'Wasn't That Special' Season 30 Bonus Materials
'Wasn't That Special' Season 30 Bonus Materials
Editor’s Note: Enjoy this special free Bonus Notes post - and if you want more of these in your inbox, please join us as an Executive Producer subscriber!
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 Thirty 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: Ben Affleck
Christian: Andrew (now Harper) Steele - new head writer with Fey. Additional sketch by Adam McKay. Strong start to the season - fewer bits thanks to the looooong cold open.
Debbie Downer at a birthday party
Christian: Big drop off from the first one, now that everyone knows the bit.
Scot: Woof. It doesn't work at all. Audience is cold. Jokes don't land. I'm sure they won't listen, but this should be the end.
Swift Boat veterans tie Kerry to domestic issues
Christian: Best part is the captions connecting the speakers to Kerry: "Saw Platoon."
James Carville (Affleck) visits John Kerry (Meyers). Clinton visits.
Christian: Affleck's Carville is surprisingly good. Again, the criticism of Kerry is that he's just too smart. Hammond steals this thing.
Scot: Used this in class an example of the rare '04 cycle sketch that really hummed.
People get stuck on escalator
Christian: Rob Riggle's debut.
Scot: I wanted to like this more than I actually did.
Episode Two: Queen Latifah
Second Presidential Debate - Charles Gibson (Parnell) moderates
Christian: I like Forte's attempt at Bush, but maybe try to switch it up a bit. The "Need some wood" bit is almost verbatim what happened.
Scot: 10 minutes - Decent Kerry stuff, Bush still a little one-note.
Latifah performs “Take The A Train” with Scat Cats (Sanz,Rudolph, Armisen, Forte)
Christian: There is an 87 percent chance I fast forwarded through this.
Short & Curly pubic hair shampoo commercial
Christian: I literally saw a commercial today for pubic clippers. So...prescient?
Scot: One joke.
Prince Show - Patti LaBelle (Latifah) & Sharon Stone (Poehler)
Christian: I like all of these impressions, but this is flat.
Vice Presidential Debate
Christian: We didn't need another debate sketch tonight. These take way too long to set up - just get to it.
Scot: Latifah looks the wrong way and misses a cue at the beginning - All that set-up for ... *that*?
TV Funhouse - election meddling summons ghostly X-X-Presidents
Christian: You will know who wrote it within 15 seconds. (Adam McKay)
St. Peter (Sanz) meets Rodney Dangerfield (Hammond) who just died that week
Christian: Just a recitation of Dangerfield's jokes, but they are worth it.
Scot: Hammond's delivery is a little too quick for the crowd, I think.
Starkisha & Latifah try to register voters in a black neighborhood
Christian: Awful. I make it a policy to not be offended on behalf of other races, but this is very 20 years ago.
Scot: Write a joke.
Dave ‘Zinger’ Klinger (Seth Meyers) & Dr. Sheila ‘All Snaps’ (Latifah) trade insults
Christian: We get it.
Episode Three: Jude Law
Christian: Law was a really good host which made for a good episode. It'll forever be known as the Ashlee Simpson episode, sadly.
Scot: "My band started playing the wrong song" is on the list of worst excuses ever. Serious disagreement on the quality of this episode and host! - Weekend Update is in big trouble.
Hardball - Ed Gillespie (Meyers), Mary Beth Cahill (Poehler), & Zell Miller (Forte) fumes
Christian: Hammond blows a line badly. Poehler really takes off with her lesbian metaphors. Forte's Zell Miller is strong. Best Hardball so far.
Scot: How is Forte doing that to his face? - You have three extremely-defined characters here. Very nice.
Ninth Presidential Debate
Christian: What is the "University of Northern Wisconsin?" This is fine, but the Mary Cheney bit gets old.
Scot: I audibly sighed when Lehrer asked, "What is your plan?" - Really weak overall.
Ashlee Simpson - “Pieces Of Me”
Christian: It is clear she's lip syncing in this performance, too.
