Amy Adams/Vampire Weekend (03.08.2008)

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?

3AM Phone Call (Dramatization)

Hillary Clinton (Poehler) presents an approved "unfair and deceptive" campaign ad depicting an outraged, panicked and out-of-his-depth Barack Obama (Armisen) calling her at home from the Oval Office asking for her experirnced advice on how to deal with Iran building nuclear weapons and how to fix the heat in the white house. She follows this up by urging democrats (or even republicans for all she cares) to call the DNC and tell them "wait...we've changed our minds"

• So, this was obviously a spoof of the famous "3AM Phone Call" ad that Hillarys' campaign was running at this time. 

• The main twist being that it's not Hillary receiving the call about some international crisis in the oval office that Americas' being dragged in to.

• If nothing else, this was at least a different format for an SNL cold open (what it it being basically a pretaped slideshow that is intro'd and outtro'd by Amy) and I was impressed by how much they extrapolated out of such a simple premise 

• Armisens' Obama may have been at its weakest here (he is still working out the kinks after all) but that may actually work in this sketchs' favor as it plays into the idea that if Hillary were to run this  devious of an attack ad against Obama she would want to make him look as bad as possible by portraying him as either as sniveling or as goofy as possible.

• The part where Amys' Hillary straight up tells Fred's Obama to call his secretary of state (who turns out to he Al Sharpton here) is eerie considering that in real life Hillary would become Obamas' secretary of state and actually get paid to advise him on such matters...and years later we would find out that our president being on their phone ar 3AM isn't necessarily a good thing...but that's a story for another time.

• Anyway, decent cold open. B-

Monologue

Amy Adams brings Kristen Wiig on stage to sing a duet of "What Is This Feeling" over their slight resemblance to each other.

• OK, I'm guessing Amy's line about how everyone here has been "treating her like a princess" was some kind of "Enchanted" reference? Was she plugging that this week?

• I'm kinda torn on this monologue because while I liked the sheer pissy and antagonistic energy Amy and Kristen bought to it (right from Amy's line about Kristen "graciously" stepping down for roles in the show she was up for all the way up to the two of them slapping and punching each other near the end), I just don't see that strong a facial resemblance between them.

• I mean, sure...they could PASS for sisters, just not identical twin sisters which this monologue assumes they both are. 

• Plus, I'm not a huge theater kid or Broadway fan (hell, I had to use Google to figure out that the song they were singing was just straight up lifted from Wicked because it was cut out of this episode's Peacock edit) so a lot of SNL musical monologues don't do a whole lot for me. 

• This monologue was probably concieved just to allow Amy to show off her musical theater chops, but again...at least Amy & Kristen had the ability to actually sell it and put it over. C+

Mirror Image

An ABC Family sitcom where identical twin sisters Hailey (Adams) and Hagley (Wiig) Winters long running childhood plan to both pretend to be the same person in order to only have to do half of their school work fails to trick on their newest teacher Mr. Heffernan (Hader) as Hagley has gained much more weight and become more crass and slovenly than Hailey by the time they both reached high school.

• I did like the use of writer Paula Pell as the announcer with the line "You're watching ABC Family; because sometimes regular ABC can be just a little too in-your-face."

• It is a little bothersome that they would do two segments in a row based on Kristen and Amy's slight facial resemblance to one another (even though the monologue was obviously thrown together on Friday morning) but I at least like how this somewhat subverts what one's expectations would be for based on the monologue they would've just seen before this.

• Somehow, Kristen's voice and line delivery were the funniest thing about this. It probably helps that this is a character archetype that we didn't end up seeing that often from her. I did get a little sick of the running gag with Amy constantly winking into the camera and Kristen constantly farting while attempting to wink into the camera.

• Bill did solid straight man work in this. I especially liked his lines where he just straight up figured out their plan, got them to reveal that it has never worked and that they just end up changing schools every day and said he thought Kristen's character may be functionally illiterate based on her odd mispronounciation of the term "Renaissance painting".

• Also, why the hell was Andy in this with no lines as a glorified extra? Did he have lines in this that were cut at dress? B-

Couples Therapy

Brian (Forte) and Bagdana (Poehler) receive marriage counseling from Dr. Helen Winston (Adams). Brian wants to discuss communication and intimacy issues but Bagdana only cares about getting her documents signed by Brian and Dr. Winstin to prove her marriage is legitimate and that she is now a U.S. citizen who will never have to go back to her village.

• Immediately, this sketch reminds me of the "poison therapy" sketch from the previous seasons' Drew Barrymore/Lily Allen episode. This one does have the same quiet comedy feel to it that one but doesn't quite have the same sense of sheer derangement. Still, this had its moments.

• Even when Forte plays the straightman roles, there's a tiny absurd spark of a delusional caught up in his own little world there. His story of how he and Poehers' character met was funny.

• Amy Adams truly felt like the straightway here with various chipper psycho babble lines reading way too much into Poehers' talk of "documents".

• Possibly my favorite Poehler moment in this was her whole McDonald's rant during the "role play" segment or her line to Forte "you sign form, I give one more sex" (because she already gave the sex as proof her marriage is real, you see). B-

Digital Short: Hero Song

A wealthy looking Bruce Wayne-alike (Samberg) sings of his despair and frustration over the growing crime rate in his city. As he dons his super vigilanter costume and takes to the streets to stop a mugging, the mugger (Sudeikis) stops his singing by savagely beating him just long enough for his almost victim (Adams) to run away with her own purse still in her possession.

• Another deep cut underrated Digital Short from this era. 

• I don't quite remember the song having a hip hop type beat or having such a "OneRepublic meets Tears For Fears" type sound to it but I did like Andy's line "I can't take another murder" as he reacts in frustration to a newspaper with a headline about 50 more murders.

• I also liked how all the melodrama of the song was just a build up to the sheer bluntness of Andy's vigilante superhero having the shit just thoroughly beaten out of him by Jasons' mugger who repeatedly punches him then bashes a mailbox over his head and whacks' him upside the head with a 2x4. B+

Fierce: The Hot Mess Makeover Show

Recent "Project Runway" winner Christian Siriano (Poehler) has his own reality makeover show where he just goes through people's wardrobes and labels their clothes as "tranny", "fierce", "hot mess" or some even stranger combination of the three. Also making guest appearances just to spout their own catchphrase are other "Project Runway" judges/hosts Tim Gunn (Hader) and Heidi Klum (Adams)

• Well, I've never watched a single episode of Project Runway in my life...but I remember it being omnipresent enough in pop culture from roughly 2005-2008 that I at least knew who Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum were through a mix of parodies like this one and the occasional real clips of them I'd pick up from commercials or wherever.

• Sadly, the only reason I even know the name Christian Siriano was from Amys' portrayal of him (and I was a bit surprised to later learn he was a "him" to begin with) because he seemed to branch out way more into the actual world of fashion than the world of reality television.

• That being said, Amy Adams as Heidi Klum was very cute and Bill Haders as Tim Gunn was a fun part of this that I wish they could've given us more of. Poehlers' performance was endearing and accessible in a way only she could pull off and I liked how Casey played the sheer befuddlement and quiet frustration of her role. 

• ...and that's all I'm able to really say in 2026 about a sketch that throws around the term "tranny" as fast and loose as this one did in 2008. C-

Vampire Weekend Performs "A-Punk" and "M79"

• Aside from knowing their first song from the opening sequence of "Step Brothers", I wasn't too familiar with this band. They're a bit more twee and poppy than I was expecting, but they still pretty much fall into line with the basic indie rock trends of this time.

Weekend Update w/Seth & Amy

Tim Calhoun (Forte) makes his dark horse bid for the presidential primaries

French Def Jam comedian Jean K. Jean (Thompson) makes his Update debut

• Amy's Best Jokes: Skydiving Crash, Bush Accepting Donations, 

• Seths's Best Jokes: German Soldiers Fat, Bar Owner In Atlanta, Hells' Angels Murder Plot

• Hey, always nice to see Fortes' Tim Calhoun. Unfortunately, this may have been his weakest appearance. Nothing really stood out here aside from him referring to himself as a "grade school educated crystal meth enthusiast who literally cannot wait to push the button."

• Unfortunately, nothing much stands out about Kenan's Jean K. Jean other than this being his first appearance. I don't know, I guess I never got into this character because most of the Euro-centric references in Kenan's Jokes were lost on me.

• Sadly, this was a pretty weak Update for both Jokes and commentaries. C-

Traffic School

Penelope (Wiig) irritates fellow traffic school attendees (Hader, Thompson, Wilson) and thier proctor (Adams) with her constant interruptions and one upsmanship.

• I've never really been that big on this character at all and this followed the exact same formula as her previous three appearances, so...lather, rinse, repeat. I don't have much else to say about it.

