Ashton Kutcher/Gnarls Barkley (04.12.2008)

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?

Petraeus Report On Iraq

At a hearing of The Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. David Petraeus (Forte) is grilled by Senators Mark Levin (Samberg), John McCain (Hammond), Hillary Clinton (Poehler), Robert Byrd (Hader) and Barack Obama (Armisen). 

• On the surface, this may appear to be your standard, boiler plate, dry as a bone, late period Jim Downey penned political cold open that almost seems to be designed to be forgotten as soon as it finishes airing, but if you deconstruct this sketch and pick it apart you'll find there are some easily accessible laughs here.

• I did get a kick out of Downeys' voice over describing upcoming C-Span programming as "think tank nerds excitedly discuss some topic no one else cares about" followed by "questions from even herder audience members".

• Andy Samberg did surprisingly well as a senator chairing a hearing. It probably helps that he was only given as few lines as possible.

• The opening part with Forte telling Hammond the only thing the sunnis and shiites can work together on is sharing bribes and embezzlements and they've dissolved their softball league due to frequent sectarian killings was pretty much typical forgettably yet very cutting Downey humor but it was the exact length it needed to be.

• Amy gets some laughs as Hillary claiming to have been opposed to the Iraq war since years before it began (when in reality, as Forte spells out, she voted FOR the war in 2003 and backpedaled on supporting it when she first ran for president). This seems to be the main thing this sketch was built around so thankfully it was the second most accessible part of this sketch.

• The scheduled/planned interruption from Casey & Kristen as the "Code Pink" protestors was cute, but might've been something to trim if this needed cuts.

• Bill appears here and portrays Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, a man who was known for being the longest serving member of both congress AND the senate and having started his political career in the Ku Klux Klan. Thankfully, this sketch plays up the other thing he was known for; trying to pass legislation full of wasteful pork barrel spending simply to boost his states' economy.

• Of course, Bill handled the impression well, playing him as a drawling, decrepit old self serving carpetbagger. The bits where he says he's been serving in this committee for nearly 120 years and he's never seen such a foreign policy calamity as his proposal for the Iraqi museum of antiquities being moved to West Virginia were funny (with the proper historical context at least).

• I wasn't too crazy about him doing the same "walk in front of the camera" that Fred and Kristen made their trademark in the next few years, but hey...there's gotta be a first time for everything.

• Freds' Obama is getting goofier and goonier at this point (he's still figuring it out) but he had very few lines. He's just there because the generals (including Jason in a role that could've gone to another extra) are voting for him "he's gonna be the next president...no offense (to Hillary & McCain).

• He's also there to ask Gen. Petraeus to explain why he didn't like Hillary or McCains' books as much as he liked Obamas. This part was funny enough with claims if Hillarys' book simply being too long, dull, poorly written and full of easy to disprove claims and McCains' containing too many grammatical issues.

• I got a kick out of Fortes' Petraeus saying Hillays' book contained her claims of being the first astronaut and being the inspiration for the song "My Sharona as well as McCains' book containing entire passages that simply made no sense.

• Anyway, this was a bit funnier and more entertaining than expected for the type of cold open it was. C+

Monologue

Since he has now produced both "Punk'd" AND "Beauty & The Geek", Ashton goes back stage in an effort to show the audience what he thinks a producer does...much to the chagrin of the rest of the cast (Armisen, Forte, Poehler, Samberg, Thompson) and his then wife (Demi Moore)

• Jesus, who does Ashton think he is with that scarf? A Jonas brother? I know that look on guys seemed to be in fashion around this time but that seems like pushing it

• Well, at least this was the most creative monologue they wrote for Ashton Kutcher at this point. Sure, that may not be saying much but when you consider that his first monologue centered around him being pantsless with Maya Rudolph and Chris Parnell stepping on stage solely to gawk at his bulge in tighty whities...and his second one just involved bringing Demi Moore on stage in excessive old age prosthetics...it's nice to see them try something more "off the beaten path" with him.

• Even though I've seen "The Simpsons", "Futurama" and even "Ren & Stimpy" make this exact same joke, I appreciate the basic underlying premise of this monologue being "the title of 'executive producer' is merely a do-nothing meaningless vanity title meant to stroke the egos of rich dickheads and make them feel important and this is ESPECIALLY true for 'executive producers' whom you see as onscreen performers on this or any other show."

• I got a kick out of Amy and Fred tearing up their script in disgust after he gives them pointless notes

• One thing I thought should've been cut from this monologue was Demi Moores' cameo where she just asks Ashton to reassure her that he won't actually wear this pair of tiny red booty shorts that she found on the show. Still, I did chuckle at his brief comment of "produced the hell out of that".

• I liked the "locked control room" gag and the bit where Ashton smashes the non-breakaway vase that Forte has and Forte asks him to tell Lorne he likes The Falconer but what was with Ashtons' response of "you got it, rodder?" Was he supposed to say "Rodger" and he botched it or something?

• The ending where Kenan tells Ashton that Lorne may be hiding from him to avoid having to hear his dumb and inane "producing" ideas was fine but Andy walking up to him and asking him for weed (which he says he won't have until the "light" goes off) was an even better capper to that.

• Apparently, that bit was a reference to a real life incident from this time when Kenan was pulled over by a cop and was almost arrested for possession of weed in his car and got out of it by saying it wasn't his or he was holding it for a friend or something. Not too exploitative for a meta gag. Surprisingly strong note to end this monologue on. B-

Cougar Den

Middle aged socialites Diedre Nicks (Poehler), Jacqueline Seka (Wiig) and Toni Ward (Wilson) host a talk show about dating younger men, putting up with snide remarks from their exasperated producer Kenneth (Thompson). They welcome guest Kiki Deamore (Cameron Diaz) to plug her new book on this subject. She brings on her current boyfriend Jaden (Kutcher).

• Well, this sketch certainly wastes no time establishing itself...because it already assumes that you, the viewer, are currently culture savvy enough to understand that in this context the term "cougar" refers to affluent middle aged women who exclusively date men in their early 20s.

• If you don't understand this already, it's not going to have these characters just straight up explain this to you but rather leave you to infer this from their strings of expository dialogue (like Kristen's line about giving her beau a "blow joy" because "it certainly isn't a job"). I guess they just wanted to see how subtly they could sneak the word "blow job" on the air?

• I did appreciate the husky Kathleen Turner-esque voices Amy, Casey & Kristen put on for their characters as well as Kenan's turn as the exasperated yet snide producer. I liked the ladies' stiff, herky-jerky, back-and-forth hip swinging dances to open and close the show as well as their brief "Boniva" and "kegel" breaks.

• As strange as it is to see a sudden out-of-nowhere Cameron Diaz cameo on SNL in 2008, she really helped elevate some of the material in this sketch in spite of the strong choice she made with that accent. 

• I'm guessing the main reason she's here is because she may have been in a movie with Ashton around this time that he might have been hosting to plug? Weirdly, they would do two more of these next season...and Cameron would also show up for both of those in spite of her having nothing to plug then. I wonder if she was tentatively scheduled to host this season in either January or early February of 2008 at some point before the strike?