Scot: Especially bad - She was sick and lost her voice, essentially.
Bush/Blair Press Conference
Scot: Why does Law start lisping halfway through the sketch?
Jane Eyre’s (Dratch) employer Mr. Rochester (Law) keeps booty call in attic
Scot: I like Dratch, but there are like two plots competing with each other in here.
The Adventures of Peter O’Toole (Law) & Michael Caine (Meyers)
Christian: It's "Leg Up" for men. But better than I expected it would be. Putting it in a Taco Bell/Pizza Hut offers a touch of contrast that works.
Scot: Fine, I suppose.
Ashlee Simpson flubs second song
Bear City - by T. Sean Shannon- anthropomorphic ursines at the office
Christian: People doing unfunny things as bears does not make them funny.
Scot: Gotta figure these never would have seen the light of day if the Simpson mess-up hadn't happened.
Episode Four: Kate Winslet
Christian: Perfectly average, both in grade and vibe.
Scot: Not great, Bob.
Undecided Osama bin Laden (Meyers) talks about POTUS choices
Christian: “Evil guy as cool guy” gimmick. Wife-beating joke probably not happening today. The Ashlee Simpson bit is great.
Scot: Surprisingly good! Clearly a Downey. He has the voiceover for the translator.
Winslet sings “Pick Yourself Up” & tap dances to prove she’s no lip-syncer
Christian: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind had come out a few months before.
Scot: Odd to be so focused on the previous episode.
Fat rapper Chubb Hotty (Sanz) hosts show with Norah Jones (Winslet)
Scot: TheScreamByMunch.jpeg
Mrs. Dr. Frankenstein (Winslet) creates gay monster (Armisen)
Christian: It is lazy, but at least there's a "isn't it funny that the ideal man for a woman is a gay dude" thread in here worth investigating.
Scot: "What if ________ were gay" is such a lazy, lazy crutch for the writers.
Kaitlin (Poehler) has second thoughts about getting her ears pierced
Christian: These are funnier than anything Fallon did and yet Sanz can keep a straight face. It is possible!
Scot: Already recognition applause for her! - Good, fun, and with heart.
Tim Russert (Hammond) & Tom Brokaw (Parnell) consider colors for electoral map
Scot: Just filling time.
Episode Five: Liam Neeson
Christian: Poehler ascending. Getting more roles than last season for sure. Ah, Schur is gone. Charlie Grandy producing WU and Doug Abeles is head Weekend Update writer. That could explain some things.
Scot: Again, just kind of hanging in there. Not great, not terrible. Dratch is sidelined and Rudolph isn't getting much. Michael Schur was off to write for a new show called "The Office" that would debut in 2005.
You Call This a House, Do Ya? - squalid Irish home receives a makeover
Christian: It's like a Banshees of Inisherin prequel.
Neeson's date with Phoebe (Dratch) is disrupted by her large parrot (Armisen)
Scot: Good contrast piece between the serious conversation and the wacky bird - A little Mr. Peepers in here.
Wake Up San Diego - with Neeson and Rudolph
Christian: A precursor to "What's Up With That?" A host who dances to music and ignores the guest. Kenan was paying attention.
Scot: Anchorman was released over the summer - No laughs to be found - You know exactly where it's going early.
Stoner (Neeson) tries to persuade cop (Parnell) to loan him a drug-sniffing dog
Christian: Good escalation.
Scot: The spiraling stories really work - Not sold on the ending, but it still is a highlight of the show.
Modest Mouse - “Ocean Breathes Salty”
Scot: The best song performed on SNL in years.
Episode Six: Luke Wilson
Scot: Totally bi-polar episode with some absolute dreck and some great moments. There's a very Farley/Season 20 vibe on WU now, in which Fey/Poehler/writers are just amusing themselves without care for the audience.
Sanz shows Wilson photos of their wild night
Christian: It's basically the first Roxbury guys sketch? Without music?
Debbie Downer spoils Thanksgiving dinner with her depressing digressions
Christian: I still like it. You never see Poehler stare down cue cards, but she seems to in this, even reading Wilson's lines along with him.
