'Wasn't That Special' Season 35 Clips Package
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 Five episode:
Potato Chip Astronaut
One of podcast co-host Christian’s favorite sketches of all time. It came out of nowhere and Will Forte and Jason Sudeikis just crush in it.
Timecrowave
People tend to remember recurring sketches more fondly, and since this one is a one-off, it’s a forgotten classic. The bending of space and time always makes for fun.
Census Taker Vs. Old Lady
The Betty White episode brought back a group of former female cast members, and with all hands on deck, the show was an all-time great. That includes this Tina Fey-authored bit, which is an update of the census taker sketch Fey wrote years earlier for Tim Meadows and Christopher Walken.
Delicious Dish: Dusty Muffin
Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon reprised their Delicious Dish host roles to allow Betty White to sell her version of Schweddy Balls.
The Sarah Palin Network
With Fey back in the hosting chair, she brought Sarah Palin back, and it seems impossible for these not to be great.
Underground Festival
This ran a few weeks before the first Stefon installment on Weekend Update and it has a lot of the same comic beats. There’s a 100 percent chance John Mulaney wrote this.
You Think I’m The Beast?
Stefon debuts
2010 Public Employee of the Year Awards
Of course SNL has a reputation for being temperamentally progressive, but there are a few moments this year that conservatives can cheer. Just as America was about to have a nationwide debate over public employee benefits, SNL ran this piece expressing skepticism of government workers:
Hamilton Woos Gabourey Sidibe
You will never have a popular character on the show be an inveterate racist again.
Tiger Woods’ Accident
A perfect escalation-based sketch.
Ladies’ Billiards
Twinkle and Stink make their debut.
Weekend Update: Mrs. Ahmadinejad Visits New York
From this point on, it was clear SNL had a real talent with new cast member Nasim Pedrad.
Such as when Pedrad played Kim Kardashian:
And she played a Bedelia, a nerdy kid who enjoyed hanging out with her parents. It was clear after this bit that Pedrad could carry full sketches by herself.
Brownie Husband
A perfect Fey.
Digital Short: Get Out
So stupid. And yet so good.
China Debt Cold Opening
SNL had a lot of trouble coming up with ways to involve President Barack Obama in sketches, given that the writers couldn’t find any flaws to exploit. So most of the Obama sketches rely on crazy characters around Obama while the president plays the straight man.
Your Mom Talks to Megan Fox
For good reason, Kristen Wiig gets a lot of credit for her wild, expressive characters. But she’s also great at doing understated, which she pulls of in this all-but-forgotten sketch.
Of course, the big news of the season was the online effort urging Lorne Michaels to let Betty White host the show. She finally did in the second-to-last episode of the season.
White’s episode received universally glowing reviews:
In 2009, Chicago’s Second City celebrated its 50th anniversary. The Chicago Tribune reported on all the theater’s alumni who made it to SNL":
An interview with then-head writer Seth Meyers, in which he admits it is difficult to lampoon Barack Obama because “it’s hard for us when people are perfect.”
New cast member Jenny Slate opened the season by dropping the “F” bomb on the air:
A weekly paper from the Pacific Northwest ranked the cast:
Will Forte’s MacGruber movie was released during the season:
Kristen Wiig talked with USA Weekend:
Finally, following the Betty White episode, a Paducah, Kentucky columnist listed her favorite SNL moments.
