'Wasn't That Special' Season 32 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 Thirty-Two 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: Dane Cook
George W. Bush (Forte) campaigns for Republican comptroller of South Carolina (Sudeikis). Nobody wants him to campaign for them.
Christian: Single joke (that Bush is unpopular) stretched to full sketch length.
Scot: This is bad, bad, bad.
Dane Cook monologue - Negative people, how to tell when women are lying, people commit suicide, watching online videos.
Christian: Exactly as funny as I expected.
Scot: Cook accurately describes Debbie Downer to begin this act.
Poland Spring employees (Forte and Cook) caught stealing water
Christian: Wiig's deadpan makes this. Coda at the end was unnecessary, but still worked. A great sketch.
Scot: The water bottle version of Spelling Bee.
Farrah Fawcett (Poehler) does ad for environmental group, walks to next sketch
Christian: Very Monty Python-like to blend it with the sketch about to happen.
Scot: New director making his presence felt?
Whitney Houston (Rudolph) and regular guy (Samberg) do ad for Geico
Christian: Rudolph seems rejuvenated.
Episode Two: Jamie Pressly
Christian: The people who joined the show in the past year have commandeered the ship. And it just seems livelier.
Scot: Smaller cast but sketches seem more full. Wiig is just simmering, waiting to break out.
Dennis Hastert (Hammond) discusses the Mark Foley gay scandal
Christian: Prescient: Hastert says there are no more Republican pedos and we would later find out there was at least one: Dennis Hastert.
Scot: This is boring as all get-out.
Monologue: Pressly sings as the cast performs southern stereotypes.
Christian: Flashback to the Gabriel Byrne/Irish bit.
Nancy Grace (Poehler) on the Foley scandal - Samberg is a congressional page, Pressly is tech support, Kenan is janitor forced into interview for moving her chair
Christian: It's sort of meh but I liked the Kenan bit.
Scot: Only satirizing news shows, never prime time drama/comedy - Poehler pretty good here.
Jon Bovi - Sudeikis and Forte pitch their new band
Christian: A rare Forte groaner.
Scot: I can see how this might kill at table read but it's really flat live.
Hands on a Hard Body - Wiig interviews Pressly, contest winner, falls in love with her
Christian: Wiig is very good at this SNL thing.
Scot: Wiig spotlight piece.
The Nascarettes (and Randy) - keep getting hit by cars
Christian: Took a while to get going, but Wiig trying to dance and look for her earring on the track made me laugh.
A moment with the out-of-breath jogger from 1982
Scot: I believe Samberg auditioned with this bit.
Episode Three: John C. Reilly
Christian: Light on Hader and Wiig and it shows. Pretty poor effort with Ferrell in the building. Just collapses in the back half.
Scot: OK, so still not clear of an era where an episode can end up with the same value as the gum under your shoe.
Brit Hume (Hammond) interviews GWB (Forte)
Christian: We have to talk about Hammond. Why is he on the show at this point? He's just doing nondescript talking heads that they could get anyone on the cast to do.
Scot: The pacing in these Opens so far has been criminally bad.
Swimming instructor (Reilly) teaches Forte how to swim by strapping themselves together
Scot: Ron Burgundy in a pool - Fun fact: I was once suspended while serving as producer on a show on which a host repeated the punch line "If there's grass on the field, play ball."
Kim Jong Il (Poehler) television show
Christian: The rare Poehler misstep.
Scot: Everything about this is trying 10X too hard.
Girlfriends eating lunch at Mexican restaurant, Reilly tells tales of relationship troubles
Christian: The whole joke is that Reilly is dressed as a woman?
Scot: "I'm (not) Carol!!!" - This is absolute comedy death.
Operation Bearshark
Christian: The "explaining a bad sketch with a coda" is getting concerning. Write a sketch with an end.
Episode Four: High Laurie
Christian: Hugh Laurie has a long sketch history back in Britain (with his partner Stephen Fry) but it never really came through here.
Borat opens the show - a lot of recycled jokes from movie and Sacha Baron Cohen's TV show.
Christian: I mean, I love Borat, but...what is this doing on SNL?
Scot: Don't love Borat. Never did.