• Ashton didn't add a whole lot for me here, but I guess he fit the part well. I got a kick out of his total incompetence at making the same "purring" sounds as Cameron and the "ex-husbands" line was a nice self depreciating jab, I guess. C+

Waiting With Oliver

Ashton is told by the bouncer (Thompson) of an exclusive night club that he can't get in until the crowd thins out so he is forced to wait out front with goofy try hard Oliver (Armisen) while several others (Hader, Samberg, Sudeikis, Poehler) and even Lyle Kane (Forte) get in ahead of him.

• This was an underrated sketch I remembered really liking from this episode for its sheer silliness. Glad to see it mostly holds up.

• Already we see Fred as a character given to Ashton to play off of...and he appears to pretty much be a Temu version of Fez from "That '70s Show". His self high fives were a fun visual gag, I guess?

• Fred didn't do too much to bring this down or anything. He's just playing a very basic "gregarious, overconfident, un-self aware loser" type, but if his character were indeed cut...this sketch would lose nothing.

• Bill enters this sketch as what I can only describe as an even geekier, dweebier version of his character from his Above Average Productions web series "The Line" (which, if you haven't seen, check them out here and listen to Deej and I talk about them here). His asking about the clubs' video game selection, being disappointed by Kenans' and then being let in anyway was a fine start...but not the funniest part of this sketch.

• I was impressed by how well Andy actually visually pulled off the classic "two obvious children in a trenchcoat passing themselves off as one adult" gag in a live action setting. All that was missing was a fake mustache on Andy.

• Jason as the guy from the old folks home bringing in six old guys (and one crazy one) was a funny moment. Hey, the third old guy we saw was the guy from that "Grandkids In The Movies" digital short from Tina's episode! Somehow, we still can't find that actors' name, though.

• The bit where Ashton calls Kenan "dude" and he reveals his real name is "Dode" didn't bother me as much as it probably should have because it does feel like something modern SNL would do (and probably has done numerous times).

• Amy's bit as the drunk lady who gets kicked out for fighting and then let back in to "apologize" felt pretty basic, too but she owned it in the way that only she could've. I especially liked her shouting "eat shoe, bitch!" before throwing her shoe right at the door before even opening it to reenter the building.

• Hey, derr! Lyle Kane makes his third (and sadly final) appearance. Great capper to this sketch!

• Of course, the ending where Kenan snarkily reveals he's really not letting Ashton in because there were no black characters on "That '70s Show" was brilliant (especially with Kenan's line "hmm...I guess the black man wasn't invented until '82). 

• Hell, that ending could probably still work today if Kenan's character simply brought up the fact that Ashton went to all those Diddy parties or hinted at anything unscrupulous that went on backstage or behind the scenes at "That '70s Show" but Ashton probably wouldn't agree to that now. B+

Digital Short: Daiquiri Girl

An onscreen text crawl runs over a cheap, blurry effect riddled video of singer Clementine (Samberg) at a Casio singing about a girl (Lindsay Shookus) made of daiquiris (or something like that, I dunno) explaining that this was the best they could do after this weeks' musical guest Gnarls Barkley pulled out of this weeks previously planned video at the last second.

• Yeah, there's not much else to say about this one except that the text crawl actually does all the work to salvage this and make it watchable 

• ...and yes, Gnarls Barkley apparently said on Friday at midnight that they wouldn't be able to do whatever short was originally planned. The Lonely Island has already confirmed this on their podcast with Seth and in this 15 year old interview.

• Kudos to them for making...well, maybe not "the best" but certainly...the bare minimum out of a shitty situation. C-

Activia Commercial Shoot

Because she is now an older woman, Jamie Lee Curtis (Wiig) owns up to a concerned director (Kutcher) and Activia brand rep (Poehler) about having pooped her pants on set just now...from all the yogurt.

• Oh yeah, Bill is briefly seen twice in this as the clapper.

• Well, this sketch may be one big poop joke...but at least it was executed with some subtlety and taste.

• Kristens' performance as Jamie Lee Curtis really helped save this. She did have a knack for impressions in her first couple of years on this show. This feels a little more "Kristen" than "Jamie Lee" in terms of characterization, but it's a strong characterization nonetheless.

• Hmm...two live sketches in this episode making fun of overconfident older women...in an episode hosted by Ashton Kutcher...when he was still married to Demi Moore. A bit of an odd coincidence, huh? C+

Gnarls Barkley Performs "Run (I'm A Natural Disaster)" and "Who's Gonna Save My Soul?"

• I liked the first songs' mix of 70s blaxploitation speed funk with some light metal. The '50s greaser fashion visuals mixed surprisingly well with it.

• The second song was alright, just not one of their better ones.

• It's kinda hard to talk about Gnarls Barkley now (especially Cee-Lo who we haven't seen or heard from in years...probably due to a pretty dire tweet of his from a while back...the less said about that the better).

Weekend Update w/Seth & Amy

Prominent travel writer Judy Grimes (Wiig) nervously stammers and "just kiddings" her way through a report that offers very few actual travel tips

Nicolas Fehn (Armisen) stammers his way through his report offering even less content 

• Seth's Best Jokes: American Airlines, Border cameras, Charlton Heston, Beer stolen, Carla Bruni, Pope merchandise

• Amy's Best Jokes: List of Horribles, Obama 24 point lead, Man Targeted By Aliens, Historic Surgery

• We get the debut of one of Wiigs' lesser known characters from the early part of her tenure. This was all right. She'd do better versions of this down the road.

• I've never had a problem with Judy Grimes (aka the nervous "just kidding" lady). Even though she may seem like a distant cousin to Penelope, you gotta respect her running through all that rapid fire dialogue at top speed.

• Oh, boy. Nicolas Fehn. Well, I did get a kick out of his two actual headline reactions of "YOU CAN'T...write that" and "NO" but other than that...same ol' song and dance.

• Decent Update aside from that. Jokes were fairly strong. The less said about Amys' "polish firefighters" joke the better. I only bought it up because I liked Seth's reaction to it (which appropriately matched the whole "my god, why the hell are we doing this in 2008?" vibe). B-

Song Memories III

At a bar, four buddies (Forte, Hader, Kutcher, Sudeikis) reminisce about sex with coma patients, stalking Connie Chung and Estrogen treatments for prostate scares to the song "Amie" by Pure Prairie League (before dancing to The Village Peoples' "YMCA" for some reason).

• As you may recall, Deej and I previously did an entire episode of the podcast about these "song memories" sketches (which I pitched as I've always had a certain fondness for them).

• I believe I said on the podcast that this was one of the weaker ones (it was certainly the weakest of the three they did up to this point) but at least this one broke off from the pattern established by the previous two.

• Jason talked about being a doctor in a sexual relationship with a coma patient instead of injuring his penis in an inappropriate public setting. Not the weakest part of this, but still.

• Bill talked about "meeting" Connie Chung in her shower instead of revealing a horrifying story about his dad. I especially liked his ending lines of "you can keep the panties, just get out of my shower before I call the cops" and how the panties "fit (his) face perfectly".

• Sadly, Ashtons' character revealing herself to be a girl named Amy may be the weak link here (I don't think that would play well today) but Fortes' was probably the high point here. Like I said on the SNN Patron Feedback show last month, only he has the tact, talent and skill as a comedian to pull off playing implied pedophiles in sketches without making the audience turn on him completely.

• Weak ending with the guys just dancing to "Y.M.C.A." in Village People hats without even stripping or pulling out guns or threatening anybody. C-

Death By Chocolate (Parts 1-3)

A giant cartoonish chocolate bar (Kutcher) stabs a hobo looking through a dumpster. 