• I did like Bill & Kristen's brief back & forth about their insurance rates going up and I liked the way Amy imitated Penelope, but that's about it. C+

Dr. Uncle Jimmy's Smokehouse And Outpatient Surgical Facility

Dr. Uncle Jimmy (Forte) advertises his own authentic, down home, deep south barbecue restaurant just off of Route 13 in Jasper, Arkansas where he and his staff also perform medical procedures. Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo (Adams) provides a reluctant unwitting endorsement.

• This was a geat "patented bizarre Will Forte sketch" that I've alwats fondly remembered as one of my favorites. Glad to see it still holds up.

• This sketch was packed with so many odd writerly details that there's almost too many to list individually. I did like Wills' statement that he "spent nearly three semesters at a once accredited medical college in the Caribbean learning what were THEN considered modern medical procedures" 

• I also liked as the "most hernia repairs in 24 hours" line as well as his trying to pass off a quote from a police report as a glowing review.

• Even though this was a Forte showcase, Hader almost stole this with his one line in his real customer testimonial: "I mean, sure, you could find better barbecue or a safer Surgical experience..." followed by a long pause.

• Amy Adams unsurprisingly does a solid Ellen Pompeo and I liked Jason as a random patient's line to Andy as his surgeon "hey, I hope those aren't my ribs" followed by Forte presenting and mixing up the nearly identical. blood and barbecue sauce bags on the IV. B+

Roger Clemens Presents

Raging and 'roided out Red Sox relief pitcher Roger Clemens (Sudeikis) presents a short three act play he wrote about the dangers of congress taking steroids OUT of baseball. In it, the team manager (Hader) is dismayed to learn his star player Matt Mulgrew (Adams) and second basemen Salazar (Poehler) have gotten off the juice and become so scrawny & weak (just like those "stats geeks no one likes) that they can't even hit home runs to save a dying boy in the hospital (Samberg).

• Yeah, 2005-2008 really would've been peak times for steroids in baseball to be a major news story thanks to congressional investigations and testimony. As Jason references in this sketch, Roger Clemens was the subject of an FBI & IRS perjury probe...so that's probably what inspired that sketch.

• This is also one I remember being pretty damn funny when it aired. Sudeikis as Clemens was a great anchor tying this sketch together and also the big laugh getter from me with his big fake muscles, out-of-nowhere aggressiveness and especially his very last line in this sketch simply being "I AM MAD ALL THE TIME!!!"

• Bill did more solid straight work as Skip, the team manager trying to convince his star player to take steroids. Amy Adams did a good job as the star player. She didn't oversell it or go too broad. I had heard this may have been cut from Elliot Pages' dress rehearsal the previous week. I say that version worked in this sketchs favor.

• Andy's performance seemed a tad grating but I did like Fortes' stilted reading of his lines. Poehlers' character, I'm not so sure about but it was only one line. Apparently, that was John Lutzs' voice offscreen telling Roger to "calm down." I wonder if he actually wrote this, too? B+

The Tookie Styles Show

Late 70s/Early 80s local NY Cable Access personality Tookie Styles (Thompson) advertises a DVD of his show's "best" moments with guests such as Egyptian defense minister Ahmad Badawi (Armisen), Isreals' head of Mossad Yitzhak Hofi (Hader) and Ulster unionist/sworn enemy of the IRA Elizabeth Kent. He tries to teach them his signature "Zookie Styles" dance just before gunshots ring out.

• Um, what exactly WAS this? Was this based on a real local access TV incident or what?

• I mean...I didn't hate it, but it was one of the most senseless bizarre SNL sketches I've ever seen. 

• This sketch was like a fever dream that defies any description.

• Kenan, Bill and Fred all performed their parts exactly the way you would expect them to. Jason and Andy were two bodyguards/secret service members who appeared after the gunshots

• At least Amy Adams seemed to be the only one having even a modicum of fun with her part. I have absolutely nothing left to say on this sketch. D+

Celebrations

Four sad, desperate attention seeking middle aged ladies (Adams, Poehler, Wilson, Wiig) enter a bar and immediately try in vain to impress the bartender (Hader), a married patron (Sudeikis) and his two buddies (Forte, Thompson) with an old dance routine from their 8th grade talent show that they suddenly "remembered" and haven't rehearsed since.

• This was a unique, lower key female focused sketch of this era that didn't feel too mean. It almost qualifies as "slice of life", but not quite. Great showcase for Casey Wilson and Amy Poehler, though. 

• I got a kick out of her and the others trying to do the same moves at the constantly changing speeds and tempos of each song (from Rhiannas' "Umbrella" to R.E.M.s' "It's The End Of The World As We Know It" to Peaches' & Herbs' "Reunited" to even Jasons' classic Nokia ringtone).

• I also got a kick out of the lines about Adams' big hair and her suddenly admitting to living in her car.

• Bill was mostly the straightman here again, but he was a great unimpressed bartender. I especially liked how he rushed to hand them all their purses once they hinted that they were leaving. B-

Ranking Season 33 From Best To Worst

1. Lebron James/Kanye West (09.29.2007)
2. Seth Rogen/Spoon (10.06.2007)
3. Tina Fey/Carrie Underwood (02.23.2008)
4. Amy Adams/Vampire Weekend (03.08.2008)
5. Brian Williams/Feist (11.03.2007)
6. Elliot Page/Wilco (03.01.2008)
7. Jon Bon Jovi/Foo Fighters (10.13.2007)

Overall Thoughts

• Well, this was certainly a major step up from the previous weeks episode (as low of a bar as that is to clear). 

• Still, it wasn't quite the solid episode I remembered it to be. The first half wasn't very strong, the recurrers bought this down a bit but they took some interesting chances post update that were worth sticking around for.

• Amy Adams was a strong host when she was actually used, though. The other Amy (Poehler) obviously had a great night as well as did Kristen and Bill. 

• Andy and Fred kind of had light nights. It seemed like Kenan and Will were also going to but they started making gains in airtime in the back half.

Closing Thoughts

• Well, since it's summer now, you'll probably only be getting a few more blog entries from me before things with modern day SNL pick up again in the fall.

• My next blog post will be a review of the Jonah Hill/Mariah Carey SNL Season 33 episode which Deej and I will review on an upcoming episode of We Heart Hader (no plans to combine this with any other SNL episodes yet but you never know). 

• Before that episode comes out, we're gonna start covering season 2 of Documentary Now with "The Bunker". That podcast will have a small bit of Documentary Now related bonus content attached to it in that we'll also be reviewing a Doc Now short Fred and Bill did for called "David Letterman: Beginnings" for Lettermans' Mark Twain Prize ceremony in the fall of 2017.

• Yes, that may be well after season 2 but with CBS having just killed off The Late Show (a late night TV franchise that Letterman himself started in 1993 and Stephen Colbert helmed the past 11 years until it ended) I figured right now would be a more appropriate time to review this particular piece of media I came across on YouTube recently.

• Anyway, have a great summer and see you soon!

Elliot Page/Wilco (03.01.2008)

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?

MSNBC Democratic Candidates Debate

Moderators Brian Williams (Forte) and Tim Russert (Hammond) ruthlessly grill and interrogate Sen. Hillary Clinton (Poehler) on foreign policy question with the help of "Law & Orders'" Vincent D'Onofrio (Himself) while blatantly giving answers to her opponent Sen. Barack Obama (Armisen). 

Following the sketch, the real Hillary Clinton gives an editorial response to mostly praise the sketch and Amy's impression, but states it is not an endorsement of either candidate.

• I liked Fortes' dead on sounding Brian Williams (which he apparently stumbled ass backwards into at one point) and Hammonds' Tim Russert is one of his more fun impressions, so this sketch at least has that going for it. Although, I have to ask...why does Darrell appear to have eye makeup on in this sketch?

• Fred appeared to be still tweaking his Obama impression, focusing more on his speech cadences rather than capturing his actual tone of voice making him sound unintentionally goofier and way more cartoonish. At least he's more visually convincing as Obama than vocally. Thankfully, he doesn't have enough lines in the sketch for this to be a real issue.

• Vincent D'Onofrio showing up to basically play his character from Law & Order: Criminal Intent was a nice touch.

• I did get a kick out of Amy as Hillarys' whole speech about how she is the only candidate who is annoyingly pushy and irritating enough to nag the big energy lobbyists into submission.

• I believe Amy's lines about the hostile tone towards her and receiving the tougher questions may have been a more-or-less direct quote from the real Hillary Clinton during the actual debate this was a parody of. 

• In fact, the real Hillary may have been referencing the previous weeks' debate cold open because I now vaguely remember hearing an actual quote from her along the lines of "maybe we should go back to SNL and ask Obama if he wants another pillow?"

• Speaking of the real Hillary, her cameo wasn't up to much and was borderline forgettable, but she came across fairly well for another career politician making their debut appearance on this show just to up their "cool/hip" factor.

• She was a great sport in response to Amy's impression of her which doesn't mean much here but was especially nice to see because by the next time Hillary was running a major political campaign, that WOULD become a major issue (but not necessarily for the coolness or hipness of appearing on this shoe because that would quickly go out the window.

