Shia Labouef/My Morning Jacket (05.10.2008)

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?

Clinton's Qualities

Hillary Clinton (Poehler) explains how being a sore loser with no ethical standards and a base of racist supporters somehow makes her a better choice to be the Democratic nominee for President.

• Wow...for a show that offered up a blatant endorsement of her three months earlier they're sure taking some wild ass flailing swings at Hillary Clinton here. Seriously, this might have been the roughest they've been towards her since she was still in the White House as first lady. If this was another Jim Downey piece, he must've been letting his "slight conservative leanings" run wild here.

• Still, it gave us a nice break from seeing Freds' Obama again and Amy performed this with an expert mix of charm, poise and an absurdist, tounge in cheek deadpan that was almost enough to obfuscate and offset the sheer vitriolic bluntness of this material. 

• I did get a kick out of her lines about expecting to recieve an endorsement from Rev. Jeremiah Right (iykyk) and how she'd be willing to simultaneously play both the race and gender cards despite that not even making sense.

• This cold open does seem pretty damn ironic in hindsight when you consider the fact that Hillary would go on to run against a guy who would turn out to be both a sore winner AND a sore loser who also had a base of blatantly racist supporters. B-

Monologue

Shia Labeouf agrees to answer any non-plot specific questions about the upcoming "Indiana Jones & The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull". Unfortunately, the only questions are from Sean Connery (Hammond), Short Round (Poehler) and a melted up Major Toht (Forte) wondering why they weren't cast as well as an audience member (Sudeikis) who somehow accurately guesses the ending.

• Shia handled this well and seems like he has matured a bit from his previous hosting gig but boy, what an auspicious film for him to be plugging.

• Jason did a fine job as a seemingly clueless audience member who somehow guesses the ending. I got a chuckle out of his line about not knowing who Speilberg & Lucas are and yet spouting a nonsensical (mostly inaccurate) ending that's just a riff on the most clichéd modern sci-fi/adventure/fantasy movie tropes of the past 25ish years 

• I have a feeling that this entire monologue was written as an excuse to just use Hammonds' Connery in something again. I thought the idea of him being mad about being left off the "Last Crusade" lunch box was kinda funny and a good setup to the one decent joke they wrote for him in this.

• Amy Poehler as a small Asian boy with a heavy accent? Hey, this is 2008. I certainly don't see how that could be seen as questionable or a necessary cut at all!

• The true highlight of this was the bonkers makeup job they did on Forte as Toht, but when the highlight of a monologue is just a particularly gruesome piece of prosthetic rather than anything actually written for it...something may be seriously wrong. 

• The part with Shia accidentally spoiling Indys' death in the movie (spoiler alert: he doesn't die but he might as well have because this one pretty much killed any residual good will toward the franchise) was possibly the best way to end this little bit of cringe comedy that wasn't quite as fun as I remembered it to be. C-

Macgruber (Pt. 1)

MacGruber (Forte) is now working with his estranged son Merril (Labeouf) who, to his father's shock and disgust, inadvertently outs himself by handing his dad a vial of anal lube to help diffuse a bomb.

• Well, this one is mostly here to set up a runner but I would say it's also notable for being the closest MacGruber gets to actually being competent at his job before inevitably becoming distracted by something absurdly trivial.

• I do like how well Kristen and Will play up the "all the air getting sucked out of the room" awkwardness (especially the first of two times we will see Fortes' expression of barely concealed disgust). B-

It's A Match

Detective Rob Perkins (Hader) questions washed up 70s game show personalities Pam Sumpter (Poehler), Steven Neilsen Perry (Armisen), Sarah Annette Boob (Wilson), Nancy Nan George (Wiig), Chipsey Boday (Thompson) and Dirk Densten (Labeouf) on the sudden backstage murder of host Guy Lange.

• Ok, this is clearly just a Mr. Show style "let's just purposely avoid using any real names or references in our little parody" Temu Match Game sketch with Amy as Brett Somers, Fred as Paul Lynde (but named after Charles Nelson Reilly), Casey as a composite of any number of '70s TV sexpots (but mostly Fannie Flagg it seems), Kristen as Marcia Wallace (both Kristen and Kenans' characters might have had a little Debralee Scott in them?) Kenan as Nipsey Russell and Shia as Doug Henning.

• Bill is DRESSED like Colombo but obviously he's not doing his Peter Falk since that wouldn't make a ton of sense here. Instead, he is playing it straight as a generic stern '70s detective questioning everyone.

• Functionally, this is pretty much a Vincent Price sketch for Bill. He isn't the center piece of this like he us in those, but he is, once again, playing the role of "put upon host who grows increasingly frustrated at his guests lack of professionalism and basic competence." Naturally, he does a great job anchoring this.

• This was actually a fresh and creative premise of 70s celebrity game show panelists treating a sudden murder investigation like it's part of the game they're there to play, writing down their answers and presenting them as jokes one by one instead of grieving taking there friend and colleague's sudden death seriously (boy, they are in some serious denial, huh?)

• Surprisingly, Shia seems to be doing the best with his impression with Kristen and Kenan each a close second and third respectively. I say "surprisingly" in Shias' case because, as the youngest person in this sketch, he'd probably be the least likely to know who Doug Henning actually was.

• Why they didn't just do a straight "Match Game" parody and use the real names of people they were parodying I have no idea but I think it might have to do with the sketch itself taking place at a murder investigation and what I see as a general attitude of "well, Shias' still got young fans from his Disney days who probably tuned in and they sure as hell won't recognize what this is a parody of...so screw it".

• I did like everyone writing the same answers in response to the questioning of Bill's detective as a play on the various tropes of  bawdy "tee hee" 70s game shows (i.e. "making whoopee" and "in Steven's bedroom" in response to "where was the last place you saw your host?").

• Again, I'm not crazy about Fred playing once again playing another in a seemingly endless string of hacky gay stereotypes (and it doesn't help that he eventually capitulates to his own playful public outing when he admits to having a "secret life") but at least it was based on a real thing from the time and was at felt naturally written into this sketch at the exact moment it was called for.