Laurie explains he is from England and what to expect from the show
Christian: Workmanlike, if not hilarious.
Scot: I've been watching old House stuff occasionally. Laurie really is brilliant in that. - Listen at 7:43; were they sweetening the applause? It shuts off immediately somehow.
Most Haunted - Laurie hosts a paranormal show - farts and his crew thinks it's a ghost
Christian: Been a while since a good fart sketch.
Scot: Good for a fart sketch!
Pamela Bell (Rudolph) sings national anthem at the World Series
Christian: I will defend this.
Scot: It's not awful and there's a certain skill in imitating all those styles. But, no, I did not like it.
Laurie - protest song
Christian: British comedians always come to SNL with bits they did in England because U.S. audiences had no way of seeing them over there.
Kenan in hospital, Laurie is his cross-dressing wife.
Christian: Finally I get to claim one for "never happening today."
Laurie and Armisen are impressed by Poehler's law firm job interview
Christian: The "ewww" they are doing is from Sanz's "Carol."
Episode Five: Alec Baldwin
Christian: Look at Rudolph's face during the goodnights - she can't believe the stage she's on. A Baldwin episode that's delivered like few in recent history.
Scot: Working on this thought: I like that most sketches now exist in their own world. They have individual premises. There is creativity rising.
Wiig as Nancy Pelosi denies she is enforcing "San Francisco values" on Americans - Forte and Armisen are sex slaves working in her office.
Christian: This has Jim Downey written all over it. Well written, and Wiig plays it perfectly.
Scot: Another sketch I used in my SNL college class. This is super strong. We Americans have always been a religious people, a member of my staff tells me. Prescient: "This office is non-smoking. It's just pot. Oh, OK."
Carpool - Baldwin and Wiig - learn awkward things about coworkers
Christian: Such a simple concept, but Wiig and Baldwin are so good.
Scot: “Bobby McFerrin raped my grandmother” - That's it, that's the topper.
Tony Bennett Show - Kevin Federline (Samberg) - real Tony Benett sits down as "Phony Bennett."
Christian: The perfect celebrity cameo. Bennett is having so much fun, and Baldwin is flawless.
Scot: Another super-reliable character here, probably grossly underrated - he and Federline/Samberg are good together.
Baldwin as Rick Corman, American in Brazil who offends everyone in a bar.
Scot: Boy, I like the feel of this one, music and all.
Episode Six: Ludacris
Christian: Ludacris was a charismatic host, but the show craters in the second half. Some good ideas, but they were all spent before WU. Light on Hader, Armisen, and Wiig.
Scot: Ludacris was a pretty good host, but overall a weaker show.
Sudeikis takes over as George W. Bush - Direct to camera to announce we are now at war with Vietnam
Christian: Needs Improvement.
Scot: It's a bleh start, but I can kind of see that the version of Bush could offer more options moving forward.
Dr. Archibald Bitchslap method of couples counseling
Christian: Definitely not happening today. They try to make it both men and women, but...wow.
Scot: Yea, never today. The slapping isn't even the good part, it's the character play. Another good example of the depth of this cast.
O'Reilly Factor - goes after Ludacris
Christian: This really happened. The sketch is tedious, though, even though the meta use of Ludacris is fun.
Scot: His impression is better.
Forte gets hair transplant surgery from Ludacris - it's black hair, Ludacris stole his because he loves Elton John
Christian: Had more potential.
Scot: That is a looooooooong way to go for a D-grade joke.
Hammond and Ludacris complain at a diner.
Christian: Kind of a Pudge and Solomon attempt, only really funny because Hammond's mustache won't stay on.
Scot: It was fine, good fun.
Episode Seven: Matthew Fox
Christian: Wiig in bit roles, Hader invisible, an underwhelming Forte sketch, and a boring host. All ads up to a snoozer of an episode.
Scot: Better second half, Wiig starting to really pop in whatever she gets.
Bush (Sudeikis) press conference with president of Jordan (Armisen), translator (Forte)
Christian: At no point did I consider being entertained. The pressure to start episodes with politics always starts the show slowly.
Scot: This might have worked better inside the show but it's just so slow.
Deep House Dish
Christian: This episode is just a washout.