Later, he sneaks into the ICU of a hospital. He shoots a doctor (Sudeikis) and then pulls the plug on a bedridden elderly patient.

Even later, Andy Samberg, in a lumberjack costume, asks Casey Wilson, in a Snow White costume, where his chainsaw is. Casey directs Andy to his quick change room where the Chocolate Bar (Kutcher) brandishes said chainsaw.

• Well, this was a cute mini-runner and an interesting departure from the Digital Shorts and anything else SNL was doing with their pretapes in this era. 

• Seriously, this is so different from anything SNL was doing at this time (or in any era really) that I at first wondered if this was an idea that Kutcher repeatedly pitched himself that got semi-begrudgingly added to the show? If that were the case, that would certainly explain where this episodes' monologue came from.

• After doing some research on Stooges' blog, I have discovered that these shorts were actually directed by filmmaker Jason Reitman, who incidentally would go on to write, produce and direct 2024s' "Saturday Night". His connection to SNL at this time was having befriended writer Simon Rich (who I'm guessing may have also written these?)

• Sudeikis getting shot and the Chocolate bar placing the gun in the comatose patients' hand were neat gags and I liked the brief meta twist with the Samberg/Wilson one.

• Since these were each so short, that's pretty much all I can say about them. C+

The Mellow Show

Super laid back contemporary pop folk songsmith Jack Johnson (Samberg) hosts a talk show and welcomes his fellow contemporaries Dave Matthews (Hader) and John Mayer (Kutcher) to discuss their "mellow" lifestyles.

• Well, I'll hand it to Andy. He does a pretty solid Jack Johnson impression. Still, that alone isn't enough to keep this sketch afloat.

• I wanted to like this more for Sambergs' goofy characterization, but there just wasn't enough here to pad out this sketch. One thing I could've really done without was his constant mentioning of various dead pets he forgot to feed. I did get a kick out of him mentioning his iguana always wore a tiny Gore-tex vest.

• Bills' Dave Matthews impression was a pleasant addition to this. I do like how lived in his characterization was, imagining what a typical day in Dave's life would be like if he were actually like his stage persona in real life rather than solely imitating his singing voice whilst quoting his lyrics. I also got a kick out of Kenan appearing as weird fiddle player Boyd Tinsley.

• Of course, the ending would've paid off better if the John Mayer impression were placed in more capable hands than Ashton Kutchers'. He handled the weird guitar faces OK but other than that he barely looked, let alone sounded like John at all.

• Nice call back to the JJ Casuals fake ad at the end though. Otherwise, this was a pretty uneven sketch. C-

The Rusty Pony

Dusty Velvet (Wilson) returns to stripping with a little help from club emcee Donnie Lamorris (Kutcher) after a freak tilt-a-whirl accident leaves her paralyzed from the neck down. This leaves patrons (Forte, Samberg, Sudeikis, Thompson) very disturbed.

• I got a kick out of this opening with Jason lying to his wife over a cell phone call that he and his business trip buddies were at T.G.I. Fridays.

• It was nice of them to give Casey her potential break out moment here. This was a piece she brought to the show from her pre-SNL/UCB days. You can see that version of this sketch here.

• This apparently secured her spot in the cast when she auditioned with it and I can see why. Sadly, it makes it that much more of a shame she didn't last longer on the show itself since she's an impressive physical commedian and thus she pretty much owned this right out of the gate.

• I especially liked how Casey was just left to flail and flop her arms about as Ashton jiggled her around by the waist then rubbed her hands across her breasts as she simply said "this is sensual and erotic" in a robot like tone and then leaned her over to spank her ass with her own hand several times.

• Stooge said in his One SNL A Day review of this sketch that he thought the cutaways to the guys reacting in horror should've been cut or trimmed but they didn't detract from the sketch for me.

• Speaking of the guys, I got a kick out of Andys' screams of horror as Ashton dragged Casey over to lick his face and Kenan's shouts of protests as Ashton bounced her on his lap to give him a "lap dance" followed by her asking him to raise her hand up in a fist. B+

Ranking Season 33 From Best To Worst

1. Lebron James/Kanye West (09.29.2007)
2. Christopher Walken/Panic At The Disco (04.05.2008)
3. Seth Rogen/Spoon (10.06.2007)
4. Tina Fey/Carrie Underwood (02.23.2008)
5. Amy Adams/Vampire Weekend (03.08.2008)
6. Ashton Kutcher/Gnarls Barkley (04.12.2008)
7. Jonah Hill/Mariah Carey (03.15.2008)
8. Brian Williams/Feist (11.03.2007)
9. Elliot Page/Wilco (03.01.2008)
10. Jon Bon Jovi/Foo Fighters (10.13.2007)

Overall Thoughts

• This episode had a tough predecessor to follow but it did a fine job nonetheless. Ashton didn't add too much to this episode (although it does seem to be the best of his hosting stints so far but the show was able to work around that.

• For better or worse, this episode certainly wasn't afraid to take some minor risks and try some new things whether they paid off or not.

• As far as how the cast was used, the women on the show all had stand out nights. Out of the men, Kenan, Will and Andy stood out. Bill had a decent night.

Closing Thoughts

• The next SNL Season 33 episode I will be reviewing for my blog will be Shia Labouef/My Morning Jacket. Yeah, this is another episode in a row hosted by a hot shot young actor who has shown himself to be a highly problematic figure...but I remember thinking this one was really funny at the time it aired and I'm curious to see how well it still holds up. 

• That will be on the blog and podcast next month. Before you even see that, you'll likely see a review of the upcoming SNL UK Series Two premiere (because their release schedule dovetails nicely with my blogging schedule except for the two double headers). See you then!

Christopher Walken/Panic At The Disco (04.05.2008)

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?

Hillary For President

Bill (Hammond) and Hillary (Poehler) Clinton discuss the fall out of the recent release of their joint tax returns showing that they made $109,000,000 in the past five years and tease the nonexistent possibility of Hillary dropping out of the presidential race.

• Huh, I guess at this point in the season we're done experimenting with new and different types of cold opens and are going straight back to dry, direct to camera, Downey-style political speeches, then?

• This had a weird condescending tone to it, mostly making fun of the press and Obamas' campaign for having to feign shock that the Clintons would somehow become rich from their respective book sales and speaking engagements (I'm sure there were some insider trading and shady stock tips on Hillarys' part). 

• The only thing close to a joke were the repeated refrains of Bills' speaking engagements being his "favorite thing to do" but that got old quick. 

• This was mostly aimless word salad that washed over me and left me wanting to go back to a simpler, happier time when U.S. presidents at least waited until they were long OUT of office to shamelessly profit from said title...but that's a story for another time. C-

Monologue

Rather than performing one of his patented song and dance numbers, Christopher Walken decides he would much rather take questions from audience members (Jim Downey, Paula Pell, Bryan Tucker, John Lutz) reading Walkens' own pre-written questions off index cards.

• Right off the bat, I liked Walkens' joke about this being his 100th time hosting because he personally counts any and all reruns.

• Additionally, I really liked the idea of Christopher Walken putting his own strange, unique, idiosyncratic twist on what has to be the single most tired, played out SNL actor host monologue trope of the past 35 years.