• Anyway, in most of the ways that matter, this was a noticeable improvement from the previous week's debate sketch. B+

Monologue 

Oscar winning "Juno" Screenwriter Diablo Cody (Samberg) shows up wanting to know why Elliot isn't delivering the monologue she wrote for him.

• OK, I totally get wanting to poke fun at Diablo Cody for being an annoyingly quirky screen writer who tries way too hard to be seen as hip...but having Andy in drag portray her comes across way different today (and even then made it seem a lot more unnecessary harsh than it was intended to be).

• I did get a kick out of Andy's forced "blog" puns...and yes, in case you were wondering...I do have the ability to relate to someone using the word "blog" a bit too much in everyday conversation. C-

The Dakota Fanning Show

Dakota Fanning (Poehler) asks impossible geopolitical questions to random kids on the street, further belittles her band leader Reggie Hudson (Thompson) and interviews Miley Cyrus (Page)

• This may have been the weakest of the three of these sketches (mainly due to the premise of an insufferably high cultured and well read Sheldon Cooper-like Dakota Fanning hosting a talk show with fellow kid actors as guests wearing a bit thin by this point) but this still had it's moments.

• I got a kick out of Dakota revealing her writers to be Casey as a Spanish playwright, Fred as a Japanese poet and Sudeikis as Bruce Villanch.

• Kenan as the beleaguered band leader was a consistent highlight of this from his reaction to the KidSpeak segment (which was mostly decent but Amy's line about Charlie Rose being her celebrity crush aged like milk for in about three different ways) to his reaction to Dakota not calling him to collaborate with him on her "Wanda Rwanda" album (the cover reveal and album description were very funny...although I do have to wonder if the "Tom Waits B-sides" line was an intentional reference to Scarlett Johanssons' attempt at music as a side gig from around this time?)

• ...and of course, Kenan's "fiddle with your car breaks" line was his high point.

• Elliot Page as Disney/Hannah Montana era Miley Cyrus came off as incredibly awkward and was the biggest thing dragging this sketch down. Obviously, he's no Vanessa Bayer. He approached a vague Southern accent without sounding like her. He just seemed to be emulating a kid-like energy while copying Mileys' style from the time as well as SNLs' wardrobe department would allow without really looking like her.

• The bit with the two of them playing with a Hannah Montana doll and an Anastasia Somoza doll (yes, that's the real name of the real person with cereal palsy Dakota Fanning actually played in "Hurricane Mary") comes off as especially cringey today when you consider the fact that Amy had inadvertently deeply offended the real Somozas as well as some of the actors involved in the film. To Amy's credit, she did reach out to the family and make amends by donating to and becoming involved with their charity. I would encourage you to read more about this story here.

• If you're watching the Peacock edit of this episode, you may notice that the sketch just cuts off there. It does have an actual ending in the live version where Elliot as Miley sings the Hannah Montana theme while Amy as Dakota backs her up on the hurdy gurdy. It's not much of an ending, but it's still a better out than...what preceded it. C+

TV Funhouse: The Obama Files

When Rev. Jesse Jackson (Hammond V/O) and Rev. Al Sharpton (Robert Smigel V/O) offer to help Sen. Obama (Hasani Isa V/O) on his campaign, he sends them on wild goose chases to non-existent foreign lands to distance himself from them. He even asks Sharpton to wear an "honorary" shock collar to his next speech. When they catch on and try to drop in on his next speech dressed as podiums, they end up falling through a trap door and landing in the same "community van" as fellow liabilities Chuck Norris and Bill Clinton (Smigel V/O)

• Here it is, folks. The last regular TV Funhouse segment before NBC cuts them entirely due to the high cost of animation. 

• It would be a bit of a bittersweet moment if it weren't for fact that we do get one true final TV Funhouse three years later that is part live action, but for right now...this is just an "Irish goodbye" for Robert Smigels' flagship contribution to post-bad boy era SNL until he can come back for one last big hurrah because sadly...this would be an odd and forgettable note for these to go out on.

• The main thing dragging this one down was that it felt much longer than it needed to be. Plus, we get a vocal impression of Obama that is so much better than Freds' that it makes one wonder why SNL didn't at least invite Hasani Isa to audition to join the cast?

• Right off the bat, we get Barack telling Michelle to "distract the media" when Jesse Jackson approaches...and she suddenly starts vomiting on the floor? I don't think this was based on any specific real life incident so I'm just going to assume that Smigel threw this in here just because he felt he needed to throw in a cheap gross out gag to make the audience laugh and keep them engaged for a long, slightly dry piece of political humor.

• I did get a kick out of Barack having an aide shoot a tranquilizer dart at Brian Williams neck as Sharpton approached. Hell, I'd even go as far as to say Smigels' Sharpton impression was a highlight of this (especially when he kept inadvertently shocking himself when arriving for Baracks' speech and when he wore a lion costumes simply because "lions are cool").

• The ending was all right if not a bit odd. I get Clinton being in the van, but why Chuck Norris? Isn't he a republican? I'm pretty sure he was actually campaigning for Mike Huckabee at this time. The two reverends selling this story to Marlon & Shawn Wayans for them to make a movie called "Podiums" was a nice semi-absurdist touch to this.

• Perhaps the funniest part of this was Smigels anecdote about Lorne asking Hillary to stay an extra 20 minutes after the cold open just to watch this cartoon and being thankful that Amy came in to partially distract her from the joke about Bill that she was polite enough to laugh at (along with the rest of this) that Lorne confessed to having completely forgotten about. C+

College For Excellence

A decent establishment that happens to be located above a Korean bank promises to teach you all the most professional sounding generic office terms relating to files, meetings and phone calls. Their spokesman (Armisen) is self aware of their chintziness and defensive enough about it to ask viewers not to share this commercial online for cheap laughs.

• This almost seems like a carbon copy of a semi viral sketch Armisen did a few years earlier called "Rafael Alonzos' I.T.F. Technical Computer Institute" (yes, that's from the infamous Paris Hilton episode). 

• It actually seemed like there were a lot of different sketches and bits on a few comedy shows around this time (and online of course) that poked fun at cheap, local commercials or just used that type of aesthetic for laughs (Tim & Eric seem to be the biggest perpetrators of this that come to mind right now). 

• Maybe the self awareness Fred's character employs in this sketch is a meta gag, meant to be a subtle nod that this was a trend in comedy that had already peaked?

• Anyway, I did like this for the purposely stilted bad acting moments such as Andy walking in and out of the background during Fred's moments, Kenan ducking into frame during Elliots' lines and Kristen silently mouthing Kenan's lines when she's supposed to be in the shot with him.

• I also got a kick out if Kenan handing his files to Kristen accidentally when he was supposed to be handing them to Elliot (which he only realizes he was supposed to do when he hears Elliot has a line and Kristen doesn't).

• Speaking of Elliot, you may get strong Jane Wickline vibes from some of his performances throughout the episode (mainly here and possibly in the final sketch). Of course, this is a sentence that can only make sense if you're watching this episode in 2026 and not 2008. C+

The Other Bolelyn Girls

The trailer for a new film where Anne (Page) and Mary (Wilson) Bolelyn compete with Eunice Bolelyn (Wiig) and two others (Forte, Thompson) for the affections of King Henry VII (Sudeikis) 

• Yes, "The Other Bolelyn Girl" was a new film coming out at this time. Elliot is playing the role that Natalie Portman had. Casey Wilson is playing the Scarlett Johansson role and Jason is in the role that went to Eric Bana.

• It doesn't speak so well of this sketches' intentions that the only real genuinely funny moment is the "sistaaaaaa" back and forth between Elliot and Casey...which is immediately followed by Kristen entering the scene with a unibrow and buck teeth, affecting a double chin in order to achieve one of the most "lol generic comedically ugly woman" looks ever with her the second of her only two lines being about how she just had sex with a horse.

• I suppose Forte in a dress affecting a coy, coquettish cockney accent telling us he just passed out on a pile of fish was good for a cheap laugh as was Kenan in his dress, not bothering to disguise himself as a woman beyond that (not even a wig) at the head of a line of other older men doing the same.

• Beyond that, I just wished this rather forgettable sketch had more of a focused or point to it. C-

Digital Short: Nightmare (The Mirror)

In a scene shot in the style of a modern horror film, Elliot keeps waking up from the same nightmare where the same wounded zombie-like creature (Samberg) always appears in her mirror

• This was probably the first ever "cinematic" digital shorts and probably the second big "meme" one after "Dear Sister".

• This was an early, more mature subtler version of this style of digital short where Andy plays a character who just shows up repeatedly in different places (and a very minimalist version of this trope at that since this seems to take place entirely in the same bedroom/bathroom).

• It's pretty rare that a Lonely Island Digital short doesn't go for big hard laughs, but this was still pretty early in The Lonely Islands' run on SNL which means they weren't completely gassed out on these yet and felt they had plenty of room to he experimental and try out new ideas. Plus, Andy and Elliot have the chemistry to pull this off (so do Kristen and Jason with their whole Dracula/Debbie Leiberstein interlude). B+

Wilco Performs "Hate It Here" And "Walken"

• This band is definitely one of this seasons stronger and more unique musical guest choices. 

