RATINGS SYSTEM

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

**** = Great

*** = Average

** = Meh

* = How'd this get past dress?

 

Cold Opening - Dominique Strauss-Kahn in Prison

• Hmm, I’m surprised they’re doing the season finale cold opening about the IMF chief. I thought the show would open with something to do regarding the alleged Rapture.

• This is pretty funny so far, and certainly different from the usual cold openings.

• Nobody in the whitebread studio audience seems to have gotten the Nas reference.

• Loved Kenan’s line about Portugal being “the dingleberry hanging off of Spain’s nutsack”.

• Hilarious twist at the end.

• I’ve been VERY tough on Jay Pharoah lately, but I have to admit that he did a decent job here and didn’t mess up too badly. There may be hope for him next season after all.

• Kenan was surprisingly good here, too.

• Taran managed to be funny even in a role where he had no lines at all. He did a great facial impression of Strauss-Kahn as well; looked just like the guy.

Stars: ***

 

Monologue - Justin Timberlake

• He says this is the first episode he’s hosted where he isn’t the musical guest. But wasn’t Ciara the musical guest last time he hosted? Though I remember he did perform with her during one of her performances, so I guess he counts that as him being the MG.

• This monologue is predictable so far and pretty much exactly what I’ve expected from Timberlake, with lots of audience pandering. I cannot deny the pure energy this guy always brings to SNL, though, and this monologue honestly isn’t bad.

• The rain part is particularly good.

• I was hoping tonight’s monologue would be similar to Timberlake’s last monologue from 2009 where he recapped the whole SNL season in song and mentioned all the hosts’ names. That was pretty fun and it would’ve been nice to see him recap the 2010-11 season.

• Random thought: I hope they finally change the home base stage and musical guest stage next season. They’ve been using this same stage since 2003. Just to show you how long it’s been, the first season they used this stage, Jimmy Fallon was still in the cast, Fred Armisen was only a featured player, and Kenan Thompson had just joined the show.

Stars: ***

 

Sketch - Liquorville

• Of all the Timberlake episode mainstays, this Dancing Mascot sketch is among the ones I was looking forward to the LEAST. This sketch was really only funny the first two times, particularly the Santa one he did with Will Forte. But since then, the concept of the sketch has gotten very worn out and tired.

• Okay, the teabagging bit was really funny.

• My only other laughs during this so far have come from the botched sound effects with Timberlake’s mouth-popping.

• Lady Gaga... the first of what I assume will be many sketch appearances for her tonight.

• The ending was different than usual at least, although still not funny.

Stars: **

 

Sketch - WXPD News New York

• Is Nasim playing the same news anchor she played in the Souping sketch from the Emma Stone episode? I think her character has the same name in both sketches.

• I don’t mind seeing this sketch back, but can’t they at least change the scenery where Bill’s old man character reports from? They already used the school setting last time in the Jesse Eisenberg installment.

• Bill’s un-PC line “She can go back to her kitchen” was hilarious! Sketch officially redeemed.

• Okay, Bill telling Jason “Suck an egg, you mannequin!” is making me laugh much more than it should. Just something about the way Bill delivered that line cracked me up to no end.

• Loved Bill beating up Fred’s character when he found out he was Asian.

• Oh, Herb dies at the end again? Wow, what a surprise... Why do these sketches always have to end that way?

• The photo of Herb at the Lee Harvey Oswald shooting was pretty funny, though.

• Overall, despite being a rehashed sketch, this wasn’t bad at all and had a good number of laughs.

Stars: ***

 

Digital Short - 3-Way

• Just now, the studio audience went absolutely WILD as soon as the “An SNL Digital Short” screen appeared. They’re obviously anticipating tonight’s Dick in a Box/Mother Lovers sequel. Let’s hope this is good...

• For some reason, I’m STILL surprised they were able to get Susan Sarandon and Patricia Clarkson to re-appear for this.

• I knew they’d do a Digital Short with Lady Gaga.

• A three-way? That’s the best joke they could come up with for this highly-anticipated sequel? This short is lame so far.

• Okay, the “helicopter dick” part was hilarious and almost enough to save this whole short.

• Overall, this short was just a sad follow-up to the classic Dick in a Box and Mother Lovers. The Lonely Island clearly couldn’t come up with a strong-enough follow-up this week and they would’ve been better off just not going with one at all tonight.

Stars: **

 

Weekend Update - Seth Meyers, featuring Bradley Cooper & Nicolas Cage, Stefon

• How many jokes has Seth done where the punchline is someone being the last to say “Not it”? I’m asking because I remember him and Amy Poehler using that same punchline for A LOT of jokes in the past and that punchline has never really been funny.

