Josh Hartnett / Pink
January 12, 2002
11:30 BILL CLINTON REMEMBERS BUDDY THE DOG
- Tracy's part at the beginning was pretty funny.
- It was great to see Darrell's Clinton impression back after quite a while.
- The random shots of the people in the crowd were hilarious.
- This went on pretty long by the end.
- And the Ferrell and Hammond LFNY's continue...
- RATING: 3/5
11:36 - OPENING MONTAGE
- I almost had a heart attack when I saw that Ferrell's picture wasn't there. I already heard that Ferrell won't be appearing in tonight's episode because he's off shooting a movie, but I didn't know they'd remove him from the opening credits. I figured they'd at least have a pre-recorded segment for him in the show, like a commercial. This was strange, especially considering how popular he is, a lot of fans would think he left the show when his name wasn't called. It's really going to be weird to see a show entirely Ferrell-less. I don't think that's ever happened anytime before. Could this be a sign that Ferrell will leave after this season???
- Then I almost had a second heart attack when I saw Amy Poehler as a regular castmember in the credits. I'm really happy and quite surprised to see this. I already heard a rumor about it beforehand, but I didn't think it was true. She's really funny and deserves the promotion. The only other two cast members who were promoted from featured player to a regular play in mid-season were Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers. Also, the funny thing is, I mentioned in my last review about how much Seth and Amy deserve to be regular cast members.
11:38 JOSH HARNETT'S MONOLOGUE
- The minute I heard this guy was hosting, I was disappointed. Why is he hosting? He seems really boring. I was expecting another Val Kilmer (but his episode was great, so who knows).
- This was alright, but not really anything special.
- RATING: 2/5
11:44 WAKE UP WAKEFIELD
- No! Not this again!
- I still don't like these Wakefield sketches, and they've yet to grow on me like Jarret's Room did. Keep trying, guys.
- Again, Horatio's character gets the biggest laughs out of me in these sketches.
- RATING: 1/5
11:51 - NEXT WEEK: JACK BLACK / THE STROKES
Jack Black's a funny guy, so I'm really looking forward to this.
11:53 LIFETIME MOVIE
- I thought this was hilarious. Ana was great here.
- Was that Maya as the announcer? It sounded kinda like her voice.
RATING: 5/5
11:56 TV FUNHOUSE: THE X PRESIDENTS
- Yes! Glad Smigel brought these characters back.
- I thought it was hilarious that Clinton was wearing the same outfit he wore in the last X-Presidents toon from the Mena Suvari episode.
- Hey, Ace and Gary are back! It's about damn time, too. It's been a long time.
- RATING: 5/5
12:02 - SHOUT OUT SHOW
- Rare to see Tracy starring in a sketch. He was funny, but this sketch was bad up until Josh's character came on and Tracy kept making shout-outs when Josh was trying to be serious.
- Maya's voice over the phone sounded a lot like her postal worker and airport security character.
- I think that was Dean as the second caller on the phone, but I can't really tell because I'm not familiar with this voice since he HARDLY GETS A CHANCE TO SPEAK ON THE SHOW
- RATING: 2/5
12:10 MUSICAL GUEST
12:14 BUDWEISER BEER AD
- Huh??? That was strange how they showed the Budweiser ad right at the end of Pink's musical performance before going to commercial break. I guess NBC's really taking advantage of being able to show ads for liquor now.
12:16 WEEKEND UPDATE
- Great jokes as usual. Need I say it anymore?
- Dang, Tracy's been in 3 sketches so far, and had major roles in all of them. He's on a roll tonight. His Maya Angelou bit was very funny, though he kinda slipped over some of his lines. I notice Tracy does that sometimes.
- The Henley/Stiles bit was silly and hilarious. Horatio and Kattan were hilarious.
- RATING: 4/5
More than halfway into the show and a) it definitely feels strange with no Ferrell, and b) Amy Poehler's yet to appear in a sketch. C'mon, SNL, she's a regular cast member now!!!
12:30 STAR WARS
- Add George Lucas to the list of great impressions by the master, Darrell Hammond.
