'Wasn't That Special' Season Twenty 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.

This bonus notes email is typically available only to our subscribers on the Executive Producer level, but we are making this one available to everyone to see what lies before you if you join us.

Also, as a new feature, we will be adding each episode grade to the list of episodes below. When we watch the shows, we grade every sketch on a one-to-five scale, then average them all out to get a final episode grade. Typically, the best episodes come with grades between three and five. The worst episodes (and there are plenty of them in Season 20) clock in with a grade below two.

Below is the Season Twenty bonus notes section, with the clips coming next week.

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: Steve Martin (2.08 points)

Christian: I'll say it again: If you asked me in 1994 who my dream woman was, it would be Janeane Garofalo (despite her being 9 years older than me.)

Scot: Kightlinger has an interesting vibe. Let's see how they bury her. Did Martin do a single memorable thing?

Clinton Auditions - Farley, Spade, Elliot Sandler, Meadows

Christian: Creative enough way to start the season. Are we counting it as a Matt Foley?

Scot: No one actually trying to do the impression or help the sketch as they just show their stuff is very on the nose.

The Simpson Trial - Court TV covers the trial of O.J. Simpson (Tim); Brian Austin Green cameo

Christian: "Hey, that was just on the news this week!" I did enjoy Tim's Al Cowlings, though.

Scot: Get ready for a lot of these.

Steve Martin's Penis Beauty Cream

Scot: Is it funny to hear Steve Martin say "penis cream"? It is. Is that the extent of the humor? It is.

Total Bastard Airlines

Christian: Mercifully, this is the last one.

Scot: A fuzzy, less sharp version of the original which already didn't leave room for a sequel - terrible ending to this thing.

Weekend Update - Norm debuts - McDonald's coffee joke - Sandler as Gil Graham on concerts - "Germans love David Hasselhoff"

Christian: Norm is already better than Nealon. I haven't seen Little Nicky, but I think Sandler's music critic is the same thing?

Scot: These are leftover Nealon jokes so far - Kightlinger should not have made it out of dress - Ah, the lipreading joke works - A fine debut joke-wise, but two duds as desk pieces.

Buck Daniels - McKean sings song about country musician Buck Daniels’ (Martin) tragic life

Christian: At least the song was good?

Scot: Narrative is whatever. Song itself is at least as good as Sandler's lower-end stuff.

Nut-Rific - ad agency writes confusing jingles for the Nut-Rific candy bar

Christian: This is nut very good! Enjoyed Elliott's commitment, though.

Scot: Nope. Slight momentum with the psychiatric institute joke crashes with the stupid, stupid end.

Episode Two: Marisa Tomei (2.22)

Christian: In case I hadn't mentioned it, Marisa Tomei is magical.

Scot: This could go very bad. The cast is so fragmented in approach/style/idea of humor.

Bill Clinton (McKean) unveils his scaled-back universal health care plan

Christian: NotGreatBob.gif

Scot: McKean is stumbling all over himself (jokes about it) - it's a bad impression and he actually looks more like Reagan.

Monologue

Christian: Marisa Tomei: Grade of 100. This monologue: Grade of 2.

Simpson trial - Mona Lisa Vito (Tomei) testifies on behalf of O.J. Simpson

Christian: Tomei is glorious.

Scot: Good idea, didn't love the execution. Ito's stuff was just a distraction.

Making Better Love Workshop - Farley and Sandler at adult education sex demo (Elliot & Garafalo)

Christian: Just weird enough to be better than average. I remember Elliott from the Letterman days, so I may be biased in his favor.

Scot: Half a good sketch, ruined by whatever it is Farley and Sandler are doing.

Daily Affirmation with Stuart Smalley - with Michael Jackson (Tim) & Lisa Marie Presley (Tomei)

Christian: How did "yum yum gimme some" not become the season's breakout catchphrase?

Scot: Tomei is playing this like Bernadette Peters. Weird all around. Don't like the non-sequiturs, which remind me of Jim and Pedro.

Episode Three: John Travolta (1.86)

Christian: Travolta was a terrible host that couldn't save bad material. In retrospect, are we sure he should be famous? (Incidentally, one of the best parts of Pulp Fiction is the cameo by...Julia Sweeney?)

