'Wasn't That Special' Season 29 Bonus Materials
As the Wasn’t That Special co-hosts watch each season of Saturday Night Live, they compare notes on each episode, chatting back and forth about both popular and long-forgotten sketches. Some of the topics they discuss make it to the final podcast; others are left on the cutting-room floor.
But for those of you who join at the Executive Producer level, you will have access to Christian and Scot’s behind-the-scenes notes, as well as bonus materials the co-hosts used to prepare for the episode.
Below is the Season Twenty-Nine bonus notes section, with the clips coming soon.
So please help keep the podcast advertisement-free and upgrade to the Executive Producer level, which will keep these emails coming in the future!
Episode One: Jack Black
Christian: Worst start to a season in a long time. Kenan hasn't aged in 21 years.
Scot: Not a single sketch above a "2" - Pretty awful start to the season after a summer off.
Black sings “Not this Jack” to him going "Hollywood"; Ferrell cameo
Christian: Hard to make the most likeable guy in show business unlikeable, but this tries hard.
Scot: Um, who was Jack Black feeling up? - Great energy, if nothing else.
Queer Eye for the Straight Gal - Fey gets advice from lesbians - Paula Pell role
Christian: Today, Pell's involvement would be a permission slip to run this.
Wine Tasting - vintner’s son (Meyers) takes spit-takes from wine expert (Black)
Scot: It's your favorite Julia Louis-Dreyfus sketch re-written with wine.
Christian: I'm going to pretend I have never seen the JLD bit. I liked it!
Telemarketers - telemarketers sing about end of telemarketing due to new no-call list
Christian: Black flubs the racial segregation line.
Scot: The verse is actually good, but there's absolutely nothing else here.
Episode Two: Justin Timberlake
Scot: Robert Smigel gets a writing credit - Best episode since Season 27, right?
A Message from Nick Lachey (Fallon) & Jessica Simpson (Timberlake) to dispel her ditzy image
Christian: Kids who started on the Disney Channel have a high success rate on SNL (Britney, Timberlake, etc.)
Scot: Here are more characters talking to a camera - Timberlake actually does an OK job with this.
Boston Teens - Sully, Denise, her brother (Timberlake) eat at a swanky restaurant
Christian: Boston Teens number 11. I think this is out of gas.
Sharon Osbourne (Poehler) Show - Tarantino (Fred), Michael Bolton (Timberlake) sings
Christian: I did appreciate Timberlake's Michael Bolton.
Scot: Eh.
Timberlake & Kermit’s Muppeteer (Forte) brawl during “Rainbow Connection” duet
Scot: This totally could have been played straight and still worked. Makes the twist that much funnier.
Christian: Yep, unexpectedly good.
Backstage - Poehler hits on Timberlake in dressing room
Christian: All Poehler.
The Barry Gibb Talk Show - Dratch as Ariana Huffington, Richards as Al Franken
Christian: The good news: This is fun! The bad news: They will milk this for two more decades.
Scot: Timberlake trying so hard not to break - "No matter where I am in the studio, I'm never more than five seconds from a gun."
Episode Three: Halle Berry
Christian: JB Smoove in the writer's room. I hope he's not responsible for the quality we have seen so far. I guess if you have Halle Berry, you don't need to use Dratch, since they'd play the same roles.
Scot: I think Armisen is a guy who might just blow away my disapproving priors. Multiple commercials, pointless 70s/80s references, and stereotypes galore. A trifecta of shame.
Lorne tries to get Berry to kiss Spears like Madonna did at MTV Awards
Christian: I've said it before: Britney Spears is a secret weapon. She's actually good on this show.
Scot: Hot female host. You know the rest. - Funny to hear Lorne says no one watches MTV while his show currently is obsessed with the culture it has created.
Gaystrogen commercial
Christian: No joke here?
Scot: So no Britney/Halle kiss but we do get a Chris/Fred kiss?
Don Zimmer Sports Spectacular - guests easily dispatch of Zimmer’s (Sanz) attacks - Richards as Rose, Hammond as Costas
Christian: Glad at least Horatio Sanz seems to be enjoying himself. An example of the show being hurt by being TOO current.
