Matthew McConaughey / The Dixie Chicks
February 8, 2003

From Jordan Maze (artichoke_juice@hotmail.com)

Hey. I just wanted to say that I really like your review. I agreed a lot of

it. I didn't see the episode, so thanks for filling me in. U also made some

good points. Haha.

From Jeunesse LaFrance (lafrance_gurl@hotmail.com)

Hello, I was curious, what do you have against Chris Kattan. Seems like

you

have a lot of anger towards him. You know, he is talented, that's why

he's

on the show. He usually gets a laugh. I do notice he has been dying

this

season and is said to leave at the end of this season. I was just

wondering

why you hated him so much. I know comics are deeply opinionated, but I

don't

know. I know if someone said they thought Will Ferrell wasn't funny, I

would

think differently because I know he is talented.

I don't completely hate Chris Kattan. I agree that he is talented and I actually used to like him before, but I've soured on him for staying on the show too long past his prime, bringing back annoying characters, and rarely showing any more originality.

Thanks for all the feedback.

Also, to clear up some confusion that was caused last time, when I list something under "Additional Notes" in my reviews, it has nothing to do with what I think is the "Highlight" or "Lowlight" of that sketch. It's just an additional comment I have to make about something in the sketch that I don't think adds or takes away from it. I'm saying this because some people thought that "Additional Notes" I made in my last review about Rachel playing an old lady in The Hangman sketch and Jimmy's slight character break in the Top O' The Mornin' sketch were lowlights for those sketches, which they were not.

________________________________________________________

(COLD OPENING) United Nations Security Council

Highlights:

- Some funny lines.

- Kattan's facial expressions cracked me up.

Lowlights:

- As much as it pains me to criticize Darrell, his Colin Powell impression was actually weak, and he didn't seem to be trying very hard. He was basically playing Cheney with a tan.

- Dragged on too long and I started getting bored halfway through.

Additional Notes:

- They had almost the entire cast in this sketch, except for Tina, Tracy, and Jeff.

- Weird how all the times Maya said LFNY so far, she played a translator (Winona Ryder episode, Jeff Gordon episode, and now this one).

- The dress rehearsal promo tonight showed a clip of Parnell as Bush and Darrell as Cheney, which I assume was going to be the original cold opening. Looks like Parnell got screwed out of a Bush sketch again

(MONOLOGUE) Matthew McConaughey gets high backstage

Highlights:

- The sequence backstage was funny and reminded me of the pot humor from the classic 70's episodes.

Lowlights:

- Matthew's joke at the beginning was dull and dragged on before he got to the punchline. I almost thought this would turn out to be the whole monologue.

Additional Notes:

- Who were all those people in the pot smoke-filled dressing room? I only recognized Tracy (of course), Amy, and I think Parnell (funny seeing him, of all castmembers, getting high).

(SKETCH) Bad Guesser

Highlights:

- A nice simple sketch with a good premise. Matthew was hilariously dumb, and Rachel's pissed-off reactions were good.

Lowlights:

- None.

Additional Notes:

- None.

(COMMERCIAL) Nutri-Quick Meal-on-the-Go

A repeat from the Matt Damon episode.

(SKETCH) Jarret's Room

Highlights:

- Matthew's character was pretty funny.

- The return of Jeff's character! I was wondering why they haven't used him in the last few JRs. His parts in these are always hilarious.

Lowlights:

- Can you say "overused sketch", anyone? 3 JR sketches in only 6 episodes is too much. Where are Sully & Denise and Nick Burns? Plus, those are consistently funnier than JR.

- Horatio usually gets some good laughs out of me with these, but his lines were lame this time.

- The Dixie Chicks cameo was pointless. 

Additional Notes:

- None.

(NEXT WEEK) February 15, 2003: Jennifer Garner

I have her on my Guess the Hosts list so she's immediately on my good side now. I think she'll be a good host.

(SKETCH) Anti-War Protesters

Highlights:

- Matthew was very good as the lead protester.

- Jimmy and Fred as the gays.

- Parnell's "legalize porn" line.

- Good ending.

Lowlights:

- None.

Additional Notes:

- I thought the whole sketch was going to be centered on Jimmy and Fred's characters at first.

- Jimmy's hair in this reminded me of how he looked in the Jeffrey's sketches.

(MUSICAL PERFORMANCE)

No comment.

(WEEKEND UPDATE) Fallon & Fey, Joseph Jackson, Patrick & Gunther Kelly

Highlights:

- Tina's Michael Jackson jokes.

- Jimmy's Nicolas Cage joke.

- Tina's Vagisil joke.

- Fred and Forte's bit was random but hilarious. Also nice and rare to see them starring in a sketch together.

Lowlights:

- Why was Tina laughing at Jimmy's Lara Flynn Boyle joke harder than the studio audience?

- Tracy's bit was pretty funny and he cracked me up like he always does, but I can't BELIEVE they missed out a perfect opportunity to finally use Dean's Michael Jackson impression! I mean, what the hell, man? Why would you give Michael Jackson's FATHER more screen-time than Michael himself?

Additional Notes:

- Tonight's Update ends with an extra dressed up as a waiter, taking Jimmy's pencil away in a menu. Are these random cameos which have now become a running gag at the end of Update made by the same bit player? I swear, this looked like the same person who played the burglar from the Ray Liotta Update.

(SKETCH) Club Traxx

Highlights:

- Fred's voice and singing was funny.

- Matthew was hilarious.