Scot: The show needed 18 writers to come up with this sludge.

“Stayin’ Alive” follows host as he wanders lost through the studio

Scot: On a scale of 1-10, the creativity here is a 2.

Dracula - Count Dracula (Travolta) tries to convince guests that he’s not gay

Christian: I remember watching S29 or 30 and thinking, "every punchline is - he's gay!" Getting there 10 years earlier.

Scot: Man, a lot of "misunderstandings" about sexual preferences this season.

Quentin Tarantino's Welcome Back, Kotter - Lenny & Squiggy (David L. Lander) & Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi) cameo

Christian: "Hey, what if two things you recognized were the same thing?"

Scot: I feel like we're supposed to love this due to the set-up/concept. BUT what do they do with it? Essentially nothing.

Office Mate - Farley and Tim yell at each other

Scot: Season Six-level trash.

Hearing Problem - a drug dealer’s (Travolta) hearing difficulties lead to miscommunications

Christian: At least there was an attempt at a joke.

Scot: The misunderstood lines are too far apart from each other for this to work. It's bad construction.

Episode Four: Dana Carvey (2.8)

Christian: It took me four full episodes to realize Rob Schneider was no longer on the show.

Scot: Could be the highlight episode of the season simply by being an episode from Season 18.

Virtual Reality Books

Christian: This is prescient. I have a Meta Quest 3 and it literally has a book-reading app that is exactly this.

Scot: McKean does a good job with this and the ridiculousness of the product demonstration works.

The Simpson Trial - Johnny Carson (Carvey) cross-examines witnesses in the O.J. Simpson trial

Christian: Garofalo slides into the Female 1 role - more screen time than I remember, but still the only plausible female cast member.

Scot: The longer this went, the more I liked it.

Halloween in Dallas - Ross Perot answers the door

Christian: Proof that Carvey alone might be worth a half a point per episode.

Scot: Man, it's just Carvey’s greatest hits revisited tonight. A clear upgrade from the season so far, of course.

Pepper Boys - master pepper miller (Carvey) teaches apprentice (Sandler) nuances of the craft

Christian: Yes, I know, it is Il Cantore meets "Like-A-The-Juice." But still perfect in its musicality.

Scot: Want to talk about what Farley is doing here - You like the pepper? = you like the juice?

64th Annual Nobel Prize Awards

Christian: TEN. MINUTES. LONG.

Scot: Jay Mohr in brownface as Nobel winner - Why do they keep cutting to Arafat/Elliott? - Success rate on these awards sketches in like 10%.

Episode Five: Sarah Jessica Parker (1.38)

Christian: Three R.E.M. songs and a seven-minute Michael O’Donoghue tribute were the only saving graces to this one. The writers just took the week off.

Scot: Just look at that carnage. This is rock bottom. Worst episode since S6, clearly. This was the week Lorne's wife had a baby and there were complications plus MOD died. No excuse for an show this lame. (Nealon MIA, not that it really mattered.)

Incumbent Democrat (Elliott) gives concession speech amidst GOP landslide win

Scot: 100% laugh free and they've done this same sort of thing better multiple times in the past.

SJP sings “Tomorrow” for loser Democrats, Myers and Spade say “stop”

Christian: The Spade/Myers appearance does nothing to save this from being a lowlight.

Scot: I was about to crap on this (and it's not great, obviously), but having Myers & Spade say "Stop it, we're all GOPers" is something they would never dream of doing today. They'd just have SJP continue on lamenting the losses.

Alternating Guitarists - host alternately sings duets with nice (McKean) & naughty (Sandler) guitarists

Christian: This sucked. We are in the dead spot between Billy Madison being filmed (summer of '94) and its release (February 1995.) So maybe Sandler was just mailing it in, knowing he was on to bigger things?

Scot: Sandler, man. What is appealing about that?

Fortune Cookie Factory - Confucius (Farley) visits the abusive owner of a fortune cookie shop (Myers)

Scot: Just relentless insults and meanness without punchlines - almost unspeakably bad.

The Casting Couch - Robert Evans (McKean) gives SJP a showbiz lesson

Christian: Appears to recognize that "casting couches" are bad, but...almost celebrates it? Never happening today.

Scot: Starts as a visual representation of a Wikipedia page - And descends from there - Holy cow.

