'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?