Scot: It's too much. There's no room to set-up or breathe or establish. - Unintentional chuckle that Wilson has to look to the cue card to remember the name of the woman he's asking to marry him.
The American Trainwreck Awards - Anna Nicole Smith (Poehler) Diana Ross (Rudolph) Tara Reid (Dratch) Mickey Rourke (Meyers) Tony Danza (Armisen), Toby Keith (Riggle) Josh Groban (Wilson)
Scot: Tina and Emily Spivey wrote - Impression workout - Not a single good idea.
TV Funhouse - George W. Bush swaps gays’ minds
Christian: One of the worst things on the show in a long time.
Scot: An utter embarrassment - Smigel, Steele, and Matt O'Brien wrote it.
Best Buds - intimacy between old pals (Wilson) & (Riggle) creeps out wives (Rudolph) & (Poehler)
Christian: And this sketch RIGHT after lecturing Republicans for being anti-gay. Incredibly lazy writing.
Scot: Hope you like erotic quasi-gay visuals!
The Falconer - Donald & dog attend state fair while The Falconer & Wilson are trapped
Christian: Donald might be the cast MVP this year. Has shades of MacGruber.
The dog missing his barking cues made me laugh.
U2 - “I Will Follow”
Christian: Credit to U2 for trying something a little different.
Scot: Extended goodnights - Loooooooong time since a band got three songs - OK, this was really cool - Amy is falling apart up there.
Episode Seven: Colin Farrell
Christian: Poehler has now separated herself from the other female (and probably male) cast members. Getting all the roles (plus Weekend Update) and killing them.
Scot: Farrell says "I shit you not" during goodnights. Meyers and Kenan are surprised but no one else seems to care.
Farrell coaches male cast members to hook up with Lindsay Lohan [cameo]
Christian: Perfectly fine as monologues go.
Scot: Somehow a male guest still leads to leering at a previous sexy female guest.
Roaches - Sanz is a huge roach in Farrell’s apartment
Christian: I kind of liked it!
Scot: It's exactly what you think it will be.
Airport security guard (Poehler) gropes Farrell during search
Christian: Isn't this maybe the third time we have seen this TSA bit? But Amy is so good here.
Scot: It's exactly what you think it will be.
Key Party - Carol (Sanz) & other swingers tell their names & safewords
Scot: This is delicate to get right and Sanz’s hammy overacting in drag punctures whatever mood is trying to get established. Hated it.
Pat ‘N Patti's Slacks, Snacks, & Knick Knack Shack
Christian: Imagine watching the first of these and thinking "we totally need to do that again."
Episode Eight: Robert DeNiro
Scot: A big piece of Christmas coal until the very end. DeNiro is the most dour holiday guest host ever.
Craig Fenson reads more dirty names of suspected terrorists
Christian: I hate myself for laughing at this.
Scot: Barely trying on these names by the halfway point - But a Dirty Dan the Garbage Man reference!
DeNiro & Kermit The Frog (Steve Whitmire)- “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
Christian: It's sweet, but man, DeNiro flubs a lot as SNL host.
Scot: Let Kermit host.
Woomba commercial
Christian: "It cleans my business. My lady business. And I like that."
Scot: Remembered this being a little better.
Pranksters - DeNiro equates chainsaw dismemberment with wacky hijinks
Christian: I mean, it's almost like we shouldn't grade this one. It's essentially a re-run of the Walken one with DeNiro.
Scot: Carbon copy of the Walken sketch, right down to DeNiro's "Wowie Zowie" and the SFX and DeNiro threatening the host.
DeNiro wonders why his gay-acting son (Meyers) hasn’t yet married
Christian: Gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay (are you laughing yet?)
Scot: We think DeNiro is a fool because it's so obvious but then after he figures it out we are all the fools because he's NOT gay! Take that!