• Some other stray moments I liked were Amy's holding up two cards with devil horns drawn on them to either side of her head and Kenan saying writing "getting my hair done" instead of "making whoopee" as to not upset his wife.

• I could've sworn Casey said she was "crying and eating pound cake" in her water bed instead of "making mouth whoopee" but that's not in the Peacock copy I am watching so they must've changed that between dress and air and inserted the dress version into all reruns. 

• Speaking of Casey's character, if she "auditioned for this show in Steven's bedroom"...would that make both Steven and the murdered game show host both bisexual? Ah, no need to nitpick. Strong sketch all around. Definitely my second favorite live piece of this episode. B+

Scared Straight

Officer Matthews (Sudeikis) introduces three teen shoplifters (Hader, Labeouf, Samberg) to prisoner Lorenzo McIntosh (Thompson) who spouts movie references, threats of gay sex acts and just general aggressive nonsense at them in a failed attempt to scare them straight. 

• Yup, this is the debut of one of this eras' big cookie cutter recurring sketches. It sure does hit all familiar beats, just not in such a boisterous, over the top manner because it's the first outing and none of said "familiar beats" have been established yet. 

• I do remember Stooge in his reviews constantly comparing these to Chris Farleys' Motivational Speaker sketches and saying that Kenan was obviously trying to start his own version of Farleys' Matt Foley character. While I see some similarities in how the characters are introduced (especially in the Phil Hartman-like way Jason introduces Kenan and brings him out), I think these sketches do become their own seperate thing soon enough.

• Kenan seems to have already settled on what his character will be as he's playing this role the exact same way he's always done. Still, since Jason isn't quite as incredulous in his part yet (hell, he doesn't even jump up on his desk at the end yet) and Kenan isn't hitting his threats to the teens as hard. He's even focused more on menacing them in general and threatening them with a more natural delivery.

• His first threat seems to be more focused on his Sharpied on face tattoo than pulling an obvious 80s/90s family movie reference out of nowhere. Even though Kenan's "deposit here" line seems to get the shocked gasp of a reaction that the writers may have secretly been hoping for deep down, he doesn't go quite as over the top or play as fast and loose with putting over the immature gay sex jokes as he would in future installments. 

• Sure, he's just as physical with Bill and Andy but more in a physically imposing way and not in such a fun, loose, brotherly way. All the little pieces and elements are here, but it would take a few seasons worth of time, repetition and finding the right chemistry before these become the exercise in deliberately making cast members break that these would soon become.

• As far as the movie references go, "Gone In 60 Seconds" was a logical and reasonable place to start building up from before absolutely reaching for nonsense like "Goonies" and "Weekend At Bernies'".

• I also liked Kenan's listing of "hats" and "newspapers" repeatedly among the odd items he stole, thinking the boys actually stole cars when all they did was shoplift a copy of Grand Theft Auto and suddenly telling Bill he knows plenty of necrophilliacs.

• Bill usually plays one of the teens (the one who usually calls Kenan out for his most blatant movie ripoffs which usually turn out to be at least his third ones). He didn't break as much here as you'd expect, but he did have a funny moment when he was the only one starting a slow clap until Andy & Shia give him a sideways look.

• Anyway, nice debut sketch for a series I've always appreciated...just not as much in live real time repetition. C+

MacGruber (Pt. 2)

Back from his stay at camp, a now "normal" Merril (Labeouf) is quizzed by MacGruber (Forte) on Bible verses and female genitalia while only Vicki (Wiig) is asked for bomb diffusing items. His dad tries to stop him from leaving which inadvertently causes a vibrating dildo to fall out of his backpack.

• Huh, placing this directly after "Scared Straight" was definitely...a choice.

• There wasn't much to this either. I liked the brief visual gag of Will nodding approvingly upon seeing Shia check out a passing woman from behind.

• I did get a brief kick out of Shias' half-hearted, insincere response of "the vagina, MacGruber" to Will asking his favorite part of a woman (to which Will of course tacks on "don't forget about the breasts").

• How did Merril think he was going to escape a room that's always either sealed in, welded shut or locked from the outside?

• The reveal of the dildo was one of the more bluntly risque things I've seen on this show. As much as I liked seeing Fortes' face if disgust again, this felt like it played for a beat too long. C+

Suze Orman Show

Suze Orman (Wiig) answers questions about female hair care and advised viewers to spend their recent economic stimulus checks however the hell they want and interviews failing buffet/nightclub owner Josiah From Miami (Labeouf) about how he should spend his stimulus money.

• Huh, I don't remember them ever having done more than two of these, but OK. I guess this week it was topical, too bad after this specific week it wasn't memorable.

• While overall this felt like a much shorter and weaker carbon copy of the version of this sketch that appeared in Jonah Hills' episode, this still had its moments.

• I got a kick out of Kristen showing off her snap on collar and detailing the absurd length she goes to travel by borrowed speed boat and rented car to a female specific barber shop in Arizona.

• Shia playing his character with an NYC/Jersey Guido type accent really added something to this. I liked the detail of his club being named "Regrets" and Kristen advising him to go and spend his stimulus money on a five o'clock shadow face tattoo because a) his own facial hair grows in patchy and b) she has a tattoo of buttons going down her chest so she always feels like she is wearing a jacket. 

• The idea of bathing in beef bullion cubes instead of saving money on self tanners got a chuckle out of me. C+

Digital Short: Best Look In The World

Andy Samberg and Shia Labouef sing a ZZ Top esque song about how a button down dress shirt and black socks with absolutely no pants (or underpants) is the best look in the world for grown men.

• Well, if you thought the precious episodes' "Daquiri Girl" was bad...

• The really sad thing is that this one actually had some writing and effort put into it whereas "Daiquiri Girl" was just improvised and cobbled together at the last possible secondg...which makes this one UNintentonally bad...the worst kind of bad.

• There was a time where I would've been much more generous in my assessment of this short. That time has since passed since I can no longer simply appreciate "Best Look In The World" for its sheer random goofiness.

• The lyrics aren't even that coherent but even with the captions/subtitles on there's just too much free flowing garbled nonsense here for me.

• I guess I still like the brief shot of Bill as an illiterate genie and the "cool down" part just find but...they don't get many laughs out of me.

