Jennifer Lopez
February 27, 2010

RATINGS SYSTEM

***** = Excellent, a possible future classic

**** = Great

*** = Average

** = Meh

* = How'd this get past dress?

Cold Opening - We Are the World 3

• Funny thing is, recently I was wondering what it would be like if SNL parodied the recent We Are the World video, only with different singers who weren't there, but I didn't think SNL would actually do it since the video happened a while ago. Looks like I was wrong.

• This reminded me a lot of these types of sketches SNL always did in the early 90s, particularly in the 93-94 season, which is a good thing since I always loved those sketches (Free Range Chickens, Rock on Michael, Rockers Explain Whitewater, etc.).

• This could've been a little funnier, though, but it still had its moments. Bobby as David Crosby was probably the funniest part, with his crazy facial expressions.

• Rare to see the host in the cold opening, although since this was a singing parody, they obviously had to have J.Lo in this one. Her Rihanna impression was actually pretty accurate.

• It's about time SNL did a Lady Gaga impression, although I always pictured Nasim playing her instead of Jenny. Speaking of Nasim, her as Shakira was fine casting. It wasn't as funny as Taylor Swift's impression, but Nasim certainly has the appropriate voice for the role.

Stars: ***

Monologue - Jennifer Lopez

• A pretty forgettable monologue, but at least it was short.

• The only real laugh came from Bill and Jason, especially their drag queen names: Mannifer Bropez and J.Blo. Their appearance also made me realize that I don't think either of them have ever played a female in a sketch before, even though most of the other current male castmembers have, at least a few times (and in Kenan and Fred's case, MANY times).

Stars: **½

Sketch - ESPN Classic

• Oh, man, this AGAIN???!!! This is insane; four ESPN Classic sketches in little more than half a season... FIVE sketches if you count the SNL sports compilation special these two characters hosted. They should've retired them after that special.

• There was nothing really noteworthy here and they didn't do anything new with Will's character this time. The feminine hygiene slogans, which usually get the biggest laughs of the sketch, are now getting less and less funnier, but I did get a chuckle from the coochie and wet crouton slogans. Again, Jason's delivery is really what sells it.

• I chuckled at the fact that Jason still seemed to have on the same eyeliner from the cold opening (where he played Adam Lambert) and monologue (where he played a drag queen). It looked so strange on him as his ESPN character. I guess he didn't have enough time to remove it before this sketch.

Stars: **

Digital Short - Flags of the World

• This was very silly, but I thought it was decent and I got a couple of laughs. I had to keep rewinding this several times to catch all the names since this was so fast-paced.

• My favorite flags were the Betty White and Neo-Nazi Potsie ones.

• Did anyone notice at the beginning, they accidentally displayed the “I love to hit people with my car” subtitle from the following sketch?

Stars: ***

Sketch - Hollywood Dish

• I wasn't too crazy about the first installment with Taylor Swift earlier this season, but that one had its moments. This one, on the other hand, was an exact lazy rewrite, down to repeating the spit-take, Bill falling asleep, and the ending with a clip of the host being used out of context to make her look insane.

• Some of Bill's facial reactions still gave me laugh, though, particularly the frozen open-mouthed surprised look he gave J.Lo after dumping the milkshake on Kristen.

Stars: *½

Sketch - Telemundo: Vancouver 2010

• This was pretty dull and forgettable and I didn't really laugh much, although I do agree with them on the uselessness of winter olympics.

• The only really funny parts of the whole sketch was the reaction to the ski jump and Bill's depression over curling not being shuffleboard, as well as Bobby's silly character trying to cheer him up with a pie.

Stars: **½

Commercial - Undercover Celebrity Boss

• The first half of this was great; the Steve Jobs and Richard Branson parts were hilarious. But this lost a little steam towards the end. I didn't really care for the Olsen Twins scene, which also wasn't helped by the fact that Jenny & Nasim looked NOTHING like them.

Stars: ***½

Weekend Update - Seth Meyers, featuring Bobby Moynihan, Gov. David Paterson

• Best jokes: U.S. Embassy, Tiger Woods/Gatorade, Slim Jim, Hummer, Matthew Fox

• I was pleasantly surprised to see Bobby doing a commentary as himself, as castmembers these days rarely ever show up as themselves on Update. The commentary itself started out funny, then just got dull and repetitive and left me confused when it ended at first, but it was all worth it just for the hilarious payoff afterwards where Bobby briefly returned when Seth was in the middle of an Update joke. That saved it.

• I knew Fred would be playing Paterson tonight after the news about him earlier this week. I wish they'd do something a little different and have Fred's Paterson appear in a cold opening or something instead of him only making appearances on Update.

• Fred's surprise attack fail at the beginning was funny, and he had a couple of clever lines during the commentary, like the “abandoned shoneys” part. Even the usual New Jersey slams had enough variations on it tonight to still keep it somewhat fresh. Plus, Fred's delivery and his frozen stares into the camera after the NJ jokes always make it funny.

Stars: ***

Sketch - Besos Y Lagrimas

• Wow, they haven't done this since the second installment when Antonio Banderas hosted, which was FOUR years ago. But what do you expect? This is the 09-10 season, where SNL will stop at NOTHING to lazily bring back old random, forgotten sketches that should've stayed in the mothballs.

• This sketch was only really funny the first time with Christina Aguilera. And just to show you how long it's been since they originally did this sketch, Fred is the only castmember left from the Aguilera installment who was still in tonight's third installment.