• I liked Jim Downeys' brief moment of mild confusion/asking for brief clarification during his part. Did anyone else notice the strange detail of Christopher blatantly pulling a pair of glasses out of his pants pocket that we don't see him put on at all during the monologue?

• Is it just me or did Paula Pell look and sound almost unrecognizable during her part? Anyway, I got a kick out of Walken telling her how stupid he thought her asking him about his favorite color was before answering with "burnt umber".

• I also liked Walken refusing to answer Bryan Tuckers' question about what he does off camera before dressing him down with (among other statements) the phrase "I got a question. You should be a shamed of yourself."

• Of course, the entire "gigantic invisible bird" rant in response to Lutzs' question (before he asks him to turn his card over to thank him) was the real centerpiece of this monologue and was a true highlight of this for me.

• Well, we may not have gotten another Fred Astaire style song and dance number from Christopher this time around (which is a shame because he is one of the rare hosts with the talent and training to pull those off and make them feel genuine) but at least we got some brief flashes of patent Walken style surreal absurdity in its place to kick off the show. A+

Annuale

Repeat from the Tina Fey/Carrie Underwood episode. If you would like to read or listen to my thoughts on this one, you can do so here or here.

• I will say though that it's a bit strange of them to rerun a fake ad/pretape from a previous episode...that happens to prominently feature said previous episodes' host.

• I have seen them do something similar with certain previous hosts of this era (Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg, Matthew Fox) but with pretapes that got cut and DIDN'T air in their respective episodes.

• Oh well, I guess there is a first time for everything.

Grease Rehearsal

North Side High Schools' drama teacher (Walken) runs through a rehearsal of "Grease Lightning" with his male students (Hader, Samberg, Sudeikis, Thompson) to address the principals' concern over inappropriate lyrics. He shoots down the boys suggestions for replacement lyrics that actually make sense in favor of his own nonsensical ones.

• I immediately liked one of Walkens' first lines being "I am a drama teacher, I am not David Blaine". 

• I also got a kick out of Amys' brief bits of facial acting during the various cutaways to her as "Ms. Hash", gradually incorporating a bit more disgust and frustration into her "dazed, doddering old biddy" facade.

• What made this sketch for me was the way Walken hit the exact same beats in the exact same way four times during this sketch (responding to each questionable lyric with "That is DIRTY! Do you know what that means?" then asking a different student to whisper said meaning to him with each one requiring more whispers and then making said student whisper the correct confirmed meaning to the others) and made that the funniest part of this sketch.

• Bills' first live appearance is in this sketch. He suggests "chicks will scream" in place of "chicks will cream" which Walken rejects in favor of his own "chicks will fleem." Later on, Bill is asked to confirm his understanding of the phrase "she's a real pussy wagon" to Walken taking about four tries to do so. Walken comments "even Ms Hash knows what this means" to which Amy is shown smiling and nodding politely in response before Walken suggests "have you ever seen a dragon?" as this line's replacement.

• I liked all the other nonsensical replacement lines from Walken ("flocks, flocks, flocks" to "get off my rocks" and glossing over anything else questionable with "hubba hubba hubba").

• I did get a kick out of Walkens line about how if he let these high schoolers sing these lyrics then the school board would put him in a box and push him down a hill.

• I did like the guys exaggerated reactions to Walkens explanation of the true "filthy" meaning of the phrase "Grease Lightning" before telling them to replace it with "Gene Rayburn" (and based on the crude hip thrusting gestures Walken made during this part I'm guessing this was the definition of "Grease Lightning" he was going with").

• Overall, what I liked most about this sketch is how it felt like it was written specifically to tap into the surreal, absurdist presence Christopher Walken was always known for bringing to the show (but not in a way that taps into his penchant for playing violent or creepy villainous roles because there's plenty of time to get into that later on) and how the sheer languid pacing of it made it feel like a sketch that Walken could've done in one of his early 90s hosting stints. The show was smart to make this the lead off live sketch of the night. A-

Eric's Goodbye

At Nathan's (Sudeikis) going away party on his last day at the office, Eric (Walken) gives what appears to their coworkers (Hader, Wiig, Wilson) to be a long and sincerely heartfelt goodbye speech to him complete with handmade gifts despite the fact that they've barely met or interacted. What quickly turns out to be Erics' creepy and intense declaration of unrequited love/possible confession to stalking scares Nathan away. 

• This may be a sketch that they theoretically could do with any male host of a certain age but only Christopher Walken could innately sell this enough to pull it off.

• Similarly, Jason was the best choice to play straight man as he's the best in this cast at selling the subtle panic that builds into exasperation and bewilderment as he quietly wonders how he's the only "normal" person in this scenario.

• I do like how they buried the lede a bit at first with the bathroom towels story before they giving free reign to Walken to let his freak flag fly.

• Bill and Casey have brief appearances as coworkers who pull Jason aside to say a quick thanks and goodbye before letting Jason get back to his "heart to heart" with Christopher despite his protests. They both played these parts well.

• This really picked up steam with the mixtape/radio bit and I got a kick out of Walkens' use of the phrase "Gosh dammit, we're like the same guy, you and I."

• Other highlights from Walken were his presenting Jason with a perfect portrait in his likeness "from memory...because a nude would be tacky for a going away party" and would lead to another sexual harassment charge, the comments about Jasons' suits hiding his "firm athletic body" as he bro hugs him and of course...the sobbing and singing followed by the brief tongue in the ear. 

• I also got a kick out of how Walkens' coworkers (Wiig especially) taking HIS side led to this having one of the strangest and most gleefully dark ending possible play out like the third act of a late 90s "Best Friends Wedding" type romcom with Wiig urging Walken to "go to him" because "he's in love" even after he stated his wish to hunt Jason down in the parking lot, choke him to death and "make love to his corpse for the rest of his life". B+

Digital Short: Laser Cats 3D

Bill Hader and Andy Samberg interrupt Lorne Michaels dinner outing with Sen. Chris Dodd (Himself) to show him a third installment of "Laser Cats" where Nitro & Admiral Spaceship must face off against Mayor Top Hat (Thompson) after he has criminalized Laser Cats as part of his plan to rule the universe.

• Usually, these Laser Cats segments kinda washed over me, but something about this one stood out.

• I liked the gimmick of Bill and Andy meeting Lorne in a fancy restaurant where he is dining with a sitting senator rather than in his office. 

• I also got a kick out of Bill & Andy having somehow managed to sneak a TV and VCR/VHS on a rolling cart into said restaurant unabated.

• Part of me questioned why this needed to be part of a Christopher Walken episode but I'll admit Walken playing their previously unseen boss/captain along with this featuring more dramatic orchestral string music and less of the typical synth fair were nice touches.

• I did like how they played the scene where Bill and Andy's characters were seemingly forced to "destroy" their Laser Cats with a gun and a hammer before suddenly noticing Kenan's message to earth playing as a QuickTime .MOV file on an iMac.

• I did get a kick out of Kenan saying he had "all the Laser Cats in the world" while standing next to a barb wire cage with only four cats in it.

• The biggest visual laugh for me was how the hatch opening scene played with the cheap green screen if the milky way behind a hallway door followed by the even cheaper stop motion paper Oxygen meter depleting followed by a cheap Ken doll dressed as Bills' character floating by on a string.