Prince Christmas Special - DeNiro, Star Jones (Kenan), Al Reynolds (Finesse)
Christian: Is Star Jones the most impersonated person in SNL history that absolutely nobody remembers? Rudolph does Beyonce while Beyonce is the musical guest?
Scot: Bad and formulaic.
TV Funhouse - Santa skips red states this Christmas
Christian: Interesting shot at my close friend Al Franken.
Scot: This is so close. Without the Limbaugh part, Smigel really might have had something. That was just unnecessary and distracting.
Destiny's Child - “Soldier"
Christian: When they are singing their solos, they are singing live. But literally every other part of this song is backing vocal track.
Mole (Sanz) employs Italian stereotypes to infiltrate the mafia
Scot: Seth breaks character late to tell Sanz "You blew it" after Sanz laughs for like the third time in this sketch. Have we ever had cast-on-cast crime like that?? - Seth Meyers is ALL of us. That is my face every time he pulls this crap.
Christian: Does he say "you blew it," or just an extended "oh boy?" I can't tell. Also, Sanz pretty much carries this thing - I think he's pretty good in it.
Christmas With The Cat Lady (DeNiro) chats with cats
Christian: JD Vance's nightmare.
Scot: All premise, no writing.
Bear City - by T. Sean Shannon- Bears go caroling
Christian: I award this zero points and may God have mercy on T. Sean Shannon's soul.
Scot: OK, a point for the Jewish Bear family reveal.
Season's Greetings - Sanz & Muppets Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Animal perform
Christian: It took 30 years, but finally a great Muppet appearance on the show.
Scot: "Yeah, even Hans and Franz changed a few lines every once in a while." - Fun, charming, even funny at times.
Episode Nine: Topher Grace
Christian: Solid. No highlights, but no lowlights, either. Topher Grace was a pretty decent host.
Grace answers questions from Terrell & other audience members
Christian: Bill Hader is in the audience after being invited to watch the show as a prospective cast member.
Beaver Ranch - Grace is uneasy about losing virginity to elderly brothel worker (Dratch)
Christian: Let Dratch cook.
Scot: Dratch with the ad-lib about the music changing! - No surprises here at all.
Art Dealers - arty Nuni (Armisen) & Nuni (Rudolph) welcome (Grace) & (Dratch) to their home
Christian: I liked it. Perfectly average, even if it's just the latest in the long line of "man, Europeans are weird" sketches.
Scot: Armisen essentially doing his Club Traxx character - Really only enjoyed the glass bathroom door here.
Episode Ten: Paul Giamatti
Christian: Heavy on Poehler with a Forte banger - this should be the show's formula moving forward.
Scot: HUGE Poehler show. Good vibes.
Bush Daughters - Bush daughters Jenna (Poehler) & Barbara (Fey) talk about dad after inauguration
Christian: You'd think after the Chelsa/Wayne's World controversy they'd stay away from presidential kids, but...this actually has some good jokes.
Scot: Proper mix of character usage here, good energy and fun from the daughters.
Monologue
Christian: Paul Giamatti? A. Bart's kid?
Rice Confirmation Hearings - Barbara Boxer (Poehler) impugns confirmation shoe-in Condoleezza Rice (Rudolph)
Christian: Extra point for an already good sketch just for Poehler.
Scot: Poehler's performance is great. I don't recall the hearings, but I assume Boxer had a ton of visual aides.
Kaitlin chooses to play the drums at a music store
Christian: Poehler making Giamatti break.
Scot: Best one so far? It's a great character.
The Lundford Twins (Giamatti) & (Armisen) Feel Good Variety Hour was never aired
Christian: Fast-paced ode to shows like Hee Haw.
Scot: They nailed that old camera move that goes from the face into nothingness - Good pace and hit me the right way.
Reinhold Investments - Andy’s (Forte) telephone shrieks of “Oh no!” vex financial planner (Giamatti)
Christian: In my handful of favorite forgotten sketches of all time. Wasn't a second I wasn't laughing until I cried.
Scot: The ingredients don't make sense but it all worked together well.