Scot: After the Pedro/Zimmer fight - Sanz is cracking himself up - One joke three times.
Quick Ones commercial - pills efficiently provide immediate sexual gratification
Christian: I actually liked this. Third commercial of the episode though?
Scot: The monotone descriptions are all that save a bad idea from the trash heap. Clunker of an ending.
The Best Of Klymaxx commercial - Mitchell and Thompson both in drag
Christian: Trying to cash in on nostalgia for a band no one is nostalgic for. Where is Will Forte this episode?
Scot: Seth’s Joey Lawrence is bad, bad, bad - What are we doing here?
Brokaw voicemail - Tom Brokaw (Parnell) gets mad while recording a voicemail message for (Berry)
Scot: It's just loud, angry, and abrasive. I want it to stop.
SpeedReader - speedreader Gary (Forte) uses his skill to pick up (Berry) at a bar
Christian: A little Bloater Brothers in here. And good Forte weirdness.
Episode Four: Kelly Ripa
Scot: The lightly-talented Sanz is given all sorts of rope in all sorts of roles and enjoys himself far more than he should. Parnell has completely disapeared.
George W. Bush’s (Hammond) Iraq initiatives would’ve been welcome in the USA
Christian: Is it possible to do too many impressions? Like, this is just an amalgam of Hammond's other bits.
Scot: Direct-to-camera - Here we go with Hammond's Bush - Was there a contest to see who could create the most boring Bush segment possible?
Live with Regis and Kelly - Angelina Jolie (Ripa) is weird - Kattan cameo
Christian: Ripa is almost too good in this. Would have been fun to see at least some acknowledgement that she was enjoying Poehler doing her.
Cow Fart Study - cow fart scientist (Forte) fights with wife (Ripa)
Christian: Rolling laugh all the way through. Peacock version is different, no coda. Seems prescient - were people talking about climate change this much in 2003? An Inconvenient Truth wasn’t out until 2006.
Scot: "You study farts." - Effective use of fart noises, no doubt. Solid, but didn't quite get to a second level.
Spy Glass - Ian (Meyers) & Zoe (Poehler) dish dirt on British celebrities
Christian: Really wanted this to turn the corner and it never did.
Scot: Some possibilities here, but really hit-and-miss with the stories/segments.
Greenbriar Country Club Animal Rescue Shelter - (Parnell) & (Ripa) rip a puppy that’s up for adoption
Christian: Didn't feel this one at all. Didn't we just do the "being mean to dogs" thing with Ferrell's commercial?
Episode Five: Andy Roddick
Christian: There's a weird feeling that everyone on the cast is underused.
Scot: Roddick didn't help anything tonight.
Z105 - Joey Mack (Fallon) tries to embarass Andy Roddick
Scot: "He's not even a real person! Why, because he's black?" - I'm going to guess I like these way more than you do.
Christian: You have guessed correctly. I cannot stand these.
Battle of the Sexes II - Roddick easily bests Billy Jean King (Armisen) - McEnroe cameo
Christian: This episode is exactly as funny as I expected.
Scot: Thompson and Mitchell in drag - "a 60-year-old Indigo girl with a racket" - make me think of that old Paul Simon/basketball sketch - no twist, nothing unexpected.
Anderson Mellner Year End Party - Daryl Hall (Forte) & John Oates (Armisen) play corporate awards banquet gig
Christian: Goes on way too long once the joke is revealed.
Scot: Writing is meh but the Forte/Armisen combo lends it some juice.
Dave Matthews - “Save Me”
Christian: SNL hung on to Dave Matthews long after America did.
Tennis Talk with Time Traveling Scott Joplin - past (Meyers), present (Roddick), future (Forte) of Andre Agassi
Christian: Prescient joke about Martina Navratilova secretly being a man given her current stance on trans issues.
Action News 13 - local newscast is debilitated by incessant theme music & audio overload
Christian: Not good, but not offensively bad.