• Surprised they aren’t dragging out Amy again for tonight’s “Really” segment, although I know Seth has done a few on his own before.

• Seth has a few okay quips during this edition of “Really”, particularly the bit with Arnold’s movie titles.

• The Trump joke was pretty good.

• Andy’s Nicolas Cage again with another famous actor... Hopefully, this won’t be a carbon-copy of the Jake Gyllenhaal one.

• Just as I thought, it’s pretty much a carbon-copy. Nothing too great here. I think they just used this as an excuse so SNL can brag that all three Hangover stars appeared on the show within the last few months.

• Wow, Stefon again. I know they’ve used this character A LOT this season (I think this is his 6th appearance this season alone), but for some reason he never gets old with me and at least they’re using him in a different way tonight.

• Very interesting and unusual way to end Update tonight. And something about it made it seem like it was Seth’s way of signing off FOR GOOD instead of just for the season finale. Could this possibly be Seth’s final Weekend Update??? I don’t want to get my hopes up and I know I’m probably looking too much into this, but in all the previous season finales, Seth just ended Update with a simple “Have a great summer”. His special walk-off tonight with Stefon makes me think this could be his last show. Probably not, but you never know.

• Overall, I’m pleasantly surprised by how short this Update was. Last week, I complained about how every Update these days always has to have three guest commentaries, and tonight we only get one (Stefon’s brief appearance doesn’t count, since it was just a quick walk-on at the end). Thank you for listening, SNL.

Stars: **½

 

Sketch - What’s That Name?

• I had a feeling they’d eventually bring this sketch back. Let’s hope this one can live up to the strong first installment with Paul Rudd.

• Love Bill as the host. He always has some funny lines and great facial expressions in these sketches.

• Here comes Abby appearing in a typical useless bit role on what’s sure to be her final SNL episode.

• Timberlake’s nervous frozen facial reaction while trying to remember Abby’s name is hilarious.

• If there’s one thing about Abby that I’ll miss after this season, it’s definitely her hotness. She looks so damn good in this sketch.

• The part with Taran as the N-Sync guy and Timberlake still not knowing his name is really clever.

• Can it be any more obvious now that Lady Gaga will definitely be hosting in the future? So far, she’s proving to be not bad at doing sketches, although there have been a couple of awkward pauses before some of her lines in this sketch.

• Overall, not a bad follow-up at all. It’s nice that they took this into a different direction instead of doing a blatant rewrite of the original installment.

Stars: ****

 

Sketch - Merryville Love Tunnel

• Okay, now THIS I would never have predicted in a million years would end up coming back, especially since it will be IMPOSSIBLE to top the classic first installment with Jim Carrey, which should’ve been one of those sketches better remembered as a one-shot. However, I’m going to be open-minded about tonight’s installment, so let’s see how it goes...

• Timberlake is surprisingly not bad at doing the robotic moves, although he’s nowhere near as funny doing that as Carrey or Killam are. To this day, I still instantly crack up whenever I think of Carrey’s facial expressions and robotic movements from the first installment.

• Bobby appears in a typical useless dull role... hmm, didn’t I just type this about Abby? You know what? Can we put Bobby on the same chopping block that Abby will be on this summer, because Bobby has been nothing but a huge disappointment this season, after having a fairly strong first two years as a featured player. For someone who’s now supposed to be a repertory player, they’ve barely given Bobby any noteworthy roles this year. I would not be sad at all if he doesn’t return next season.

• At least they’re having the robots do something different this time, although the romantic stuff to Nasim pales in comparison to the murderous attacks at Kenan.

• Bill clanging the triangle while staring with a creepy frozen grin makes me laugh EVERY TIME and I don’t even know why. Bill Hader is just great at making little stuff like that amusing. I love that guy.

• Jason’s a very funny straight man in this.

• The part with Paul as the priest wasn’t really necessary, and he was actually really lousy at doing the robotic movements. It looked like wasn’t even trying. There was also an awkward delay a few seconds before he showed up. Did he miss his cue?

• Overall, what I said above about tonight’s What’s That Name being a good follow-up also applies to this sketch. I have no problem with recurring sketches as long as they’re able to make at least a decent amount of changes in each installment like they’ve done with this and What’s That Name.

Stars: ***

 

Sketch - Secret Word

• Damn it.

• Now THIS, on the other hand, is a recurring sketch that I’ve never cared for and only gets more and more boring in each subsequent installment.

• I find it kinda funny that this is the second gameshow sketch in the last 15 minutes with Bill playing the host.

• Timberlake’s phony hypnotist character isn’t bad, and the only watchable thing in this sketch so far.