Scot: Why are people clapping? They don't mean it. They can't mean it.
Mountain Man (Fox) wants a piece of pie, takes a kiss instead - breaks character, scene is rewritten by Poehler and Wiig. Rudolph closes it down as Lorne Michaels.
Christian: Cameo by writer Emily Spivey.
Scot: I had to double-take and remember Fox was considered a sexy, handsome guy. Then things clicked.
Parents (Forte and Wiig) realize their college son (Samberg) doesn't like history. Forte hates math because he never learned to count
Christian: The rare Forte misstep.
Scot: Better than you give it credit for.
Episode Eight: Annette Bening
Scot: This was a rough one, no doubt about it.
Bush (Sudeikis) addresses nation on Iraq
Christian: Look, I know the primary function of a television show is to get viewers. And I know part of SNL getting viewers is because people can't wait to see what they say about current events. But the decision to hand the cold open to a political sketch every week may be the biggest mistake in show history behind hiring Jean Doumanian.
Monologue: Bening takes questions from real estate agents angry about her role in American Beauty, Alec Baldwin cameo
Christian: Baldwin's cameos now just seem a bit thirsty.
Scot: Why use cast and not writers for these comments?
Bening falls in love with her student (Samberg)
Christian: Good performance by Bening. Pete Davidson later totally ripped this character off.
Scot: Not remotely funny. Pointless song.
Digital Short - Fast food training, Armisen threatens violence
Christian: Starring Matthew Fox, obviously a holdover from last week.
Scot: Should have stayed cut.
Buyer Beware talk show: Rudolph and Kenan provide consumer advice
Christian: "Cheese get ya!" is my catchphrase this year. Maya Rudolph is having a resurgence this year - good in pretty much everything so far this season.
Gwen Stefani, "Wind it Up"
Christian: This might be the worst song I have ever heard.
There's a monster under Poehler's bed. Parents (Bening and Forte) freak out
Scot: Started well but I didn't like where it ended up.
First Night Out Part 2: Wiig, Forte and Bening go to a bar
Christian: Same sketch as the last time they did this.
Scot: Bening is glued to the cue cards in a lot of sketches tonight - You had a lot of options here, but carbon copy it is.
Episode Nine: Justin Timberlake
Christian: An all-timer, unique for a Christmas show.
Scot: Disagreement! You liked it a lot more than I. No ice skating this year.
Poehler, Wiig, Rudolph sing "Santa's My Boyfriend"
Christian: Has some charm. No fair that only the men get a Christmas song.
Scot: Not political!!
Homelessville - Timberlake dresses as Cup O Soup to take over Forte's corner
Christian: Timberlake is a natural.
Target Lady: Rudolph and Forte are customers, Timberlake has chapped lips
Christian: Greater than the sum of its parts. Fun and silly vibe.
Dick in a Box
Christian: Audience is laughing even before the big reveal. Has everything - great song, good visual jokes, and the performances by the women are great, too. Won an Emmy in 2007.
Scot: Yeah, sure, "Lazy Sunday." This was the first short that truly knocked me out at the time. Maya mouthing "Thank you," the false ending.
Dry Eyes game show - host (Hader) tries to make contestants (Timberlake and Armisen)
Christian: Probably Armisen's best moment on the show so far and Timberlake's reactions are top-shelf.
Scot: Jerry Bertram? - Ah, Bertrand - Could've used a slightly better third act.
Justin Timberlake, "My Love."
Christian: Could be argued this episode is the pinnacle of Timberlake's career. He was never more likable and his best album had just come out.
Hip Hop Kids try to dance their way out of a mine shaft
Christian: Sudeikis breaks out his What's Up With That dance.
Episode Ten: Jake Gyllenhaal
Christian: Struggled at the start, but came raging back to life in the second half. THE MAYAISSANCE IS UPON US! YOU CAN'T DENY IT!
Scot: To respond, Maya is better because she's playing actual characters and not caricatures that constantly require big, loud singing/acting. Subtlety is OK sometimes.
Bronx Beat (Poehler and Rudolph)
Christian: Knew these had to be coming up - their time on the show together is getting tight. Great performances - it's everything “Coffee Talk” wanted to be.