Lowlights:

- This looked like a Sprockets knock-off, and was nowhere near as funny as that. I would've preferred to see the show "Butt Spankers" to this, myself

Additional Notes:

- None.

(SKETCH) Office Story

Highlights:

- Kattan wasn't too bad in most of this.

- Seeing Tracy as a business boss was funny in itself (how often do we see him in that role?).

Lowlights:

- Kattan's yelling; that's when he started to get annoying.

- Matthew overacted too much and it kind of brought down the sketch for me.

Additional Notes:

- Was there something wrong with Matthew's microphone at the beginning? He seemed to be stalling for a long time before he delivered his first line.

(SKETCH) Second Time Around

Highlights:

- I like the Glenda Goodwin character and I'm glad they're putting her in different settings.

Lowlights:

- This wasn't as good as the first Glenda Goodwin sketch and definitely felt like a post-Update sketch.

- This sketch further proves my point that SNL's new recurring characters always have to be in the overdone talk show/public access format.

Additional Notes:

- None.

(MUSICAL PERFORMANCE)

No comment.

(MISCELLANEOUS) McConaughey's Red Hot Texas Chili

Highlights:

- Like the Robert DeNiro cold opening, this was sophomoric and low-brow, but still got me laughing and Matthew's performance helped. A decent closing sketch.

Lowlights:

- Was going for cheap laughs, and this really shouldn't have been funny.

Additional Notes:

- None.

(GOODNIGHTS)

Matthew shirtless again... Well, I'm sure the ladies are happy tonight.

________________________________________________________

Overall Highlights of the Episode:

- Matthew's performance. With the exception of the Office Story sketch, he was a hilarious host, and a lot better than what I originally expected from him.

- The second half of the monologue.

- Bad Guesser.

- Jeff in Jarret's Room.

- Anti-War Protesters.

- Fred and Forte's Weekend Update segment.

Overall Lowlights of the Episode:

- Darrell's Colin Powell impression.

- The first half of the monologue.

- Club Traxx.

- Matthew in Office Story.

- These don't really belong here since they didn't make it on the air, but: No Michael Jackson sketch, and cutting out Parnell's Bush impression (which needs more exposure so it can improve and become more popular with viewers) and a potentially great-sounding Leno vs. Letterman sketch (which I was anxiously awaiting ever since I read the spoilers).

Funniest Single Moment:

- Fred Armisen and Will Forte's song during Weekend Update.

Best Lines:

- Jimmy Fallon as delegate from France: "Since the U.N. is paying for it, I wanted to bring my wife and two of my mistresses. Also my son, who is visiting from boarding school, and his mistress. Plus, my drug dealer and his girlfriend, a prostitute."

- Horatio Sanz as delegate from Syria: "I would like to propose that after lunch, we all head to Cartier for an afternoon of shoplifting."

- Rachel Dratch as Jolie: "So you went to Morehouse College?"
Matthew McConaughey as Martin: "No, that's a black college. I went to Grambling."

- Chris Parnell as anti-war protester: "Legalize porn!"
Matthew McConaughey as lead protester: "Sir, it already is legal, okay?"
Chris Parnell as anti-war protester: "Not the kind I like"

- Tina Fey: "In a documentary that aired on 20/20 this week, Michael Jackson discusses his fondness for kids, saying 'I have slept in a bed with many children. I am Peter Pan in my heart -- and Pinocchio in my pants.'"

- Tina Fey: "A man named Russell Cialis is suing a drug company to stop them from naming their impotency drug Sialis. I just hope he has better luck than Doug and Edna Vagisil."

CASTMEMBER COUNT DOWN

DRATCH: 4 sketches (United Nations Security Council; Bad Guesser; Anti-War Protesters; Second Time Around)

FALLON: 5 sketches (United Nations Security Council; Jarret's Room; Anti-War Protesters; Weekend Update; Office Story)

FEY: 1 sketch (Weekend Update)

HAMMOND: 1 sketch (United Nations Security Council)

KATTAN: 4 sketches (United Nations Security Council; Monologue; Anti-War Protesters; Office Story)

MORGAN: 4 sketches (Monologue; Anti-War Protesters; Weekend Update; Office Story)

PARNELL: 4 sketches (United Nations Security Council; Monologue [?]; Nutri-Quick Meal-on-the-Go; Anti-War Protesters)

POEHLER: 3 sketches (United Nations Security Council; Monologue; Club Traxx)

RUDOLPH: 5 sketches (United Nations Security Council; Anti-War Protesters; Club Traxx; Office Story; Second Time Around)

SANZ: 4 sketches (United Nations Security Council; Jarret's Room; Anti-War Protesters; Office Story)

ARMISEN: 4 sketches (United Nations Security Council; Anti-War Protesters; Weekend Update; Club Traxx)

EDWARDS: 3 sketches (United Nations Security Council; Nutri-Quick Meal-on-the-Go; Anti-War Protesters)

FORTE: 2 sketches (United Nations Security Council; Weekend Update)

MEYERS: 4 sketches (United Nations Security Council; Nutri-Quick Meal-on-the-Go; Jarret's Room; Club Traxx)

RICHARDS: 2 sketches (Nutri-Quick Meal-on-the-Go; Jarret's Room)

After being wasted a lot this season, I'm happy that Fred was given a lot of good stuff to do tonight. They've been letting the featured players shine recently (Jeff Richards in the Jeff Gordon episode, Will Forte in the Ray Liotta episode, and Fred in this episode). Can we expect next week to be Dean's show??????????? Nah!

That is all for now. Thanks for reading.  BONNE NUIT.

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