Episode Eleven: Paris Hilton
Christian: The worst Weekend Updates now are better than the best ones in the Colin Quinn era. But it's still so uneven.
Scot: Not quite as awful as one might have feared? And you can hardly blame Hilton for Versace and Starkisha.
Kenan brings Chihuahua Jose Cuervo to chat with Hilton's dog
Christian: When you have Paris Hilton as your host...you hand the monologue over to a dog.
Hilton & Starkisha (Finesse Mitchell) compete to buy expensive purses
Christian: I assume the strategy when you have a talentless host is to load up on recurring characters and just have the host be a character. And aside from Kaitlyn, the recurring characters are now awful.
Scot: Are they intentionally sabotaging Hilton by stacking the worst characters possible?
Donald Trump’s (Hammond) new wife Melania (Hilton) meets his children
Christian: The whole bit is them all doing the voice, which gets really boring really fast. But honestly - Paris Hilton is exceeding my low expectations.
Scot: Hammond's voice is a bit off? - There was a good seed here but I didn't like how they approached it at all.
Inside Barbie's Dreamhouse - vintage Barbie (Poehler) catches Ken (Forte) cheating with a new Barbie (Hilton)
Christian: Someone should make this into a movie - it would make a billion dollars.
Scot: "Wait til I call Gem. She will think this is truly outrageous!" - We should see Amy and Forte together more often.
Episode Twelve: Jason Bateman
Scot: There's some mid-level success but the show right now can't avoid stepping into 2-3 piles of dog crap every week.
Christian: I think you meant piles of monkey feces. Also, I think Kelly Clarkson would have been a better host than Bateman.
Kim Jong Il (Sanz) has nukes, takes questions at press conference
Christian: Evil guy as cool guy. Paint by numbers.
Scot: Sanz ham-fest and utterly limp writing.
Monkeys Throwing Poop at Celebs - Sean Connery (Hammond) guests, Bateman hosts
Scot: Reeeeeeeeal curious about what you think. From the start this is more inspired than the title would imply. Note the subtle way they reveal Mr. Bojo Bananas is the man's name, not the monkey's name. Then the work to set things up and keep the "secret" from Connery. Finally the release of, yes, the poop being thrown.
Christian: It's good misdirection - they give it a splashy title, but then subvert it by making it all about the run-up and Connery's suspicions. But then after building the tension, they pay it off with some pretty amazing poop throwing.
The Best of T.T. and Mario (Rudolph and Kenan) commercial
Christian: Legit laughed hard at this - especially Poehler's horror when she hears the songs.
Kelly Clarkson - “Since U Been Gone”
Christian: I am secure enough in my manhood to point out this is actually a great album from front to back.
Scot: 20 years old. I need to go hang myself.
Gays in Space - Bateman, Armisen, Parnell, Kenan plus Dratch, Fey, Pell as lesbians
Christian: Remember a few seasons ago when I said in a few seasons there were tons of gay sketches? This one specifically is what I had in mind.
Scot: Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.
Bill Kurtis (Hammond) in studio switches between graphic script & light chat
Christian: Contrast.
Scot: Kurtis impression is OK, not great - Reminds me a bit of the Heston/Madonna sketch from years ago.
Rap City with Chubb Hotty - Chubb Hotty (Sanz) sings a duet with his girlfriend (Clarkson)
Christian: Historically, SNL has been bad at lampooning things that are already ridiculous (rappers, boy bands, Destiny's Child, etc.)
Scot: Running out of ways to describe late-era Sanz on this show.
Students show off at a public speaking workshop
Christian: At least Rudolph is good. "Gesture dyslexia" is a decent concept.
Episode Thirteen: Hilary Swank
Christian: Bad host, terrible writing. One of the worst episodes we've seen in a long time.
Scot: This is one of the most ill-conceived episodes in memory. Every possible choice was wrong. Garbage up and down.
Michael Jackson sick in bed - Dratch as Liz Taylor, Rudolph as LaToya, Forte as Culkin, Armisen as Martin Bashir, Hammond as Geraldo
Christian: It's bad, but not the absolute worst.