Stock Footage Awards - Dan Rather (Hammond), Jane Pauley (Wiig) give out awards for b-roll
Christian: Impression workout, but it's a fun concept. Amy makes fun of award recipients telling their kids to go to bed, something they still do today.
Scot: Ended while they were ahead.
Law and Order acting lessons - actors have to be in constant motion when they speak dialogue.
Christian: Good example of the writers pulling a thread you wouldn't normally see.
The Shins, "New Slang"
Christian: This song was five years old, but revived by the movie Garden State.
Episode Eleven: Jeremy Piven
Christian: Light on Rudolph, and see what happens? Writing feels looser and more creative, but not quite up to par.
Scot: I'll call it: WU is again a respectable contributor to the show. Meyers has been solid and he's helped Amy, too.
Hardball - Chris Matthews (Hammond) fawns over Hillary Clinton (Poehler) - Her support for Iraq is hurting her with primary voters. She says she is half black and says Obama hates women.
Christian: Good for making fun of Hillary, but this is a big boost for Obama.
Scot: I think this highlights how they had no idea how to handle Bush post-Ferrell except "kind of dumb" and "war mistake." Immediately more energy and depth with Hillary.
First Person in the History of the World to Dance
Christian: I think that's Sudeikis?
Scot: Has a "first 5 season" quality to it.
Two A-Holes at an adoption agency
Christian: There are enough actual jokes in these to keep them interesting.
Scot: I admit these are being written better.
Episode Twelve: Drew Barrymore
Christian: Hader and Wiig only getting scraps. No signature Forte tonight. But Barrymore was really good in an average episode.
Scot: Sketches generally have good premises but just can't break through. So close.
Monologue: Barrymore goes through a typical romcom backstage - Samberg cheats on her, she agrees to lovemaking with Forte
Scot: She' s a five-timer but I ... can't remember a single memorable sketch she's been in. Can you?
We go right to the Dakota Fanning Show - new director's trick. Daniel Radcliffe (Hader) is guest. She keeps slamming her bandleader (Kenan) for his lowbrow taste. Barrymore as Abigail Breslin.
Christian: They are ridiculing a child and I enjoyed it.
Couples' counseling - Barrymore keeps poisoning Forte
Christian: Understated - could have been more.
Scot: I think it worked pretty much as it had to.
Body Fusion - '80s workout video
Christian: All style, but still funny.
Barrymore over caffeinated job interview
Christian: Wants to join "The Breckman" group. Barrymore is great here. Almost Hanks-level for a guest host.
WASPs (Wiig and Barrymore) go play tennis; JoJo the valet (Poehler) takes his shot with Barrymore
Christian: Poehler decided to do a Kattan role?
Scot: Good character work.
Episode Thirteen: Forest Whitaker
Almost every show seems behind the 8-ball because the open stinks, the monologue is weak, and the first sketch generally needs improvement.
The Cheneys read Valentine's cards
Christian: Limp.
Digital short - Samberg pops up all over New York
Christian: So simple, but entertaining.
Whitaker sings for couples at restaurant
Christian: OK, we've done the "person won't stop singing" a few times in the past couple of seasons. We get it.
Scot: I don't know how this made it through a table read.
Animal Planet Man Versus Beast
Christian: Long setup for pretty obvious conclusion.
Scot: The interview was the highlight.
Whitney Houston Valentine's special
Christian: Kenan in drag (Chaka Khan). These are good as WU desk pieces, can't carry a full sketch.
Scot: There's no amount of writing that can make this good. You either like the impression or you don't. It's a string of the annoying tics she brings to every WU, but worse.
Episode Fourteen: Rainn Wilson
Scot: Wilson was quite good. Deserved a better outcome than this.
Wilson takes us backstage, everyone on the show is from the Office
Christian: About the minimum they could do here, but the impressions are good.
Scot: So they do still watch network primetime shows?
Singing bargoers - Hader, Wilson, Sudeikis, Forte swap embarrassing stories while singing songs
Christian: Robbing the place at the end was a nice touch.
Scot: Rainn's story should not have been last, it was the weakest.
Nuni and Nuni - Samberg has cotton candy pubes
Christian: At least the writers got an hour off.