Munchkinland - the Munchkins want nothing to do with accidental hero Dorothy (Garafalo)

Christian: Imagine all the costume and set design that went into this flaming turd.

Scot: Spade has given up. Farley is Farleying. - Why does this exist?

Episode Six: John Turturro (2.15)

Christian: Good host, bad episode. Garofalo, despite being my 1994 dream girl, is a HUGE step down from Sweeney.

Scot: Turturro is in freaking everything tonight. Farley was only in the cold open, BTW. I just went back and watched some earlier Chris Farley for a class. That sweet, unassuming personality is completely gone. He is now gonzo loud 100% always and it's a poor move.

It's a Wonderful Newt - Richard Nixon (Turturro) as angel shows Newt Gingrich (Farley) a liberal future

Christian: It's terrible, but prescient. Gingrich would actually lose the speakership in the 1998 elections.

Scot: Just Farley in a wig, no actual impression - Also, this is November. Why are we doing Xmas movies? - Also, nothing really lands here, except the desire to paint Newt as evil.

Christopher Walken Celebrity Psychic Friends - Gary Busey (McKean) joins Christopher Walken (Mohr)

Christian: 30 years later, Turturro and Walken would star together in Severance.

Scot: Nothingburger, but McKean's Busey impression is actually pretty darn good.

Taxi Driver, the Musical - Turturro plays Scorsese and DeNiro

Christian: Pointless, but extra point because Turturro's impressions are pretty good.

Scot: It's a lot of effort for no payoff whatsoever.

Stop That - (Turturro) mimics his show’s guests until they get annoyed & leave

Christian: Should I do the whole podcast just repeating what you say?

Scot: Random: Realizing that the talk show sketches plunged in number once Handey left - No laughs, of course, but a bare level of respect for actual movement in the narrative, from Elliott to phone noises to guitar and then an ending.

The Movie Club - brothers (Turturro) & (Sandler) recommend tapes to rent

Christian: Part of Sandler's appeal is just how pleased with himself he seems all the time?

Scot: Feels like Sandler is doing a previous character (Audience McGee?), but I guess not - Deadly dull but not embarrassing.

Episode Seven: Roseanne (1.9)

Scot: Barr filed for divorce from Tom Arnold on April 18, 1994.

Jesse Helms (Myers) threatens White House people

Christian: An attempt to have Myers slide into the roles Carvey would play. Not quite as good.

A Woman Exploited: The Madonna and Tom Arnold Story

Christian: Think of all the great comedians the show never had on during the era SNL was obsessed with Tom Arnold. How many people around this time thought Rosie O'Donnell and Roseanne Arnold were the same person?

Scot: Callback to Arnold's monologue when he played the same song - How many ways can I say "lazy" this season?

Lock-Up with Bobby Blake - Bobby Blake’s (Laura) women’s prison talk show; Rip Taylor cameo

Scot: Again, Kightlinger is interesting but I'm not sure we'll ever see what she really can do.

Episode Eight: Alec Baldwin (2.63)

Christian: The SNL equivalent of pitching both ends of a double header for Garofalo; MCA from the Beastie Boys dressed as Sir Stewart Wallace from the Sabotage video at goodnights.

Scot: Must have been just after Garafalo went to Lorne to complain because she's in everything tonight.

Santa-believing parents (Baldwin) & (Garafalo) confused over their lack of presents

Christian: Clever, yes! Funny? Ehhhhhhh....

Scot: What a rarity! Great idea, wonderful concept. Good writing and performing. Actual fun being had. Seems like they knew it, too, given placement in show.

LA Breast and Penis - hospital’s catch-all solution is cosmetic surgery

Christian: Coulda been good. Alas.

Scot: Same joke same joke same joke same joke.

Japanese Gameshow - American tourist (Farley) is contestant on a high-stakes Japanese game show

Christian: Been looking forward to this all season.

Scot: Myers learned all the Japanese for this - Believe this is an Andy Breckman.

The Young and the Youthful - Idiot evil twin replaces Baldwin as head of company

Christian: Wow, this is wretched.

Back Seat - McKean & Garafalo issue threats to very kids during a long drive

Christian: All escalation. Pretty well done.

Scot: Braced for awfulness but ended up thinking this was just fine.