Scot: Impression workout with zero laughs anywhere.
Shelia Chohad's (Rudolph) Los Angeles Face - botoxed women have frozen features
Christian: I thought it was fine. Dratch is actually really good in it.
Scot: Hate it. It's a five-second picture gag drawn out to four minutes in the lead-off slot of the night.
Grayson Moorehead Part 2
Christian: These are both boring and nonsensical. What is the joke?
Scot: Liked, not loved, both. A little technical if you don't know investing/markets at all.
Restaurant patrons are flustered by their unreasonably hot plates
Christian: I liked it! Pretty decent escalation and the special effects were fun.
Scot: Sanz breaks yet again - Ugh, this really feels like something the Doumanian era writers would come up with.
Debbie Downer - host’s former babysitter Debbie Downer sits next to her at the Oscars
Christian: Yeah, when you already know all the beats, it kills this bit.
Scot: No reaction. Stone-faced. This really is the female Matt Foley.
50 Cent - “Candy Shop"
Christian: Having a hard time figuring out what this cryptic song is about.
Seasons of Love - soap opera actress (Swank) need lessons from crying coach (Dratch)
Christian: It's the comedy rule of three, not the rule of eight. This goes on WAY too long.
Scot: In how many sketches does Meyers play a director-type character? Seems like lots - Dratch steals this and keeps it from the reject pile.
City Court with Aaron Neville (Sanz)
Christian: This feels like a Ben Stiller Show bit, and not in a good way. "What if we combined this one thing you've heard of with this other thing you've heard of?"
Scot: Sanz breaks yet again - It's mildly amusing 30 seconds, then nothing.
After the Grammys - Marc Anthony (Armisen) & Jennifer Lopez (Rudolph) redo their Grammys duet at home
Christian: Good Lord. J-Lo doesn't actually speak with an accent?
Scot: What was the point of *waves arms* all this?
Project Runway - Heidi Klum (Swank) hosts a Colonel Sanders challenge
Christian: What percentage of people even got this in 2005?
Episode Fourteen: David Spade
Christian: Probably Spade's best episode on the show.
Scot: Spade was really good. Strong "3" sketches throughout.
Art Dealers - Spade & Dratch are weirded out by hospitality overtures of Nuni & Nuni
Scot: Did Kattan write this? Same moves, same steps, same jokes.
Stuntwoman (Poehler) stands in for Spade on the set of a Vin Diesel (Sanz) movie
Scot: Meyers as a director again - Great moments, didn't love the end. But really good.
UPS guy (Spade) asks receptionist (Dratch) out on a date, gets revenge
Christian: Was really looking forward to where this was going, and it was kind of a letdown. But decent enough.
Episode Fifteen: Ashton Kutcher
Christian: Four of the last 5 have been total dogs and the other one (Spade) was just average.
Scot: Posited: Meyers joins Nealon as the human Mendoza Line for SNL performers
Oprah - John Travolta (Hammond) & Julia Roberts (Kutcher) guest as Dratch tells of house fire
Christian: Oof.
Scot: Bad decision to use Hammond's bad Travolta. Bad decision to have Kutcher play Roberts. Bad decision to lead off with this.
Push-Up Contest - Kutcher trains for push-up contest at work and loses
Scot: Why is he using that accent? This is a cut-rate Bruce McCullough/Kids In The Hall sketch. That's just what it is.
Christian: If it was stolen from Kids In the Hall, I'll take your word for it. But I liked it.
Gays In Space - crashed ship leads to encounter with studly (Meyers) & (Riggle)
Scot: This season can't comprehend the idea of a sunk cost. You don't have to continue something when it has proven to be a dud.
Gwen Stefani - “Hollaback Girl”
Christian: For people who find the Black-Eyed Peas too cerebral.
Scot: One of the most inexplicable hits of recent memory.
