'Wasn't That Special' Season 34 Clips Package
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As always, for those who have signed up for the podcast at the Executive Producer level, we send out notable video and newspaper clips that aided us in preparing for the episode. Below are some of the Saturday Night Live sketches and media clips we reference throughout the episode, to enhance the listening process.
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Here are some of the materials we discuss throughout the Season Thirty-Four episode:
Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton Address the Nation
Of course, as you will see below, the entire season for the media was about one thing: Tina Fey’s run as Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
Fey’s first appearance as Palin occurred in the first sketch of the first episode of the season:
Then Fey showed up as Palin recreating a famously disastrous interview with Katie Couric:
After a few more Palin bits, Palin herself showed up in the SNL cold open:
(You can hear us talk about all these sketches ad nauseam in the podcast.)
Jar Glove
A commercial that follows the classic escalation style of sketch writing.
Mary Poppins
Who had Anne Hathaway down as an all-time great SNL host? Well, it happened.
Lawrence Welk - Will Ferrell Episode
Kristen Wiig returns as Dooneese.
Digital Short: Motherlover
Doesn’t quite reach the heights of “Dick in a Box,” but it gets close. Plus, the cameos from Susan Sarandon and Patricia Clarkson are fun.
First Date on a Lake
La Policia Mexicana
Vinny Vedecci Interviews Seth Rogen
Fart Face
Virgania Horsen’s Pony Express
The Lonely Island guys were heavily involved in producing these and they’re always strong.
Countdown with Keith Olbermann
Great performance by Ben Affleck, and extra points for making fun of an MSNBC show.
To the Lighthouse
Some effective 10-to-1 weirdness in the Rock episode.
Suppressex
Tracy Morgan bungles a bunch of this, but pretty much worth it for Will Forte’s opening line.
Wedding Toast
As if Will Forte didn’t have enough killer recurring characters, this season he pulls out Hamilton Whiteman, an unapologetic racist that still manages to be hilarious.
Amy Says Goodbye
Amy Poehler quit the show six weeks after having a baby. She offered a heartfelt goodbye after Fred Armisen’s Weekend Update desk piece as blind New York Governor David Patterson, and…well, he crashes her goodbye.
As noted above, newspapers around the country treated Tina Fey’s impression of Sarah Palin as if it was one of the biggest political stories of the year:
Fey wasn’t the only news of the season, as Kristen Wiig’s national profile took a huge leap. Here’a New York Times profile of Wiig that notes that she actually is very shy.
Some commentators expressed concern that SNL had been “selling out” by featuring Pepsi prominently in a MacGruber sketch. But the bit had actually been filmed as a Super Bowl commercial, and it was so good, the show simply added it to its regular rotation.
The episode hosted by The Rock featured a so-so sketch in which Fred Armisen and The Rock play inhospitable restaurant workers in Hawaii. The sketch seems to have offended the leaders of the Hawaiian tourism industry:
Here’s the sketch:
This is also the year longtime SNL writer and sometimes performer Tom Davis released his memoir about his partnership with Al Franken and the early years on the show.
Finally, March of 2009 is when “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” would debut. Years later, he would go on to take over “The Tonight Show.”