• The brief 3D gimmick scene was etymologically inevitable enough for them to feel they had to do it, I guess. Really,  it was only good for the cut back to Lorne, Andy, Bill and Sen. Dodd each wearing 3D glasses in the restaurant.

• I liked the callback to Andys' robotic Laser eye surgery and the "showdown" between Andy's cat and Kenan's "Laser dog" (a tiny pug) was a cute way to segue into the ending (well, it was better than the predictable ending with Sen. Dodd anyway). B-

Surprise Sue

Sue (Wiig) is the only member of the family (Forte, Hader, Poehler) who has extreme trouble keeping her cool as Roger (Walken) asks for help planning a surprise party for his granddaughter.

• Here it is, folks. The debut of one of Kristen's most well known over the top characters...and the point in her run that I personally consider to be her "jumping the shark" moment.

• I've softened on Wiig quite a bit since she returned to host in recent years and like her as a cast member just fine in her first few seasons...but this was just the first character of hers I actually formed a thoroughly negative opinion of at the time.

• Looking back, I suppose I can appreciate the way she threw herself into this physically (especially the bits that involve her breaking through glass near the end).

• I did like her suddenly shrieking "YES" when Walken asked if they should get balloons.

• Bill does have some decent moments in this where he reveals Sues' "notes" she was writing were just squiggles and him opening a bag if chips for her because her hands suddenly became paralyzed.

• Amy played well off Kristen too but other than all of that, this is still kind of a slog and this character probably should have made her debut in a different episode. C-

Panic At The Disco Performs "Nine In The Afternoon" & "I Write Sins, Not Tragedies"

• Hey, here's a band I remember passively tolerating in high school. I think my sister was a bigger fan of these guys than I was.

• Well, this would be their first and ONLY time on SNL so it was smart of the show to just let them perform their two biggest hits ever.

• I find it funny how they were backed by a marching band and string section just for that faux-Sgt. Peppers type sound they were going for at this time and they weren't really done any favors by SNLs' notoriously bad live sound mixing.

• Still, at least their first song sounded much better than their second because the mixing was even worse and the down tuning REALLY didn't help at all.

Weekend Update w/Seth & Amy

Pregnant man Thomas Beattie (Samberg) invites Seth & Amy to his baby shower

• Seth's Best Jokes: Hillary Compares Herself To Rocky Balboa, Clinton/Richardson

• Amy's Best Jokes: Olympic Torch, Madonna Criticizes NYC, Early Jewelry Discovered

• Boy, this Thomas Beattie commentary from Andy is...awkward. He had a couple of decent lines, but I'm really not sure how well it ages in 2026 (not just for people not remembering who Thomas Beattie was). I really don't have anything to say about this, so I'll just move on.

• This Update was all over the place with both "great" and "meh" jokes and a commentary that nearly bombed. Not a "good" or "bad" Update necessarily. Just a very uneven one. C+

Walken Family Reunion

At a bar gathering, Christopher catches up with similar sounding (and uniformly hairstyled) relatives Stanley Walken (Hader), John Walken (Sudeikis) and his two kids Maxine (Poehler) and Scott Walken (Samberg), recently out of the closet Nathan Walken (Armisen), his Uncle Richard (Hammond) and Aunt Martha (Wiig) and their adopted African son Uleke (Thompson)

• This would be the first of a trilogy of host centric sketches that would be pretty evenly spread out over the next decade.

• It's a shame Casey Wilson couldn't have been in this just to make it a full cast sketch. It's a shame Forte was only allowed to play a waiter, too but hey...he'd be the first to tell you he is no impressionist by trade.

• Here it is, folks. Bill Haders' biggest moment in this episode where he finally delivers on the Walken impression he promised us he had in his back pocket from his first episode as we get some scattered laughs and recognition applause as the audience settles in and gradually realizes what they're about to see.

• Good on the show for leading off with the most accurate Walken impression they're about to see all night. Unsurprisingly, Bill does nail a younger Walkens' cadence, accent AND voice, hitting many of the same beats as many of the other just as accurate Walken impersonations I've seen.

• Jason comes in a close second with his Walken impression. I do get a kick out if everyone Walken relative in this sketch mostly wearing Hawaiian shirts and having Christophers' blown out, longish hairstyle from this time but just in various colors and various shades of grey.

• From this point forward, the rest of the cast isn't so much doing direct or accurate Walken impression as they are just copying Walkens' unique accent and very idiosyncratic cadence and delivery...but doing so in their own voices and a bit less gruffly.

• Amy's whole pro-doll/anti spooky ghost tangent was the second real highlight of this. It was at this point that audience seemed fully on board with this sketch and could see it was going somewhere good. 

• Andy as the sullen, angst riddled teenage boy was something to be expected, but he and Christopher played off each other quite strongly. I got a kick out of Christophers' line about how adolescence makes a Walken feel like "the only normal person in a school full of nut jobs." Even Christophers' delivery of that borderline nonsensical "bar room/elephant fart" joke was the only thing really saving that one 

• Fred's part is really the only demerit against this sketch. Sure, it had a heartwarming message of acceptance to it on the surface...but in a way that made it seem like it was supposed to be funny for the wrong reason. Plus, Fred seemed like he was already playing a few too many stereotypically gay characters around this time anyway and couldn't even pull off the Walken impression as well as the others, sounding more like a significantly more nasally congested version of himself.

• Kristen and Darrells' parts were a fun note to end this on. I did get a kick out of them both saying they just watched "The Deer Hunter" and found it to be "hilarious" Kristen's Walken was pretty much what you'd expect but Darrells was fun. It's not the most deadly accurate Walken I've seen but I liked how he just mixed his generic "crazy old man from Brooklyn" voice mixed with Walkens' delivery.

• I hate to sound like a broken record, but Kenan's Walken was also about what you would expect from him. Still, he only had one line and it was decent enough that i would've still kept this over Fred's walk-on.

• I think what makes this stand out from the other two "family reunion" sketches is that here SNL is dealing with a much smaller cast this time and they're focused more on impersonating the man as himself rather than any characters from the hosts' actual film career...so, no need to shove most of the entire cast plus a few surprise cameos out there in a costume no ones' wore yet.

• Yes, this entire sketch subscribes to the Bill Hader philosophy of "why just quote one of your subjects movies when you can place them in an everyday situation?" which is probably the main reason it works so well. B+

Indoor Gardening Tips From A Man Who Is Afraid Of Plants

An extremely paranoid and skittish gardener (Walken) repeatedly advises viewers to put large googly eyes on all their plants so they can look their plants in the "eye" and know where they stand with them.

• This was just pure, unabashed, undiluted absurdity from Walken and I loved every second of it. Somehow, it turned out to be a completely different thing than what it was setting you up to expect. 

• This wasn't one of your typical quick in-and-out Family Guy-esque brief blackout gags (like you would expect something introduced with Don Pardo reading a very wordy title card to be) but rather something so uniquely insane it felt like another sketch stuck out of time. 

• This felt like another sketch that could have just as easily been done in any of Walkens' 90s pre-Cowbell episodes (specifically his 92/93 one since that season also gave us "An Insane Idiot And His Descending Size Collection Of Deer Heads" with Harvey Keitel).

• Sure, it may have been a one joke sketch but it was a one note sketch that worked because it was placed in the trusted hands of the only performer on the face of the earth who could possibly make sense of it let alone make it work in execution.