• Weak ending.

Stars: *½

 

Sketch - The Barry Gibb Talk Show

• Damn it + infinity.

• True story: literally right before this showed up, I was saying to myself “I’m glad they were finally able to do a Timberlake episode without a Barry Gibb sketch!” because I never would have thought they’d put this sketch on THIS late in the show. Guess again.

• I’m beyond tired of this sketch. While they were able to thankfully shake up a majority of tonight’s recurring sketches, the Barry Gibb sketches on the other hand are ALWAYS the exact same and I really only enjoyed the first one. Every subsequent installment was just an inferior carbon-copy.

• Okay, I admit I did just laugh right now at the part with Timberlake using the gold medallions as a defibrillator on Fallon’s chest.

• I was just about to say that if this ends up being Abby’s final SNL sketch, then at least she’s going out doing one of her more memorable impressions (Rachel Maddow), but then she ended up not having any lines at all in this sketch!

• (*looks at the time*) Oh, no, it’s 12:57, so I guess that means this is the final sketch of the season. Man, what a poor anti-climactic way to end the year. Why can’t more seasons end with a special, fun, show-stopping final sketch involving the full cast like Goodnight Saigon, the Grease parody from Jimmy Fallon’s final show, or So Long Farewell from 93-94?

Stars: *½

 

Goodnights

• And here’s the part of every season finale where I try to look for signs that this is a long-time castmember’s last episode.

• Seth’s still wearing his Update suit... He usually always dresses casually during the goodnights, but the fact that he still has his suit on tonight and that a lot of people seem to be hugging him in particular... uh-huh, I’m taking this as another sign that this is possibly Seth’s final episode. If he leaves, then this is HUGE. What will happen to Weekend Update and who will be SNL’s new head writer? This would be the first year since 2000 where Weekend Update has to go through a complete change with no holdovers from the previous Update era.

• Hey, Vanessa Bayer... I feel like this is the first time all night that we’ve seen her. Was she even in any sketches at all tonight? I always feel bad when any castmember is left out of a season finale; that must suck for them.

 

_________________________________________________________

 

Episode Highlights:

• What’s That Name?

• Dominique Strauss-Kahn in Prison

• parts of WXPD News New York

 

Episode Lowlights:

• Secret Word

• The Barry Gibb Talk Show

• Liquorville

 

Best Performer of the Night:

• Bill Hader / Justin Timberlake

 

CASTMEMBER / HOST COUNT DOWN

ARMISEN: 3 sketches (WXPD News, What’s That Name, Barry Gibb)

ELLIOTT: 3 sketches (What’s That Name, Secret Word, Barry Gibb)

HADER: 5 sketches (WXPD News, Update, What’s That Name, Merryville, Secret Word)

MEYERS: 1 sketch (Update)

MOYNIHAN: 2 sketches (Merryville, Secret Word)

SAMBERG: 2 sketches (Digital Short, Update)

SUDEIKIS: 2 sketches (WXPD News, Merryville)

THOMPSON: 2 sketches (Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Barry Gibb)

WIIG: 2 sketches (Liquorville, Secret Word)

 

BAYER: 0 sketches

BRITTAIN: 2 sketches (Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Merryville)

KILLAM: 3 sketches (Dominique Strauss-Kahn, What’s That Name, Merryville)

PEDRAD: 2 sketches (WXPD News, Merryville)

PHAROAH: 1 sketch (Dominique Strauss-Kahn)

 

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE: 8 sketches (Monologue, Liquorville, WXPD News, Digital Short, What’s That Name, Merryville, Secret Word, Barry Gibb)

 

_________________________________________________________

 

2010-2011 YEAR IN REVIEW

 

This is going to be much shorter than my usual traditional end-of-season write-ups, because I unfortunately do not have the time to do a full Year In Review of Top 10 Best/Worst Sketches, Top 10 Best/Worst Episodes, my list of hopes/suggestions for next season, etc. So I’m simply just going to go episode-by-episode and list the best/worst sketch, best performer, and final verdict for each show this season:

 

Amy Poehler / Katy Perry

BEST SKETCH: The Unwatchables

WORST SKETCH: The Lean Years

BEST PERFORMER: Bill Hader

FINAL VERDICT: average

 

Bryan Cranston / Kanye West

BEST SKETCH: The Miley Cyrus Show

WORST SKETCH: The Bjelland Brothers

BEST PERFORMER: Vanessa Bayer

FINAL VERDICT: poor

 

Jane Lynch / Bruno Mars

BEST SKETCH: The New Boyfriend Talk Show

WORST SKETCH: Gilly

BEST PERFORMER: Jason Sudeikis / Andy Samberg

FINAL VERDICT: decent

 

