Brittany Murphy / Nelly
November 16, 2002
(COLD OPENING) Adam Sandler's Hanukkah Song
Highlights:
- Adam Sandler! It was great to see him on the show again, with his new Hanukkah Song.
- Rob Schneider, too? Man, it feels like the early 90's again.
Lowlights:
- None
Additional Notes:
- None
(MONOLOGUE) Brittany Murphy
Highlights:
- Parnell, Tracy, and Amy's raps were funny.
Lowlights:
- I'm sick and tired of these 'sketchologues' this season. How hard can it be to just let the host stand up there by his or her self and talk for a few minutes? Even Jonny freaking Moseley was able to handle his own monologue last season!
Additional Notes:
- How did Dean sneak into the scene? I didn't even notice that was him playing the turn-tables in the background until the end.
(COMMERCIAL) Welcome Back Potter
Highlights:
- The "Welcome Back Kotter" parody at the end was hilarious and came out of nowhere.
Lowlights:
- I thought this was going to be an actual sketch, and was disappointed to see that it was only a commercial. They really should have done more with this.
Additional Notes:
- None.
(SKETCH) The Leather Man
Highlights:
- Brittany in the leather pants.
Lowlights:
- You know the show's going to be weak tonight when this ends up as the first sketch.
- A complete train wreck. Horatio and Jimmy cracking each other up has officially crossed the line from 'funny' to 'just plain unprofessional'. After having a great show last week, Horatio has to go back to his unfunny mugging that keeps making me sick of him.
Additional Notes:
- None.
(NEXT LIVE SHOW) December 7, 2002
Deniro!!! About time he hosted!
(SKETCH) Donahue
Highlights:
- I've been waiting ever since the beginning of the season for a Donahue parody and I knew they'd have to do one after Darrell and Parnell appeared on his show. Darrell's impression of him is hilarious.
- The ratings numbers.
- The part with Maya as Streisand was funny, especially the blurry camera view.
Lowlights:
- Dragged a little with the Michael Moore interview.
Additional Notes:
- When they showed Donahue in the fake studio audience, the set looked like Conan O'Brien's audience stands.
(SKETCH) Jarret's Room
Highlights:
- They dropped the "fake English accent" thing with Seth's character. That got really old, anyway.
Lowlights:
- Another boring Jarret's Room sketch. There have been a few good ones last season, but if they stopped doing this sketch for good, you wouldn't see me crying.
Additional Notes:
- Brittany kind of reminded me of Teri Hatcher in this sketch for some reason.
(SKETCH) Paul Burrell's speech
Highlights:
- Seth gave a good performance. Funny how he didn't do an English accent in the last sketch like he always does, but he saves it for this one.
- Rachel hardly had any lines, but she had the perfect "stuffy British person" look on her face during the sketch.
Lowlights:
- A little boring.
Additional Notes:
- Seth really had to get changed fast to make it from the last sketch to this sketch in only about 30 seconds.
(SKETCH) Tennis Talk with Scott Joplin
Highlights:
- Dean (in a funny role??!??) and Tracy were hilarious as Venus and Serena Williams.
- This didn't run too long, and they ended it at the right time.
Lowlights:
- This didn't really feel like a pre-Weekend Update sketch. I think this would've fit better after Update.
Additional Notes:
- I'm not familiar with who Maya was playing, but I found it weird that they got her to play a guy.
(MUSICAL PERFORMANCE)
No comment.
(WEEKEND UPDATE) Fallon & Fey, Drunk Girl, Liza Minelli & David Gest
Highlights:
- The Michael Jackson joke.
- The Richard Gere joke.
- The J.Lo/Affleck joke.
Lowlights:
- Drunk Girl is getting old. Jeff needs to do some new stuff with the character if he wants to keep it fresh.
- Another Phil Collins bit? I still don't get it.
- The Liza Minelli/David Gest bit didn't really go anywhere.
Additional Notes:
- Tina and Jimmy really rushed through the jokes. And what for? To get to the two correspondent segments that were weak anyway?
(SKETCH) Astronaut Jones
Highlights:
- Garret Morris! Man, where'd they dig him up from?
Lowlights:
- I don't even know why they continue to do this sketch. The punchline at the end was hilarious the first time because it was unexpected. Now the surprise is gone.
Additional Notes:
- None.
(TV FUNHOUSE) The Religetables
Highlights:
- Offensive but hilarious. Typical Smigel.
