Brian Williams/Feist (11.03.2007)

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

Halloween Party

In the name of democratic party unity Bill (Hammond) and Hillary Clinton (Poehler) throw a Halloween party for themselves and Hillarys' upcoming presidential primary opponents including Congressman Dennis Kucinich (Simon Rich) and his wife Elizabeth (Wiig), Governor Bill Richardson (Horatio Sanz) Senators John Edwards (Forte), Joe Biden (Sudeikis), Christopher Dodd (Hader), Mike Gravel (Armisen), Barack Obama (Himself)

• This is certainly a famous and well remembered sketch as it would be repeated and included in numerous prime time SNL Halloween specials for years to come after it aired (possibly because it does feature an actual cameo from the real candidate who would go on to win this election cycle a year out from this sketch airing and its' not often that the show could score a cameo from a current let alone future sitting president...more on that in a bit).

• Putting aside the idea that they are opening their November 3rd, 2007 episode with a Halloween sketch, the idea that most of the people at this party are angling to be Hillarys' vice president is an interesting angle. It makes this sketch a real time capsule which manages to date itself by the end of the sketch given how drastically the trajectory of this presidential election shifts by the time of this shows next new episode (and the person whose in whose favor it shifts toward being in the building and in this very sketch).

• Forte is John Edwards dressed as...an old time hobo? Well, he and Amy still do a great job setting up this sketch. Hammond as Bill Clinton dressed as Mystery, the pickup artist (you remember him, right? the guy who invented "peacocking"and "negging"?) is...a little on the nose, but still pretty spot on for its time. 

• The bit with people mistaking Hillarys' "bride" dress for a "witch" costume was a bit hacky but I like the idea of Bill immediately abandoning the idea of "dressing as bride and groom for Halloween" because "everyone knows we're married". Also, isn't the idea of "bride and groom costumes" for Halloween the lamest, most "out of touch with the way real everyday people think and act" thing you've ever heard of in your life? After all, it certainly does reflect the mindset of the woman who gave us the immortal phrase "Pokemon Go to the polls". SNL would give us a lot of jokes about Hillary Clinton being another self aggrandizing career politician who has no idea how to relate to any regular voter but this one really subtly hits the nail on the had without belaboring the point.

• Strange time for a Horatio Sanz cameo but I can understand them not having anyone else still in the cast at that time who could legitimately play the half-Mexican Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson dressed as Al Gore.

• Bills' first appearance in this episode is in this sketch, playing Senator Chris Dodd alongside the debut of Sudeikis' Joe Biden (another notable impression in SNLs' history of political sketches although it would take some time for him to work out the "affable, fun loving, goofball" angle). Both of these men are wearing Spongebob costumes and commenting on how both of their presences together in the same place "cancel each other out" as only one of them can make a strong impression at a time. This must've been sort of a weird meta commentary on...something? The actual democratic primary debate that occurred earlier this week...or just the state of the presidential race in general at this point? 

• Or maybe this is just a meta commentary on how SNL has too many white guys in this cast and they all seem pretty interchangable? The fact that a couple of these impressions get switched around later in the show in a completely different sketch revolving around these same democratic candidates seems to support this theory (speaking of which, I think I really could've done without the thing with Kucinich and his wife here). Either way this strikes me as one of those things you really had to be around at the time for it to hit the right way (and once that time has passed and you're chronologically removed from that period you're completely lost). As for Fred Armisens' portrayal of Senator Mike Gravel as a literal mental patient...well, I can only hope that is a reference to this video and not this one.

• ...and here he is folks! The actual next President of the United States enters the scene wearing a mask of himself. I found Baracks' appearance here to be...serviceable. Looking back, there was nothing too earth shattering or ground breaking about this appearance. He doesn't really have any laugh lines (but he did smile a little as not to appear too stiff) and this does seem like a brief campaign appearance from a candidate looking to loosen up his image by just agreeing to appear on the show. At this point, no one really knew how much of a chance he really had or how much he had to lose by doing this so when you remove yourself from the mindset that you are just watching "Senator Obama" or "Candidate Obama" and not "Future President Obama" (especially if you are watching this episode in a rerun or Halloween special from when he actually WAS President) then...there's not a whole lot to write home about.

• Honestly, the most interesting thing about this sketch may be Maya Rudolphs' story about how one of the first times she MET Obama was when she played him in the dress rehearsal version of this sketch (just before he was set to come out and tap her on the shoulder before removing his mask...which you can read about here in EWs' write up of Mayas' appearance on Amys' "Good Hang" podcast) or even a story I heard Seth Meyers tell about this sketch when I saw him to standup in the fall of 2011 (which you'll have to listen to MY podcast to hear me tell) but anyway, this was a decent cold open that has lost a bit of its luster with age. 

• Now, obviously...Maya didn't go on to play Barack Obama on this show for reasons beyond this ending up being her last episode as a cast member. As for who DID go on to play Obama on this show...well, we'll talk about that when I review THAT episode, OK? B- 

Monologue

Brian Williams publicly shares his doubts about even doing the show to the audience but concedes that since NBC research shows that people find him to be quite stiff, it would be good for his image to have fun, be loose and pull himself out of 'anchorman mode" if only for one night.