Scot: A cacophony.
Episode Six: Alec Baldwin
Christian: The terrible beginning kept this from being one of the best episodes of the past three years. Will Forte is instant offense. He's not in the game much, but when he is, he cooks.
George W. Bush (Hammond) details Iraq’s new constitution
Christian: A total bomb. The audience isn't buying it at all.
Scot: Direct-to-camerea - Close your eyes and you'd have no idea who Hammond is doing - Goodness, it's horrible.
Plastic surgeon (Baldwin) recommends D cups for patient (Poehler)
Christian: Shades of the Ferrell bad doctor bits.
Scot: "I'll only stay for a few more jokes" - No ending to this.
The Tony Bennett Show - acquitted millionaire Robert Durst (Armisen)
Christian: Feels effortless in both good and bad ways. Durst would later gain worldwide recognition with The Jinx.
Scot: I love Baldwin in these. Writing isn't quite up to snuff.
Keen Corporation - co-workers (Baldwin) & (Poehler) stumble through a presentation after a one-night stand
Christian: The birth of what would become an SNL staple for the next 20 years: The Kenan Thompson incredulous reaction shot.
Scot: The acting is 10x better than the writing.
Roy Horn’s (host) return to the stage is beset by more animal attacks
Christian: Seems sort of tasteless after the guy got eaten by a lion, but in keeping with my opinion the show should be edgy, it's fine. (Also, Baldwin would later shoot a guy to death, wonder if he would want SNL making fun of it.)
Scot: Big Fred Wolf energy to this one.
Studio mogul Abe Scheinwald (Dratch) scares off director (Armisen)
Christian: Loved this. Dratch at her best. The Kid Stays in the Picture about Robert Evans came out the year before, which obviously informed Baldwin's character.
Episode Seven: Rev. Al Sharpton
Christian: Tracy Morgan is effectively the co-host this week, in case Sharpton flamed out. Rev. Al was...fine.
Scot: Sharpton was awkward as a host, no surprise. This is nearly got off the runway but crashed hard to the ground in the back half. So far, it feels like a *slight* step up overall from last year but many of the same problems.
Rev. Al Sharpton's Casa De Sushi
Scot: Great with Stevie Nicks, decent with Derek Jeter, flat here.
Christian: Stop saying exactly what I was going to say. (I sort of liked it though.)
Candidate Party - jealous Democratic presidential hopefuls watch SNL during pity party
Christian: Prescient: Kerry complains Edwards is brown-nosing his way into a VP slot. And Kerry gave him one!
LaToya Jackson Show = LaToya Jackson’s (Rudolph) father Joseph (Sharpton) & Chaka Kahn (Keenan)
Christian: For the love of God, would someone please write for the women?
Scot: That's a total mess.
Vasquez (Sanz) makes conversation while driving Sharpton & aide (Rudolph) across town.
Christian: Vazquez is comedy rat poison.
Scot: I'm 94% certain this was an attempt to write an intentionally awful sketch for some reason.
Unearthed - ghost of Johnny Cash (Hammond) plugs box set & talks about being in Heaven
Christian: I will never forget the fact that John Ritter and Johnny Cash died on the same day because it was also the same day my daughter was born and it was all that was on TV in our hospital room.
Scot: The execution is fine, there's just nothing happening, no point.
Episode Eight: Elijah Wood
Christian: Forte and Armisen are the male talent on this cast and they have to wait their turn behind middling talents like Fallon, Meyers, and Sanz. Parnell is barely there. Elijah Wood once RTed one of my SNL tweets, so we are basically best friends.
Gollum (Kattan) plugs sitcom co-starring Wood
Christian: I was actually happy to see Kattan!
Scot: Sitcom idea worked well.
Boys Choir - school choir rivals (Wood), (Fallon), (Forte) test their range
Christian: Terrible, made even worse by Fallon being so impressed by himself. Glad he's enjoying his jokes because nobody else is.
Queer Eye For the Straight Guy - makeover updates Santa’s (Sanz’) look
Christian: About as boring as predictable as a sketch about Queer Eye can be.