Emma Stone / Kings of Leon

BEST SKETCH: “Sex” Ed Vincent’s Sex Symposium

WORST SKETCH: Dream Home Giveaway

BEST PERFORMER: Bill Hader

FINAL VERDICT: mediocre

 

Jon Hamm / Rihanna

BEST SKETCH: Back to the Future screen tests

WORST SKETCH: Highway Cops

BEST PERFORMER: Jon Hamm

FINAL VERDICT: mediocre

 

Scarlett Johansson / Arcade Fire

BEST SKETCH: Unstoppable

WORST SKETCH: St. Kat’s Middle School (a.k.a. the Kenan wheelchair debacle)

BEST PERFORMER: Vanessa Bayer

FINAL VERDICT: terrible

 

Anne Hathaway / Florence + The Machine

BEST SKETCH: TSA commercial

WORST SKETCH: Penelope

BEST PERFORMER: Anne Hathaway / Jason Sudeikis

FINAL VERDICT: great

 

Robert DeNiro / Diddy-Dirty Money

BEST SKETCH: WikiLeaks TMZ

WORST SKETCH: Mr. Produce

BEST PERFORMER: Bill Hader

FINAL VERDICT: mediocre

 

Paul Rudd / Paul McCartney

BEST SKETCH: What’s That Name?

WORST SKETCH: The Kissing Family

BEST PERFORMER: Bill Hader

FINAL VERDICT: decent

 

Jeff Bridges / Eminem & Lil Wayne

BEST SKETCH: Christmas Eve in Washington D.C.

WORST SKETCH: Larry King Live

BEST PERFORMER: Jason Sudeikis

FINAL VERDICT: mediocre

 

Jim Carrey / The Black Keys

BEST SKETCH: Merryville Trolley Ride

WORST SKETCH: A Taste of New York

BEST PERFORMER: Jim Carrey

FINAL VERDICT: great

 

Gwyneth Paltrow / Cee Lo Green

BEST SKETCH: Globe Theater

WORST SKETCH: Secret Word

BEST PERFORMER: Bill Hader

FINAL VERDICT: decent

 

Jesse Eisenberg / Nicki Minaj

BEST SKETCH: Bride of Blackenstein

WORST SKETCH: Spa Talk

BEST PERFORMER: Bill Hader / Andy Samberg

FINAL VERDICT: decent

 

Dana Carvey / Linkin Park

BEST SKETCH: Wayne’s World

WORST SKETCH: Beauty Pageant

BEST PERFORMER: Dana Carvey

FINAL VERDICT: great

 

Russell Brand / Chris Brown

BEST SKETCH: Don’ You Go Rounin’ Roun to Re Ro

WORST SKETCH: Ultimate Vacation Giveaway

BEST PERFORMER: Taran Killam

FINAL VERDICT: decent

 

Miley Cyrus / The Strokes

BEST SKETCH: Duh! Winning! with Charlie Sheen

WORST SKETCH: The Sound of Music

BEST PERFORMER: Taran Killam

FINAL VERDICT: mediocre

 

Zach Galifianakis / Jessie J

BEST SKETCH: Monologue

WORST SKETCH: Celebrity Scoop

BEST PERFORMER: Zach Galifianakis

FINAL VERDICT: good

 

Elton John

BEST SKETCH: Knights of the Realm

WORST SKETCH: Unicorn Cowboy

BEST PERFORMER: Tom Hanks

FINAL VERDICT: mediocre

 

Helen Mirren / Foo Fighters

BEST SKETCH: Fox & Friends

WORST SKETCH: A Message from President Obama

BEST PERFORMER: Taran Killam / Andy Samberg

FINAL VERDICT: mediocre

 

Tina Fey / Ellie Goulding

BEST SKETCH: Jack Sparrow digital short

WORST SKETCH: Googie Rene

BEST PERFORMER: Bill Hader

FINAL VERDICT: decent

 

Ed Helms / Paul Simon

BEST SKETCH: TV Funhouse

WORST SKETCH: One-Take Tony

BEST PERFORMER: Robert Smigel

FINAL VERDICT: mediocre

 

Justin Timberlake / Lady Gaga

BEST SKETCH: What’s That Name?

WORST SKETCH: Secret Word

BEST PERFORMER: Bill Hader / Justin Timberlake

FINAL VERDICT: decent

 

 

That’s all from me this season. Have a great summer everyone, and see you in the 2011-12 season, where I’ll return to my usual reviewing format instead of the experimental "write the review as I'm watching the show live" format I used for the last three episodes.

Back to Season 36 (2010-11)