• I liked the part where an oblivious Andy just grins mindlessly and says "right on" when Shia slowly walks away from him after telling him the song they both participated in was "pretty disturbing" but again...this Digital Short gives us absolutely nothing to work with. D+

My Morning Jacket Performs "I'm Amazed" And "Evil Urges"

• Really dug the dynamic sound of this band (especially the very honky tonk infused early 70s rock sound to their first song

• Quite possibly the strongest musical guest of this season

Weekend Update w/Seth & Amy

Liberty City residents Vlad (Hader) & Niko (Armisen) would like to counter the violent image of their hometown that is portrayed in the new Grand Theft Auto video game

French Def Jam comedian Jean K. Jean (Thompson) returns with some new material on rising "petrol" prices, foie gras and old "Asterisk & Tintin" cartoons

• Seth's best jokes: Gas Prices Increases, Amy Winehouse arrested, SAAB Used Cadavers

• Amy's Best jokes: Houston Teens Arrested

• Bill and Fred's GTA Vice city commentary may have been the sole highlight of this Update. This may not be saying much since there was very little written material given to them and this did seem like it was edited down quite a bit after dress rehearsal but they really sold it and they nailed the stiff herky-jerky NPC video game movements.

• The Weather Channel pick up lines bit felt straight out of season 30 (like most of this Update) and would've been extremely iffy if Seth & Amy didn't have the perfect chemistry to make it come across as fun and charming (ditto for Amy's delivery of that R. Kelly joke). Man, this was another Update that wasn't worth it for the jokes at all.

• Zut alors! It's the return of Jean K. Jean (speaking of bits that only get by on the performers charisma). This was all right, but I can only take so much humor that is specifically designed to go over my head. The foie gras bit was fun though. Incroyable! C+

La Revista Della Televisione

Vinny Vedecci (Hader) interviews Shia Labouef about Indiana Jones, his recent smoking related arrest Transformers (despite not knowing anything about the subject)

• Ok, now you might know that not only have I already given my thoughts on this particular sketch (and all the other Vinny Vedecci sketches) on this blog but Deej and I have already done the same on the podcast before. I don't have a ton of new things to say on it or anything, but looking back at that blog post where I ranked all of these, I can see why I ranked this one third. 

• A few positive moments stand out such as the "arrested for smoking" gag (with brief terrified reaction shots of Italian versions of several crew members and even an exasperated, white suited Lorne himself lighting up) which somehow plays well even if that particular arrest of Shias' has been looooong since forgotten among his many other transgressions since then and the fact that this is the sole edition that breaks format and does away briefly with the translator joke by having Vinny clearly state that his English is good enough to conduct this interview without one.

• The one big negative that really drags this down is this is the "transformers/penis or vagina" gag that gets called back to twice (the second time being with brief shots of Wiig and Sudeikis each in drag as the "transformers" that got bumped for time) which...even in 2008 felt like the cheapest of laughs and in 2026 is just...simply not done (even if the entire joke is played off of a fictional characters non-malicious ignorance as it is here).

• The highlight of this sketch may have been the moment where Vinny goads Shia into discussing Indiana Jones' likes and dislikes (his dislike of snakes in particular) just so he can shout "HE HATES SNAKES!!!" to cue up a drop of plastic snakes that occurs so late and way off the mark that Vinny has already begun setting up a question about the film "Disturbia" by the time it happens followed by a shot of Vinny chewing out a slack jawed Samberg in a tank top standing by a lever. There was a gag that involved Vinny dubbing the voice of one of the goons who tears out a human heart in "Temple of Doom" that didn't work for me.

• Like I said, this was one of the better early installments of this even if it didn't exactly have all it's elements working in its favor. B-

MacGruber (Pt. 3)

Merril (Labeouf) is back to help his dad (Forte) and Vicki (Wiig) diffuse a bomb. This time, he's bought his "platonic" male friend Scott (Samberg) with him much to MacGrubers' chagrin. When MacGruber asks to see his sin kiss Vicki to "prove" his sexuality...Merril vomits on her.

• This was a decent if not jarring and slightly cynical end to this runner. 

• One might ask why this didn't end with MacGrubers' son getting to truly be who he is in defiance of his dad's controlling close mindedness, but this wouldn't truly be MacGruber if that were allowed to happen because as we've seen with his dad's alcoholism and plastics surgery addiction, living out a self destructive lie runs in the family.

• As intentionally squicky as the ending vomit was, executing it with "blink and you'll miss it" timing right as the explosion happened was what made it work for me. B-

Admirers

Emily (Wiig) and Stacy (Poehler) find themselves mutually attracted to all the unsettlingly stiff and statuesque men in the same restaurant as them with bizarrely frozen facial expressions are either pained and fearful (Armisen, Samberg, Forte) or just creepily deranged (Hader, Labeouf, Thompson)

• Ok, this sketch has been a deep cut favorite of mine for eighteen years now. It's definitely my favorite piece of this whole episode.

• Everyone really shined in this. The woman played their parts well (even Casey Wilson as the waittress who brings them drinks bought for them by Will, Bill, Kenan and Fred).

• Andy set the tone for this absurdity really well, initially. Fred, Bill and Kenan matched his energy and stylistic choice really well, especially Bill whose near rigor mortis rictus grin is the face most viewers of this sketch would probably say is the funniest. 

• Freds' would be a close second as he looks like he is just straight up ugly crying. Andy is a close third as he looks like he is just right on the verge of doing the same thing. Andy & Bill are the only guys that noticablly move during this sketch (Samberg darts his eyes back and forth while Hader does raise his glass in toast to the ladies) Andy & Bill also look the least like they are just creepily peering at women while Kenan looks the most like he is doing that but hey, it still works. 

• I'm not quite sure what Will was going for other than looking like a crash test dummy who wished to become human but it still works and it would be a crime to not include him somewhere in a sketch that is this wonderfully odd. Shia just did a simple, crooked goofy smirk and that was it. A little unambitious but it worked for this sketch.

• Of course, the moment that made this entire sketch (and episode for me) was the sudden "doy doy doy doy doy" ditty that started playing in each guy's head when the girls wonder what they are thinking. That never fails to crack me up no matter how many times I see it.