Wake Up Wakefield - Megan falls for Sheldon’s trumpeter friend (Wood)
Christian: Is there a single recurring character from this era that people remember?
Scot: I like some of the more subtle things here (6 votes/6 band members)
Jet - “Are You Gonna Be My Girl”
Christian: The classic Pitchfork review of Jet's second album.
Howard Dean for America - Al Gore’s (Hammond) anti-Bush extremism chagrins endorsee Howard Dean (Richards)
Christian: I mean, good for SNL for recognizing a lot of liberal positions aren't popular. But this is flat.
Scot: A flawless Gore, as usual. And I like the tension between Gore's priorities and Dean's path to victory.
Buddy Mills (Kattan) consoles young comic with abandonment issues (Wood)
Christian: Kattan is going to be 90 years old and still doing this bit.
Scot: Wood is not equipped to do what needs to be done here.
Episode Nine: Jennifer Aniston
Christian: What a disappointment.
Scot: Aniston can do this. She's talented. She's done it before. So, yes, I blame the writers for this travesty.
Donald Trump (Hammond) intends to bring his brand of class to other NBC shows
Christian: Extra point for nailing Trump's aura - he thinks his was the first Taj Mahal, he's classless while claiming to be the classiest man ever.
Scot: Hammond's Trump is much, much better than it was previously.
Aniston shows a potential Friends finale
Christian: Gonna be honest here - not sure I saw any of this, I was…uhhhh…. too distracted?
Scot: The Joey move was telegraphed and not funny or surprising.
(Aniston) & fellow paparazza (Poehler) try to take pictures on red carpet
Scot: This is a terrible, terrible idea. Just piss-poor judgment to let it on the air.
Christian: Huh. I mean, nobody wants to hear a celebrity complain about the paparazzi, but I thought it was merely bad, not terrible.
Britney Spears (Poehler) & Jason Allen Alexander (Fallon) rush into marriage
Christian: Yes, this is legitimately terrible.
Scot: Everything I just said above.
DNC - Democratic candidates tell voters that Howard Dean is unelectable (Meyers as Kerry, Poehler as Kucinich, Parnell as Liebermann, Hammond as Gephardt, Fallon as Clark, Keenan as Sharpton, Forte as Edwards)
Christian: Conventional wisdom at the beginning of 2004: Howard Dean was running away with the nomination.
Saddam Hussein (Sanz) & Osama bin Laden (Fallon) chat via phone
Christian: Dorm room-quality.
Scot: Unsurprisingly, a giggly mess - Was this even written down? - Will this ever freaking end?
Country Roses - feuding vocalists (Aniston) & (Rudolph) featured on album
Christian: I have no idea how any of this is supposed to be funny.
Scot: This eventually got to a good place - I LOL'd at the corn song.
Raw Talk - phone sex operator’s (Aniston) G-rated terminology turns off callers
Christian: Yes, it is slow, but Aniston is really good. A brief glimpse at all we missed out on with the terrible writing this week.
Scot: Pace is glacial.
Episode Ten: Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey
Christian: Two sub-2 episodes in a row. Reaching Season 20 levels of incompetence.
Scot: Lowest common denominator humor all night long. No subtlety, no wit. Only the most obvious possible jokes. Forte and Armisen aren't up to anything week after week. Dratch is also mostly silent.
Z105 - Jessica unwittingly helps in Joey Mack’s plot
Christian: Fart noises AND an Indian accent? We really get it all!
Scot: Kinda repetitive with past sketches, but perfect deployment of Simpson to have her buy into the fake characters.
El Cantador - Meyers & Poehler discuss marriage at a Mexican restaurant where servers sing
Christian: A bad sketch made worse by bringing in Sanz to close it down.
Scot: Pretty bad. Pretty, pretty bad.
The Sharon Osbourne Show - Sue Johanson (Dratch) displays sex toys
Christian: An abomination.
Scot: Oh, no. - Seriously mining the Oxygen channel for content? - Garrett Morris in the crowd tonight.