• Brian certainly presented himself well here. I did like his jokes about finding out other esteemed news anchors have only been impersonated by other cast members on this show rather than having hosted, admitting that Tom Brokaw may not know who he is and the graphic displayed next to him at the end. 

• Pretty crazy that he had just moderated an MSNBC debate between the democratic candidates that week and was still able to do this show. Honestly, that might be the type of thing I would expect to have an effect on the show itself but then again, Brian Williams isn't the type of host I would expect to be heavily involved with any of the writing anyway.

• Even at this point in time, there shouldn't have been doubts in anyones' mind that he would do well on this show since he'd successfully cameo'd in the previous seasons' premiere and made the rounds on other late night shows. Most importantly, he'd done "The Colbert Report" and 'The Daily Show w/Jon Stewart" by this time. 

• The latter of whom made it clear that Brian was perhaps the only "real" news anchor with integrity who didn't actively deceive the American people...until early 2015 when he had to admit that he did NOT actually get shot at with an RPG in a helicopter while covering the war in Iraq (although he does actually mention that he was "shot in Iraq" in this monologue, which...hoo boy).

• Fortunately for him, this was a minor scandal from that time that would blow over with him being demoted from "NBC Nightly News" anchor to host of MSNBCs' "The Eleventh Hour w/Brian Williams".

• Anyway, strong monologue that sets a confident tone for the rest of the show. B+

Maybelline For Men

Now, guys (Armisen, Forte, Hader, Samberg, Sudeikis) can wear cosmetic makeup simply because Maybelline is now producing a special brand of makeup that is clearly just for them because the box it comes in says its' "for men only" and that it's "not noticeable".

• Bills' second appearance of the night is in this sketch as one of Armisens' buddies in this who he convinces to wear makeup. Amy appear briefly as Bills' wife.

• I literally don't know what else to say about this. It appears to be forced low level absurdity based on absolutely nothing but I will point out what a strange coincidence it is that Deej and I have now done two consecutive podcasts where we review scenes involving Fred wearing full,womanly makeup...and that at least this was neat blackout length. D+

Bronx Beat

Betty Caruso (Poehler) and Jodi Deitz (Rudolph) welcome Bronx firefighter Paul Dooley (Williams) as a guest to discuss fire safety but keep coming back to their own musings and prattlings about their families, Halloween, Jodis' recent IBS diagnosis and hinting at the vague idea of drinking some wine and going to a store that sells vibrators

• Well, I run typically hot and cold on these sketches and with their rapid fire pacing it's damn near impossible to pick out any particular lines that stood out...but out of all of these sketches this one does stick out in my memory more than most of the others.

• Really, the most notable thing about this sketch is it's Mayas' last one as a full cast member and because of this one of the last moments of he last episode involves her telling Amy that they should drink a glass of wine and vaguely hinting that they should also go to a store that sells vibrators. That plus the IBS lines does mark a turning point where these Bronx Beat sketches get a little bit "edgier" and more risque.

• You know, I've mentioned this before but That Week In SNL and The Saturday Night Network were two of my biggest inspirations to get into podcasting about SNL in the first place so without them We Heart Hader certainly wouldn't exist (what with Deej and I both being SNN patrons and all). I happen to know that both Andy and Timmy covered this episode on That Week with Jon Schneider as a guest about four and a half years ago with Jon as a guest so it means quite a bit to me to that WHH has come across its first SNL episode that all of us have mutually covered on our own respective podcasts. I say that partly just to say it but partly to segue into my next point.

• Naturally, upon re-listening to Andy, Timmy and Jons' review of this episode before this writing I noticed that they bring up an interesting point about this sketch in that it is the first "Bronx Beat" where the host plays a character rather than just playing their part as a slightly more befuddled version of themselves. I thought about this myself and came to the conclusion that this is the first Bronx Beat where the host is given the ROOM to do a character because Amy and Maya pretty much dominated these by speeding over the hosts' role with rapid fire repetitive dialogue (this one does make a meal out of the "sweater weather" catchphrase that seemed to have spawned from Bronx Beat in general) but in this one and later installments when Amy and/or Maya would come back and do these as hosts they let the host at least do some kind of accent that fits these sketches. 

• After this one, you'll notice the ones with Timberlake, Samberg, Tina Fey and even the one from SNL50 with Mike Meyers as Linda Richman focus more on letting the guests get their words and accents in edgewise. The ones with Hugh Laurie and Katy Perry might be the only exceptions to this rule, but then again...Katy barely needed to talk at all in hers and she and the writers seemed to recognize that. 

• Hey, I just remembered what Brians' accent in this sketch reminds me of. Steve Carrells' Ray Romano impression from the episode Deej and I covered in our own very first podcast. C+ 

Rileys' Way

While shooting the series finale of CW high school teen drama "Rileys' Way", the former Quantum Leap alum who plays Principal Jefferies (Williams) suddenly becomes irate upon finding out from his younger cast mates (Poehler, Samberg, Thompson) and the director (Sudeikis) that he has been excluded from the upcoming spin-off "Rileys' Way: The College Years" until everyone helps him cope with this fact. 