Episode Sixteen: Cameron Diaz
Christian: You can be Seth Meyers or Jimmy Fallon and be average most of the time, or be Will Forte and be sporadically brilliant.
Scot: Forte is just invisible. Why??
The Papal Debate - Russert hosts (Hammond) - Cardinals & Al Sharpton (Kenan) campaign to become Pontiff in papal debate
Christian: Live TV, warts and all. And this one has a lot of warts. Some of the problems are fixed in the Peacock version.
Scot: Some tech issues early (more this year than usual?) - Did I hear Meyers right? Should have said "youth and inexperience."
TV Funhouse - glasses make Michael Jackson see Webster while dating Tara Reid
Christian: Janet Jackson hosted SNL at some point, right?
The Barry Gibb Talk Show - Ann Coulter (Drew Barrymore), Bill Richardson (Sanz), Nancy Pelosi (Diaz) - cameos by Fallon, Timberlake, Barrymore
Christian: I was wondering how this bit became recurring with Fallon off the show. Question answered. Barrymore stuntcasting. Bit of a sweat act, but it's fine.
Scot: Not sure this has long legs, but still enjoyed it this time.
Green Day - “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams”
Christian: I have video of my now-almost-21-year-old daughter singing this song at age 3.
Spy Glass - Desperate Housewives correspondent (host) joins in the pun
Christian: Never thought I would like one of these more than you.
Scot: Absolutely the worst of these, and I usually find a nice charm to them.
Episode Seventeen: Tom Brady
Christian: Dare I say Maya Rudolph is headed to...Ana Gasteyer territory? There to do bit parts and sing in sketches?
A Message from Tom DeLay - DeLay (Parnell) says his success has made him a target
Christian: Barely a pulse. Imagine all the whining today about this encouraging violence against journalists.
Scot: One joke.
Brady shows his well-roundedness by demonstrating his non-football talents
Christian: Entirely too many Boston-based hosts.
Brady fails to win at a football toss game at a carnival
Christian: Good! But kind of the "push-up contest" bit from the Kutcher episode.
Scot: Forte's "I could not be less worried" buys it a "3."
The Falconer - The Falconer and Donald switch places
Christian: Still strong.
Scot: A step behind the great ones.
TV Funhouse - “Sexual Harassment & You”- being attractive keeps lawsuits away
Christian: Prescient - #MeToo
Uncle Scott’s (Brady) cold feet threaten Kaitlin’s upcoming bridesmaid gig
Christian: Still a top-notch performance.
Scot: Sanz breaks two separate times in this one.
Behind the Music - Super Bowl Shuffle
Christian: Hard to believe the Bears actually once won a Super Bowl.
Scot: "This isn't a Levitra ad!" "Then why do I have a boner?" - Another technical error - Believe that's Sudeikis as Maury Buford (8).
Backstage - slighted Peyton Manning (Meyers) & Donovan McNabb (Mitchell) meet host backstage.
Christian: Peyton Manning was a much better host than Brady, so he has that going for him.
Scot: Kenan in a dress (again.)
Episode Eighteen: Johnny Knoxville
Christian: Four sketches plus Weekend Update with gay jokes. As lazy as possible. Knoxville was exactly as good as you'd expect from a guy famous for getting punched in the nuts.
Scot: Knoxville was extremely rough, even though he wasn't asked to do much at all.
Primetime Live - Paula Abdul (Poehler) and the American Idol contestants she sleeps with; Paula Abdul cameo
Christian: All having Abdul there accomplishes is making you think what they could have done if she wasn't.
Scot: Weird to have Abdul there to give "permission" for this sketch.
Trump Domino's commercial
Mother's Day Brunch - transsexual (Knoxville), grandma (Rudolph), new mom (Poehler) brunch on Mother’s Day
Christian: Sudeikis' first official sketch is one that will never, ever be shown on network TV again.
Scot: I CLAIM THIS SKETCH FOR "NEVER COULD BE DONE TODAY" - "No matter what's in your panties, I'll always love you." - "I'm a professional video game player trapped inside a lawyer's body."