Dynacorp - Chicken Of The Sea & other confusing brand-name foods flummox Jessica
Christian: I am ashamed that I know that this was an actual Jessica Simpson bit from her reality show.
Episode Eleven: Megan Mullally
Christian: Sidelining Forte and Armisen is like keeping Caitlin Clark off the Olympic team.
Scot: A moderate improvement. More than halfway through, I have three "4" sketches, two in the same show.
Mullally displays her talents to a gay chorus composed of male cast members
Christian: Barely escapes a 1. Clay Aiken didn't officially come out until 2008.
Celebrity Poker Showdown - Gene Shalit (Sanz) & Carrot Top (Meyers) play cards
Christian: It's Jeopardy! at a card table.
Scot: Impression workout. - Missed Geraldo, to be honest.
Oprah's Favorite Things - crowd goes crazy over prizes at Oprah’s (Rudolph) 50th birthday party
Christian: Solid escalation bit.
Scot: This has a very Weird Al/Naked Gun-type feel to it. Never digs past the surface.
Wizard of Oz - Munchkinland sues Dorothy (Poehler) for landing on munchkins
Christian: Feels like it was written by committee. No thru-line.
Scot: This had some promise and then ... pfffft.
Episode Twelve: Drew Barrymore
Christian: Heavy on Fallon, light on quality. Cracked ranked this the 25th best season of all-time.
John Kerry (Meyers) doesn’t want Al Gore (Hammond) to endorse him
Christian: In a month and a half, we have gone from "Dean is running away with this" to "Kerry has it locked up."
Scot: Wow. Hammond also nails Gore's new throat yell voice.
E.T. (Forte) visits Drew, along with other non co-stars from 1980s
Christian: I have a Darth Vader mask, and yes, it is difficult to read with it on.
Scot: I laughed. Forte captures the spirit of ET well.
Valentine's Versace - Elron John (Sanz), Madonna (Poehler), Courtney Love (Barrymore)
Scot: Trash it, burn it, bury it, burn it again, salt the land.
Christian: I'm going to give one of these a 5 just to give you an aneurysm.
Jarrett's Room - Gobi’s hot stoner sister (Barrymore) appears in dream sequence
Scot: Extreme fourth-rate Wayne's World vibes from this edition.
Christian: From THIS edition? Or every one?
Mike's Bar - John Kerry (Meyers), George W. Bush (Forte), Bill Clinton (Hammond) meet at Yale in '60s
Christian: Finally a little inspiration. Had to be weird for Parnell and Hammond after they both tried out for Bush.
Scot: Forte's Bush debut - Fairly creative in its set-up.
Larry King (Fallon) Live - Anna Nicole Smith (Barrymore) has lost weight
Christian: Fallon is doing Norm doing Larry King and it's terrible. But I really like Barrymore.
Scot: Two bad impressions in search of a plot.
Spy Glass - Ian (Meyers) & Zoe (Poehler) point the lens at their own scandalous behavior
Christian: Enjoyed the jokes per minute ratio. And yes, Fallon doing Pat O'Brien has to stop. Like his Carson Daly bit, he has to start his impression the same way every time. It's lame.
Scot: Enough with the Pat O'Brien jokes - the rest of it alternates good and groan.
The World of (staff writer) Scott Wainio - people talk into a microphone-free hand
Scot: The joke is he has no microphone. But clearly he does (somewhere) because we can hear everything. So why should we laugh?
Christian: Right - I think people see the microphone on the camera or a boom mic? So why wouldn't they just behave like normal? Of all the seasons, you would think this is one the writers would want to remain anonymous.
Prince (Armisen) Show - Beyonce (Rudolph) is co-host, Pink (Barrymore) is guest
Christian: I chuckled a few times. A perfectly average sketch.
Scot: Thought about a 3, but remembered I simply didn't laugh at all.
Episode Thirteen: Christina Aguilera
Christian: I got nothing.
Scot: Theory: there's a vicious cycle. All that gets on is 1) reality show parody, 2) MTV crap, 3) shots at celebs. Writers see that and adjust writing output. Then you get nothing at table reads like the Firing Sandy sketch. It just doesn't exist most weeks.