• Two stand out moments in this to me were him sprinkling tiny googly eyes in some patches of grass he grew (he couldn't figure out how else to do it) and his misquoting Winston Churchill ("eyes are the windows...to your FACE"). B+

Top Chef

Contestant Dave (Walken) wanders around complaining to fellow competitors (Poehler, Samberg, Thompson) and host Padma Lakshmi (Wiig) about how he can't cook under these conditions and doesn't know what he's doing thus squandering his allotted time and eliminating himself from the competition.

• Well, this was a bit of a letdown from the last couple of sketches Walken was in.

• While not the most egregious example in this episode of "sketches that should've been done in a totally different episode", it does feel more like a sketch that could've been done with any host.

• Actually, the more I think about it the more I realize how this sketch exists in a bleak purgatory like space where Walken plays his role with exact right flavor (if you'll excuse that turn of phrase here) of "old and in the way" desperation that this calls for but gets washed off the screen in the sheer chaos of Kenan, Andy and Amys' frantic prop work (partly by design but partly by minor but noticeable volume deficiencies).

• It's like Walkens' character exists in this dispiriting liminal space where the part was specifically designed for him but not in such a way that he could enhance it let alone make it memorable.

• However, I did like his response to Kristen's direction of "pack your knives and go" being to shout "KNIVES?!? WHAT?!? WHO KNEW FROM KNIVES?!?"

• Speaking of Kristen, casting her as Padma Lakshmi...didn't work. Still, she wasn't distrsctingly bad in the role. I did get a kick out of her "fauxhawks" joke and her listing strange ingredients such as "beets, cous-cous, frozen yogurt, medicine, a paper bag and stale peeps" as what they were supposed to use to make a deep dish pizza. 

• Oh, look. It's Fred in another pointless sketch role that should've been cut entirely.

• All in all, a pretty weak sketch with even attempted jokes let alone laughs being few & far inbetween. D+

Larry King Live

Larry King (Armisen) grills former US President Jimmy Carter (Hammond) on why he continues to write book after book after book after book that no one will ever read.

• Speaking of existing only in empty liminal spaces...

• Ugh, I think I spoke too soon about Fred roles that should've been cut from this episode.

• You might know how I feel about Fred's Larry King impression by this point if you've been reading my blog closely (it's...not one of his or the show's best) but at least his presence here is balanced out by Darrells quietly goofy and gooberish Jimmy Carter which is...pleasant if not terribly funny.

• Boy, this sketch really belabors the one banal yet snide observation it has to make, doesn't it? At least it doesn't drag on too long in doing so.

• Another sketch with noticably sparse yet well placed laughs.

• Really, how this ever made it to air let alone past dress at any point is beyond me. D+

Ranking Season 33 From Best To Worst

1. Lebron James/Kanye West (09.29.2007)
2. Christopher Walken/Panic At The Disco (04.05.2008)
3. Seth Rogen/Spoon (10.06.2007)
4. Tina Fey/Carrie Underwood (02.23.2008)
5. Amy Adams/Vampire Weekend (03.08.2008)
6. Jonah Hill/Mariah Carey (03.15.2008)
7. Brian Williams/Feist (11.03.2007)
8. Elliot Page/Wilco (03.01.2008)
9. Jon Bon Jovi/Foo Fighters (10.13.2007)

Overall Thoughts

• Without question, this is one of the stronger episodes of season 33. However, it is quite the uneven one.

• The highs in this one were at an all time high seeing as we got a much beloved regular host from a completely different era coming back. The lows weren't quite as low, but anything that seems like standard middle of the road fare for this season/era pales a bit more in comparison. In fact, this episode does remind me quite a bit of Melissa McCarthys' recent episode from this past season in that way.

• A lot of the stronger Walken centric stuff stood out because it showed that even when he works with a completely different cast and writing staff, the show in all of it's forms always seems to intuitively know how to play to Walkens' unique acting presence, always finding new, different and creative ways to key into his talents.

• The low points of this episode were pretty much just topical "of the moment" sketches that they do every week. If Walken was in any of them, they obviously didn't utilize him well enough and they just ended up being the type of sketch that could've been dragged and dropped into any other episode this season without anyone noticing.

• The fact that I personally ranked this episode as second best of the season over all despite how "all over the place" it truly is just speaks to what an unusually truncated short season this one ended up being due to the writers' strike.

• As far as cast usage, it felt like everyone got an equal amount of airtime. Obviously, Walken was the MVP of this episode and the rest of the cast did a fine job supporting him.

• Out of strictly cast members only, Amy seems to be the stand out performer of the night (with Kristen a distant second fir better or worse). Bill had a strong night by the standards how how he was being used at this time. Everyone else pretty much seemed to be evenly on par with each other.

Closing Thoughts

• The next entry you'll see on this blog will be a review of the next episode of SNL Season 33 which is...*checks notes* oh boy, umm...Ashton Kutcher/Gnarls Barkley. Well, if memory serves that one will somehow hold up better than his other three hosting stints for the most past.

• Before that though, you'll be getting another episode of the We Heart Hader podcast. This one will be another Documentary Now season 2 review. Specifically, the "Parker Gails' Location Is Everything" episode which is a parody of "Spalding Grays' Swimming To Cambodia". Now, Spalding Gray is famously a monologist known for his one man shows so this episode of Doc Now is gonna be all Bill, baby (and probably structured differently in a way neither Deej nor myself have quite figured out yet...but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it).

• Plus, this should be the episode where our listeners will find out who this super secret surprise guest I've been hyping up these past few weeks will be. Again, I don't want to reveal anything for sure until we've at least recorded the full episode with this person in case scheduling falls through or anything, but I can tell you this...it's someone who you wouldn't expect.

• Anyway, after that it will likely be September when SNL UK returns for its second series which we don't know anything about yet...but I know that you should expect some reviews of those episodes here on the ol' blog when they start airing.

• In the meantime, have a great rest of your summer, everyone!

Jonah Hill/Mariah Carey (03.15.2008)

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?

Spitzer & Associates

Elliot Spitzer (Hader) with his ever loving wife Silda (Wiig) by his side announces his next gig after resigning as Governor of New York, the opening of his new private practice law firm specializing in his shameless defense of even the most lurid, embarrassing and shameful sex work related cases.

• Here it is folks, Bill Haders' first time ever headlining his own cold open as one of the biggest political figures in the news that week. This would be a moment that Bill would later admit to being so nervous and anxiety riddled for that he basically made himself sick with a fever and chills for the following week.

• Here's a bit of background info on this cold open in case you're either too young to remember or have just blocked this out of your mind. This was the week that the real Elliot Spitzer had to resign as Governor of New York as the press had just published the major story of his patronizing an escort service/prostitution ring known as "Emperors Club VIP". Hell, the scandal itself even has ITS own Wikipedia page.

• Bill once admitted to being lightly chastised by a writer of this cold open for not having an Elliot Spitzer impression in his back pocket due to not fully knowing who Mr. Spitzer was at the time (which, y'know, is perfectly understandable. He was only the former Attorney General turned governor of the state Bill was living and working in at the time).

• Still, Bill did nail the impression, as expected (especially the Clinton-esque frowns the real Spitzer made during that press conference) . Hell, even with zero lines of actual dialogue Kristen also really nailed and enhanced the various death stares of sheer white hot rage and disgust Silda Spitzer had during the actual press conference this sketch was modeled after.