Bad Striptease - Unsexy Elliot dances for bride (Garafalo)

Christian: Modest chuckle.

Scot: Irredeemable.

Celebrity Memorabilia Auction - Selling stuff stolen from famous people

Christian: Zzzzzzzzzz

Scot: Goes on far too long.

Episode Nine: George Foreman (1.4)

Christian: This episode died the second the words "George Foreman's agent is on the phone, he accepts" were spoken.

Scot: They are doing the show only for themselves. Not the audience. "F-U for thinking you know what's funny."

Bill (McKean) & Hillary (Garafalo) Clinton pander to the middle class with gifts

Christian: I would not count the McKean as Clinton era a success. The world quickly needs Darrell Hammond.

Scot: Totally flat. Impressions are just awful. This is the first/final time Garafalo is Hillary and the second/final time McKean is Bill. Must've understood presidential politics was not possible with this cast construction.

Time Boxer - host fights Hitler (Myers) in 1939; Michael Buffer cameo

Christian: Completely phoned in.

Scot: Farley's part is so half-assed - Can't believe they went through all the effort to set up a ring and bring in Michael Buffer.

Hole - “Doll Parts”

Christian: I cannot be objective about Hole, which I loathe. I do like Melissa Auf Der Mar, howeverd who would so go on to become the Smashing Pumpkins' bass player after D'Arcy implodes.

Matt Foley trains Foreman - Matt Foley’s unorthodox training revives host’s will to hit people

Christian: You know how those climate change people desecrate classic paintings with spray paint? This is destroying American art - but it is being done by the ARTIST HIMSELF.

Scot: Holy crap, what is Farley doing with the voice by this point? It's worse every time. - Kill it with fire. - Don't hear a single laugh from the audience.

Uncle Joe - (Nealon) recruits reluctant Uncle Joe (Foreman) to sing at a wedding reception

Christian: From the bowels of hell.

Scot: Aggressively unfunny. And it just won't end.

Incredible Hulk (Foreman) shares viewers’ dislike toward SNL writers & sketches

Christian: They are now writing terrible sketches about how terrible their sketches are. A comedy black hole.

Scot: They can't even make fun of themselves this year -  I know a lot of things have been bad, but this is on the short list of worst sketches in *show history.*

Bedtime Story - Elliott wants Foreman to read him a bedtime story so he can sleep during show

Christian: I love Elliott, but he is clearly not a match for this show.

Scot: The audience is staying quiet so Elliott can fall asleep, right? Right?

Stalking - by Bruce McCulloch- McCulloch chats with Garafalo, whom he's stalking

Scot: Lorne should've blown out the cast and brought in all of Kids In The Hall. Seriously.

Jackie Stallone's Psychic Circle - be like Sylvester, not Frank

Christian: Garofalo has absolutely no ability to elevate any material. She is a warm body.

Scot: Is this where Norm got the punchline? - Is it possible to try less than Spade is this season?

Episode Ten: Jeff Daniels (2.25)

Christian: Is Season 20 worse than Season 19, though? [Ed. note: Yes, it was.] Counting down the minutes for Molly Shannon to show up.

Scot: Seriously decent stuff paired with bottom-scraping drivel. We'll always remember the awful sketches more, I suppose.

104th Congress - Newt Gingrich (Farley) quickly passes bill in new House

Christian: A role made for Farley - everyone stumbles trying to keep up.

Scot: Feels like something they haven't tried in a long time.

Martin Luther King Day - Meadows exploits the white guilt of Daniels, Elliott, Sandler

Christian: More of this! PLEAAAASE!

Scot: Sandler is actually really good here. And, much like the Santa sketch, there's an idea.

Connie Chung (Kightlinger) solicits more soundbites from Kathleen Gingrich (Garafalo)

Christian: Mike Royko chimes in on Connie Chung's treatment of Gingrich's mother.

Luscious Jackson - "Citysong"

Christian: Everyone thought Luscious Jackson was going to be the female Beastie Boys after they signed with Grand Royal, the Beasties' label. (One of the members,Kate Schellenbach, used to be in the first version of the Beastie Boys, until they kicked her out and became an all-male trio.)

Mystery Dinner Theater - mystery dinner theater actor (Farley) milks part by prolonging death scene

Christian: This may have been the moment where Lorne said "maybe Farley isn't helping the show anymore."