Sex and the City - finale has Carrie (Poehler) & shemale Samantha (Aguilera) - lots of puns
Scot: "I'm a dude" "I'm a tranny" lines all not happening today
Christian: Nope. Get a good look, you will never see this again. (Unless it happens in the next few seasons.)
Celebration of Women Week - in 1880, liberated (Aguilera) challenges stuffy women to flout the status quo
Christian: “Scandalamity.” Enough to make it average for me.
Scot: Boy, I dunno. There's like the beginning of an interesting idea here?
Venice Beach teens serve up lame moves during a low-stakes dance-off
Christian: Australian break dancers are more entertaining than this.
Scot: SNL: The place to watch seven people dance poorly.
Aguilera rejects “skank” label from celebrity well-wishers; Sanz crashes, Farley-style
Christian: A sketch written not because it's funny but because certain cast members do certain impressions.
Scot: Kenan in drag.
Besos Y Legrimas - Aguilera stars in telenovela
Christian: Predecessor to "The Californians."
Scot: This is getting embarrassing.
Don's Apothecary - apothecary Don’s lack of discretion creates more customers for Walgreens
Christian: Single joke we have already seen in last season's Queen Latifah episode.
Episode Fourteen: Colin Firth
Christian: A heavy, heavy Hammond show. (Koppel, Clinton, Russert, Tony Soprano). Not a great episode, but perfectly average and at the top end for the season.
Scot: Felt like a heavy Forte show. Still a struggle overall.
Nightline - Rosie O’Donnell (Sanz) on Martha Stewart (Gasteyer) guilty verdict
Christian: Again, the cast member impressions writing the sketches. Always fails.
Scot: Why Rosie again? - Pretty jumbled open - I guess it started with Aykroyd/Dole? But this seems to be the era when it becomes understood that ex-cast members can come back for famous impressions.
Cast excited to act alongside classically trained host; Meyers as Hugh Grant
Christian: Good for Dratch - she rarely gets to kiss the handsome hosts.
British actor’s (Firth) awful Southern accent hams Civil War movie
Christian: I liked it! Thought the joke was going to be that he learned the American accent by watching Rip Torn on game shows or something.
Scot: Finesse in drag - At first, I wasn't sure if they were going gay or just "bad." But, yeah, they went gay.
Show Biz Grande Explosion - Fericito helps host with his joke delivery
Christian: "He's so poor, even his email address is in a bad neighborhood."
Scot: There's no reason to confine this character to the shackles of a talk show, but that's what the show does - kinda limps across the "3" line for me.
Tim Calhoun gets answers from lawyer (Firth) at Senate hearing
Christian: Hard to make a great sketch from a slow-talking character, but this is good enough.
Scot: Kinda hoped this would be better; still decent enough for this season.
Hotel Wilson - bellboy (Keenan) attempts to personally service (Firth)’s prostitute request
Christian: It's a bad sketch but you can start to sense Kenan's natural talent.
Episode Fifteen: Ben Affleck
Christian: The writers should be imprisoned for giving Rudolph and Poehler so little to do. Other than Boston Teens, where was Dratch?
Scot: It's very strange that this show can't figure out how to use Parnell. He's never been as good as he was pre-firing.
Boston Teens at Same-sex marriage ceremony
Christian: Everyone involved in this is a New Englander except Fallon.
Z105 - Joey Mack is reunited with his character-stealing former partner (Affleck)
Christian: I groaned when it started and did not rescind the groan at any point.
Scot: Started strong but kinda lost its way toward the end. I still like the gymnastics needed here.
The Full Moon Killer - serial killer’s (Affleck) co-workers have fun with his ill-kept secret
Christian: Fine, but this is now the third near-identical "his coworkers know who he really is" sketch. (The Rock and Conan O'Brien before.)
Episode Sixteen: Donald Trump
Christian: It's 10 minutes after I watched this episode. How am I still humming a song partially sung by Donald Trump?