• Spitzers' then deputy governor was none other than David Patterson (which would become a big recurring impression for Fred Armisen who would often do this impression in tandem with Bills' Spitzer). 

• So, for better of for worse, this would be the launch of a minor recurring impression for Bill (one that Deej & I would probably skip doing a full episodic profile on for our own podcast because with the way they wrote this character...no one would be able to take that all at once).

• As far as the rest of this goes, the highlights were Spitzer admitting he is now incapable of shame, the list of various examples of cases he would take and the phone call interruption were all gold.

• I also liked how the LFNY was executed (no breaking character with a pan over to Kristen frowning right before the opening titles turn up). B+

Monologue

Jonah Hill explains that he is actually much classier and more refined than the crass and uncouth roles he plays in films like "Superbad" and "Knocked Up" through a song and dance number with tuxedo and top hat clad backup singers (Forte, Samberg, Sudeikis, Thompson) and even a cameo from his grandma Nancy (Poehler) to confirm his assertions that he is in fact quite fancy.

• Hmm...this monologue seems to have lost something in execution...and even on paper it seems like a half thought out concept, but still a valid one.

• Jonah seems so far out of his depth trying to pull off a Walken-esque song and dance monologue that I sincerely hope that's part of the joke here.

• I will admit to liking his lines about leatherbound books and his butler brushing out his pubic hair.

• One other thing I will say about this monologue is that it seems like a bit of odd foreshadowing in that his next monologue from 2012 would be based around how much of a pretentious dick he had become after starring in a few Judd Appatow-less Oscar bait films and his next one after that in 2014 would involve an actual Leonardo Dicaprio cameo.

• So, I guess in some ways Jonah Hill was actually able to become "fancy" by sheer luck, happenstance and having the right connections after all. C+

MacGruber (1/3)

MacGruber (Forte) lets his own insecurities about what Issac (Hill) & Vicki (Wiig) think of his job performance distract him from diffusing the bomb.

• This is the fourth MacGruber overall...and while I can see how it could be relatable, it just might have the weakest premise of one yet.

• I mean, it's no secret that MacGruber is bad at his job. How he has actually lived long enough to have that thought for himself given his track record with bomb diffusing is a complete and total mystery.

• Aside from this being the first one where Kristen takes over Mayas' role, there wasn't much notable about this one but at least it makes for an OK runner later. C+

What's Your Situation?

Host Lou Delholm (Hill) uses his position as game show host to determine who out if his lineup of exclusively female contestants (Poehler, Wiig, Wilson) are single and/or straight 

• This sketch plays a little bit differently in 2026 (and not just due to recent revelations about Jonahs' dating life) but sadly the theme about how certain men approach women in general will always be timeless.

• Amy played off the creeped out nerves of her character well and I kinda liked the isolation booth scene but other than that...there wasn't much else here. C-

Six Year Old

During a father & son dinner at Benihana, Six Year Old Adam Grossman (Hill) loudly delivers a Don Rickles lite Borscht Belt style playful roasting of his sad, recently divorced father Evan (Hader) and their chef (Armisen) to their waitress (Poehler) and other patrons at their table (Sudeikis, Wilson, Wiig)

• Supposedly, Jonah helped co-write this with Bill and Seth Meyers and it was based on an actual kid they saw at a Benihana. You can definitely see the various little Seth-isms in the writing here. 

• This would go on to become a recurring character for Jonah in subsequent hosting appearances. He would do about as many of these with Bill's character as he would without.

• Honestly, I could see an actual six year old behaving like this in public (I mean, not acting like Don Rickles or some old Borscht belt comedian while doing so, but still) so I guess you could say there was a bit of a relatable charm to this.

• Whatever you think of Jonah Hill nowadays, you have to admit he turned in a fine performance here. I mean, this sketch was pretty much designed for him (and seemingly only him) to chew the scenery from the get go, but still. His Disney channel rants were pretty funny as was his roasting his dad for drinking chardonnay and having a collection of Hall & Oates ticket stubs (funny how I hear that reference so soon after we released our "yacht rock" episode(s) of the podcast).

• Also, this was another great example of Bills' great facial acting. He did a fine job of maintaining his bitter facial expression and conveying the pent up, impotent rage of a recently divorced dad who obviously views himself as semi-emasculated and out of his depth when it comes to even responding to let alone controlling his inexplicably articulate son who likes to loudly roast him in public like everywhere they go is an early 1960s Friars' Club.

• Fred, Kristen, Casey and Jason did fine jobs of...just being set dressing for Jonah to riff off of, I guess? B+

MacGruber (2/3)

MacGruber (Forte) has gone from insecure to paranoid, snippy and belligerent about his total incompetence and has taken to lashing out at Vicki (Wiig) and Issac (Hill) as he accepts MacGrubers' challenge to switch places with him...delaying the explosion by only three seconds.

• Again, this may be a continuation of a lame, paper thin premise but at least it escalated decently.

• I did get a kick out of MacGruber strolling by flipping the bird to the camera during the intro sequence as well as his asking for a chamois only for him to cry into it as the music stops. B-

MacGruber (3/3)

MacGruber (Forte) has become so mentally and emotionally broken down that he now relies on a soft spoken life coach (Hader) to talk him through everything in life, no matter how minor. When Issac (Hill) calls out the ridiculousness of the situation, Bills' character steps in to gently correct him...and then the explosion happens.

• One thing that irked me a bit about this particular MacGruber is that the live airing (and the Peacock edit) didn't seem to have this third part that may have only been added to reruns and was only (easily) viewable online for a brief period of time.

• Thankfully, someone has held onto it all these years later and put it up on Reddit where my cohost Deej was able to find it.

• Again, I did get a kick out of how far this escalated and I did chuckle at MacGruber whispering for his life coach to hand him a chair which he feebly poked the legs of at the bomb.

• So yeah, that was a decent ending, possibly the only place thus could've gone...but you could see why not being able to (easily) find this footage myself again for my podcast was a bit frustrating...but thankfully my cohost found it. B-

Suze Orman Show

CNBC Financial advisor Suze Orman (Wiig) gives viewers bizarre tips on saving money, talks about where she gets her jackets and what she plans to do with them and advises guests (Forte V/O, Hill) against European vacations and selling one's house to buy a dilapidated hospital on the San Andreas fault.

• This was one of Kristen's stronger impersonations from her early years at this show. It's a shame the show would only view it as relevant for a short window of time.

• Kristen played this well (even if the constant head bobbing could be a bit much). I got a kick out of seeing the photoshopped picture of her with Paula Pell (who I assume just straight up co-wrote this with her) as the owner of the jacket store in Phoenix she frequents.

• The other writerly things I got a kick out of was Kristen calling Jonah a "full tilt dumbass" when he reveals he already sold his house and bought a dilapidated hospital and especially her mentioning that she's being sued by a woman who claims the brightness of her teeth blinded her causing her to drive into a pond.

• Other than that, this kinda washed over me but at least it was executed strongly. B-

Digital Short: Andy's Dad

Jonah Hill must break the difficult news to a soon to be broken Andy Samberg that after meeting Andy's immediate family last week, he has really hit it off with Andy's father, Ben Samberg (Jim Downey) and they have begun dating. Their relationship has become very serious and extremely physical. Suddenly, Bill Hader reveals to Andy and Jonah that he has been hooking up with Andy's Dad as well.