Scot: Characters are named after Lakers and Celtics players. That was the highlight.

Film Beat - Elliott documents host’s career with Dumb & Dumber clip

Christian: Everyone has heard of the "rule of five" in comedy.

Scot: By the last time, even though I knew what was coming, I laughed. I guess that's a kind of success.

Gay Stripper Theater - queer male exotic dancers add drama to performances

Christian: "Tragic Mike"

Scot: Lame attempt at piggybacking the Chippendale's magic? I don't know how else to explain why professionals would attempt this.

Aerosmith Greatest Hits 1990-94 - Steven Tyler (Sandler) & Joe Perry (Mohr) play Aerosmith’s similar hits

Christian: Cra-mazingly bad.

Scot: Mohr looks like his family was threatened if he wouldn't appear in the sketch.

Episode Eleven: David Hyde Pierce (2.46)

Christian: May be our biggest episode disagreement yet. I thought this was perfectly average, which makes it one of the better episodes this season.

Scot: Bad within the usual parameters of being bad - Garafalo is totally miscast as Female 1.

Pierce sings variant of “I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major-General”

Christian: I am firmly against musical openings, but I admit I found this charming.

Poetry class - Farley & Garafalo use rock song lyrics to do well in poetry class

Christian: Thought this was well-crafted!

Scot: Decent idea, mediocre-at-best execution. All the songs you could choose here …

Tales of Little Women - kids yell and are angry after falling through ice

Christian: Jay Mohr has a story about this sketch - says the crowd gave Farley a standing ovation as he got out of the pool. Had never seen that for any other cast member.

Scot: The worst of this season really can stand alongside some bad, bad S6 stuff. Would this go on "Best of Chris Farley, Vol. 2"?

Nervous Habit - McKean taps pencil, Pierce shears sheep

Christian: A really good joke! And fun escalation.

Scot: If there are animals on set, Tim Kazurinsky should be involved.

Internet Chat - Claire (Elliott) finds an unwilling Internet sex partner in Darrill (McKinney)

Christian: Nothing is going to top this for prescience. The first time SNL dives into the internet, it's to predict catfishing! What is with Elliott's body hair fascination?

Scot: It's the Internet!! - Presecient and also reflective of the times - The weekly Elliott oddity.

Episode Twelve: Bob Newhart (2.61)

Christian: "Additional sketches by Judd Apatow." I am certainly no feminist, but without any meaningful roles for women, it does feel like half a show. Maybe that's a modern sentiment. Billy Madison debuted the day before.

Scot: Laura Kightlinger is invisible - Sheen of simple competence throughout this episode.

Colin Ferguson Trial - Colin Ferguson (TIM) tries to defend himself against murder charges

Christian: Great bit by Meadows - it's easy to forget Nealon is still on the show.

Scot: Did CourtTV buy time on the show this season? - Meadows shines here, given a bit of material to work with.

Ricki Lake - Bob Hartley (Newhart) gives advice to guests

Christian: This is barely satire - this is exactly what the Ricki Lake show was. Cleghorne does three characters, all with the same voice?

Scot: Jay Mohr in drag -  “These sick puppies just gotta stop doing the nasty.”

Book Buzz - Farley’s world record book has only personally verifiable feats

Christian: I kind of feel bad for Newhart. He has to know what he's in the middle of here.

Scot: Feels close to the Carlin sketch we both loved from S10.

Sports Beat - ups & downs of a manic-depressive announcer’s (Newhart’s) career

Scot: Doesn't work without Newhart, who plays it just right.

Episode Thirteen: Deion Sanders (1.55)

Christian: The host talent scouting this season has been suboptimal.

Scot: Should be scrubbed from Peacock to prevent future generations from seeing it.

Major League Players Association - other sources of income allow host to promote baseball strike solidarity

Christian: As a comic, Coach Prime is a great cornerback.

Scot: Sanders is flubbing lines all over the place.

1995 ESPY Awards - sports honors with John Goodman (Farley); Manute Bol cameo

Christian: Holy shit is this awful. Pretty sure none of the women's basketball videos are the actual players. But I guess that's the joke?

Scot: Elliott as Berman?- Farley just DGAF about trying to get his impressions down - Everyone's awful, nothing works. This is death.