The Apprentice - Trump fires Fallon a la The Apprentice; George Ross & Carolyn Kepcher cameos
Christian: I have never seen a single episode of The Apprentice, so I am sure I missed a lot. But Trump is pretty good, even if he is staring down the cue cards.
Scot: To Fallon: “This idiot was laughing the whole time” - A few Apprentice features I'm only remembering now (Yes,I watched).
Fear Factor Junior - Joe Rogan (Armisen) traumatizes youngsters on reality TV
Christian: An episode with Trump and a Joe Rogan impersonation? Foretelling politics 20 years later.
Scot: Rob Riggle sighting! - Solid bit. Actually thinking it could have been stretched out to sketch-length?
Live with Regis and Kelly - Trump promotes himself
Christian: Every sketch is the constant stroking of Trump's ego.
Scot: Dratch takes over the Gelman role - very hard to judge this with Trump just doing Trump stuff - Hammond/Poehler strong as always.
Donald Trump's House of Wings - David Crosby (Sanz) endorses chicken eatery
Christian: Little known fact: Trump is the first U.S. president to dance among giant chickens since Millard Fillmore.
Scot: Kinda prescient with Trump's face adding more and more color.
Prince and the Pauper - Donald Trump (Hammond) & janitor (Trump)
Christian: Some decent shots at Trump that he's willing to roll with.
Trump’s son (Meyers) envies bond between (Fallon) & dad (Sanz)
Christian: Just worthless having Fallon and Sanz in the same sketch.
Toots and the Maytals - “Funky Kingston"
Christian: The Roots, Bootsy Collins, Toots and the Maytals, and Donald Trump - a natural lineup.
Apprentice Band - Trump & Apprentice co-stars rehearses “She’s Got Class” for Battle of Bands
Christian: If nothing else, it's an incredible historical artifact.
Scot: Heaven help me, I kind of like this thing. Even Trump's ridiculously bad keyboard miming.
Episode Seventeen: Janet Jackson
Christian: Janet Jackson knows what this show says about her brother, right?
Scot: Actually a pretty decent episode? Seemed like people actually were having fun. Do we need to talk about women again? Dratch has seen activity severely cut. Poehler, though insanely talented, still seems to be floating through the show, trying to find an anchor.
Dick Cheney (Hammond) tells Condoleezza Rice (Jackson) to flash a boob at hearing
Christian: I mean, this is two sketches - it's incredible that Janet Jackson would play Condi, but the writing isn't really that good.
Scot: Really didn't need the end at the hearing. Some good lines in there.
Starkisha balks at paying $250 for a ticket to a Janet Jackson concert
Christian: $250 would be the going rate for a Janet Jackson ticket now.
Sanz, Fallon, Kattan, organ Simon Cowell [the real one] perform a happy Christmas ditty
Christian: I love the idea of Tracy Morgan as "permanent backup host" in case the real host sucks.
Scot: And now here's Kattan again.
Corksoakers - (Sanz) & (Fallon) educate winery tourists on the art of soaking corks
Christian: Yep, Colonel Angus II - but the waiting for someone to blow a line makes this one exciting.
Scot: More dirty wordplay - I think it was slightly better than Colonel Angus, but still reeks of a writing exercise more than anything.
Good Times - Florida Evans (Keenan) & family see good times and bad times
Scot: Kenan in drag - JB Smoove sighting - I really l liked this. Good tone, good mood. The swift swings between good/bad news. Ans Parnell's line about "Malcolm Ten" that no one laughed at.
Episode Eighteen: Lindsay Lohan
Christian: THE SHOW IS ALIVE! Look what they can do occasionally!
Dick Cheney (Hammond) coaches George W. Bush (Forte) before 9/11 testimony
Christian: Has Trump ruined presidential parodies on SNL forever? Like, how can you ever play a president as dumb or corrupt again after Trump?
Scot: First time Forte as present-day Bush - playing it a little dumber than Ferrell, perhaps?