• Although Shias' "doy doy doy" seems almost an octave out range with the others, he was a nice backup vocalist for Andy and helped him carry his own tune. Still, I get the feeling that Shia may have understood the assignment the least here.

• The only other criticism I have of this near perfect sketch would be that the line about how Andy's character looks both happy and scared could've been cut since it kind if needlessly explains the joke but other than that this was just stellar. I even liked Anys' line at the very end saying they should all just have an eight-way because "when it rains, it pours". A-

New York Funky Style

A mom (Poehler) from Decatur, GA takes her daughters Monica (Wiig) and Melana (Labeouf) shopping at an Anthropologie on a trip to New York City. With the help of a random store clerk (Wilson) she hopes to find the right looks for each daughter to bring back home after experimenting with New York Style funky fashion and accessories.

• Well, first things first...one semi meta clock punch I did like was how one of Amys' many shopping bags said "NBC Experience" on it with the modern peacock logo and everything. While I didn't much care for the rest of this, it has started to grow on me on rewatch.

• I could be wrong, but...I'm guessing this is a James Anderson/Kent Sublette co- written sketch? I feel like this entire thing had to be based on a real interaction one of those guys saw in a store recently at that time. Either way, if it is them it's definitely the side of their writing that never really clicked with me.

• Oh look, there's Casey in another thankless role in a row as a customer service employee whose main purpose seems to be complimenting two women and saying how beautiful they are. Whoopee.

• The big tent poles of this sketch seem to be the sight of Shia in drag...as a mouse, insecure, mannish young woman and Amy simply repeating the words "New York", "funky" "no" and "yes" as many times as she can in one sketch when not expressing concerns over her second daughters' mannish physical appearance to Casey's character.

• I liked Amy's line to Kristen about how her second outfit makes her look like such a convincing New Yorker that people will come up to her on the street and ask "which subway train to take to get to the Empire State Building?"

• I didn't exactly hate this sketch. I just have no idea who it was for, honestly. What would've improved the run down of this episode just a bit would've been if this had switched places with "Admirers". C-

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. Shia Labouef/My Morning Jacket (05.10.2008)
8. Jonah Hill/Mariah Carey (03.15.2008)
9. Brian Williams/Feist (11.03.2007)
10. Elliot Page/Wilco (03.01.2008)
11. Jon Bon Jovi/Foo Fighters (10.13.2007)

Overall Thoughts

• This episode was solid, but not quite as fun or as much of a collection of back to back bangers as I remembered. It's one of those episodes where you just remember what hits the most because the highs are quite high but the lows are merely forgettably bland and not enough to drag down the episode.

• Shia still showed himself to be a game host who was up for just about anything but at the same...he gave off this vibe that he was taking himself much more seriously as an actor. I say that not because he was plugging an ill fated Indiana Jones film but now that he was getting some dramatic roles under his belt and just got his first big popcorn blockbuster he seemed like he wanted to move away from comedy and exclusively toward drama from this point (which he definitely got to do for sure anyway you look at it). 

• I say all of that as speculation as to why this episode as a whole felt noticeably less "fun" than his first one from the previous season since he wasn't quite as energetic here as he was then, but again, I guess he had grown and matured a bit since then in the previous year.

• For cast usage, Bill, Will, Amy, Kenan and Fred seemed to have the strongest nights. Andy, Kristen and Casey each come in a close second as they mostly were relegated to solid support roles. Jason and Darrell were definitely seen the least, sadly and didn't have the best weeks in terms of appearances.

Closing Thoughts

• The next SNL Season 33 episode I will take after this will be this season's finale with host Steve Carrell and musical guest Usher. I don't exactly remember this being a stand out episode of this season either, but it will finally be nice to finally close the book on season 33 of SNL.

• Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this review (and hopefully listening to the podcast episode that it was written for) just as much as I hope you've enjoyed reading my reviews of SNL UK series two I've been posting. I've got two more of those coming soon with my review of the upcoming Jalen Brunson episode of SNL US and Amelia Dimoldenberg episode of SNL UK. Knowing the way I write about SNL US vs how I write abiut SNL UK, I'm sure I'll have my review of the former posted here quicker. See you again here real soon!

SNL UK: Jamie Demetriou/Royal Blood (09.19.2026)

Ed, Charles And D.I.A.N.A.

• Ok, King Charles meeting with A.I. executives. This could be interesting.

• I liked how they included Celeste in this. Is Freddie just playing Elon Musk?

• Wow, very strange way to work Jack Sheps' Princess Di and the "A.I. could very possibly kill all humans" story into the same sketch (even with the context of Charles Spencers' recent memoir) but after seeing it take on a dark anti-A.I. apocalypse bent I started to get into it.

• Larry is turning out his strongest and most engaged performance as King Charles so far.

• Annabel as Ed Sheerhan was a nice touch and a nice counter balance to the grimdark A.I. apocalypse of this sketch. It comes across more like Kate McKinnons and Noel Wells' impressions of Justin Beiber from about a decade ago (or even Kate McKinnons impression of Ed Sheerhan from that time) but its' still a nice use of her musical background and singing voice.

• It's pretty funny how the writers' attempt at a pastiche/style parody of mid-2010s Ed Sheerhans' music just ended up sounding like that "10,000 Hours" song by Dan & Shay with Justin Beiber. Just speaks to how cookie cutter most male pop stars of that time were.

• A bit odd that both of this seasons SNL UK cold opens have followed the same structure of "other British people in the news this week suddenly intrude on King Charles" but it just goes to show you that even when SNL UK attempts one of these "let's just jumble every big news story of this week into a sketch" type cold opens they have a better handle on how to make those work effectively and actually NOT seem jumbled together. It's something SNL US needs to learn thing or two about.

• Quite a bleak, nihilistic ending with Larrys' King Charles suddenly declaring that "nothing matters" but it's the same kind of take on mocking world leaders I have come to expect from SNL UK by this point (and unfortunately the same approach to making the entire show I've come to expect from SNL US). B+

Monologue

• Quite an odd entrance. Not a bad one, though. I liked him tripping over the stairs, followed by his cousin suddenly tripping over him followed by the first words out of his mouth being a blunt "I was in Fleabag".