Bon Jovi - “Always”

Christian: Oh no - go back to the ESPY sketch.

Juggernaut Force - Aliens rape soliders

Christian: Most famous for Farley's pants coming off as he boards the saucer. As awful as Garofalo probably was behind the scenes, her complaints about homophobia and sexism were probably...right?

Scot: Everyone involved should feel shame.

Rapping Deion - host performs “Must Be The Money” & “It’s On”

Christian: I would watch a 30-minute documentary about how these women ended up becoming Deion Sanders back-up dancers.

Scot: LOL. This is real. Clearly lip synching. Accidently the funniest thing he's been in tonight. Could be the most embarrassing thing ever permitted on the show.

Episode Fourteen: George Clooney (2.59)

Christian: Another deep split on this one - I liked it more than you. Doesn't look like people are pushing towards Garofalo to say goodbye.

Scot: Garafalo front and center to say goodbye, Elliott very Michael O’Donoghue-like in those sunglasses.

Clooney performs liver transplant operation on audience member (Davis)

Christian: That is a big suit; Clooney is ready for the 2003 NBA draft. Molly Shannon has been on screen for 30 seconds and has already been funnier than anything Janeane Garofalo has done.

Sea Park - Farley gets splashed, yells, says "Son of a bitch!" Repeat.

Scot: When I entered this process with a low opinion of Farley, it definitely was rancid garbage like this on my mind.

Christian: Strong dissent. Much like watching Farley get smoked by baseballs, I enjoy watching him get splashed. I agree his yelling is overused - but when used properly, it can be really funny. I side with America on this one.

Taxicab Confessions - passengers tell secrets & sign releases - Norm as Slim Pickens, McKean as Vincent Price, Clooney as Leno

Christian: I used to watch this show, and wonder "who the hell would agree to be on this?" Evidently, others thought the same. Is Jay Leno the easiest celebrity to impersonate? Goes on for one too many confessions, but good callback at the end.

Scot: Rewriting the punchline from the Sassy sketches.

The Mack Reardon Story - the career of a tough-luck country singer (Clooney)

Scot: Prescient in predicting Behind the Music format on VH1 - There's a silliness here that works.

Zagat's - Hank Gelfand (Sandler) gripes as wife Beverly (Farley) reads about eats

Christian: Seen it a dozen times and it still makes me laugh. I quote from it frequently.

Scot: I don't like either of the character choices, frankly.

Snowbird - by Bruce McCulloch- Karaoke problems

Christian: Going to be honest, I lost interest in this halfway through.

Episode Fifteen: Paul Reiser (1.36)

Christian: The engines have fallen off the SNL plane.

Scot: Molly Shannon already is the best female of the season (four sketches tonight?) and certainly the best since Julia's first two years. This is the week the NY Mag essay appeared - Is NBC now just selecting the hosts? Famous athletes and NBC stars.

Newt Gingrich (Farley) meets the press with lesbian half-sister (McKinney)

Scot: An actual female might not play a female character the rest of the season - Couldn't be bothered to go more than an inch deep on the idea.

The Daily Planet - with Superman out of action, lesser superheroes address incoming meteor

Christian: New York Magazine immediately proven right. Nothing remotely resembling a joke.

Scot: Reiser gets a voice modulator - the whole Night Stalker thing is unrelated to anything that might be funny - and then it ends.

Sparklebrite toothpaste commercial prominently features interracial kiss

Christian: An interesting premise, then it's just...a dead sketch for four minutes. Nothing happens.

Scot: Franken & Downey wrote - The ad guys are racists. Which is very funny. Because. Car explosion.

Dating in the 90s - host (Shannon) mistakenly labels Reiser as sexually inexperienced

Christian: It's not funny, but at least it's watchable.

Scot: I tried to read Couplehood as a 14-year-old and it made no sense to me - This is just dead on every level.

Reiser explains oddly-named menu items at One Brother Restaurant

Christian: This feels like it was written by ChatGPT.

Scot: So the band is Ben Folds Five but there's only three members? - Farley does his “I’m an idiot!” thing for no reason. - Same joke same joke same joke same joke same joke.

