[COLD OPENING] Bush & Kerry phone conversation

Highlights:

· Several good lines.

· Darrell as Gore.

· Gore singing the "I'm lovin' it" jingle.

· Bush asking Kerry to switch places with him and making comparisons to "The Parent Trap".

 

Lowlights:

· None.

 

Grade: B

 

 

[MONOLOGUE] Liam Neeson's stereotype disapproval

Highlights:

· Finesse's comment about this being the only time we'll see him tonight.

· Forte's comment about the suburban white male stereotype.

· Darrell actually appearing as himself! Very rare for him. He was funny here breaking out into his impression voices and doing the Trump/Romeo & Juliet bit.

· The Jewish gay joke.

 

Lowlights:

· None.

 

Miscellaneous:

· Did anyone notice that Fred was dressed as his Billy Smith character (the Native American stand-up comedian from last season)?

 

Grade: B

 

 

[SKETCH] Star Jones prepares for her wedding

Highlights:

· Kenan's performance as Star Jones.

· The Barbara Walters/Sean Connery part.

 

Lowlights:

· This could've been a lot funnier and had too many weak spots.

· Kenan's Star yelling in a deep voice got old after a while.

 

Grade: C-

 

 

[NEXT WEEK] November 20, 2004: Luke Wilson 

 

 

[SKETCH] You Call This a House Do Ya?

Highlights:

· The fast-motion makeover sequence, with the Irish jig and the baby part.

· Liam's fight with Rob Riggle at the end.

 

Lowlights:

· They could've added more to the scene at the end where Seth reveals the makeover changes to Liam.

 

Miscellaneous:

· At first, I thought this was going to be another "Top O' the Morning" sketch, because this used the same opening Irish TV station identification bit (and even used the same announcer), and I thought they were going to do it with just Seth's character hosting it, since Jimmy Fallon's gone. Thankfully, I was wrong.

 

Grade: B

 

 

[COMMERCIAL] Dr. Porkenheimer's Boner Juice

· A rerun, but is it just me, or did they cut out the part where Rob is shown with his boner poking under the bed sheets? I don't remember seeing it this time, and that was really the only funny part of the commercial. Did I just miss it or was it cut?

 

 

[SKETCH] Jasper the giant parrot

Highlights:

· A very bizarre and funny concept. Fred excels with sketches like this.

· Fred's acting and mannerisms as the parrot were both dead-on and funny.

 

Lowlights:

· None.

 

Grade: A

 

 

[SKETCH] Wake Up San Diego

Highlights:

· Liam's dorky dance moves at the beginning.

 

Lowlights:

· This got annoying fast and was a very one-joke sketch - a joke that wasn't funny to begin with.

 

Grade: D-

 

 

[MUSICAL PERFORMANCE]

 

 

[WEEKEND UPDATE] Fey & Poehler, John Ashcroft, Doug Stradley, Ritchie B & Marcus

Highlights:

· Tina's Tara Reid/Cynthia Nixon joke.

· Seth's bit was pretty good, although it reminded me a little too much of the (far superior) college fratboy bit that Will Ferrell did on Update once before. 

· Tina's marathon winner joke.

· Fred delivers the goods with yet another hilarious new stand-up comedian character, and Kenan's reactions to his racial jokes were also very funny. I'm noticing a lot lately that Kenan is good at playing the straight man to weird characters (like in the Peter O'Toole/Michael Caine & Chub Hotty sketches).

 

Lowlights:

· Tina's Star Jones joke.

· Tina's Scott Peterson joke.

· Tina's John Ashcroft joke.

· Amy's Special Olympics robbery joke.

· The Tara Reid re-enactment bit with Barbie dolls.

· Tina and Amy's song. What the hell was that???

· There are probably even more bad jokes I didn't mention, as I barely laughed AT ALL during the Fey/Poehler portions of this Update. Man, Tina and Amy are really getting bad, and this is the second Update in a row where they had to pad it out with a lot of guest commentaries just to make it funny.

 

Miscellaneous:

· They actually showed the Update set being assembled during the preceding commercial break. Have they ever done that before with Weekend Update?

 

Grade: D+

 

 

[SKETCH] Appalachian Emergency Room

Highlights:

· Fred's part.

· Parnell turning on the car alarm with the car keys that are up his butt.

· Just the crazy-eyed look on Rob's face alone had me laughing.

 

Lowlights:

· This sketch is really getting stale. It wasn't all that special to begin with, but now it's gotten to the point where it's extremely formulaic and a just a string of predictable gags.

 

Grade: C-

 

 

[SKETCH] Drug-sniffing dog scheme

Highlights:

· A few funny lines in the first half.