• This might be my favorite sketch of the night. It seemed tailor made for Brian an he played his part perfectly (especially opposite Sudeikis in his role as the Mike Underballs-lite director).

• Kenan, Amy and Andy were pretty much straight men here but they channeled teen melodrama actors well and did solid work setting up the scene for Brian to sell the hopelessly out of touch delusion and desperation of his character perfectly (without overselling it since only one of the two "bad takes"he did involved him claiming he never got his degree and thus has to go back to school at the same college as his students).

• One question I do have though is why were the actual high school student characters sitting on a swing set? High schools don't have playgrounds, but I guess I could see it if their graduation ceremony or party took place at a public park (or maybe their cap-and-gown fitting place was near one).

• The slow, sad cover of Rhiannas' "Umbrella" playing in the background was a nice touch (not sure who that ones' by but I THINK it's Mandy Moore since I remember hearing she did a cover of this song around this time?) I even liked it starting to cue up when Brian gave his dramatic speech and Jason asking to kill it suddenly.

• The only thing I think detracted from this sketch was that Brians' speech at the end felt a little rushed and underwritten (unless that was part of the joke).

• Oh, and before I forget, Bills' third appearance in this episode is as the marker of each scene who quickly becomes an actor in the role of "the guy who killed principal Jefferies" after a quick "rewrite". Very funny ending. A-

Publishers Clearing House Giveaway

Presenter Cheryl Bryant (Wiig) has some serious trouble garnering as much excitement from new $15 million prize winner Carl Bacon (Williams) as she has from past prize winners (Forte, Poehler, Rudolph) or even as much as a Dominos delivery driver (Armisen) does when offering him free cheesy bread with his pizza

• While this was another sketch that was dovetailed well with Brians' image, it was pretty one note and stretched pretty thin. Plus, it was another one of those sketches that gave you a heads up on where Kristen Wiigs' trajectory on the show was headed as far as what types of characters she would start playing on a regular basis...for better or worse.

• Still, I didn't mind it at the time (or now) because it was only the first of three times we'd see this semi recurring character from Wiig over the course of the next four years. Plus, Brians' subtly delighted reaction to the bonus free cheesy bread was funny. Speaking of, the reactions from previous Publishers' Clearing House winners didn't do a whole lot for me but I liked Amy tearing through a screen door and a potted plant. C-

Digital Short: Brian Diaries

Brian Williams presents a video of his day to day routine as anchor of NBC Nightly News.

• This was a fun, unique segment where Brian poked a little bit more fun at himself and his own image than he got around to doing in the monologue. Plus, it's one of the rare early Digital Shorts that's not entirely done in the Lonely Islands signature house style and those are always nice to see.

• I do wonder who wrote this? Seems like it could've been Seth or maybe Jorma/Akiva pitched in on this? I'm certainly not saying its bland but I am saying that its a bit hard to get a bead on this since it's a little outside of SNLs' usual style from this time and seems like it could've been written by an outside writer?

• I liked the opening where Brian is standing outside 30 Rock waiting for someone to recognize him and decided that someone calling him Stone Phillips is "close enough" as well as his "fitness routine" being him standing on a treadmill in his suit with a newspaper while wearing the same suit. Him being roped off with body guards in the NBC commissary was also a nice touch.

• Brian tossing pennies out of his window at Al Roker and (especially) Matt Lauer...definitely ages better than it was intended to. Maybe Brian and a few people at SNL knew something about Matt that the rest of the world wouldn't find out for another ten years?

• Speaking of, a Bono cameo being used as a barometer of "coolness" is something else that may have aged this noticeably but the idea of Brian imagining Bono as a guy who wishes he was as cool as Brian still holds up surprisingly well today.

• The only bad thing I could say about this short is that the gags with Brians' narcissism (watching his own footage and leaving himself a voicemail) felt a little telegraphed but he still managed to elevate them a little. B- 

Feist Performs "1234" and "I Feel It All"

• Well, if you're like me, I'm sure you remember this song from the iPhone commercial it was in that got played to death around this time. I don't have too much else to say about this song or this style of music that I didn't already say about the Spoons performances when I reviewed Seth Rogens' episode a month ago

• ...but I will say that Feists music sounds like a much more aggressively "Twee" version of Florence + The Machine than your average "Stomp clap hey" fare from around this time (so much so that I like to imagine this is the type of career Zooey Deschannel would have if she decided to pursue music full time instead of acting)

Weekend Update w/Poehler and Meyers

Studio head Roger A Travanti (Armisen) delivers a commentary on how the looming WGA strike will affect the industry and him personally

Update Nanny Barbara Birmingham (Thompson) delivers a commentary on this years inappropriate Halloween costumes for young girls

• Seth's Best jokes: Biden/Guiliani, sex on plane, dog shoots hunter, worlds' oldest paraglider

• Amy's Best jokes: lost FEMA promotion, cocaine accusation, Applebees'/IHOP, new meth detector

• Surprisingly, Freds' piece worked better than it had any right to. He played up the clueless, self-righteous arrogance of his role expertly in a way that only he could pull off and it commented on the excesses of late 2000s wealth inequality in a funny way.

