'Wasn't That Special' Season 44 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 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 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.
Please enjoy this edition of the Season Forty-Four bonus notes section, with the clips coming soon.
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Adam Driver/Kanye West
Christian: A bad episode rescued by one classic bit written by a freshman writer.
Scot: Driver is a fantastic host. Never would have predicted but it's twice in a row with a knockout performance.
Brett Kavanaugh (Matt Damon) confirmation hearing - cameo by Rachel Dratch as Amy Klobuchar
Christian: Some decent stuff in here, but jamming Kate McKinnon in as Lindsey Graham overstuffs it.
Scot: Damon does a good job, but way, way, way too much of this is just recreating the events/questions/phrases of the hearing. Like there's a Bingo card to see how many can be crammed in. And it's *13 freaking minutes long*
Mooney tries to be like Davidson to get more attention on the show
Christian: Maybe he should get attention by writing good sketches.
Scot: His *sixth* season?
Domenico's coffee swapped out for Burger King coffee
Christian: Third crack at the Farley Folgers bit? Someone towel off Mikey Day - he's sweating like a labrador.
Scot: Inappropriately-angry Cecily Strong is my least favorite Cecily Strong
College kids regret their actions from a party on homecoming weekend
Christian: The crowd despised this.
Scot: Man, there's not even a good idea here.
Kanye West, "I Love It"
Christian: The Kanye warning signs were there all along.
Scot: Wasn't he already persona non grata by this point?
Career day - Abraham Parnassus (Driver) gives presentation
Christian: Driver is incredible. Go straight to all-time sketch status, do not pass go. Written by Eli Coyote Mandel.
Scot: It's really good, but I'm not quite where you are.
Neo-confederate meeting - Driver convinces Bennett and Mooney they'd be comfortable in Vermont
Christian: A joke would have helped this.
West gives an incredibly awkward speech during goodnights, but it's cut off in reruns.
Christian: This is discussed at length in the Peacock documentary about SNL music.
Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Christian: A wretched stinkbomb of an episode. My grade puts it as the worst episode since Hillary Swank in S30.
Scot: Awkwafina was stiff as a board all night long.
CNN - Senate Republicans celebrate Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation - Mitch McConnell (Bennett) and Lindsey Graham (McKinnon) party, Strong as Susan Collins - Villaseñor interviews Chuck Schumer (Moffatt)
Christian: Just a struggle session.
Scot: Does McKinnon do anything here anymore besides these crappy impressions?
Monologue - Awkwafina says she is still poor, her dad talks like Donald Trump, and she loves Lucy Liu for hosting SNL
Scot: Weird to give her basically a brief stand-up act?
Dance battle - Awkwafina's crew dances to old game show themes, Travis Scott cameo
Christian: 15 minutes into the show, zero laughs.
Scot: Why is the one team constantly explaining the joke? "Is that the Price is Right?" "Is that a wrong answer buzzer?"
Trump Presidential Alerts commercial - actually for Cricket Wireless
Christian: Decent turn at the very end.
Scot: Some of the messages are not bad, actually
Pre-tape: Ted Cruz campaign rally
Christian: Nobody despises Ted Cruz more than I do, and yet there's just nothing here.
Scot: "How do we make people we hate look bad?" is a really bad comedy question to ask.
So You're Willing to Date a Magician - Awkwafina is contestant, explains dates with Kenan, Davidson, Moffatt. and Mooney
Christian: Davidson and Jones break and blow this thing up. Mooney actually looks a lot better with a mustache.
Scot: There are possibilities here. They are extinguished quickly.
Strong invites DeeDee, her dog walker (Awkwafina), to a baby shower
Christian: Totally pointless. Jones stumbles once again.
Pat's Pumpkin Patch - Day finds out his employees are having sex with the pumpkins.
Christian: This wouldn't make the cut at a college improv night.
Scot: You think you know how bad it will be. But you don't.
Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
Christian: Meyers is not a skilled sketch actor. Staring down cue cards all show.
Scot: Shows could really use more Day/Moffatt right now
Trump meets Kanye West and Jim Brown in the Oval Office
Scot: Jim Brown was an incredible lacrosse player.
Monologue: Meyers tells the story of the Kanye West sketch interrupting people which happened two years before he interrupted Taylor Swift
Christian: Dear diary...
Scot: Did Meyers go into the future, listen to our podcast, then return to the past to host this show? That's our whole bit on Kanye/awards show -
Meyers is a director who takes crazy questions from the audience
Christian: Meyers' first time back and he plays a...director. The glue from Kenan's Jim Brown beard is still on his face.
Thirsty Cops - Jones and Nwodim pull Meyers over
Christian: It's sort of the Lily Tomlin construction worker bit from S1? Nwodim's first chance to really shine.
Scot: There's much better structure here than in the first couple shows
Campfire horror stories - Meyers had to meet with a recent college graduate looking to be a filmmaker
Scot: Some of Meyers' best sketch work!