• I also liked his line "It's so fun and creative and comedy to be here."

• I wanted to like the premise of a host struggling to remember what he was in but until the song came on, I wasn't into the execution. It reminded me of John Goodmans' monologue from season 25 of SNL US only slightly more charming and less exploitative.

• Hey, Ncuti Gatwa has returned to remind Jamie which one of them was in Sex Education! Funny how he makes this cameo just as I get to appear on a podcast discussing the episode he hosted.

• Between this and Jeff Goldblums' monologue from last week, this might be my favorite musical monologue of SNL UK series two so far. 

• However, if you ONLY are able to view this episode on Peacock here in the states you might like to know that in the live Sky TV airing Jamie broke out giggling after the first line of his song and joking said something like "can we start over? No? Ok." Apparently, Peacock saw fit to cut that moment for some reason.

• Hey, it's...Al Roberts, Jamies' costar from "Steth Lets Flats". It's a shame I haven't seen that show but based on this interaction between the two of them it sure looks neat. This adds quite a bit of charm to the ending to this monologue. I especially liked the gag of him cold reading an upcoming acting credit of his.

• After chewing on this one a bit, I actually liked this more on rewatch and appreciate what a strong subversion of typical SNL host tropes this turned out to be. B-

The E-Bike Song

• I appreciate that we're really getting to see this different, more gleefully dangerous and reckless side of Jack Shep that we didn't get to see in series one (even if its just in service of one tongue in cheek joke about how e-bikes and lime scooters are dangerous as hell and expensive)

• I liked the inclusion of a rapping Freddie & Celeste, Jamie as a cop and Annabels' face on the green bike bucket (smart of them to get someone who can actually sing on this one). I even got a kick out of the older gentlemen playing Jacks' loved one in the middle.

• That musical mix of modern day PinkPantheress/Charli XCX-lite style dance pop and early millennial Albie Wobble Selekta style of British rap that permeated this short dovetails nicely enough with this. (Yeah, that's right. I just dropped a Kyle Gordon reference for lack of a better comparison. Big whoop. Wanna fight about it?)

• Still, even though this got a bit catchier and funnier on rewatch, between this and Wednesday nights new South Park episode...I'd say the latter was my preferred bit of e-bike based humor from the week. C+

The Rower

• Wait...so, this ISN'T an Odyssey parody?

• Weird time for Jamie to be doing a Bronson Pinchot impression.

• Yeah, this is definitely another sketch archetype I know I've seen on SNL US numerous times. One of the lesser known deep cuts from the classic Peyton Manning episode of SNL US immediately jumped to mind when I saw that (and so did the Riverdale sketch from Halseys' 2019 SNL US episode now that I'm thinking about it). Even if I hadn't seen either of those sketches, I'm sure I would've found the execution of this too awkward and lame to get into it.

• I liked how well Celeste played the role of the exasperated director, but other than that Jamie was playing this like either he didn't know what this sketch was supposed to be or was gently trying to take it in his own direction. D+

The Shape

• Ok, this looks pretty funny. It may actually make this sketch better for me that I have no fucking clue if it's parodying a real game show or not.

• This is decently absurd right out the gate. I'm getting some slight Mitchell & Webb "Numberwang/Remain Indoors" vibes.

• I actually like everyone's performances here. Jamie and Emma do a great job leading this. The various audience asides from Jack, Ayoade and Freddie were OK. A-

Why Did You Dump Me?

• I can sense that this is going for a similar level of absurdity as "The Shape". I like it as a vehicle for Emma, but I didn't like it as much as "The Shape".

• I liked that this did eventually switch gears into self awareness but I didn't care for how abruptly they made that shift or how long they lingered on Jamie explaining to Emma exactly how weird and crazy she is.

• I can tell this is a bit too weird to be that closely based on a real thing (except maybe Billy On The Street but like...an extrapolation of it?) so the closest thing from SNL US I can compare this to is...The Denise Show with Adam Sandler. Not bad. B-

Entertainment Exchange 

• I like that we're getting a lot of Celeste and Freddie this week (and way more Hammed than last week). I was even fine with the way Emma played the straight woman. 

• I'm not crazy about this sketch, though. It feels pretty empty and I've know for sure I've seen this premise on SNL before (specifically with the Spectrum cable sketches in recent years and the "Gym Call" sketch with Timothee Chalamet from 2023 that doesn't appear to legitimately be on YouTube for some reason).

• Heck, this even reminds me of the famous "change for a dollar" sketch from Mr. Show but much weaker.

• I did like Emmas' closing line just being her straight up wishing she never had kids. I would have placed this elsewhere in the rundown so it didn't end up being one of he sketches that leads into the host introducing the musical guest. D+

Weekend Update w/Paddy & Ania

• Paddys' Best Jokes: Kraft/Epstein, Piddington/Paddington, Pond Sex

• Anias' Best Jokes: Sheerhan/Macklemore, Robert Kraft, Roast Prices Rise

• Yeah, the whole Sheerhan/Macklemore/Kraft run of jokes were the strongest part of Update for me. Maybe the Paloma Faith joke would've hit harder if I knew who she was?

• That non-joke of briefly mentioning the lib dem party without a punchline and then quickly moving on to the Spencer memoir jokes was such a Chevy Chase/Jance Curtin level bit of humor from Ania.

• Again, I haven't seen "Stath Lets Flats" but what I could parse out from what I did see was charming enough. Jamie and Al have good enough chemistry to have made this level of silly bumbling fun to watch. Maybe I should check out Stath Lets Flats if it's streamable somewhere? B-

Woman Of Darkness

• Hmm, let's see where this goes...

• Seems like Jack found a version of his character from last week's Bi King Kong sketch that actually works

• Ok, this is a decent Sarah Sherman-ish performance from Emma I could jive with.

• ...and Jamie's character thinks she's hit and wants to hit on her. Fantastic.

• ...and he wants Jack's character to wingman him after his first failed come-on. Now, he wants to bail because she wants kids.