• As far as Kenans' commentary goes, it's sadly indistinguishable from his other drag characters from his early SNL tenure, but I like his line about how "the only costumes we had growing up were 'milkman' and 'SLAVE'!" as well as his lunging at Seth from across the desk. Plus, Seths' adlibs after he found his top shirt button was undone and his tie was nearly undone as well were fun to see. C+

Larry King Live

After having recently revealed that the character of Dumbledore (Hader) from the Harry Potter books is gay, author J.K. Rowling (Poehler) presents to Larry King (Armisen) deleted scenes from the Harry Potter film series where Dumbledores' sexuality and close friendship with Professor McGonagall (Wiig) comes into play as he pines for his ex-wizard, Jerry Shanks

• Boy, this one aged...weirdly. Plus, it seemed like it would've bee pretty damn hacky even by 2007 standards to begin with.

• I'm not a fan of Freds' awful Larry King impression so I'm at least glad to see how few lines he has in this as the second biggest thing hampering this sketch.

• As weird as it is to see J.K. Rowling portrayed as even vaguely, passively supportive of the LGBTQ community now...it is somewhat balanced out if you also decide to think about this as a portrayal of J.K. Rowling as a shameless opportunist, desperately clinging to relevance after her career as a beloved and well respected childrens' author had just come to a close without her giving a single thought to the idea that she may be permanently tarnishing her legacy.

• Beyond that, I'll just say that while Bill and Kristen are far from the worst parts of this sketch, their performances are elevating this as much as this material can be elevated (and i did get a chuckle out of the line about Dumbledore having received a "booty owl"). C-

iPhone Ads

Fred Armisen likes how much easier it is to cheat on his pregnant wife and get away with it using the new iPhone.

A small business owner with a hatred of authority (Sudeikis) likes how much easier the iPhone makes it to look for hiding spots and plan escape routes using Google Maps after punching cops while high on crystal meth

• I know this is the year the first iPhone came out and I vaguely remember the type of iPhone commercial these ads were spoofing.

• Only one of these ads aired during the live show and it was Freds'. The other one with Jason was cut for time (Seth's adlibs after Kenans' Update commentary made the show run a little long) and was added back in to the rerun after the fact. 

• Freds' didn't work for me that much. Something about the sleaze and creepiness of his character he sold a little too well without even trying.

• Jasons' was tremendously funny for how casually he sold the sheer outrageous outlandishness of his character. I liked his line about using the iPhone to watch "pig punch" videos on YouTube and using iTunes to pick the perfect songs to listen to while coming down from a crystal meth high. 

• Man, it's weird to see how tiny and puny the first iPhone looked in a grown mans' hand compared to how big someof these Samsung Galaxy smartphones are now that barely fit in my own hand

• It's interesting to pick apart these iPhone ad parodies from around the time this product was first introduced because the one recurring theme or message behind them seems to be "the only people who would dare use such a ridiculous product are dangerous, idiot sociopaths who won't amount to anything other then being an active menace to society". 

• I mean, we've come to a point in society that the only people that this thesis really applies to the people who invent and mass market such technologies and the people who create and distribute their own homemade content with them leaving the rest of us as their victims who've all been brain damaged and heavily spiritually degraded by them to various degrees. What are you gonna do, huh? C-/B+

Before The Debate

After Brian Williams tells Senators Chris Dodd (Hammond), John Edwards (Forte), Joe Biden (Sudeikis), Governor Bill Richardson (Horatio Sanz) and Congressman Dennis Kucinich (Poehler) what order their podiums will be in on stage in relation to Senators Clinton and Obama before their big debate at Drexel University (before the latter even arrives), Williams flat out admits to them that he and the rest of the media really want Hillary to become the Democratic nominee and get elected president. Senator Mike Gravel (Armisen) is also backstage for some reason....even though no one has told him he is not in the debate yet. Once Brian leaves, they all discuss potential plans to take down Hillary during the debate in a feeble attempt to boost their own chances...ranging from having Gov. Richardson accuse her of being "anti-Hispanic" to having Sen. Edwards sue her to even entertaining a potential kidnapping plot proposed by Senator Gravel. Ultimately, they agree to simply hammer her on her most vulnerable issues but suffer the consequence of being unfairly labeled as sexist bullies by the media.

• Bill is not in this sketch because the role played earlier in the evening is given to Darrell Hammond.

• You know, I seem to remember SNL getting a lot of flack from conservatives around this time for "being in the tank"for Obama and just the democratic party in general and you would think it would be because of all the sketches they did hammering John McCain, Sarah Palin, George W. Bush and Joe Biden without really having an effective comedic angle on Obama at all, but having an actual member of the actual media just straight up admitting that he and his fellow "journalists" are actually giving Hillary Clinton heavy preferential treatment because they want her to become the next president (even in jest in a comedy sketch which I'm sure they would conveniently ignore if it didn't escape them entirely) must've given them more ammunition than anyone realized at this time. Plus, that whole "half-Mexican" thing would probably feed into their confirmation bias in some way since that almost seemed like it was written from the modern rights' viewpoint on the modern left.