Helping Hands Telethon - Andy (Forte) disrupts a telethon by shouting “Oh no!” when callers try to pledge
Christian: Diminishing returns, but I still laughed a lot.
Scot: Not nearly as strong as the first one. I hope they don't try again.
Merv The Perv & brother Irv (Knoxville) at Victoria’s Secret
Christian: The "he has a brother" strategy of stretching out a recurring character strikes again.
Scot: Knoxville taking time and jokes from Parnell makes no sense here.
Bear City - by T. Sean Shannon- an anthropomorphic ursine leaves a bar
Christian: This HAS to be a Dennis Miller Koko the Clown-style attempt to see just how bad they can punish the audience and still get this bit on the air.
Scot: At least they likely taped these all in one day to avoid additional rental fees on the costumes.
You Might Be A Gay Redneck If ... Jeff Foxworthy’s half-brother (Knoxville)
Scot: Setting new records for bad, obvious, hacky gay jokes in a single SNL episode.
Episode Nineteen: Will Ferrell
Scot: Shockingly(?), I don't think this is the best episode of the season. Good and pretty consistent, but others have been better.
Ferrell has awkward reunions with former castmates & Lorne
Christian: Just Ferrell's expressions are funny.
Ferrell sings “On A Clear Day,” pees his pants. Walks into audience.
Christian: Ferrell is thin here. Either filming "Talladega Nights" or "Wedding Crashers."
Scot: The peeing happened in another monologue long ago, right? Will's showing the device to the camera over and over again.
Celebrity Jeopardy - Bill Cosby (Kenan), Sharon Osbourne (Poehler), Sean Connery (Hammond)
Christian: See how funny a character can be when he doesn't burst out laughing for no reason?
Scot: Reliable fun, and I liked the "Automatic Points" category.
Pepper Grinder - diner (Forte) uses pepper grinder to build character in waiter (Ferrell)
Christian: Are you laughing so loud other people in the house can hear you? Then Forte is in the sketch.
Scot: Forte, Ferrell, and Dratch? We have been blessed.
Goulet Ringtones - Robert Goulet (Ferrell) plugs ringtones & cellphones shaped like his head
Christian: Disappointing?
Scot: Ferrell and Harper Steele - Return of the big-horned sheep.
Going 2 C Movies with Terrye Funck, Vasquez
Christian: Terrible recurring character + Awful recurring character = horrific sketch.
Scot: Oh, this is terrible. How did this make it on a Ferrell episode?
Episode Twenty: Lindsay Lohan
Scot: What a way to end a season!! Paula Pell leaving to do a sitcom that never aired (also was to have starred Parnell). One of the WU problems is that it was way, way, way too predictable in its punchlines. No surprises. No uncomfortableness.
Christian: For the season, I had Weekend Update a full half a point higher than you did (2.52 to 2). I think you're being way too rough on it.
Hardball - Michael Isikoff (Parnell) & Condoleezza Rice (Rudolph) on media ethics + Zell Miller
Scot: Forte/Miller is just yelling now, not necessarily adding anything of substance to the sketch
Christian: Yeah, but has any actor ever been able to change the color of their face as well as Forte?
Lohan's future self (Poehler) advises her to slow down & lay off the partying
Christian: Amy's prediction for Lohan's future career is actually optimistic. (Although prescient: There wasn't a Mean Girls 2, but there was a remake, starring...Lindsay Lohan.)
Scot: This is the ep after which an intervention was staged by Tina and Lorne (IIRC), so here's a preview.
TV Funhouse - “Divertor” - superhero distracts media
Christian: Gets a bit meta when it has Amy playing Amy playing Jenna Elfman.
Italian Family - Sanz’s girlfriend (Lohan) breaks a bunch of stuff
Scot: Must've taken upwards of 90 seconds to write this one.
In car, Parnell fails to grab the interest of teenage babysitter (Lohan)
Scot: Bad flashbacks to the Chris Elliott babysitter sketch of S20 - Is there a bug on the lens?