• ...and there's a button that turns this into a safe sex PSA. Yes, that's something we always want to see at the end of an SNL sketch.

• Ok, so...this went nowhere interesting. Not even the performances could save this lame premise.

• The fact that I can't really remember another time I've seen this exact premise speaks volumes. The closest thing I've seen to this on SNL US was The Twilight Zone sketch with Pamela Anderson but even that had a better ending. D-

The X-Factor Final 12 Performance

• Ok, how the FUCK is this the first we've seen of Al Nash or George Fucking Fouracres all night?

• So...is this just 2011 era X-Factor nostalgia and the only thing even close to approaching a joke is the height of Jamie's hair as he realizes his wig is too large on air and the camera rig rips it off?

• This reminded me a lot of the opening of the 2003 SNL US Super Bowl Halftime show where pretty much the entire 2002-03 cast portrayed different American Idol auditioned as well as the SNL US Digital Short from 2012 where Andy Samberg and Kristen Wiig just had really huge afros (and just a hint of WIll Ferrells' "Mark Jensen Family Christmas" from every SNL US Christmas special you've seen in the past 20 years).

• I liked Celeste, Paddy and Anias' appearances in this. Celestes' whole look was pretty funny. I dug the throwback to Paddys' running BTS gags. I heard Ania was apparently supposed to be playing a member of Little Mix. If so, she actually does make a pretty damn convincing Jesy Nelson and/or Jade Thirlwall.

• Actually, upon rewatch this was pretty funny and charming if you view it more as just a fun end of show musical number with the cast...y'know, like the exact thing it's meant to be parodying. I can't believe it took me a whole day to realize that this was just another example of SNL UK just parodying a specific piece of viral media from several years ago (even certain hosts from series one have done this in their monologues). Fun way to end the episode. B-

Ranking SNL UK Series Two From Best To Worst

1. Jamie Demetriou/Royal Blood (09.19.2026)
2. Jeff Goldblum/CMAT (09.12.2026)

Ranking All Of SNL UK From Best To Worst

1. Jamie Dornan/Wolf Alice (03.28.2026)
2. Hannah Waddingham/Myles Smith (05.09.2026)
3. Jamie Demetriou/Royal Blood (09.19.2026)
4. Ncuti Gatwa/Holly Humberstone (05.16.2026)
5. Tina Fey/Wet Leg (03.21.2026)
6. Jeff Goldblum/CMAT (09.12.2026)
7. Nicola Coughlan/Foo Fighters (04.25.2026)
8. Riz Ahmed/Kasabian (04.05.2026)
9. Aimee Lou Wood/MEEK (05.02.2026)
10. Jack Whitehall/Jorja Smith (04.11.2026)

Overall Thoughts

• I will admit, I struggled with this episode a bit because I may have went into it with the wrong mindset. Before I actually saw any of it, I had heard from a trusted source in a certain Discord server I tend to frequent (who lives in England and saw the live airing in real time) that this episode wasn't particularly good.

• Still, I had to reserve my actual judgement for after I actually SAW the episode and the first two times I watched it in full (through my own personal means and connections I won't explain further here) I got a strange vibe and noticed how each sketch felt a bit derivative of something else (in various ways, some more than others).

• After watching this episode twice with two completely different groups of online fans (including the whole crew I recorded those podcasts with where I talked about Ncuti and Riz Ahmeds' episodes) I was able to parse out what actually worked and what didn't (much moreso with the second group, sorry ladies).

• I also grew to like Jamie more as a host. He was clearly a better fit for SNL UK than Jeff Goldblum was (since he IS an actual British actor, after all). Jamie truly blended in seamlessly with this cast while still bringing his own unique off beat vibe to the proceedings.

• Yes, it did feel like an uneven episode but that was because they took more chances than last week which naturally resulted in a few things here and there that didn't work here and there but what worked grlt really solid and hit harder than any of last week's high points.

• I do like that they took some swings at some more absurd dadaist level humor (most of which landed).

• As for cast usage, my biggest problem with this episode was the lack of George and Al, of course. However, I do like how they used Jack & Emma this episode. They were two cast members I was on the fence about (to borrow a phrase from Ed Sheerhan) but I'm now fully sold on by how they pur certain sketches over.

• I liked how they worked in the rest of the cast as well (especially Celeste, Freddie, Annabel and Hammed). Everyone else dud some solid support work. Heck, I even liked Royal Bloods' performances just fine. They were pretty good for a band who's sound could best be described as "heavily, heavily watered down Motorhead".

Closing Thoughts

• Next week, serial Chicken Shop Dater Amelia Dimoldenberg will be hosting this show. I know that she has rather tenuous connections to both versions of SNL but this sets something of a dangerous precedent for booking content creators and influencers with no real acting experience as hosts. I think the best we can hope for is that Amelia will just gel and vibe well with the rest of that cast as I'm sure they'll be able to carry her.

• I'm sure I'll also have my review of the upcoming season premiere of SNL US airing the same night, hours later posted here even sooner with host Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks. It's funny how this happens as I'm about to wrap up my coverage of an old SNL season that also had a premiere hosted by an NBA MVP (funny how things sometimes come full circle like that sometimes) but I've heard that Jalen doesn't quite have as much charisma off the court as Lebron or Michael Jordan or even Charles Barkley did. 

• I think the best we can hope for THAT SNL episode is that any number of the seven (!) featured players on SNLs' current cast get to do something that really makes them stand out from the bunch. See you again real soon!

SNL UK: Jeff Goldblum/CMAT (09.12.2026)

Harry & Megan's Return Home

• Hmm...I was so preoccupied with how they would handle Andy Burnham sketches I completely forgot that a sketch about Meghan, Harry and the royals right now would probably make much more of an impact right now.

• I still like these Charles & Camilla impressions. Emma seems to have reigned hers in and toned hers down a bit while Larry has incorporated some C. Montgomery Burns into his King Charles?

• I guess Jack as Harry and Ayoade was an inevitable sight. I can't say I was that impressed by Jack's Harry (I don't think the real Harry is that gruff so I'm not sure what he was going for). I did like Ayoades' American accent, though. The PDA between the two of them felt like it went on a couple of beats too long, though.