O'Callahan & Son - O’Callahan (McKean) & Son (Mohr) Pub owners berate wimpy beverage choices

Scot: Plagiarized by Jay Mohr. You'd think he'd pick something funnier.

Christian: This sketch cost SNL a lot of money. They had to settle out of court to make the plagiarism lawsuit go away.

Episode Sixteen: John Goodman (2.13)

Scot: The writers just don't have that extra gear, even in the best of times. At least three sketches tonight could have been great.

This Week with David Brinkley - Bob Dole (Aykroyd) loses his temper

Christian: Bless Aykroyd, but the writers get Dole totally wrong and the pre-filmed bits don't sync up.

Scot: McKean as Will a step down from Carvey - Aykroyd still just *42 years old* at this point.

Bob Swerski's Superfans - Irwin Mainway & Super Fans on Michael Jordan return; Brian Dennehy cameo

Christian: Always get a little uncomfortable when the show goes meta. Kind of a cop-out.

Scot: Smigel is back! - "SNL got way worse. It's just sad. The fat guy is screaming all the time." - Goodman doesn't have any accent - Mainway's just a little off, but 17 years away will do that, I guess.

Dog Run - Goodman talks with Kightlinger while his “dog” (Sandler) mingles with canines

Christian: Not going on the Sandler career highlight reel.

Scot: Sandler tries to hump a bunch of dogs and takes a piss. Comedy.

Losers - self-deluded losers Elliott, Spade, Shannon, Goodman talk

Christian: Elliott explaining how lucky Spade is to dodge the physical relationship and still be friends is gold.

Scot: Why does McKean have to walk on just to explicitly state the premise of the sketch? This was nearly great.

Unsolved Mysteries - trail of evidence fails to lead to origin of universe

Christian: I got nothing.

Scot: Spot-on Stack. Also an accurate recreation of an Unsolved Mysteries segment. But ... that's not enough to make it funny.

In new Denver Airport, (Elliott) surveys interest in penis-measurement device

Scot: Here's an Elliott piece that works.

Episode Seventeen: Damon Wayans (2.0)

Scot: Playing out the string when everyone knows huge changes are coming. Tommy Boy comes out March 31 - Morwenna Banks added to the cast tonight as a repertory player.

Wayans stand-up about African-Americans’ bad job assignments

Christian: Solid standup bit.

Scot: Wayans not banned forever! - In Living Color had been canceled in May 1994.

Camp Ujaama - African-American day campers’ names come from dictionary & supermarket

Christian: It's the Key and Peele football name introductions, just less funny.

Scot: Same joke, no escalation.

Stiles Monroe - Nealon & Shannon get drenched by saliva of jazz trumpeter (Wayans)

Christian: I did not enjoy this.

Scot: If you loved Farley getting drenched, you gotta love this one, too. Them's the rules.

Dionne Faris - “Blackbird”

Christian: People are losing their minds that Beyonce covered this - which is Dionne Faris erasure.

Tom Jones Briefs - Tony Bennett (Mohr) offers Tom Jones’ (Sandler) used underwear for sale

Scot: No quality control whatsoever at this point.

Episode Eighteen: Courteney Cox (1.95)

Christian: Won't you be surprised when I name GE Smith the season MVP? Clearly everyone has something else on their mind other than putting together a decent show. And poor Shannon is stuck there trying to salvage it.

Scot: How pissed are the other cast members that Molly Shannon is making them look like slugs?

Matt Foley offers bilingual motivation for two Latino kids

Christian: "Do something different with Matt Foley" doesn't mean "change the language he uses but leave every other line intact."

Scot: Extra point for the Paul Rodriguez joke - How lazy? So lazy they just drop the Spanish hook half-way through.

Bruce Springsteen (Sandler) joins host on-stage for “Dancing In The Dark”

Christian: Just a time-killer.

Scot: Distinctly remember this one. Doesn't mean it's good.

Gapardy - Gap girls Kristy, Lucy, Cindy compete on a game show

Christian: Farley is named "Cindy Crawford." Naming a character after a famous person was burned with Pat's last name being "Riley." This is just simply dreadful.

Scot: Randomly pulling undeserving characters from more than a year ago to fill time - You can't see, but I'm literally shaking my head.

