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-
- 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
- Lebron James/Kanye West (09.29.2007)
- Seth Rogen/Spoon (10.06.2007)
- Tina Fey/Carrie Underwood (02.23.2008)
- Amy Adams/Vampire Weekend (03.08.2008)
- Jonah Hill/Mariah Carey (03.15.2008)
- Brian Williams/Feist (11.03.2007)
- Elliot Page/Wilco (03.01.2008)
- 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!