• They were a semi established band at this time, but I still dig their sound more than most of the musical guests in SNL episodes I have reviewed recently.

Weekend Update w/Seth & Amy

Rudy Guiliani (Himself) cites his SNL hosting stint from 1997 (where he appeared in drag in a single sketch) as the reason he had to drop out of the presidential race

Nicolas Fehn (Armisen) returns to fumfer his way through another appearance

• Seth's Best Jokes: Obama Photos, Hussein/Methuselah, Oscar Winners

• Amy's Best Jokes: Beef Shortage/Hot Pockets, CU Boulder study, German napping

• Aw, fuckin' christ, this guy. Guiliani? I know he had a history at the show and he just dropped out of the race himself, but...COME ON.

• The SNL nerd in me wants to appreciate him pointing out how he once hosted and wore a dress but the parts of me that know everything else Rudy Guiliani has done since then is screaming "yeah, this guy can go straight to hell."

• The return of Nicolas Fehn. Not nearly worth hating as much as another fucking Guiliani cameo but that doesn't make this worth bringing back. 

• Even back then I immediately noticed how this was basically a carbon copy of the first one.

• Maybe it's because he followed Guiliani but I may have liked this a little more than the first one. I will admit to having chuckled at Fred's comments "who asked?" and "I saw Demitri".

• Seth and Amy were really the saving grace of this Update. Even the more "mid" jokes they told, they still looked like they were having fun telling them. C-

Shopping With Virginiaca

Virginiaca Hastings (Thompson) and her step-daughter (Page) go shopping for impossibly toght booty shirts shorts...at Baby Gap, ignoring the repeated warnings of the stores lone employee (Samberg)

• Oh God, not this again.

• I've always thought this character was basically the worst of Kenan...and on top of that, Elliot Page of all people is the absolute LAST person on Earth who should ever be playing "street" or doing a "blaccent" in anything.

• Not even Andy as the put upon store clerk could add anything worth while to this but about the only part of this I did like was his sudden "aaaaaaaaand I quit" at the end. D-

Peter Pan: Hooks' Revenge

A frustrated Captain Hook (Hader) wonders aloud why his crew of adult male pirates with loaded guns (Armisen, Forte, Thompson, Sudeikis) don't simply shoot Peter Pan (Page) and his crew of lost boys carrying only wooden swords whenever they fly on to their ship to steal their treasure.

• OK, as annoyingly on brand as this might be for me to say, this was the best and only genuinely funny sketch of the night.

• I got my biggest laughs from this and, of course, Bill did an excellent job of anchoring this. I liked how he played Captain Hook in much the same "put upon regular guy" manner he played Frankenstein in the previous season's Hugh Laurie episode.

• The one thing that does bug me is that it's the same basic joke as the 300 sketch from Peyton Mannings episode (and those "West Side Story" & "Evita" sketches with Norm MacDonald from season 22) but the writers definitely added much more to it than that.

• Specifically, what they added to this was that Captain Hooks' crew just gets too into Peter Pans and his lost boys' song & dance routine to actually shoot him (and when Haders' hook gives Armisens' Redbeard clear directions on exactly where to shoot Peter Pan he only waits until Pan has flown out of frame to fire one single flare at the spot he was just in which was a fun goofy visual gag).

• My biggest laugh likely came from Haders' Hook asking everyone to grade themselves and being exasperated at Armisens' Redbeard giving himself a B+. Forte had some great lines as Smee, too. 

• I liked how enthusiastically dialed in Elliot was (contrasted with how enthusiastically detached Jason was) and how they both really threw themselves into their performances. 

• I also liked how it then got to the point where the rest of the pirates joined in the song and dance once Amy floated in as Tinkerbell at which point Capt. Hook just threw Tink on the ground and stopped her to death.

• I also liked the semi-interactive this got with the audience when Peter Pan instructed us to clap to bring Tinkerbell back to life to which Hook responds by bailing on the whole scene once this plays out.

• Another thing that tickles me about this sketch from a hair and makeup stand point is how much Bill resembled "Weird Al" Yankovic on the cover of his then semi-recent "Straight Outta Lynwood" album (especially since I was just getting into my Weird Al phase at the time myself).

• Anyway, a sketch like this in an episode like this is a great reminded of why I signed up to cohost a podcast about Bill Hader (and his era of SNL in general, really) a year and a half ago. B+

Marty Goes Gay

As Marty (Page) excitedly raves about her experience at a Melissa Etheridge concert in great detail, her live-in boyfriend (Samberg) must help her come to terms with the fact that she may be a lesbian.

• Well, it's nice to see this era of SNL attempt a decent Marilyn Suzanne Miller-esque slice of life piece with fewer hard laugh lines and it's nice to see how well this delicate subject matter regarding real life speculation of the host's sexuality was handled at the time. It was an in-depth, detailed character study that didn't go for cheap gay jokes at any point.

• I'm not sure how well this holds up today, though...not just because Elliot has since come out as a trans man (years after coming out as a lesbian which was still years after this sketch aired) but because Sambergs' character talks about "going gay" if Pages' character turns out to be a real lesbian so they can still live together.

• I'm pretty sure a lot of people would argue that sexuality or sexual preference isn't that much of a choice or a switch you can flip on or off and anyone who says otherwise is coming from a place of ignorance or just being demeaning.

• Anyway, much like the monologue, this is mostly put over by Andy and Elliots chemistry no matter how it plays today. C+

Ranking Season 33 From Best To Worst

1. Lebron James/Kanye West (09.29.2007)
2. Seth Rogen/Spoon (10.06.2007)
3. Tina Fey/Carrie Underwood (02.23.2008)
4. Brian Williams/Feist (11.03.2007)
5. Elliot Page/Wilco (03.01.2008)
6. Jon Bon Jovi/Foo Fighters (10.13.2007)

Overall Thoughts

• Upon rewatching this episode nearly two decades later, it wasn't quite as bad as I remembered it to be...but it is just as strange. Elliot wasn't quite the weak link of this episode as I had remembered, but something still felt more than a little...off.

• I don't think it's as much the writing as much as it is a combination of two specific elements. One being certain things about this episode from 2008 not having aged very well by 2026 (which I won't get into here since that's enough of a tired old complaint from me in these reviews by this point).

• The other element being that this was the second episode in a run of four in a row (which at this time SNL had not done since the back half of their first season in early 1976 and this cast would do again to kick off the following season). This would be due to Lorne Michaels wanting to get in as much election coverage as possible and make up for lost time coming back from the WGA strike as possible. 

• Normally, SNL doesn't do more than three episodes back-to-back-to-back like this (except for when they would do this again in 2016 to kick off a big fall election season and in the fall of 2020 when both that election and the height of the Covid 19 pandemic would necessitate a record breaking SIX episodes in a row).

• It's natural for an eagle eyed SNL viewer such as myself to notice a palpable burnout on the show at some point of a typical run of three episodes in a row (usually on the second or third) but when you start to notice this during the second of four or even the first of three...something may seriously be wrong backstage.

• This isn't to say Elliot didn't gel well with the cast either. He had chemistry with Andy and Amy especially. Still, something seemed...different and slightly off. This ended up being an episode that was more uneven than outright bad, at least.

• As far as cast usage goes, Amy, Andy and Fred had great nights. Kenan, Will and Jason were used decently. Kristen seemed to have an unusually light night and Bill was completely shut out of all but one sketch which still makes me wonder why we covered this entire episode on our podcast.

Closing Thoughts

• By the time this blog has been published, the current seasons of both SNL US and SNL UK will be done and both shows will be taking the entire summer off. Still, I hope you will have enjoyed reading my reviews of the last two episodes of each show's most recent seasons hosted by Matt Damon and Will Ferrell in the US and Hannah Waddingham and Ncuti Gatwa in the UK.

• As for me, you can expect Deej & I to begin covering Documentary Now Season 2 on the pod as well as moving further along with SNL season 33 over the summer. I'll have a few more blogs out during the summer reviewing those specific SNL episodes as well. I'll of course continue to review the upcoming new seasons of both SNLs when they return in the fall. See you soon!

SNL UK: Ncuti Gatwa/Holly Humberstone (05.16.2026)

House Showing at 10 Downing St.

• Pretty simple and easy concept for a cold open, just having Emma as a realtor showing one of the top contenders for Kier Starmers' job around his house...while he is home in bed.

• Hey, Paddy makes his actual live sketch debut with actual lines! Don't worry, Ania. You may get your chance next season. I got a kick out ol' Pads confidently striding through the door in a posh manner while carrying an old, cartoony hobo bindle.

• Sadly, I'm not too familiar with whichever politicians Paddy or Jack are playing but I don't feel I need to know much about them or who they are other than they're all former Parliament members angling to unseat Starmer and become Great Britains' next Prime Minister. 

• I do know know who Liz Truss us well enough to have gotten a kick out if Annabels' portrayal of her hiding in a cupboard. 