Dad (Elliott) takes advantage of teenage babysitter Melanie (McKinney) in a car

Christian: Pure creepiness without anything approaching a joke. Might legitimately be one of the worst sketches in SNL history.

Scot: Elliott was a mistake. Could you do this if an actual woman played the babysitter? No? Then maybe don't do it.

Replacement Baseball - a Ken Burns documentary on the scabs’ brief careers

Christian: A competent, if unspectacular, parody of Ken Burns movies.

Scot: Feels like a failed Crystal/Guest idea from long ago.

His Muse Friday - (Cox) & poetry editor (McKean) trade verse in film noir

Christian: Occasionally clever, technically proficient, but not as smart as it thinks it is. Cox is really good, though.

Mr. Cool - aloof (Spade) becomes obnoxiously affectionate after a night with Cox

Christian: Pretty good performance by Spade.

Scot: Even in small performances like this, McKean is solid. Never spectacular but reliable.

Episode Nineteen: Bob Saget (1.95)

Christian: Autopilot.

Scot: Question: Why is anyone tuning in right now? Fun characters? Movie stars making them laugh? Current event commentary?

Sandler as Tony Vallencourt recalls his days at Boston Garden

Christian: Just an accent exercise.

Scot: What the hell is this doing as a cold open?

America's funniest hate videos - from militias, etc.

Christian: Lot of exploding heads.

Scot: This could have been something. The FBI sting at the end was a decent payoff. But nothing really works together.

Spade does his video store bit again, bothers Saget, Nealon, and Elliott.

Christian: Just a chance for Spade to list off some porn video titles.

Mohr, Nealon, Meadows, Sandler as BoyzIIMen

Christian: Absolutely no reason this exists. Half-blackface with the afros?

Scot: What happens in dress that allows this to make air? A serious question.

Where in the world is San Diego, California? Saget hosts game show, first contestant (Shannon) gets answer right, nothing left to talk about.

Christian: A lot of timing struggles here.

Scot: Lazy: Carmen Sandiego was a PBS show, not a Nickelodeon show. - A decent impression for Ellen. - Oh. That's it, I guess.

Stuart Smalley: Talks about how “Stuart Saves His Family” bombed, complains Americans like Pauly Shore more, rages at the American public, keeps apologizing

Christian: Just a struggle session for Franken and a chance for him to point out Siskel and Ebert liked the Stuart movie.

Scot: I enjoyed the change-of-pace and Franken clearly just letting things fly

Episode Twenty: David Duchovny (1.89)

Christian: There's no way SNL can come back from this, right? RIGHT? Kevin Nealon, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Ellen Cleghorne, Jay Mohr, Michael McKean, Chris Elliott, Laura Kightlinger and Morwenna Banks' final episode as cast members. GE Smith and Dave Wilson are out, too.

Scot: "See you next year?" Duchovny is a little overconfident here.

"You Think You're Better Than Me?" game show

Christian: Predictability, thy name is game show sketches.

Scot: Ellen asks, "Why not 'You Think I Won't Cut You?'" - Adam not reading the board is a nice delayed joke.

Elliott owns a New England corner store, beats up McKean, and...aww, who cares

Scot: Insults, anger, violence, repeat. It's Season 20!

Ricki Lake- Sandler is a hermaphrodite - Spade is Joan Rivers, Duchovny as Richard Gere, Banks as Julia Roberts, Norm as Mr. Sulu

Christian: What in the hell is Sandler doing in this? Just appalling.

Scot: Is this the biggest drag season in SNL's history?

Rod Stewart - "Maggie May"

Christian: Stewart really struggles here. Metaphor for the show in general.

Farley, Sandler, Mohr, Norm, Meadows, and Sandler go see the polar bears, keep getting eaten while Norm corrects their grammar

Christian: Final sketch for Farley, Sandler. Ignominious exit. Feels like the "burning" sketch at the end of S11, where they predict their own deaths. Metaphor for what's about to happen. 

Scot: Oh, man. I LOVE this metaphor for the show. This isn't funny. "WATCH US DO IT." Maybe a female role? "HERE'S EVERYONE IN DRAG." Seems a little sophomoric? "SANDLER HUMPS DOGS." We're just trying to help you. "FARLEY GETS WET AND SCREAMS AGAIN."  Anything new for us? "HERE'S ONE MORE GAY JOKE."