Scot: Same unfunny sketch down to the weird bathroom set-up.
Arcade Fire, "Intervention"
Christian: Arcade Fire's best album, don't @ me
Scot: (It's The Suburbs)
First Night Out people at work
Christian: Just enough new details to keep this fresh.
Arcade Fire, "Keep the Car Running"
Christian: A guy wearing suspenders and a woman playing a wind guitar you have to crank really seems to nail a time in music history.
Episode Fifteen: Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Christian: A hot mess in the second half. We will always have the first JLD show.
Scot: Was Rock promoting anything? Otherwise a pretty random appearance.
Chris Rock: "Road to the White House" - Obama and Clinton - "as if it's a suffering contest." Predicts Obama will win
Christian: Prescient! Basically stand-up but some good stuff in here.
Scot: "As if it's a suffering contest" predicts intersectionality (if I understand the concept correctly).
Clips of JLD behaving badly at awards show and getting out of limo.
Christian: Asking America Ferrera if she has her green card not happening today.
Oprah discusses "The Secret" book with author (Poehler) and reader (JLD)
Christian: Great performance by JLD, but...meh.
Sudeikis tells his wife (JLD) he has been diagnosed with Restless Penis Syndrome
Scot: Somewhat unfulfilled premise but still good.
Deep House Dish
Christian: I'll admit, I actually laughed at JLD singing "don't bring your bowl of chili into this hot tub." Sudeikis has one dance?
Scot: Hey, Samberg is still around.
JLD does CBS breast cancer promo, Sudeikis keeps hitting her with boom mic
Christian: Hader plays "Mike Underballs." "If I wanted to hear from an ass, I'd fart." Eh, this is barely a sketch.
Homebot - Home robot (Forte) and his repair bot (Armisen) have sex
Christian: Naw, man.
Scot: I laughed.
Episode Sixteen: Peyton Manning
Christian: Manning was at the top end of athletes as hosts, but it's still not enough to pull this into “good” territory. Still average.
Scot: One sketch short from a truly solid episode. Those three quick ones at the end fly without leaving a mark.
Bush (Sudeikis) discusses attorney gate scandal, brings on Alberto Gonzalez (Armisen)
Christian: Flat, uninspired.
Scot: Sudeikis probably is better than Forte's Bush at this point. They still have no idea how to use him.
Manning volunteers with youth groups, plays football with them
Christian: This single sketch completely changed Manning's public persona.
Bronx Beat: Manning visits from zoo
Christian: Rudolph's best character so far.
Scot: I like that there's no intro from them. We catch them in media res.
NCAA Tournament Pool Party - Poehler's bracket is as good as professional writer (Manning)
Christian: Manning discussing Manning is some fun meta stuff, but...eh.
Scot: I knew exactly where this was going from the start, but the pacing is good and there's some fun to be had.
Debut of Penelope, Wiig's character that one-ups everyone at a dinner party
Christian: Was never fond of this character, but credit for doing it once.
Scot: I don't like this character at all (first time seeing her; missed it the first time around, I guess).
Forte halftime speech to high school basketball team - plays them a 60s-style Herb Alpert instrumental song to fire them up
Christian: Armisen and Hader break, but Forte is on a losing streak.
Manning is monster in 300 movie, can't throw rock at Armisen
Christian: Doing the same unfunny thing four times does not a sketch make.
Scot: Not embarrassing but also without reason to exist.
Episode Seventeen: Shia LaBeouf
Jesse Jackson (Hammond) and Al Sharpton (Kenan) discuss Don Imus' comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team, open Wings of Hope Sharpton/Jackson Racist Rehab Center
Christian: Enough.
Scot: Seems incredibly lazy. Wouldn't you want to have Imus in a sketch about the controversy? Couldn't you have fun with that. No, we have two guys who do this thing and that's it.
LeBeouf gives a behind the scenes tour
Christian: The host-gives-a-tour bit is really a crutch now. Same beats every time.
Prince Show - Tobey Maguire (LeBeouf), Nancy Grace (Poehler)
Christian: Two minutes of this sketch is the opening song, which is the same every time.
Scot: Some of the worst parts of S32 feel like the writers learned no lessons from S31.