• I did like Larry-as-Charles' line about being grateful that Harrys" father isn't still around to see what a waste he's become for the reaction it got. I'm guessing that must be a reference to some affair of Diana's (possibly Dodi Fayed?) and not just a joke about King Charles' possibly becoming senile in his old age and it being kept from the British public?

• Wait, that's...George Fouracres as new Prime Minister Andy Burnham? I thought Paddy was the one who was being groomed to take on that role? Did he not want it or was it taken from him at the last minute? Was this just done by the writers in service of their own (possibly one off) meta joke about there being "no difference" between Burnham and Starmer?

• Ah, I shouldn't complain or nitpick too much. George Fouracres may be my favorite member of this cast. He pretty much saved this sketch and I'm glad to see he still gets to keep his position as SNL UKs' PM impersonator.

• Seriously though, I was wondering what they're take on Burnham as a person and a politician would be...since he's only been in office a couple of months now and may not have done much of note. I'm a bit surprised that the shows' take isn't just that they hate Burnham because the English people have always hated all their prime ministers except for Winston Churchill. 

• Rather, their take seems to be that Burnham tries too hard to be seen as a "relatable" British guy from your average northern everything when there's enough evidence out there to refute that claim...and that Harry and Meghan Markle may be the only ones dumb enough to buy that crap. 

• I mean, even George himself must find Andy Burnham pretty damn relatable since it sounds like he's mostly just using his own voice and accent to play him.

• I actually got a chuckle out of the "Makerfield? Maybe I'll make a field!" joke. This cold open got off to a bit of a shaky start but had a strong finish. B+

Montage

• I like this new intro. They sure injected a whole lot more color and life into it.

• I've seen someone say this reminds them of the SNL season 32 intro. I'd say the SNL UK Series One intro is more reminiscent of seasons 32-34 SNL US. To me, the SNL Series Two intro is more reminiscent of the SNL seasons 35-37 intro.

• It also reminds me a lot of the season 14/15 and season 21 SNL US intros in that there's brief shots of the cast interacting with each other in certain shots (which I guess the SNL US season 32-34 intro might have as well, so there's that).

Monologue

• Is it just me or does Jeff Goldblum now sound a lot like a cross between Alan Alda and Elon Golds' impression of him from the Dana Carvey show at this point?

• Wasn't expecting a smooth jazzy musical number from Jeff, but it's charming enough. I'm OK with it, forced cockney Britishisms and all.

• Hell, I'm even getting slight Walken vibes from it. Even in general, this whole thing feels like a 1995-2002 era SNL US musical monologue with a modern intro. Is this supposed to be a parody of "My Way" or "Mac Tonight" because it sounds like a cross between both.

• Even the seemingly obligatory Jurassic Park callback was fun. Nice way to work in CMAT (who sounds like they couldn't get Ella Langley or Chappell Roan so they went with her non union British equivalent). B-

Gregor J. Dupont: Professional Baby

• This is already making my night. I'm ecstatic that we're getting another absurdist pretape with an original George Fouracres character.

• So, this character hs basically a cross between Peter Serafinowicz's "Brian Butterfield" and Jon Lovitzs' "Master Thespian"? It's still very fun. I'm not complaining.

• The highlights of this for me were the haunting, ghostly playtime/sleepy time noises, the line running and union rule that he doesn't have to play a baby after 6pm and the sea chanting.

• Who were the ones playing Larry & Ayoades' partners in their uniformly negative testimonials? Were they writers or extras? 

• I also liked the added absurdity of Jeff playing George's father who is also a working actor and does a similar gig to his son as a professional ending.

• I also thought that Emma videotaping George's play as if he actually were her son was the best possible ending this could've had. A+

Invisible Friends

• Strange that they're essentially doing two sketches in a row with male cast members playing children, but OK. I'm not mad, but it's certainly a choice. Jeff playing this role as basically himself was a nice touch that didn't steal focus from the rest of this sketch.

• I do like that this escalates beyond just Als' initial "WTF is this grown ass man doing in my child's bedroom reaction" into Celeste knowing Jeffs' character, Hammed as an "invisibility maintenance man" repairing the entire "invisibility network" that went down and Als' character having his own "invisible friend" who's basically just Annabel in a blatant sexpot role that probably would've gone to Emma is this were last season (which shows just how much range Annabel has since she handles this just as well).

• I even got a kick out of the Twilight Zone-esque twist of Al's entire family being "invisible". Decent first appearance from Freddie. B+

Cyrano De Goldblum

• Nice that they're essentially giving Freddie his first showcase sketch in his first episode (but boy does that line about him being "five sad wanks away from a trip to the gun store hit hard in 2026...especially coming from a British show).

• I do like the twist that Annabels' character is some how responding positively at first and then reasonably concerned with her responses to Freddie's statement before catching on to what's happening. That's a nice counter to the very predictable premise of Freddie repeating Jeffs' exact words and directions in the most literal verbal way possible, even interpreting directions of physical actions as lines to repeat.

• I also liked the gag of Freddie basically narrating Jeffs' mugging and police encounter followed by Annabels' character recognizing Jeff from "Cats And Dogs" of all things.

• Speaking of Jeff...did he just flub a line or miss a cue? Did Freddie or Annabel miss a cue? What the hell happened there exactly that botched that ending? B+

The Piano

• Is this a parody of an actual British reality show? I think it must be if it has so many impressions of specific British celebrities (and I'm guessing Ayoade is playing a real British musician as well?)

• Speaking of impressions, I liked getting to see Celestes' Claudia Winkleman again and Jack Sheps' Mika wasn't as much of a demerit against this sketch as I was thinking it would be. He and Ayoade bought a nice sinister, blithely cynical energy to this that helped sell it.

• If this is a real show, I'm guessing either tightly controlled public reactions may be part of the gimmick behind it (like with all reality shows) but the gag may be "what if this got the worst reactions possible that all just centered on peoples' real airport hassles?"

• Ah, I shouldn't overanalyze this sketch. I don't need all this background info to get what it's going for.

• Is Annabel just playing the same generic drunk bridesmaid she played in the Paddington pretape from Tina Feys' episode? 