• The only parts I really laughed at were a few of Fred's facial expressions, Jason's expression when he was crying, and the dog's face.

Stars: **

Sketch - Office Romance

• I liked the first one they did earlier this season, but I was worried they would ruin it by making it recurring. While they didn't exactly ruin it, the parts with Kenan were exactly the same and they were less funny this time.

• In the first one, the main laughs all came from Kenan, but this time, J.Lo and Jason's parts were actually quite funny and got the biggest laughs from me in the whole sketch, with J.Lo's weird puppet obsession and Jason being creeped out.

• I admit, though, Kenan did make me laugh at the end with his reaction to J.Lo and Nasim together.

Stars: **½

Sketch - Smashmouth in the Bedroom

• A pretty dated, random band to parody, but most of this was actually very funny with the sudden appearances of Smashmouth, and Nasim also did a good job as the frightened little girl.

• Unfortunately, this sketch lost steam in the last minute and the ending was just lame. I was expecting a way funnier punchline than just everyone singing happily.

• Jason was pretty funny as the dad. Also, did anyone else notice he looked a lot like Dane Cook with his hair like that?

Stars: ***½

Sketch - Car Horns and More

• As soon as this started and I saw Bobby in that Sopranos-esque shirt again, I knew this was going to be a follow-up to that Doorbells sketch. I'm not surprised at all, because I figured before the show that they would try to do Jenny's Tina-Tina Shaneuse (or however it's spelled) character tonight considering a Hispanic person was hosting, and they would have J.Lo play Jenny's friend or sister.

• I didn't mind the first Doorbells sketch even though it seemed like a lot of people hated it, but bringing this back for a second time while barely making any changes to the script was completely unnecessary. I mean, aside from J.Lo's character and the product being Car Horns instead of Doorbells, there was absolutely NO difference from the first installment. It was EXACTLY the same, right down to Bobby, Nasim, Fred, and Abby playing the exact same supporting characters. Bobby's character still kinda makes me laugh, though.

• I think Jenny's performance as this character is fine, but the sketch itself is completely one-note. I laughed at maybe one or two horn sounds, and that was it.

Stars: *½

Commercial - Closet Organizer

• Rerun... from only two damn episodes ago... AND they had to cut out one of the best parts: Jon Hamm's testimonial, thus making this commercial less funny. Couldn't they have re-aired an earlier, host-less commercial like Mostly Garbage Dog Food, University of Westfield, etc.?

_________________________________________________________

Episode Highlights:

• most of Smashmouth in the Bedroom

• The Steve Jobs and Richard Branson parts of Undercover Celebrity Boss

• parts of Weekend Update

• parts of We Are the World 3

Episode Lowlights:

• Hollywood Dish

• Car Horns and More

• Besos Y Lagrimas

• parts of Telemundo: Vancouver 2010

• ESPN Classic returning for the 10,000th time this season

• The ending of Smashmouth in the Bedroom

Best Performer of the Night:

• Bill Hader / Bobby Moynihan

FINAL THOUGHTS

A pretty dull, forgettable episode, featuring WAY too many recurring sketches. In other words, business as usual for the 09-10 season. There were only TWO non-recurring sketches all night (Telemundo Olympics and Smashmouth). There were a couple of bright spots in this episode, but too much laziness and unoriginality dominated the show.

Now, the optimist in me could say that they're saving their A-game for Zach Galifianakis next week (they'd better be), but when half the episodes from this season have been EXACTLY like tonight's, it's becoming more and more difficult to defend 09-10. I'm still getting a major 93-94 vibe from this season.

CASTMEMBER / HOST COUNT DOWN

ARMISEN: 8 sketches (We Are the World, Digital Short, Vancouver 2010, Celebrity Boss, Update, Besos Y Lagrimas, Smashmouth, Car Horns)

FORTE: 3 sketches (We Are the World, ESPN, Digital Short)

HADER: 7 sketches (We Are the World, Monologue, Hollywood Dish, Vancouver 2010, Celebrity Boss, Besos Y Lagrimas, Smashmouth)

MEYERS: 1 sketch (Update)

SAMBERG: 3 sketches (We Are the World, Digital Short, Vancouver 2010)

SUDEIKIS: 8 sketches (We Are the World, Monologue, ESPN, Digital Short, Celebrity Boss, Besos Y Lagrimas, Romance, Smashmouth)

THOMPSON: 5 sketches (We Are the World, Monologue, Digital Short, Celebrity Boss, Romance)

WIIG: 5 sketches (We Are the World, ESPN, Hollywood Dish, Celebrity Boss, Besos Y Lagrimas)

ELLIOTT: 6 sketches (We Are the World, ESPN, Digital Short, Celebrity Boss, Besos Y Lagrimas, Car Horns)

MOYNIHAN: 7 sketches (We Are the World, Digital Short, Vancouver 2010, Celebrity Boss, Update, Smashmouth, Car Horns)

PEDRAD: 7 sketches (We Are the World, ESPN, Digital Short, Celebrity Boss, Romance, Smashmouth, Car Horns)

SLATE: 6 sketches (We Are the World, ESPN, Digital Short, Vancouver 2010, Celebrity Boss, Car Horns)

JENNIFER LOPEZ: 10 sketches (We Are the World, Monologue, ESPN, Digital Short, Hollywood Dish, Vancouver 2010, Besos Y Lagrimas, Romance, Smashmouth, Car Horns)

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