- The animation was excellent.
- It ain't "Fun with Real Audio".
Lowlights:
- None.
Additional Notes:
- None.
(MISCELLANEOUS) My Big Thick Novel by Jack Handey
No comment
(MUSICAL PERFORMANCE)
No comment
(SKETCH) The Girl with No Gaydar
Highlights:
- None.
Lowlights:
- Okay, this character is getting old (I feel like I'm saying this for my 90th time in this review). It was hilarious the first time; now do something different with the formula, instead of having her go to a party with a bunch of gay guys and have her think that they're hitting on her. They almost made it a little different with the lesbian part, but they didn't do much with it.
Additional Notes:
- Dean is actually making several appearances tonight.
(GOODNIGHTS) The credits said "Additional sketch by: Tom Davis". I'm guessing he wrote either the Paul Burrell sketch or the Donahue sketch.
________________________________________________________
(CONCLUSION)
A show filled with tired recurring characters and hardly any great skits. Not very good, overall. But it was the third live show, and this season has been mediocre so far with the exception of the McCain and Vardalos episodes, so this wasn't that big of a surprise. Brittany Murphy was very forgettable as the host, and she hardly appeared in any sketches. I wish Adam Sandler got more to do. He shoulda hosted instead. Where was the J.Lo/Ben Affleck sketch that I heard about? I was looking forward to that.
Overall Highlights of Tonight's Show:
- Adam Sandler's Hanukkah Song
- Welcome Back Potter
- Donahue
- Weekend Update, minus the correspondents
- TV Funhouse
- Cameo from Garret Morris
Overall Lowlights of Tonight's Show:
- The overload of recurring characters that either started out hilarious but weren't able to live up to its first installment (Gaydar, Astronaut Jones, Drunk Girl) or just weren't funny to begin with (Jarret's Room, The Leather Man). This episode was an excellent example of the show's bad habit with running their recurring characters into the ground.
- The forgettable host
Funniest Single Moment:
Tracy Morgan and Dean Edwards as Venus and Serena Williams
Best Lines:
- Voice-over: "Due to pending legal action, 'Welcome Back Potter' may be called 'Honky in the Hood'."
- Jimmy Fallon: "The plaintiffs' lawyers wanted him [Michael Jackson] to answer questions, but the joke was on them because when Michel took off the surgical mask, he revealed that he didn't bring his mouth."
- Tina Fey: "Jennifer Lopez announced that she is engaged to Ben Affleck. It will be the third marriage for Lopez, the first for Affleck, and the last for neither."
- Jimmy Fallon: "Richard Gere and his longtime love have wed, so congratulations to Richard and Nibbles."
CAST MEMBER COUNT DOWN
DRATCH: 2 sketches (Paul Burrell's speech; The Girl With No Gaydar)
FALLON: 5 sketches (Monologue; The Leather Man; Jarret's Room; Weekend Update; The Girl With No Gaydar)
FEY: 1 sketch (Weekend Update)
HAMMOND: 2 sketches (Donahue; The Girl With No Gaydar)
KATTAN: 2 sketches (Monologue; Weekend Update)
MORGAN: 5 sketches (Monologue; Donahue; Tennis Talk with Scott Joplin; Astronaut Jones; The Girl With No Gaydar)
PARNELL: 4 sketches (Monologue; Astronaut Jones; TV Funhouse; The Girl With No Gaydar)
POEHLER: 1 sketch (Monologue)
RUDOLPH: 6 sketches (Monologue; Donahue; Tennis Talk with Scott Joplin; Weekend Update; TV Funhouse; The Girl With No Gaydar)
SANZ: 3 sketches (Monologue; The Leather Man; Jarret's Room)
ARMISEN: 2 sketches (Welcome Back Potter; The Girl With No Gaydar)
EDWARDS: 4 sketches (Monologue; Welcome Back Potter; Tennis Talk with Scott Joplin; The Girl With No Gaydar)
FORTE: 2 sketches (Monologue; Welcome Back Potter)
MEYERS: 4 sketches (Welcome Back Potter; Jarret's Room; Paul Burrell's speech; Astronaut Jones)
RICHARDS: 3 sketches (Welcome Back Potter; Donahue; Weekend Update)
Tracy, Jimmy, and Maya were the stars of the night.
That is all for now. Thanks for reading. ADIOS.