• I also did get a kick out of Jack's line about  how his personal "T" in LGBT stands for "texting Peter Mandleson".

• ...and, of course, any appearance from Celestes' Angela Rayner and George's Kier Starmer is always fun (although not all of George's speech here worked that well for me).

• Not bad, just not the most original or clever premise for a cold open SNL UK has tried in its first season...but perfectly acceptable seeing that this is their first season finale. I can see them wanting to get this out of the way so they can ease into the summer. C+

Monologue

• Ncuti exudes an effortless charisma and makes a strong impression right out of the gate. 

• I liked his version of the standard "host runs down the highlights of their career and names some joke dreams roles of theirs" more than most.

• I got a kick out if his "man who was mistakenly interviewed by BBC News" impression.

• The Aimee Lou Wood cameo was nice but didn't quite add too much. They were both in "Sex Education", so it makes sense.

• The Hamlet go-go dance was s bit predictable but a fun ending to a monologue and a nice way to keep up the energy and pacing of the show up top. B+

Birds Of Praise Gospel Choir

• It's very nice that they could get Ncuti to participate in a black centric piece that showcases SNL UKs black cast. It's a shame this ended up being just the first of Hammeds' only two appearances of the night, though. At least Larry, Jack and Emma provided some great assists.

• I was able to follow this just well enough to get what it was going for. The line about white guilt being very profitable stood out as the tone-setting line. The only thing bringing this down was how on the first watch the intent behind it seemed just convoluted and muddled enough that it almost feels like Michael Che could've written this for SNL US.

• Still, I feel like I get the basic gist of this predominantly black organization not just being a professional choir but also a professional business that specializes in predominantly white events that are in DESPERATE need of inspirational music to make said white people appear more soulful...even if they have to hold back on that true gospel sound to make whites feel less afraid. I did like the sudden "Come On Eileen" cover.

• The idea that the massive widespread George Floyd protests of 2020 led to hard times for this business is where it got a bit muddled conceptually but it worked on rewatch...just like the idea that the even more oppressive nature of the second Trump presidency led to a sudden resurgence for them instantly clicked. You have to keep in mind this particular choir is only hired for acts of ceremonial acts of white self flagellation which definitely would've spiked around these times. C+

Thomas & Friends Vs. The Fat Controller

• Hmm...I'm kind of torn on this sketch. It wasn't my favorite of the night, but it had its moments. 

• Al turned in a great performance with a lot of rapid fire dialogue he handled well and the Ringo Starr impression by George was a real highlight of this, but his, Ncuti and Ayoades' callous snark toward Als' character can kind of wear thin after a bit.

• Celeste and Emma's cameos felt needlessly tacked on and the ending was executed pretty clumsily. C-

Looking Theroux The Mirror

• Should we get started?

• OK, well...we know SNL UK is aware of Jimmy Fallons' Mick Jagger impression...which leads me to think that the Fallon/Jagger mirror sketch from December 2001 may be viewable online over there (along with possibly the Maya/Kamala mirror sketch and the Grande/Fineman/Carvey Jennifer Coolidge three way mirror sketch from roughly a year and a half ago...maybe the official SNL YouTube account isn't totally geoblocked over there?)

• Anyway, I'm sure SNL UK is aware what big hits those sketches were for SNL US at one time, so I can't blame them for wanting to do their own viral version of it but adapted to one of their own well known cultural figures who may not be as well known internationally.

• I'm not even going to get on their case for directly lifting something from SNL US because when SNL US did it they were lifting it directly from an old Lucille Ball/Groucho Marx routine that even then was practically as old as vaudeville.

• I will commend SNL UK for pulling off a version of this that feels more reminiscent of their own Jools Holland piece from a couple of months ago and has a similar feeling of "castmates bonding over having impressions of the same person they all want to get on the show" (or just two castmembers and a host in this specific case).

• Kudos to the show for giving Larry another impression showcase piece. I'd say of all the roles he's played on this show, this is the one he disappeared into the most. Al and Ncuti played off him expertly. (Can I say that? Is that fair to say?)

• I'll admit that I wasn't familiar with Mr. Therouxs' work before seeing this sketch, but some light Googling reveals he has quite an extensive and intriguing IMDb of prior work I wish I'd seen more of. I saw his "Inside The Manosphere" documentary pop up on Netflix and have added it to my queue. Maybe I'll check that out some time.

• It's nice to see that they got Louis himself to make a cameo in this. He was a good sport to do so considering this was built around a few small yet exaggerated idiosyncrasies of his that (especially to those unfamiliar with him or his work) make his interviews seem...well, not so much "awkward" as just overly conscientious. You may get the impression that Louis Theroux spends his interviews sort of walking on eggshells around his subjects but you can still tell this was written from a place of admiration and respect (or else he wouldn't have appeared in it as himself).

• What seemed truly odd to me from purely a live rundown perspective is how they waited until both after the next pretape and the commercial break to have Ncuti, Louis and Larry all walk off the set and introduce the first performance ftom Holly Humberstone (who wasn't that bad or anything, just...had a little more of a generic, nondescript Gracie Abrams/Maggie Rogers type sound to her than I was expecting Can I say that? Is that fair to say?) B-

When Blobbys' Attack

• This might have been my favorite pretape of the night (as much as it took a rewatch or two to piece together some crucial narrative elements of it).

• I am familiar enough with the incomprehensible nightmare creature that is "Blobby" to be able to get a laugh out of a sudden undiscovered horde of him/it viciously attacking random coal workers' who's mines just got shut down because they were just discovered.

• Am I the only one who got slight "Ghostwatch" vibes from this?

• George was great in this and Hammed was pretty solid. It's a shame Hammed couldn't be in any live sketches this week though

• My only other complaint at first (aside from some noticeable Gen A.I. being used) was that I thought Annabels' impression of Noel Edmond felt like it could've been cut because it made this feel slightly jumbled. 

• Then, upon rewatch I noticed that Annabels' Noel Edmonds does serve a crucial plot point in that he is the only one who can somehow tame or calm any living Blobby and suddenly I turned around on it. Other than that, not a bad sketch...just doesn't hold up that well on a rewatch. B+

Weekend Update w/Paddy & Ania

• Paddys' Best Jokes: Wes Streeting, Lib Dems, Eric Morecambe Tribute, Record Breaker

• Anias' Best Jokes: Leadership Bid, Starmer Meets With Streeting, Angela Rayner, UFO Footage, Giant Sex Toys

• Anyone else think those jokes about that days' protest sound like the type of Jan 6 reference we'd get on SNL US?

• OK, I'm still not crazy about Emma's "woman who can't be ignored", but kudos to SNL UK for landing their first non-impression recurring character.

• Is it just me or does Paddys' Eric Morecambe Tribute sound more like an updated for 2011 version of the types of boozy Nick the lounge singer type of "Happy Birthday" songs Bill Murray would do on Update.

• There wasn't much to Als' Eurovision judge commentary but I did like the brief burst of absurd silliness to it.

• There didn't seem to be a lot to Ayoades' commentary either, but I did get a kick out of her Lily Allen remarks and her Paddy put downs. 

• The cameo appearance from the actual money saving expert Martin Lewis was nice. Having heard about this guy, I'm impressed he has a whole prime time network series of his own and saddened to think that here were primarily on TV here in the states (instead of just social media) he'd get punted off to either CNBC at best or some syndicated late night infomercial on a local affiliate station at worst. 

• This wasn't a great update to end the season on, but I did like Ania exiting the scene by being airlifted into the sky like she was being rescued by helicopter but then Paddy left the desk by doing the Mike Meyers "walking down stairs" but. C+

Ncuti Gatwa Is The New James Bond

• OK, well...even though SNL US already did their own blatant Shrek nostalgia piece nearly two and a half years ago when Bad Bunny first hosted, this doesn't feel that odd when I inevitably compare and contrast this to that one.

• This one wasn't just nakedly about capitalizing on shameless Millenial/GenZ pop culture nostalgia for the sake of viral clicks as the Please Don't Destroy short was. Hell, this one still hasn't been released as a standalone YouTube clip yet.

• This one actually worked better because had some absurdist yet stickingly prescient commentary to make on how certain vocal segments of the moviegoing public (on both sides of the pond, really) notoriously have some trouble accepting any actors of color in prominent leading roles (especially when it comes to naked cash grab reboots of/sequels to legacy IP).

• George was obviously the best choice to anchor this as the director. He sold the convoluted mania of it just as well as Ncuti sold the "increasingly less game and more and more baffled at the concept and poor direction" vibe of his character.

• I did get a kick out of Emma switching back and forth between Dame Judi Dench & The Gingerbread Man. Jack as Pinocchio and Al as Puss In Boots didn't do a whole lot for me but I liked the idea of Larry as Eddie Murphys' donkey being thrown out as Ncutis' "last straw" moment.