· This got funnier toward the end when Kenan came on as the black cop, and the ending with him, Liam, and Amy in the pot-smoke filled room.

 

Lowlights:

· This seemed promising and had a good premise, but the first half was too slow and it dragged. Liam's performance as a pothead was too stiff and he was part of the reason for the sketch's slow-paced feeling.  He seemed miscast in this role.

 

Grade: B-

 

 

[MUSICAL PERFORMANCE]

 

________________________________________

 

Overall Episode Grade: C+

 

Overall Highlights:

· Bush & Kerry phone conversation.

· Monologue.

· Jasper the giant parrot.

· The Ritchie B & Marcus segment on Weekend Update.

 

Overall Lowlights:

· Portions of the Star Jones sketch.

· Wake Up San Diego.

· The Fey/Poehler portions of Weekend Update.

· Appalacian Emergency Room.

· Liam Neeson's dull performance in Drug-sniffing dog scheme.

 

Best Lines:

· Darrell Hammond as Al Gore: "Tipper and I just won a limbo contest by a decisive margin."

 

· Darrell Hammond as Al Gore: (about the election results) "Congratulations, George."

Will Forte as President Bush: "Thanks, Al. And I actually WON this one!"

 

· Finesse Mitchell: "That's why tonight, you're not gonna see me playing any pimps or any gangsta rappers."

Liam Neeson: "Good for you, Finesse."

Finesse Mitchell: "And that's also why this is the only time you'll see me in the show tonight!"

 

· Will Forte: "I, for one, am sick and tired of upper middle-class suburban white Christian males being portrayed only as businessmen, doctors, and astronauts. We are so much more than that... many of us are also lawyers and bankers."

 

· Tina Fey: "This week at Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs' 35th birthday in New York, Tara Reid stole the show by accidentally exposing her breast on the Red Carpet. Even worse, later in the evening, Cynthia Nixon accidentally exposed her red carpet on the Red Carpet."

 

· Tina Fey: "South Africa's Hendrik Ramaala won Sunday's New York City marathon in 2 hours, 9 minutes, and 28 seconds. Ramaala credited his fast time to the fact that he was being chased by 30,000 white people."

 

· Amy Poehler as pothead: (whispering to Liam Neeson's character) “We should really get out of here and just go buy some more ‘p-o-t’.”

Chris Parnell as cop: “I’m a grown man and I know what that spells.”

 

 

CASTMEMBER COUNT DOWN:

ARMISEN: 4 sketches (Liam Neeson’s stereotype disapproval / Jasper the giant parrot / Weekend Update / Appalachian Emergency Room)

DRATCH: 2 sketches (Star Jones prepares for her wedding / Jasper the giant parrot)

FEY: 1 sketch (Weekend Update)

FORTE: 2 sketches (Bush & Kerry phone conversation / Liam Neeson’s stereotype disapproval)

HAMMOND: 4 sketches (Bush & Kerry phone conversation / Liam Neeson’s stereotype disapproval / Weekend Update / Appalachian Emergency Room)

MEYERS: 4 sketches (Bush & Kerry phone conversation / You Call This a House Do Ya? / Weekend Update / Appalachian Emergency Room)

PARNELL: 3 sketches (Wake Up San Diego / Appalachian Emergency Room / Drug-sniffing dog scheme)

POEHLER: 5 sketches (You Call This a House Do Ya? / Dr. Porkenheimer’s Boner Juice / Weekend Update / Appalachian Emergency Room / Drug-sniffing dog scheme)

RUDOLPH: 5 sketches (Bush & Kerry phone conversation / Liam Neeson’s stereotype disapproval / Star Jones prepares for her wedding / Wake Up San Diego / Appalachian Emergency Room)

SANZ: 1 sketch (Liam Neeson’s stereotype disapproval)

MITCHELL: 2 sketches (Liam Neeson’s stereotype disapproval / Star Jones prepares for her wedding)

RIGGLE: 3 sketches (You Call This a House Do Ya? / Dr. Porkenheimer’s Boner Juice / Appalachian Emergency Room)

THOMPSON: 5 sketches (Star Jones prepares for her wedding / Wake Up San Diego / Weekend Update / Appalachian Emergency Room / Drug-sniffing dog scheme)

 

Kenan, Fred, and Seth stood out the most tonight. The overall best performer of the night was Fred, for his hilarious roles as Jasper and comedian Ritchie B, and for his funny small part in Appalachian Emergency Room. It was nice to see Kenan in so many sketches and bigger roles, as he’s been really underused this season. I think 5 sketches in one night may be a record for him.

 

 

THE END

Back to Season 30 (2004-05)