• Somehow I knew this would include some out of nowhere vomiting. Nice breakdancing from Freddie angrily reacting to all the flights being canceled flight from Larry.

• This feels like it was modeled after a specific late 2010s/early 2020s type of SNL US pretape (the one with Nate Bargatze as a golfer comes to mind for some reason...I'm sure there's several others that parodied various types of US reality competition shows that I'm forgetting).

• Most importantly, this felt like SNL UK  attempting their own version of "Farewell, Mr. Bunting" or any of the several gratuitous gore heavy Sarah Sherman pretapes SNL US has given us in recent years (except the SNL UK writers know how to reign it in properly and contain the comedic value of it as tightly as possible). 

• My only question would be how that bomb detonation would kill Jeffs' character but only leave Celeste covered in dust but otherwise unharmed? B-

Yoga Class

• Nice to see them give Celeste Dring a character showcase of her own. I'm getting slight "David S. Pumpkins by way of Kate McKinnon/Kristen Wiig character choices and Chloe Finemans' accent work" vibes from this but I don't even mind. Freddie was a nice addition.

• Boy, I sure wanted to like this sketch more but it seemed to be entirely based around Celeste doing the worst Swedish accent you've ever heard. Besides that, it didn't escalate or go anywhere and that nothing else was...paht oof eeet. Still, I wouldn't go as far as to say that James Longman or whoever else us charge of picking which sketches go in the live rundown "dahn't dew eet" to this one.

• I did like her urging her yoga Class to help her move a family of three into a new house and the ending reveal that the whole things was a ploy to get Jeff to fix his own neck crick by turning his head. C-

Weekend Update w/Paddy & Ania

• Paddys' Best Jokes: England Till I Die, Protest Leader, Trump Punchline Taken By Legal Team, Sanctions, Monty Gone (such a Norm MacDonald ass joke), State Funeral

• Anias' Best Jokes: Migrant Protests, Trumps New Hair?, Nigel Farage, Eaton College, German AfD win

• Boy, these migrants protest jokes are more of the type of jokes that I only kind of understand if I process them as "these are the type of jokes Jost & Che might tell about Jan 6 protestors".

• Paddys' mustache looks to be a bit...wispier than it was a few months ago. So, it looks like he shaved over the summer for nothing...and may have been so bummed about losing out on a certain role that he hasn't shaved since?

• You know, as recently as July I was starting to see Paddy Young as basically England's answer to Colin Jost (both SNL Weekend Update anchors who each have to sit through the same female castmate playfully roast them at the desk) but I'm starting to see more parallels between Paddy and...David Spade circa October 1992.

• I bring that up here because I bought it up on a certain podcast that was recorded on the Friday before this episode aired live which...at this point, I think might get edited out, so...we'll see.

• So, Emmas' French maid is basically an exact cross between her "woman who can't be ignored" and Nora Dunns' "Babette the French sex kitten" from 40 years ago? Also, did this character start with Emma figuring out how to do an impression of Ayoade and get turned into something else?

• Ah, I'm not mad at this character. I mean, the premise of "French maid who's bad at cleaning but good at sex appeal" is a bit hack but she added some charm to it. B-

Bi King Kong

• PLEASE tell me that's at least Larry in that gorilla suit. This seems like a cross between two specific sketches from Jack Whitehalls episode but done in a fashion that belabors it's own point at first glance because there's only so much work they can do with inconsistently sized props and setpieces in one live sketch.

• Even if the giant nose ring felt like a big cheap laugh, this had a few small things going for it. For instance, having Jeff Goldblum essentially play himself dovetailed nicely with this conceptually and broadcasting this in 4:3 aspect ratio was a nice touch.

• Nice transatlantic accents from Al & George especially. Their performances really helped put this over. Jack seemed to be struggling a bit with his, but the moment where Al accidentally knocked his hat off might have accidentally been the funniest part of this. D+

Yet Another 45 Seconds With Fouracres

• Boy, am I glad to see this back!

• Nice that he's branching out from songs but still finding ways to incorporate fenale guest cameos in this. I guess he felt another song might have been redundant since this already featured tonight's musical guest anyway.

• I didn't even mind that it was basically another Star Wars parody since it ended in a sprawling light saber battle that was fun to watch with a sudden ending that rendered it unnecessary the whole time. B-

Now, this would normally be the point where I rank this episode among the others of its respective season so far, but I can never really do that for a series premiere obviously, so since SNL UKs' previous series was eight episodes I'd like to rank the entire run of this show as a whole...

Ranking Each SNL UK Episode 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. Jeff Goldblum/CMAT (09.12.2026)
6. Nicola Coughlan/Foo Fighters (04.25.2026)
7. Riz Ahmed/Kasabian (04.05.2026)
8. Aimee Lou Wood/MEEK (05.02.2026)
9. Jack Whitehall/Jorja Smith (04.11.2026)

Overall Thoughts

• This was an episode that started out pretty strong, lost minimal steam at the end but remained consistently entertaining through.

• SNLs' season premieres usually have this "shaking off the rust and cobwebs" feeling to them as they get themselves back into the weekly grind, but even SNL UKs version of that shows a lot more effort and creativity.

• Jeff Goldblum was...basically Jeff Goldblum but still, he proved himself to be a host that the cast and writers easily worked with as they quickly figured out how to cleverly worked into the show rather than having to work around.

• Aside from another noticable lack of Hammed and a reigned in Jack, cast usage was pretty strong for everyone. Celeste and Annabel might have had the best nights they've had in the entire run of the show and they actually gave some substantial airtime to Freddie Meredith...their newest cast member. I sure wish SNL US could do this as well.

Closing Thoughts

• Well, that was fun. Next week, Jamie Demetriou hosts SNL UK. He's another one of those actors I can't say I've seen in anything but I'm sure he'll blend right in with the cast and this will be a strong show.

• I'll have a review of that posted on this blog by this time next week. Around that same time, I will have recorded the next episode of We Heart Hader reviewing the Shia Labouef/My Morning Jacket season 33 episode of SNL US which I will have a review of on my blog roughly the week after that when that podcast episode is released. See you again soon!

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!