Turlington’s (Parnell) Lower Back Tattoo Remover commercial
Scot: Might be a bit generous, but that's the best commercial like this in a long time - a little Handi-Off in there.
Christian: No, it's good!
Jarret's Room - Lohan moves in & meets a weed-smoking robot
Christian:
Scot: Last one! - Forte as the robot steals this one completely. Everything else is a dud.
Riding With Billy Joel
Christian: Our first real disagreement this season. I actually laughed a lot.
Debbie Downer - Family reunion at Disney World
Christian: Sanz is wiping his tears with a waffle. An example of a sketch made better by people breaking because it absolutely deserves it. Fun for the show to go off the rails.
Scot: OK, I can't stop laughing after she says, "It's official" because I know what comes next. - And a great stinger I forgot about!
Hyper preteen Kaitlin (Poehler) welcomes sleepover veteran (Lohan) to her home
Christian: Poehler finally gets her own recurring character and it takes her up a notch. Strong Pee Wee Herman vibes in this.
Scot: Promising? Finally tapping into Poehler's specific talents.
Episode Nineteen: Snoop Dogg
Christian: I refuse to jinx the show moving forward by saying it has turned a corner.
Scot: Reminds me of the McCain episode in that they knew just how to use the guest host and ended up with a consistent night.
Rap Battle - wheelchair-bound (Snoop) solicits sympathy to win rap-off competition
Christian: It was a 4 until they couldn't end it.
Scot: JB Smoove appearance - "I gotta use a special toilet." - Really good until they break the fourth wall and just have Snoop be Snoop to end it. Needed something else there.
Scheinwald Studios - Abe Scheinwald tries to land Booty Hotel film (Snoop)
Christian: LOVE this character.
Scot: Works nearly as well even without Baldwin - This has a nice feel to it.
Snoop is at a party but depressed over the end of Friends
Christian: Asked a bit too much of Snoop in his monologue, but a good contrast piece. Black people aren't supposed to like Friends!
Scot: Snoop pulling this off essentially explains (many years later) how he's doing the Olympics on NBC - crowd doesn't quite get this?
TV Funhouse - “Pothead Theater” by RBS- stoner-requested cartoons turn tables on humans
Christian: You could have TV watching people - prescient! In fact, America's best writer named Christian Schneider just wrote about this.
Duster’s Digest magazine has its focus on the lifestyle of PCP users
Christian: Laughed the whole way through.
Scot: Laughed at Amy's entrance/exit - some of the magazine features are good.
Episode Twenty: Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
Christian: Two bad hosts plus handing the show over to Fallon - it had no chance. But the end of the season was promising.
Scot: Some real momentum to close the year until this show. It seemed a nightmare to write for limited, 17-year-old twins. 11 Female Hosts this season. Fallon's legacy? Do fans think he left a huge mark on the show? Feels like not really. And, of course, that's also true.
Hardball - John Kerry (Meyers) chooses Al Sharpton (Keenan) as his running mate - Parnell as Andy Card
Christian: Yes, definitely the only thing to make fun of Kerry for is his long-windedness. Kenan not even attempting an actual Al Sharpton impression.
Scot: Has Meyers' Kerry impression gotten worse?
Z105 - Joey Mack’s shameless foolery gives listeners a poor opinion of hosts
Christian: This is exactly as good as the other ones. Fallon's last show, let him have one more, I guess.
Scot: Last one! Worst one! Rehash of past plots and sloppier voice work.
The Swan - one-legged Amber loses makeover competition to Vicki (MK & Ashley)
Christian: The mirror bit was clever.
Scot: Gimme more Kaitlin instead.
The Adventures of Harold - by T. Sean Shannon- bald 12 year-old at school
Christian: What the hell is this? Am I still watching SNL?
Scot: Feels like a half-idea? - They made a film.
Summertime - Summer medley includes Grease-inspired Fallon & Fey duet
Christian: The show effectively ended a half hour ago. Fallon is the least deserving cast member ever for a send-off like this.
Scot: First appearance of SNL lockers since ...? - Watching Hammond in background is the best part of this - Fun, upbeat way to end year.