be a full length review of the upcoming Miles Teller/Brandi Carlile episode of SNL's 51st season.

• The next episode of We Heart Hader will be a continuation of our "No Small Roles" series focusing on Bills guest spots in animated TV shows. See you then!