• I guess I may have needed to be familiar with whoever Allison Hammond is in order to appreciate the ending but it was really just a small button that didn't add or detract much from the sketch as a whole. B-

Breakdancing Explosion

• Anyone else getting slight John Early vibes from seeing Jack Shep in that wig in semi-drag as an average suburban mom?

• Well, I liked the lore of this sketch involving a witches' curse and the ending involving Jack, Ncuti, Ayoade & Annabel exploding into pure orbs of celestial energy (Emma's explanation of this may have been the biggest laugh I got from her in the whole series).

• I also liked the brief visual of Jack being replaced by a professional breakdancer with many, many more tattoos than he has in real life. 

• Other than that, this just quickly devolved into a laundry list of references to various British pop stars I'm not familiar with at all, so...I can't really say this totally worked for me. Still, it had a lot of energy and it was far from the worst possible sketch they could've ended their entire first season on. C+

Ranking SNL UKs First Series From Best To Worst

1. Jamie Dornan/Wolf Alice (03.28.2026)
2. Hannah Waddingham/Myles Smith (05.09.2026)
3. Ncuti Gatwa/Holly Humberstone (05.16.2026)
4. Tina Fey/Wet Leg (03.21.2026)
5. Nicola Coughlan/Foo Fighters (04.25.2026)
6. Riz Ahmed/Kasabian (04.05.2026)
7. Aimee Lou Wood/MEEK (05.02.2026)
8. Jack Whitehall/Jorja Smith (04.11.2026)

Overall Thoughts 

• This one was a bit uneven in spots (especially compared to last week) but Ncuti was a fantastic host who easily elevated a lot of the material and blended in seamlessly with this cast.

• Not everything hit this week, but what hit really hit well. It's funny that Aimee Lou Wood made a cameo two weeks after hosting because when I compare this episode to hers, the highs were higher and the lows weren't quite as low.

• Still, this was a decent way to end the very first season of a modern transatlantic televised sketch comedy experiment that was heartwarmingly (and somewhat surprisingly successful).

• Aside from Hammed and Celeste being used quite a bit less, cast usage remains stable and everyone seems to have gotten to play a unique role or characterization that was specifically tailored to them.

Closing Thoughts 

• Well, since SNL UK is confirmed to be coming back in September (and as far as we know, SNL US may return around the same time as well) my blogging output will be decreased as it usually is over the summer, but I will still continue to post full lentgh reviews of each of the SNL US season 33 episodes that Deej & I will be covering on the We Heart Hader podcast.

• Next up for us on this part of our podcasting journey this year will be the Elliot Page/Wilco and Amy Adams/Vampire Weekend episodes which, in an unprecedented move that no other SNL related podcast has done before, we will combine into one single podcast covering both episodes! The reason why we're doing this should be obvious to some of you, but just in case, I've written a recent mini blog about which you can read here.

• See you again real soon!

Upcoming Changes To We Heart Hader Episodes

Hey, so...I've got a bit of a minor update to share with you guys that still requires a small bit of explanation, so here goes...

If you've been keeping up with We Heart Hader, the podcast I cohost with Deej Barens, you might have heard us mention at the end of the last episode that our next one will be our review of the Elliot Page/Wilco episode of SNL from season 33.

Well, Deej and I got to talking about that and decided to switch around our schedule a bit. The next episode will actually be our review/recap of the season one finale of Documentary Now (part two of the "Blue Jean Committee" episode) which we have already recorded and will hopefully be released this weekend.

After that, the next episode we release will be another SNL one. We'll continue our coverage of season 33 of course, but we will be combining our coverage of both the Elliot Page/Wilco and Amy Adams/Vampire Weekend episodes into one!

This is an unprecedented move, not just for We Heart Hader but for any podcast that reviews SNL episodes. If you're familiar with the SNL season we're covering, the reason we're doing this should be obvious, but if you're not...please allow me to explain.

The Elliot Page/Wilco episode of SNL has only one sketch that features Bill Hader. Even without mine or Deejs' obvious personal bias we can say that his sketch is the one true highlight of that episode...because it's one of the weaker episodes of that season. It's not so much outright bad as it is a very awkward episode that has aged strangely for various reasons. 

Meanwhile, the Amy Adams SNL episode from 2008 is much better and has more Bill Hader sketches for us to talk about and thus would've made for a better episode of our podcast. Deej pitched me on the idea of combining our coverage of these two episodes into one podcast and I didn't need to give it a lot of thought. 

I immediately realized that us doing a podcast just about the Elliot Page episode would be one of our weakest as well and we would be doing not just ourselves, but you...the listeners a great disservice by doing that so we're covering both that and the Amy Adams episode into one podcast episode.

I will still have full lentgh reviews of my own for both episodes posted to this blog when this episode comes out (as I usually do). I've got my Elliot Page review finished and ready to go. I haven't even gathered any notes on the Amy Adams episode yet, but I know I've got a bit of extra lead time for that one so I'll get that one started after I finish up my review of SNL UKs' recent season finale and post that here.

Anyway, just wanted to give you that quick update. See you again real soon!

Will Ferrell/Paul McCartney (05.16.2026)

White House

• Hmm...Trump and Vance in the oval office? Could this be what I'm thinking it is?

• I did like Jeremy's response of "not enough for me" to JAJs' question of "is the pope catholic?"

• Oh shit...Ferrells' playing Epstein instead of Dubya? This could be interesting...

• Huh...the Ferrell/Epstein part is kinda resembling a Sudeikis as the devil commentary but I liked Ferrels' "heaven is really hot" line and JAJs' UFC/Worldstar joke. I also got a kick out of that brief Terrence Maddox "wink" he did.

• At least this was a clever way to work in tweaked versions of Ashley's Kristi Noem, Josts' Hegseth and Azizs' Patel (hopefully one last time)

• Man, they're really packing in the "edge lord lite" jokes in this, huh? Maybe an attempt to keep the type of male viewer who tuned in just to see Ferrell because he considers that era one of the last times the show was truly funny enticed?

• OK, the "Just The Two Of Us" musical number at the end was a fun way to end this. That's some classic late '90s Ferrell energy. We're lucky Ferrell & JAJ have a strong enough rapport to make this work. B+

Monologue 

• That's...not Will Ferrell...but let's see where this goes.

• OK, that's Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Why the hell wasn't that my first guess as to who this was?

• Is it just me or does Will and Chad look LESS like each other with age? Or is it just this thing I have with SNL sketches where they try to hang a big ol' lampshade on a slight resemblance to a castmember and a host (or a former castmember who just happens to be hosting and a totally different celebrity guest in this case) where I somehow see way LESS of the resemblance? Oh well, I guess it still works if they look enough alike from a distance...well, no...even then I was questioning it.

• Well, this could still be the most fun Ferrell hosting monologue of all time.

• Eh, don't like how hung up Will is on this but I guess some questions from the audience cameos could be fun. 

• Oh, it's Paul thinking Will is still Chad. Eh, whatever.

• I don't think naming as many Paul McCartney songs as one can remember works as a "doing something funny so many times it becomes unfunny and then loops back around to being funny" thing if there's constant applause breaks, but I got a kick out of Will listing songs Paul had nothing to do with was kinda funny. Part of me wishes they could've done more of those. C+

Hospital

• Ferrell in scrubs and a doctor's coat? Could this be the return of...Dr. Beaman?

• Accidental penis removal? I had a feeling that's where this was going.

• OK, I admit the "remove and clean this" line was a funny mixup as was the line about Mikeys' (of course it was his) penis being cremated.

• This isn't really escalating as much as I'd like it to, but I am getting a kick out of Will just straight up asking Ashley to not be a bitch to him.

• So...I guess this is pretty much just a variation of Dr. Beamen if he were just polite and conscientiously incompetent instead of just an aggressively deranged and paranoid maniac who constantly tries to deflect and distract from his own grossincompetence?

• At least this knew exactly where it should end. C-

Midnight Matinee: Bobbins' Sacrifice

• OK, the possibility of Ferrell playing the fake hobbit in a Dan Bulla Lord Of The Rings knockoff...could be interesting. 

• I did like the last Midnight Matinee. Unfortunately, this is more in line with the ones I didn't care for...but just not as interminably long or meandering.

• I did like this one at least having the twist of Ferrells' character "switching sides" and "dying" twice. That wasn't exactly the thing I would've come to expect from Dan Bulla. C+

Cast List 2: Cast Harder

• Hmm...I can't quite say this is the first time I've seen a sequel/continuation of a previously cut for time sketch (does anyone else remember when Andy Samberg played Rahm Emmanuel? No one? Just me? Ok).

• Still, this is an interesting and shrewd choice considering that the first "Cast List" was a semi-viral hit and turned out to be better than most of what aired in Ferrells 2019 episode it was cut from.

• I do like how they built this out from the first one so there were a lot more visually and character based gags while still hitting all the same beats. Plus, something about this works better when most of the student roles are filled by cast members who weren't hired prior to two seasons ago. Hell, I like how they eventually found a competent and grounded way to work Kam & Marcello into this.