Meyers goes to jail, has a celebrity cellmate
Christian: It's all impression.
Scot: This was another swing for what they caught with the OJ sketch last year, but it's noticeably weaker with poor Meyers sketch work.
Bayou Benny's Liberal Lagniappe
Christian: Bennett ripping off Sudeikis' Bayou Justice character.
Scot: A total lift of a character.
Gardner and Meyers try to impress their friends with their trip to Cuba
Christian: It's one joke, but Gardner is really good.
Redd and Davidson perform a pro-tree rap
Scot: Jarringly out-of-place and just plain weird.
Here comes Heidi Gardner, taking on more roles and generally excelling. McKinnon is fading.
Scot: Gardner is bumping Bryant from opportunities now and closing in on Strong.
Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
Christian: "Weezer" and "Beavis and Butthead," two sketches that would go on to be big hits later, both cut from this episode. As were a couple of bits written by Jonah Hill himself.
Scot: Aren't there stories about Lorne helping Pete behind the scenes around this time? Because he could use it.
Laura Ingraham (McKinnon) live from the border - Judge Pirro (Strong) joins to discuss caravans, Kenan as Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke
Christian: Another crack at the sponsors joke. Baldwin had punched a guy a couple days before the show, hence the tacked-on joke.
Scot: Fourth attempt at the bad sponsor joke - David Clarke, a blast from the past.
Hill gets his five-timers jacket from Tina Fey. It's all women because of MeToo. (Bergen and Barrymore.)
Christian: Hill's glasses are fogging up.
Scot: Random: I really, really like this year's opening credits. My favorite style in a while. - At least the show is aware bathroom humor is Hill's wheelhouse - Kind of a subdued celebration all-around.
Adam Grossman meets a gay couple
Christian: You'll never guess, but Leslie Jones breaks.
Scot: Hill wills this to a good place. Jones really can't be trusted in anything.
Pre-tape: Nervous Democrats discuss the midterms
Christian: Before this episode, Lorne sat the cast and writers down and told them not to let their personal politics seep into the show.
KCR News Albany - Hill proposes to weather woman (Strong) on air
Christian: Delightfully stupid.
Scot: The swerve to Strong wanting to propose doen't quite work for me. She's just not acting like that's even a possibility.
Divided we Stand - Struggling actors put on a play about immigration and other social problems
Scot: Echo of those community theater things you hate.
Teacher Fell Down
Christian: Laughed nonstop through the whole thing. First ever sketch by writer Alison Gates. The two best sketches of the season so far are by rookie writers. There's a LOT about this sketch in the Lorne book.
Scot: I did not have the same reaction - Nice to see McKinnon contributing, though
America's Got Talent - Wait, They're Good? Performers predictably come out of their shells
Scot: Totally fine.
HuckaPM - how does she sleep at night?
Christian: Some decent physical comedy here.
Scot: Written by Aidy and Kent Sublette - still struggling with the simple premise/early reveal/no development pattern.
Pug Wigs
Scot: Will Stephen and James Anderson - Whiskers R Us but for dogs.
Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
Jeff Sessions Farewell - Robert Mueller (De Niro), Pence (Bennett), & others say ggodbye to Jeff Sessions (McKinnon)
Christian: This feels endless.
Scot: 7 minutes of garbage and 35 seconds of Trump Bros
Usually-unfunny Schreiber sets expectations & praises midterm voter turnout
Christian: The voting bit killed it.
Scot: Oh. Well. Thank goodness (check notes) Liev Schreiber is proud of us for voting. Now I can sleep.
Good Day Denver - Hosted by Strong and Mooney; show mislabels investors (Day) & (Moffatt) as incestuous
Christian: Part 2 of the "zoo pornographer" bit.
Unity Song - political divide is bridged by song about things everyone dislikes
Scot: Bowen Yang in the background here.
Paranormal Encounter - Ms. Rafferty’s (McKinnon) has ghostly experience
Christian: "Baby funnel and gravy tunnel."
Booty Kings - Kenan, Redd, Davdison, Lilm Wayne, Future [cameo] honor booty consent
Christian: Sort of liked the vibe of this.
Scot: Decent idea, but even the crowd is pretty much checked out on this.
The Poddys - podcast wards show
Christian: Are we angling for "Most Unnecessary Podcast?"
Scot: Writer Alan Linic is third guy on the Bros pod - Really slow-moving and nothing really sticks.
House Hunters - Schreiber & Jones evaluate homes
Scot: Surprised it took them this long to do House Hunters on the show.
Schreiber hoses down rowdy sons (Mooney & Bennett) indoors
Scot: Everybody's breaking for this loud, pointless exercise in finding something for Mooney to do.
Dave's Outside the Women's Bathroom - Schreiber hosts talk show
Scot: Kinda liked this and Gardner again elevates a nothing character.