Sofa King (Armisen) has sofa king great deals
Christian: Clumsy.
Scot: Unsuccessful dirty wordplay - Let's just keep Rudolph and Armisen away from each other, shall we?
Forte and LaBeouf try to sell knives to Wiig, Mrs. Ginsu - things get bloody
Scot: Beginning, blah - Middle, really good - End, what?
Maya Romances LaBeouf in her dressing room
Christian: Kinda the same as Poehler hitting on Justin Timberlake?
Episode Eighteen: Scarlett Johansson
Christian: A wretched, ugly episode from front to back. A waste of Johansson's talent.
Scot: Unforgivable slop at this stage of the game with this cast of performers. Five recurring character sketches???
Bush (Sudeikis) press conference addresses Alberto Gonzalez's testimony that week. Chuck Schumer pre-taped cameo.
Christian: Debating who will be called to testify before Congress is not fertile comedic ground.
Scot: 8 MINUTES!! 8 MINUTES!!!!!
Monologue: Johansson says she likes to do real New Yorker stuff that is actually touristy. Sings song with Sanjaya from American Idol.
Christian: I vaguely remember another host using the same "real New Yorker" joke.
Scot: Sanjaya is a very specific 15 minutes of time that doesn't translate well and there's just garbage here anyway.
Johansson is Virginiaca Hastings' daughter
Christian: Johansson has been nominated for two Oscars and five Golden Globes.
Scot: Insufferable.
Wiig "Around the Town" news segment: Falls in love with Johansson after house fire
Christian: Same formula, but both Johansson and Wiig are great. Wiig's best characters are women under duress trying to hold themselves together. Sudeikis: "You are welcome, YouTube" - pretty prescient. YouTube was just starting.
Scot: First one was better, but still enough in the tank for this edition.
TV Funhouse - Fox News for Kids - torture robot cartoon (Torbato)
Christian: Lefty porn.
Scot: Adam McKay, man. Of course.
Episode Nineteen: Molly Shannon
Scot: It seems as though an entirely different set of writers are steering the ship now. Overall a different tone/feel and it's not for the best.
Penelope (Wiig) moves into new apartment
Christian: It's not great, but with Poehler, Wiig, and Shannon in one shot, you might have three of the four faces of the SNL Mount Rushmore of female cast members.
Scot: Still don't like it and don't see how it gets better.
Sopranos: Sally O'Malley (“I’m 50!”) tries out for the Bada Bing
Christian: Shannon was actually 43.
Actually a good use of this character.
TV Funhouse: Big-Boobed Einstein
Christian: Weird, but I rolled with it.
Rudolph as Charli Coffee, drunk lounge singer, joined by Shannon, also a drunk
Christian: Instead of bringing on a character exactly like Rudolph's, create another character completely different for her to interact with. This is just lazy.
Scot: The Rudolph equivalent of Buddy Mills.
Episode Twenty: Zach Braff
Christian: Wheezing to the end, barely any Forte or Wiig, and aside from Vinny Vedecci, Hader is in bit roles.
Scot: What happens around E13 to suck most of the creativity and life out of the season? After that we get a lot of recurring characters/sketches that have no reason to exist, WU wilts, political bottoms out.
Bush (Sudeikis) defends himself before Labor Day break
Christian: Utterly lifeless. Unbelievable the show saw these and said "we need to make political cold opens the rule for the next 17 years."
Scot: Are they afraid to have any fun with Bush because they hate him? They can't put him in any potentially entertaining scenario because it might make him look good and human?
Braff sings song about New Jersey
Christian: Wretched.
Scot: We've seen worse.
Prom Committee meeting
Christian: Just a random series of mini-sketches leading to nothing.
Scot: Sudeikis playing the honorary Horatio Sanz role - Totally average.
Singing drinking bros (again)
Christian: Don't love these, but admire their ability to keep in time with the song.
Scot: They ended with a weaker story again.
Vinny Vedecci - Puppet pukes on Zach Braff
Scot: Not as good as JLD, but still trying some things out.
Armisen is a female assistant with a crush on Braff
Christian: Give Maroon 5 a third song instead of this.
Scot: Dumb, telegraphed ending echoing the dog kissing Samberg earlier in the night.