• I did like the gags with the see through Wicked poster and Sarah in the wheelchair as well as Wills' back and forth with Jeremy and Ben. I also liked the line about having previously done The Color Purple with an all white cast.

• Man, it feels extremely odd that this was Kenan's only appearance all night when you consider all the speculation of this being his final episode as a cast member and how he has stated that Will Ferrell was one of his favorite hosts to work with.

• Hey, a Molly Shannon cameo was nice! That scratches my "reasonable expectation for some brief bit of late 90s nostalgia" itch! She played well off Tommy, too. I guess...Tracy Morgan was unavailable this week?

• Did anyone else think that Mollys' line about "getting hands with boys" line was reminiscent of her Weekend Update commentary as Louise Ingstrom from her first season? Does anyone else even remember that commentary? It was from season 20.

• Anyway, this was fun for an unexpected sequel (and really the closest thing we may get to an old Ferrell recurrer). B-

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

• Josts' Best Jokes: RFK/Sperm Counts Trump Letter To Vance, Trump Interstate

• Che's Best Jokes: Trump Greeted By Schoolchildren, Shooters' Not Guilty Plea, NBC Peacock, Greatest President of Alz' Heim

• Hey! Jeremy gets to bring back Mr. On Blast too! Nice to get a brief flash of gleeful stupidity from one of the newbies.

• I liked the silly "P.U." puns just fine but what I like even more is how they added various odd details about his life (like how he is apparently 100 and has grandkids who work on the show in the graphics department).

• Well, it is always nice to see a traditional Che-Jost joke swap this time of year. I have to say...this may not have been one of those years where they topped themselves in terms of sheer outrageousness but it was nice to see one where Jost got Che better than he got him right up until Jost got threatened with a surprise head shaving. B-

What It Feels Like Talking To A Mechanic

• It's nice to get a brief dose of absolute nonsense on the show now and then. Unfortunately, this was more the kind of banal and slightly dull nonsense and not the whimsical silly and goofy kind of nonsense that's actually funny and livens up a sketch. I have a feeling that even if you actually have talked to a mechanic recently you may not have found this to be that funny.

• At least this sketch had one notable thing about it in that they basically had Paul McCartney come on to basically do Dana Carveys' impression of him.

• See, you would think something this silly might have a better ending than Will Ferrell, Marcello Hernandez and, again, Paul Fucking McCartney of all people demanding that Mikey Day pay them in ass...but no. Oh well, at least Marcello, Mikey and Ashley can now say they've been in a sketch with Sir Paul. C-

The Nudemans

• Huh...so, were they just trying to do something in the vein of the patriotic thong sketch from...25 years ago here?

• I did appreciate getting to see Sarah's "Enter Here" tramp stamp though...as well as everyones' sheer enrergetic commitment to such a premise as this (especially Andrew and Marcello).

• One other good thing about this sketch is that you can say this wasn't the reason for whatever was cut getting cut as much as the combination of the joke swap running long (nice bald cap, Colin) and Lorne wanting to give Paul a third song. C+

Ranking The 51st Season From Best To Worst

1. Nikki Glaser/Sombr (11.08.2025)
2. Glenn Powell/Olivia Dean (11.15.2025)
3. Alexander Skarsgard/Cardi B (01.31.2026)
4. Melissa McCarthy/Dijon (12.06.2025)
5. Olivia Rodrigo (05.02.2026)
6. Matt Damon/Noah Kahan (05.09.2026)
7. Ariana Grande/Cher (12.20.2025)
8. Jack Black/Jack White (04.04.2026)
9. Will Ferrell/Paul McCartney (05.16.2026)
10. Ryan Gosling/Gorillaz (03.07.2026)
11. Amy Poehler/Role Model (10.11.2025)
12. Miles Teller/Brandi Carlile (11.01.2025)
13. Finn Wolfhard/A$AP Rocky (01.17.2026)
14. Colman Domingo/Anitta (04.11.2026)
15. Harry Styles (03.14.2026)
16. Connor Storrie/Mumford & Sons (02.28.2026)
17. Josh O'Connor/Lily Allen (12.13.2025)
18. Sabrina Carpenter (10.18.2025) 
19. Teyana Taylor/Geese (01.24.2026)
20. Bad Bunny/Doja Cat (10.04.2025)

Ranking All Of Will Ferrell Hosted Episodes From Best To Worst

1. Will Ferrell/Green Day (5.16.2009)
2. Will Ferrell/Queens Of The Stone Age (5.14.2005)
3. Will Ferrell/Paul McCartney (05.16.2026)
4. Will Ferrell/King Princess (11.23.2019)
5. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton (1.27.2018)
6. Will Ferrell/Usher (5.12.2012)

Overall Thoughts

• Well, we just got another typical forgettable season finale. Not one that was frustratingly or bad or anything...just a bit bland and mediocre (we're talking about a season finale here, not a season premiere).

• Still, every word in that previous bullet point of mine feels like it should've been an unacceptable way to describe a Will Ferrell Hosted episode with Paul McCartney as musical guests

• ...but as I have said in the past on this blog, I have had to teach myself to lower my expectations for any future Will Ferrell hosted episodes...and I have had other bigger issues with episodes he's hosted in the recent past that I didn't quite have with his one.

• As far as season finales go, I may have some of the same issues with this one that I did with a few recent ones, but to a different degree. 

• I don't mind that we have arrived at the end of another season with zero indication of who may be leaving and who may be staying because those could come later in August or even at Christmas time.

• I do think from what we've seen from this years' newest hires that the show could be in better hands at some point no matter who leaves. Still, I think some of the older guard (or anyone who's been at the show since before season 47, really) may NEED to leave for the show to make enough room for any necessary substantial change that would improve the show or at least make it interesting enough to watch again to happen.

• From what I've seen, I think Jeremy, Kam, Ashley, Veronika and Jane could become the new faces of the show starting in season 52 the way that Hader, Samberg, Wiig and Sudeikis did starting in season 32. Then again, they lost a lot of long time veterans that year, too and there were massive budget cuts at NBC that year, too so they had no other choice but to restructure the show. 

• Hell, there might be massive budget cuts at NBC this year, too. It could still happen. As we've seen with certain big castmembers in recent years, people do still WANT to move on from the show. We could hope and pray for some major changes to come to the show but Lorne and NBC may be too afraid of such change from the same old show people with the same old faces people except to see hurting their bottom line somehow.

• Oh well. At least we have another season of SNL UK to look forward to...which is obviously a substantially different show from SNL US and might be the closest thing we'll get to a completely overhauled SNL in this day & age.

Closing Thoughts 

• Well, my blogging output will obviously drastically decrease over the summer but keep your eyes peeled for my review of the SNL UK season finale which as of this writing and publishing I have not gotten to see any of yet...but since I clearly just rushed this through and tossed this one off like it was nothing, you can expect a review of that one sooner rather than later since I'll have more time to work on it.

• After that, you can expect more reviews of SNL season 33 on this blog to coincide with the episodes Deej & I are reviewing on the We Heart Hader podcast (but not before a brief blog entry from me before the next episode comes out explaining a slight change we're making in our lineup there). See you soon and have a great summer!

SNL UK: Hannah Waddingham/Myles Smith (05.09.2026)

Ten Downing Street: May 2046

• Hey, a Peter Serafinowicz cameo! Very nice! As expected, he does a solid Nigel Farage impression.

• I mean, it is a little troubling to see SNL UK seemingly start their own version of the recent-ish SNL US trend of bringing in seemingly random celebrities to play prominent and widely disliked right wing political figures, but I don't mind it here because SNL UK does have sharper political writing than SNL US. 

• As long as they're just showcasing underrated British comedians who may be less known stateside and not just getting big names to overshadow the actual cast, I'm fine with this type of cameo. Maybe Peter could also host an entire episode of SNL UK and we could get a Brian Butterfield sketch? That would certainly be great!

• I'm not that familiar with whoever Ayoade is playing, but it doesn't really hinder my appreciation of this sketch since I pretty much know what it's going for.

• I get a kick out of the idea that these two assholes have used their power to turn 2046 London into a burnt out, post apocalyptic husk of its former self. Heck, I even like to imagine that this sketch takes place in the same universe as Mitchell & Webbs' "Quiz Broadcast" sketches and that this may be a prequel to them meant to show how "the event" was caused (REMAIN INDOORS! DO NOT THINK ABOUT THE EVENT!)

• This also turned out to be a good way to sneak in George's Starmer, Celestes' Rayner and Als' Churchill again (although the "Big Ang" and "Big Chungus" references were a little odd and dated).

• Heck, I even liked the self-deprecating meta comment on SNL UKs' recent renewal. Other than that, this was a fairly ambitious cold open that got off to a strong start and knew where to stop once it had no other place to go. B-

Monologue

• There wasn't a whole lot to this monologue, but Hannah put it over flawlessly.

• She had the best energy and most infectious enthusiasm out if any SNL UK host I've seen so far.

• I liked how clever the "high heels" gag was and how she glossed over her "glamorous" acting roles (did she also play Barry Gibb at one point?). 