• Boy, it's easy enough to miss Fortes' "Obamas' on his way" line at the beginning because knowing Obama IS in the building tonight...this sketch feels like one LLLOOOOONNNNGGG set up to a second Obama cameo that never actually happens. 

• Speaking of, Jon Schneider actually did reveal on That Week that there was a planned TV Funhouse segment that cut from this episode that focused on racial profiling in airports. Standards and Practices wanted to nix it but Lorne fought for it so they eventually agreed to show this to Obama and if he said "no" to this they would cut it. Obviously, they said "no" and this lost TV Funhouse segment never saw the light of day. This makes me genuinely wonder if they told Obama about this sketch and he said "no" when asked if he wanted to make another cameo because I could definitely see him not wanting to be associated with this sketch in any way. 

• Hell, I'm surprised that even Brian said "yes" to this sketch...or that Lorne and enough other people responsible for such decision making at the show let this get on air because it's...certainly questionable and one of the most baffling bad sketches in SNL history. How DID this make it past dress rehearsal and get on the air?

• Seriously, this plays to almost LITERAL. DEAD. SILENCE. from the crowd. Amy Poehler portraying a small. elf like man who happened to be in the real debate this sketch was based on is the only thing getting any laughs or any kind or response from the audience.

• We do see the very beginning of Jasons' "goofball" Biden impression start to come into place with that whole "where's the beef?" bit but...that could've been cut entirely as it slowed down and already painful slog of a sketch. Still, it is interesting that they make Darrell utter the line about how neither him nor Joe Biden have a chance of becoming the nominee which, well...when you consider how the real Joe Bidens' political career went in the years after this sketch aired...do I need to say it.

• I also see that they seem to make reference to some actual comments Mike Gravel made about a wanting to prevent a potential war with Iran during that debate in one of the videos of him I linked above which...well, speaking of things that don't age well nearly 20 years later (yikes) just flat out makes Armisens' portrayal of him as a violent borderline psychopath just flat out unacceptable.

• I may have more to say about this sketch, but the more I sit with this the angrier and more disgusted with it I become, so I'll just move on. D-

The New Open

In a conference room with NBC executives (Poehler, Hader, Sudeikis), Brian Williams announces he has hired the team of Dunham and Kirk to come up with a hip new opening theme for the Nightly News in order to draw in an elusive younger audience. The group of musicians (Armisen, Forte, Samberg, Rudolph, Wiig) present everything from gritty 70s funk to modern gangsta rap to mellow folk tunes which don't feel like the right fit, so Brian insists on going with his own ridiculous James Bond style opening sequence that involves him punching bad guys in a tuxedo

• This sketch felt like just a mishmash of a few different types of band/musical act sketches that this cast liked to do around this time, but it had some kind of variety that kept it moving along at a snappy pace. It was all over the place, but in a fun way that didn't detract from the sketch at all.

• Hey, Brian says that "young people are getting their news from the internet and these PODCASTS!" I'm not sure if this is the second EVER mention of podcasts on SNL...but it will definitely be the second that Deej and I will have mentioned on OURS (here's the first in case you're at all curious). 

• What this tells me is that by early 2006 SNL had just learned that podcasts were even a thing and that anyone with at least a laptop and a microphone could make one and put it out on iTunes. By late 2007, SNL and the rest of traditional/legacy media knew what they were and were starting to figure out that they could be a source of news and political commentary and thus they were cutting into THEIR racket!

• This sketch may be most notable for featuring Mayas' final moment as a cast member (whether or not anyone knew it at the time, including Maya, is another story). Her gritty 70s funk song was OK, even if I couldn't understand a few lyrics.

• I got a chuckle from Samberg dressed as an 80s new wave musician with a Flock Of Seagulls haircut and a keytar chirping "busted" when Brian calls him out for simply presenting him with the old Fraiser theme. 

• Normally, Fred Armisen going from paying a glockenspiel to rapping would be just wrong but it vibes well enough with this sketch. I also liked Fortes' line "we got dignified coming out o our ass" and Wiigs song.

• The James Bond sequence at the end was the big comedic high point of this for me (especially the sudden image of him punching the Earth with a martini in his other hand as it rolls toward him).

• Bill actually has dual roles in this sketch if you can believe it. Sure, he's one of the ineffectual executives but if you look closely at the James Bond sequence you'll see him as the bald, eyepatched Dr. Evil like henchman with a machine gun Brian punches. C+ 

Ranking Season 33 From Best To Worst

1. Lebron James/Kanye West (09.29.2007)
2. Seth Rogen/Spoon (10.06.2007)
3. Brian Williams/Feist (11.03.2007)
4. Jon Bon Jovi/Foo Fighters (10.13.2007)

Overall Thoughts

• Well, this episode wasn't quite as strong as I remembered. It was quite a bit more uneven, but that may mostly be due to some real baffling sketch choices and (or course) the brief spots of political humor (some of it a bit milquetoast, some of it quite strange and confounding) from a time before politics (and the culture around them) would shift drastically.

• Brian Williams was a bit more stiff as a host than I remembered, but he performed well or someone whose not a comedian by trade and has more of a background in broadcast journalism. I wouldn't say he showed limited range because "range" wasn't what was expected of him. I wouldn't say he mostly played himself all night because he didn't do that either. 