• Yeah, there's been a lot of hacky "lolgay" humor done on SNL over the years. This isn't quite that. 

• I mean, it may not help that this also adds a "May-December romances? Eeeewww, amirite?" angle to it but only The Lonely Island could pull this off successfully while actually conveying the emotional and psychological depth and real heartbreak of the situation...while also being funny.

• Andy's performance really made this work for me (again, much like Bill he's both facially and verbally conveying an impotent rage and helplessness to change a hellish new situation he finds himself in).

• Perhaps what I liked best from Jonah were his lines "Why is everyone freaking out about the age thing?" and "even if I lose a friend, I'd like to think I gained a son".

• Bills' line "small world...we've been fuckin'" kinda feels like a hat on a hat but it does break what ever treacle there is to break for this to end on a high note and the "Created By Lorne Michaels" credit at the end is perhaps the only ending or button that could've worked there anyway. B-

Mariah Carey Performs "Touch My Body" and "Migrate" with T-Pain

• Typical standard R&B-ish pop diva performance you could see practically anywhere at this time.

• I got a kick out of T-Pains' sudden cameo during the second song. The first song just made me think of the video for it that Jack McBrayer starred in. Other than that, I have nothing to say about either of these.

• Fun fact about this episode: Mariah Carey was actually a last minute replacement for Janet Jackson as this episode's musical guest, as Jackson had just caught the flu.

Weekend Update w/Seth & Amy

Seth & Amy deliver a new "Really?!?" on the Elliot Spitzer scandal 

Tracy Morgan delivers a guest editorial on the topic of race as it relates to the Obama campaign

• Seth's Best Jokes: American Idol reject, Dog IQ test, Pi Day

• Amy's Best Jokes: Tap Water (mostly for how she recovered from her "Britta filter" flub), Mitt Romney, Date Ruined, Chinese human rights scandal, Teen STDs, Updated 90210 on CW

• The only thing that really stood out in the "Really?!?" segment were Seth's "client number nine" jokes and Amy's comments about the goofy gestures his wife should've made at the press conference. Other than that, it felt like the real details of the Spitzer scandal they revealed were so ridiculous on their own that any additional jokes would've felt pointless.

• As nice as it is to see Tracy Morgan pop up on SNL for a cameo, I felt his commentary was a little uneven. The only things that stood out to me here were Tracy's comments on how he's "way blacker" than Barack Obama and how his pastor was "too black" (which only works if you remember who Rev. Jeremiah Wright was and how exactly he very nearly derailed Obamas' entire campaign around this time).

• I did like his line "black is the new president, bitch" in response to Tina's commentary from her episode this season. It was the strongest possible closing line he had. The rest of this can be filed under "things that may have only worked comedically in 2008 and perhaps not even then. It seems like he was trying to replicate the type of Update fun commentaries he used to do from 1997-2003 but with weaker material and in a format that doesn't quite work on Update in 2008. 

• This was a mostly pretty weak and forgettable Update, but hey...fourth show in a row. C-

Target Lady

Target Lady (Wiig) gives co-worker bumbling co-worker Jeremy (Hill) advice on asking out their other co-worker Samantha while frustrating customers (Forte, Poehler, Samberg, Thompson)

• Eh, typical formulaic Target Lady sketch. I got a kick out of the gag involving Jonah and a cardboard cutout of Issac Mizrahi but that's about it. 

• This felt like another "if you've seen one of these, you've seen them all" type sketch to me, so...I won't say much more on it. C-

NBC Special Report

Brian Williams (Forte) delivers the bombshell report that 71 year old Republican Presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain (Hammond) is, in fact, extremely old. Guest "analysts" 68 year old Gail Parker (Poehler) and Jeffrey Greenberg (Armisen) confirm these allegations. McCain would rather discuss the real issues facing America than respond to any of Williams' "old" accusations or the mountain of substantial evidence behind this claim.

• Hey, it's nice to see Fortes' Brian Williams again. It's not exactly the dead on imitation from the debate cold open from two episodes ago but I can't think of any other newscaster impressions from around this time I would've liked to have delivered this sketch.

• Here, we also get the debut of what would be a pretty important political impression for SNL in 2008. Darrell Hammond as John McCain. It's a solid impression, no doubt and it will be interesting to see if it serves this sketch better than it does any other political or debate sketch that follows it.

• Amy & Fred did fine as the additional old people. They played their parts well even though it kind of felt like piling on or putting a hat on a hat.

• I got a chuckle out of Forte questioning Hammonds' use of the phrase "brass tacks" and the five dollar check for "penny candy" but other than that this was just an unambitious sketch premise that just happened to be performed exceptionally well. C+

Clancy T. Bachleratt and Jackie Snad Sing Songs about Spaceships, Toddlers, Model T. Cars & Jars of Beer

Record executive Tim Jacklepappy (Hill) promotes the new album featuring songs exactly as described above sung by both Clancy (Forte) AND Jackie (Wiig).

• I know others have professed to be fans of these sketches. I appreciate what Will and Kristen were going for here and what they bring to these. They never quite hit for me the way they have for some but this one is growing on me on a rewatch.

• I like the very specific level of absurdity these go for and I got a chuckle out of the last song being billed as Americas' new national anthem. 

• Honestly, the biggest thing this sketch had going against it was Jonahs' weak performance as the album pitchman, but that's something that can easily be changed with subsequent hosts. B-

Face To Face

At a Tads' Steaks on their first real life date, Dean (Hill) has to explain all of his little white lies and half truths to his date (Wilson).

• For some reason, this appears to be missing from some non-Peacock copies of this episode as well. If you missed this, you didn't miss a whole lot, but there were some decent moments.

• I did like the few odd jokes/lies they got off before the string of genital references and the Budweiser/PT Cruiser/Vagina Monologues jokes. 

• I also liked Jonahs calling out Casey's untruths in a way that flatters her as well as his line about loving the smell of burnt meat.

• This did have a semi-heartfelt and charming ending for another unambitious premise that didn't have much to live up to...and may play a bit differently today for various reasons. 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. Amy Adams/Vampire Weekend (03.08.2008)
5. Jonah Hill/Mariah Carey (03.15.2008)
6. Brian Williams/Feist (11.03.2007)
7. Elliot Page/Wilco (03.01.2008)
8. Jon Bon Jovi/Foo Fighters (10.13.2007)

Overall Thoughts

• This was another episode that felt a bit odd and uneven but to their credit they tried a few different things. Some of those things paid off, some of them didn't.

• Jonah was fine but didn't exactly blow anyone away as host. Cast usage was pretty decent. Forte & Wiig probably had the best nights out of anyone in the cast with most everyone else having their own little moments to shine. Surprisingly light night for Armisen and Kenan though.

Closing Thoughts

• Next blog entry is likely going to be a review if the Christopher Walken/Panic At The Disco episode coming next month with a podcast to go with it. 

• Before that, we will review the "Juan Likes Rice & Chicken" episode of Doc Now. 

• Oh, and before THAT I'll actually be filing in for Shari Fesko on the next episode of the Saturday Night Ladies podcast. Can't wait to get into some SNL UK talk with Deej & Shari. See you soon!

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!