• I didn't know she landed a small part on Game Of Thrones at one point, but hey, good on her for striking while the iron was actually hot there.

• The different accents she pulled off while showing us what her "fantasy roles" would be was the highlight of this. She even managed to maintain her poise while doing a Chewbacca impression! A-

Sunburnt Lawyers

• This was just such a gleefully stupid and anachronistic concept on paper that it just had to work in execution! The reason it did work was through sheer commitment to such a simple premise.

• Among my favorite moments were their interaction with Celeste, Emmas' bits with the wig and later with the fan in Larry's office, Hannah's line "my skin feels like the sound of bees", Jacks simple reaction of "wot?" to Hannah and Emma applying some kind of sunscreen or ointment to their skin in court and of course the reveal that their sunburns always help them win the case. B-

End Of Year Musical

• It actually took me a minute or two to tell Annabel & Emma apart from each other because Annabel just seemed to be doing the exact same voice and mannerisms that Emma did as her character "Juggs" from the bra fitting sketch in the premiere with Tina.

• After having recently heard about Annabels background in musical theater and her great singing/vocal abilities, I figured out quickly that was her as the other teacher. Plus, I just as quickly figured out Emma was playing one if the students and realized I still can tell them apart facially.

• At first, this reminded me a bit of that really dumb "Hip Hop Nativity" sketch from Billie Eillishs' SNL US episode (similar setup and wardrobe choices) but thankfully this switched gears real quick and focused up on something more nuanced.

• They say the third season of Ted Lasso basically became Jason Sudeikis just using the show to work out his own personal issues surrounding his divorce from Olivia Wilde once he took over as showrunner. I wonder if this sketch was purposely written as a meta commentary on that?

• This was a pretty simple and straightforward premise really but Hannah and Annabels' showing off their pipes really put this over for me. I did like Hannah's line about having once starred in a knockoff of Beauty & The Beast called "Pretty Girl, Big Dog".

• This really picked up once Hannah and Annabel invited Jack, Ayoade, Emma and Celestes' characters to rehearse the group number that unsubtly shades all of them (although I could've done without their whole "we're not gonna say why" speech to Jack's character). B+

Speed Awareness Course

• Two sketches in a row that involve Hannah's characters teaching a class of students? Both of which just involve her character just...unloading her personal life on her students through her lesson plan? OK. Odd rundown so far, but I'm not complaining...

• As much as this seemed to borrow from and soften up those "job seekers" sketches from The League Of Gentleman (which thankfully none of this cast will be soon thanks to the recent series two renewal), I enjoyed this for how much Hannah threw herself into this role, the odd little details of all her temptations to get the class to speed, and of course, how they payoff was essentially a becyclopsed Al Nash entering the scene (in the same outfit he wore in that OG radio sketch) to confirm that every detail Hannah's character dropped about her own odd family life is 100% true.

• Hell, I can even relate to the "six hour exams" part since my full time job heavily involves proctoring those...but perhaps I say too much? Oh well, that's gonna have to be a story for another time.

• Even the button on this sketch was relevant to everything that proceeded it. This turned out to be a PSA against speeding rather than for the polar opposite of the thing that was just shown. Well done. A+

Daniel Day Lewis & The Triplets

• As odd as it felt seeing either iteration of SNL come back from a commercial and go straight into a pretape, this turned out to be one of the more quietly brilliant pieces of the night. 

• Kudos to Larry for getting to land another impression on the show (although I think they could've tightened up or shortened the "it's not about the yogurts" speech before the big reveal).

• Of course, George played off Larry AND Emma brilliantly. I especially liked Als' line about how he feels such an intense emotional connection to the show "Young Sheldon" went on to be a set designer for that show.

• My other favorite moments were the lines from Larry about "repeated six month comas" and an "Abraham Lincoln phase" and of course the reveal that Reese Witherspoon got the part he was up for followed by the "There Will Be Blood" family photo. B-

Weekend Update w/Paddy & Ania

• Paddys' Best Jokes: Young People, Starmers' Image Problem, Met Gala, Texting Joke

• Anias' Best Jokes: Election Results/Reform Party, PM Under Pressure, Minister Warns, Katy Perry, Nolan Odyssey, Yogurt As Junk Food?, Horse Meat

• I liked Als' commentary as brief as it was. It felt more like a bit designed for Jack but I could see the need for Al to play a middle aged conservative leaning voter. Also, I feel like I have just enough cultural context for what this was going for since we apparently have plenty of people in the states who were too afraid to admit publicly that they just straight up voted for Trump for any reason out of fear of social backlash.

• Jack's commentary as the character "Scrimpsch" feels the absolute most like something that we could've seen done on SNL US the UK show has done so far. I could definitely see either Marcello or (more likely) Bowen having done this in the past year or so (or hell, maybe even Fred Armisen if this were 23 years ago) but he actually makes this work much better than either of them would have. I was able to get into this just enough to get how Jack was making Ania break. 

• I liked his lines about wishing wells and ants as well as how he kept skipping ahead to random numbers like nine and seventeen when he was listing off his tips. I also liked the detail that he was left behind on a class trip from Europe and no one (not even his parents) bothered to look for him

• One odd thing about this is how I could only recognize every other song that he was parodying. I could pick out the tunes of "It's Hard Out Here For A Scrimpsch" and Natasha Beddingfields' "Unwritten" but not the other two.

• OK, the wrestling match between Hammeds' Rhino and George's Attenborough is definitely the highlight of this episode if not the entire run of SNL UK so far. 

• True, this does feel like any combination of Bowen, Sarah, Marcello or Mikey could have done this but Hammed and George definitely made this work better by framing this as a "Ric Flair vs El Niño" style wrestling match instead of a Springer-style daytime trash TV confrontation and just generally leaning into the whole "damn, they didn't have to go THAT hard" vibe.

• Great job by the Ghosh brothers from Quality Wrestling Academy in Portsmouth for choreographing that and also appearing in it. B+

Phantom Of The Foot Locker

• I wanted to like this more since it's another out there, goofy premise that also functions as a showcase for Al Nash (who comitted to this well as did Hannah who had the theater background to pull this off but sadly, I don't think this went anywhere.

• Yes, they captured the haunting, ethereal vibes of "Phantom of the Opera" well and transplanted them into a random British Foot Locker with ease...but sadly, this sketch was kinda flat and just...there.

• The gag with Hannah's daughter revealing she has a Phantom like face mask of her own was the most telegraphed joke I've seen on this show so far. George's line about hoping Hannah and Al don't rekindle their old love through music comes in a close second. C-

Glasses Of Wine

• Wow, right into a Wilson Phillips style song. Ok.

• Celeste was borderline unrecognizable here at first but she managed to steal the show. I liked how she went into the audience...and was apparently so drunk even she didn't know if she was playing herself or a character.

• I guess this was another showcase for Annabel and Hannah's singing talents, so it was nice of them to cede some of the spotlight to Ayoade & Celeste so they could have their moments.

• I also liked how this progressed through about four different stages of drunkenness and escalated uniquely as it went on.

• Nice number to end the episode on, too. I liked how the melody of the song just bled into the closing credits. B-

Ranking SNL UKs First Series From Best To Worst

1. Jamie Dornan/Wolf Alice (03.28.2026)
2. Hannah Waddingham/Myles Smith (05.09.2026)
3. Nicola Coughlan/Foo Fighters (04.25.2026)
4. Tina Fey/Wet Leg (03.21.2026)
5. Riz Ahmed/Kasabian (04.05.2026)
6. Aimee Lou Wood/MEEK (05.02.2026)
7. Jack Whitehall/Jorja Smith (04.11.2026)

Overall Thoughts 

• This was an astounding episode and a huge step up from the previous week's episode with Aimee Lou Wood. Most everything hit well and Hannah was an outstanding host who the show knew how to instantly tap into the strengths of. 

• She elevated a lot of the show and I would definitely like to see her host again as soon as possible. Myles Smith was decent. Even if I'm not too crazy about his music, it's nice to come across an actual British musical guest on this show that I've somehow already heard and still didn't know I'd recognize until I saw heard him perform live.

• As far as cast usage, no one really dominated but Al, George and Jack came close. This episode also seemed to be a strong showcase for the women (even Ayoade in more supporting roles).

Closing Thoughts 

• The next episode of SNL UK(which will probably air later tonight at this point) will be the first hosted by Ncuti Gatwa. It's a pretty big get for this show to get the current Dr. Who to close out their first season, so this should be a fun episode.

• Of course, SNL UK also has Will Ferrel and Paul McCartney for theie own season finale the same night which is equally exciting (as guarded as my excitement for such an episode can be) and you'll probably end up being able to read my review of Ferrells episode before yiu read my review if Ncutis (or possibly at the same time, who knows?)

• Also, we're switching around the next two episodes of the We Heart Hader Podcast for reasons that should seem obvious but will be fully explained by me in another seperate blog post before the next episode comes out very soon. See you then!