• When you get down to it, Brian maybe the biggest reason as to why this episode was remembered as being better than it was as most people who weren't familiar with him were impressed that he met the baseline expectation of being more than a stiff, serious new anchor and showing he had a sense of humor about his own image.

• He was a reliable host who gave off a warm, charming and likable presence and showed he was willing to have fun and go with the flow (within reason for a man in his position) and that's pretty much all that was asked of him. Since he cleared that bar easily, I'd say he was a successful host. 

• As far as cast usage, Amy, Maya and Kristen dominated the show (as expected especially in Mayas' case if they wanted to use her while they still had her). On the male side, Fred, Will, and Jason dominated the show. Bill and Darrell had decent nights in mostly supporting roles and Andy and Kenan would've been all but shut out if it weren't for two specific sketches for each of them.

Closing Thoughts

• Well, that was a minor shock to the system but I sure hope you enjoyed reading this one as much as I hope you enjoyed listening to the podcast i recorded to go along with it.

• I hope you also enjoyed whatever I ended up writing about SNL UK on here and I hope you enjoy the review I post of SNLs upcoming Jack Black/Jack White episode a week from now. See you then!

Steve Carell/Kanye West (10.01.2005)

White House Press Briefing

Tim Russert (Hammond) throws to President George W. Bush (Forte) insisting that the Hurricane Katrina devastation in New Orleans was "getting better" as he has been there "seven times". He gives evasive answers on the federal budget, the war in Iraq and the investigations into other prominent Republicans to Terry Moran (Sudeikis) Wolf Blitzer (Parnell) and Nora O'Donnell (Poehler).

- Fortes' George W. Bush may not have been as technically accurate or as crowd pleasing as Ferrells' but his whiny defensiveness works here. Still, he doesn't do a whole lot to liven up this dry ass late period Downey material.

- Parnells' Wolf Blitzer gets sudden unexpected laughter. Fortes' FEMA rant gets unexpected clapter with the line "who's in charge of this situation?" The "wake up calls" ramble was a solid way to end this. C+

Montage 

Same as season 30 but in wide-screen with Bill Hader, Andy Samberg and Jason Sudeikis credited as featured players (Sudekis officially joined the cast in May of 2005).

Monologue

Steve Carell, coming hot off the critical and commercial success of "The 40 Year Old Virgin" (which just made $100,000,000 at the box office) and the first season of The Office, sings of his greatness (compared to other "frat pack" comedic film stars of this time).

- Steve Carell mentions this is the first SNL episode filmed entirely in high definition. He then claims he auditioned for SNL in 1995 but lost to Will Ferrell. Ten years later, Carell would tweet that this was an untrue joke. That tweet has since disappeared along with Carells' entire Twitter feed. Funny that he would still name check Ferrell twice in this monologue.

- This felt like a cute, quaint throwback to the years when an R-rated comedy was seen as a viable box office success by most studios. Amy, Kenan and Horatio made decent cameos.

- I did like the the "Stillers' a big kiss ass and Owen Wilson is gay" line as well as the repetition of "money falls from my ass". C+

Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley insurance agent (Forte) is tougher on a high school girl (Poehler) and her friend (Samberg) than her own dorky, eager to please, push over father (Armisen)

- I remember this being one of the better non-Digital Short commercial pretapes of this season. Unfortunately, the show having repeated one too many times throughout the season lessened its impact.

- Sambergs' first appearance on the show (well, his first pretaped appearance but still...)

- Fortes' line to Armisen "Dammit, Frank. Grow a pair!" was the perfect button to end this on. Already, this episode feels worlds away from the doldrums of season 30. B+

Jet Blue Flight 292

A passenger (Poehler) on a Jet Blue Flight watches a CNN report on the very same plane she's on having malfunctioning landing gear which will cause an emergency landing in Los Angeles. She is much more frightened than her oblivious ignorant husband (Carell) and even the plane's pilot (Parnell V/O) about their situation as she watches anchorman Aaron Brown (Hammond) discuss their doomed, sealed, fate with aerodynamics expert Greg Benedetto (Meyers) and psychologist Dr. Daniel Lane (Hader). She is extremely relieved that this plane has landed safely.

- This feels like the type of specifically hyper topical sketch that the show could've only pulled off in mid to late 2005.

- Steve played the dumb husband well and his "three weeks in Burbank" line got a laugh out of me.

- Haders' first ever live appearance on SNL. He does a great job of switching between "stuffy professor" voice and "casual slightly freaked out regular guy" voice between his two lines in this sketch. Still, he doesn't quite compare to Amy Poehler playing "existential terror" perfectly. 

- Not only is this Bill Haders' first ever appearance on the show, it's also a young Colin Josts' first sketch as a writer that made it to air. Impressive for two different newbies!