- I really liked this sketch, in a silly way.
- C'mon, Amy could've had a part in this sketch, as one of the bizarre characters.
- RATING: 4/5
12:38 HOLIDAY TRAVELS
- Ah, there's Amy.
- Seth and Amy are always great playing duo's together, which they do a lot. They remind me of Ferrell and Cheri back in 1995-96.
- Dang, Tracy's in FIVE sketches tonight. Go Tracy!
- RATING: 3/5
12:42 MY BEST LIST FOR 2001 - JACK HANDEY
- At first, I was like "What is this???" but by the end, I got a bigger laugh out of this than Handey's "Big Thick Novel" bits. Hopefully, this means he'll ditch those because nobody really likes them. Maybe he'll get wise and bring back Deep Thoughts.
- RATING: n/a, I never really rate these Jack Handey segments
12:48 MUSICAL GUEST
12:53 PLAYBOY CHANNEL PRESENTS: BURQA BADDIES
- Damn, Maya looked sexy. Hmm, mmm. Oh, yeah, the sketch...
- I already thought Rachel looked a lot like Amy Poehler since they both have some of the same facial features, but Rachel really looked a lot like her here with that blonde wig.
- Horatio's facial expressions had me dying.
- Okay for the last sketch of the night.
RATING: 2/5
12:59 - GOODBYES
OVERALL - I thought this was a pretty good episode, and I thought they did okay for a show with no Ferrell, but I still miss him. Josh Harnett was alright as the host, but he wasn't that much better than what I expected. Episode Grade: 3/5
BEST SKETCH OF THE EPISODE: Lifetime Movie; Star Wars
WORST SKETCH OF THE EPISODE: Wake Up Wakefield
MOST BIZARRE SKETCH: Star Wars
FUNNY BLOOPERS: Absolutely nothing. Wow. No mistakes or character breaks happened tonight.
ROLES THAT WILL FERRELL MOST LIKELY WOULD'VE HAD: Maybe Dubya in the cold opening; Darrell's role as the husband in the Lifetime sketch, a bizarre role to play in the Star Wars skit; Josh's role as the zany pilot in the Holiday Travels sketch (for some reason, I saw Ferrell in Josh's role)
SKETCHES THAT'LL PROBABLY BE CUT ON COMEDY CENTRAL: Playboy Channel; Star Wars; TV Funhouse; Jack Handey
CAST MEMBER COUNT DOWN
RACHEL DRATCH: 3 sketches (Wakefield, Holiday, Playboy)
JIMMY FALLON: 4 sketches (Monologue, Wakefield, Update, Star Wars)
TINA FEY: 1 sketch (Update)
ANA GASTEYER: 3 sketches (Lifetime Movie, Holiday, Playboy)
DARRELL HAMMOND: 3 sketches (Clinton, Lifetime Movie, Star Wars)
CHRIS KATTAN: 3 sketches (Shout Out, Update, Star Wars)
TRACY MORGAN: 5 sketches (Clinton, Shout Out, Update, Star Wars, Holiday)
AMY POEHLER: 2 sketches (Holiday, Playboy)
MAYA RUDOLPH: 4 sketches (Wakefield, Lifetime Movie [?], Shout Out, Playboy)
HORATIO SANZ: 4 sketches (Wakefield, Update, Star Wars, Playboy)
DEAN EDWARDS: 2 sketches (Shout Out [?], Star Wars)
SETH MEYERS: 2 sketches (Star Wars, Holiday)
JEFF RICHARDS: 1 sketch (Star Wars)
I can't believe I'm saying this, but the star of the night was Tracy Morgan. He was surprisingly used a lot tonight and was funny, which was really good to see. Horatio also had a big part in the show, and was very funny. Tonight's the Night of the Living Underused. But I was very disappointed at the little airtime Amy got. For her first show as a regular player, they could've given her bigger roles. Instead, they wasted her and she was still treated like a featured player tonight. C'mon, SNL! Let's hope they use her more next week.
That's my review. Thanks for reading. I'm outta heah...