- Seth's part was fun with the computer models of the exploding plane and fire trucks. Darrell was great at displaying a callous, morbid detachment as he strung this sketch together. B-

Anderson Cooper 360

Anderson Cooper (Meyers) reports live on the scene from the damaged site of Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (Mitchell) thanks those who turned out to support the cause, including big name Hollywood Celebrities who showed up in person. We see Tony Danza (Armisen), Sharon Stone (Poehler), Al Pacino (Hader) and Aaron Neville (Sanz) very ineptly help build a house for displaced Hurricane victims Mamie Thibodaux (Rudolph) and her son Gartrell (Thompson). Ray Romano (Carell) has even showed up to calm down an angry, gun toting Sean Penn. Suddenly, Geraldo Rivera (Hammond) shows up to steal the focus before being scared away himself by errant gunfire.

- Seths' not exactly known for his impressions but you can tell he's trying to hit some really specific beats and tics with his Anderson Cooper and that works well enough for me. He did a fine job anchoring this sketch (no pun intended). Maya and Kenan as mother and costumed son were a nice touch and set up a nice callback later. Finesse as Mayor Ray Nagin didn't add a whole lot but I liked his rant about Sean Penn and his boat full of guns.

- It's a bit strange to think that SNL could mine this much comedy out of a natural disaster that got the attention of the entire country, but it was after roughly six weeks and it's more satirizing self serving media coverage than anything.

- Not only that, but this sketch somehow got four different mini applause breaks for four different impressions. 

- Speaking of, Hader has his first real breakout moment and nearly runs away with this sketch with his DEAD ON Scent Of A Woman/Frank Slade era Al Pacino impression. Seriously, he pretty much nails it! That was the first big applause break of this sketch and got him a lot of buzz on SNL message boards at the time (even around Conans' offices that time as well as you can see from his first appearance).

- The second big applause break comes from Steve Carells' Ray Romano. Maybe not as good as Haders' Pacino but...it's serviceable even if it feels more like Carell affecting a generic goofy voice than anything. It's at least good for a callback to "Sean Penns' boat full of guns" gag.

- The third applause break came from Horatios' Aaron Neville. Oof. Well, in spite of the strange use of makeup and prosthetics and the general "oopsie doo" nature of it all, it's a little less awkward than it was as the focus of it's own sketch last season (see "Aaron Nevilles' City Court" from season 30s Hilary Swank/50 Cent episode). At least it makes Armisens' Tony Danza seem much less awkward than it really is.

- The fourth applause break was from Darrell Hammonds Geraldo Rivera suddenly running scared from gunfire. I've always liked this impression of Darrells and this was definitely the best use of it. I'll say the same about Amys' Sharon Stone even if I was always pretty ambivalent about that one. The callback here to the three costumed sons was a nice touch.

- Overall, this was a real, multifaceted time capsule of a sketch but it was still the real highlight of the episode and they were wise to make it feel like the real centerpiece of the night. B+

The Needlers

Neil & Karen (Carell & Dratch) come to regret their decision to announce their engagement to intensely bickering Sally & Dan Needler (Poehler & Meyers)

- This is now a recurring sketch as it was the followup to a very similar sketch from the previous seasons' Johnny Knoxville/System Of A Down episode from May of 2005. The main difference is that the names of Amy & Seth's characters were changed from "Henderson" to "Neddler".

- This feels like something only Seth & Amy have the right chemistry to pull off and put over. 

- The combination of Amy and Seths' natural warmth mixed with their penchant for snark helps keep this from becoming too offputting.

- Steve and Rachel play uncomfortable bystanders real well. Sudeikis had possibly his best lines in the entire show as the waiter. B-

Girls Gone Wild Katrina

Doug Stanhope (Sudeikis) swims through the wreckage of Katrina offering fresh water and shelter to women who will flash their breasts on camera.

- Wow. This wasn't quite as tasteless as I remembered (in fact, it's a little more grating and repetitive with all the censored flashing and screeching) but still, the audience is pretty much stunned into near silence as if the barely knew how to react. 

- It serves as a scathing indictment of the culture that gave us "Girls Gone Wild" in the first place, that's for sure.

- I'll also say that I liked the cheap digital camera feel of this. This also looks and feels different than any pretape SNL has done in the past. I wonder if Jorma and Akiva were involved in filming this seeing as it would be their first show as writers, too? C+

Backstage

Lorne convinces Maya her eighth month of pregnancy is unnoticeable on camera and asks Finesse to make sure Kanye isn't going to say anything too crazy on live TV. An immediately suspicious Kanye walks out for his performance of "Gold Digger" and "Touch The Sky" and has an awkward reunion with Mike Myers (Himself).

- After appearing in this episode, Maya would go on maternity leave and miss quite a great deal of this season up until the Steve Martin/Prince episode in February of 2006.

- It's amazing that Kanye once had the ability to convince America he had something resembling a sense of humor about himself. I genuinely have to wonder what really happened to Kanye over the years that made him increasingly self absorbed.

- Mike Myers was fine here. He did a fine job of mining his own awkward discomfort...six weeks later.

- Even Maya was charming here but Finesse and Lornes' parts felt like something that could've been cut from this (especially Mayas' "he still works here?" line). 

- Maybe this wasn't the best "meta/backstage" sketch the show has ever done, but hey...I'll take it. C+

Weekend Update w/Amy Poehler & Tina Fey Horatio Sanz

Amy Poehler immediately announces Tina is on "assisgment" maternity leave as she has just had her first child. 

Horatio Sanz is filling in the anchor chair and delivers an editorial explaining why President Bushs' increasingly damaging scandals make him look like "a genius".

Finesse Mitchells' report on the New York club scene turns into a story about his accidentally picking up a cross dresser.

Featured players Bill Hader and Andy Samberg introduce themselves with a "friendly new guy impression off".

- Horatio Sanz delivering Weekend Update jokes is truly a sight to behold. He's not necessarily bad, but you can sense an awkward stilted discomfort in his delivery...kind of like Aykroyd in season 3 but worse. His panda bear mating joke has aged particularly poorly given certain personal revelations about him that came out in more recent years. His Bush editorial was fine though. He seemed more in his element there.

- As far as Amys' jokes went, her first one (about what was "hurting the nations' image" at that time) was the only one that hit for me. All her others just slid right out of my brain.

- Finesses' stand up bit is...pretty embarassing at this point. This is definitely something that would NOT have flown at any point in the last ten years or so. Still, he debuted his catchphrase "snap famous" with this one which he would use as the title of a future standup special, so...at least HE got something out of it.

- At least they already have a new cast member who could deliver MUCH better commentaries on the NYC club scene five years down the road...

- Obviously, Bill and Andys' debut was the true highlight of this Weekend Update. According to The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers podcast, this was mostly written by Andy Samberg. Bill Hader may have helped as he and Andy had been bonding and becoming friends at this time.

- According to him and Seth, all of Andys' attempts at writing original weird sketches were bombing at table reads and getting cut so they took someone's suggestion to write an Update feature since it's typically much easier for new cast members to break into the show that way.

- It expertly showcases Bills' talent for mimicry with Andys' penchant for silly abstract goofiness. You can see how these two guys would be major players in making the show feel fresh and relevant to a new generation again. 

- Speaking of, even though all of Bills' impressions in this episode have been strictly apolitical and of movie stars (only two of which were still alive at the time and one of which was still somewhat relevant to modern audiences in 2005) it didn't hurt him or this episode at all seeing as he and Andy were just the type of fresh blood the show needed to move it into a new direction at this time. C+

Lundford Twins Feel Good Variety Hour

The Lunford Twins (Armisen and Carell) emcee an old timey Hee Haw/Smothers Brothers type musical variety show from 1967 with special guests Canadian singer Connie Brenda (Rudolph), the Lunford Dancers (Forte, Parnell, Dratch, Danielle Flora) "cry song" king Dimothy Daniels (Thompson) and of course Dorothy Winkster as "Granny Crabtree".

- This was a sequel to a sketch that originated with the Paul Giamatti episode from the previous season. I do have to wonder if Tina and Maya had a hand in writing the first one? It definitely feels like something that would be well within their wheelhouse especially since they both did lowkey one woman tributes to 70s variety shows on Mayas' short lived 2016 sketch show with Martin Short.

- This was fine. It might have felt a little dry years ago but it wasn't too self indulgent for a musical sketch that Fred Armisen was front and center for.

- It's the type of sketch that grows on you over time. I might not really have been able to appreciate this at all today without having seen the various 70s variety offerings the That Week In SNL Twitch stream occasionally provides (especially on "weird nights").

- Fred and Steve did a fine job anchoring this. Maya performed her song well (I liked how much of an obvious "I Am Woman, Here Me Roar" knock off it was) and Kenans song may have been the funniest part of this.

- The dance number was fun. Longtime SNL coreographer Danielle Flora was obviously filling in for Tina this week as she was one of the dancers in the last installment. That was NOT writer Liz Cackowski as some people had originally thought. B-

TV Funhouse: Fun With Real Audio

Supreme Court Chief Justice Nominee gives long winded, evasive legalese filled answers to questions in everyday situations to even the simplest of questions.

- I liked the visual gags of Judge Roberts having sex with his wife (very toned down by Smigel standards) in the McDonalds' drive thru, discovering a Janitor is Chuck Schumer in disguise, at a Rolling Stones concert and getting beat up as a Referee at his kids Little League game. 

- Otherwise, this was another political piece that felt too tied to one very specific point in history and partly confirmed my suspicion from this time that Smigel was losing his edge a bit and TV Funhouse was starting to run out of steam with political "Real Audio" stuff. C+

Debbie Downer

Debbie (Dratch) is immediately smitten with similarly minded Bob Bummer (Carell)

- Wow, between this, Nick Burns, Merv The Perv and The Needlers the early to mid 2000s turned out to be a real underrated golden era for "recurring characters that have their own opening montage and theme songs", didn't they? Boy, those made comebacks in a big way!

- I was never that big on Debbie Downer (the revival in Daniel Craigs' season 45 episode was just fine) but this might have been my favorite. Carells' facial expressions, "boing" sound effect and his theme song really added something to this. B-

Overall Thoughts

- This had to have been one of the stronger season premieres SNL has seen in some time (especially coming off the downward spiral that lead into one of the most historically weak SNL seasons of all time). 

- There was a lot of promising stuff that hinted toward a newer, brighter era for the show that would lead to it producing more creative and formative humor for my generation and beyond. Maybe Seth filling in for Tina as head writer this week helped give this episode a fresher feel?