“I could eat this off a flip flop”
Cold Open: The Rachel Maddow Show
2 Stars
Rachel Maddow talks to John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi, and Charles Rangle. I didn’t care about these political cold opens then and I certainly don’t now.
Anne Hathaway Monologue
2 Stars
The boys try to get Anne to get naked in sketches.
Transportation Security Administration
4 Stars
The TSA are advertised like a phone sex line. Just say no to a full body scanner and Bobby will look under your testicles.
The Miley Cyrus Show
3 Stars
They didn’t waste too much time bringing this back. Jason has replaced Bryan Cranston as Billy Ray and is a definite upgrade. As my enthusiasm for this sketch faded I remember him being the highlight of a sketch I’ve seen too often. The pics of the new sexy Miley were very funny. Anne’s Katie Holmes impression was pretty fun too.
Free Thanksgiving Dinner
2 Stars
The 7th and final appearance of Penelope is pretty much like all the others. She tops everyone until the host gets mad then all the absurd stuff Penelope said comes true. I did enjoy the cutaway to Penelope’s family.
Royal Engagement
2 Stars
Kate Middleton meets with the Queen and Prince Phillip and they’re vulgar brutes. The surprise of them speaking all brash is gone for me since I’ve seen their future appearances but I don’t think I’d care for this too much even if I did have that.
Florence + The Machines
"Dog Days Are Over"
Weekend Update
Guy Fieri makes his Update debut and shows us some disgusting dishes that he’d eat off a moving truck tire. Bobby’s energy in this is off the charts.
Chris Hunter, the creator of Four Loko, an alcohol/caffeine beverage that is giving people heart attacks, stops by to warn consumers that there are actually 120 servings in each can.
Jay Pharoah shows up to do some hip hop impressions. He does Jay-Z, Drake, and Notorious B.I.G.. I’m starting to think all this guy has is impressions. And it’s starting to feel a little hack, especially when he uses the phrase “I think it would sound something like this…”.
The Essentials
0 Stars
Has a Wizard Of Oz parody ever worked on SNL? Guess the answer is still “Nope”.
WXPD News New York
4 Stars
The debut of Herb Welch. Based on a viral video but works without context. He keeps hitting Anne with the microphone and fights with Jason the in-house anchor. All the tent poles of sketches to come.
Mega-Mart
4 Stars
Another good use of high energy Bobby. He promotes an incredibly dangerous Black Friday sale with thrash metal, free box cutters, no security guards, and Kirk Douglas hidden somewhere in the store.
Camel Tame
3 Stars
Me thinks something got cut as we get our 2nd pre-filmed commercial in a row. Camel Tame is a device you put down the front of your pants that gives you a protruding bulge rather than camel toe.
Florence + The Machine return with "You Got The Love"
Horse Play
2 Stars
Even though it’s live, this is our third commercial parody in a row. What sketch had to suffer so Fred could dick around in Oz for 5 minutes? They’ve done this setup before and it’s basically a musical impressions roll call. We get Anne as Alanis Morisette, Andy as Robert Smith from The Cure, Kristen as the lead singer of The Cranberries, Fred as Randy Newman, and Kenan as Cee Lo Green. The only one that made me laugh was Jason as Adam Lambert who just let out a single scream.
FINAL ANALYSIS
“That's right, coked up rooster”
Average
2.5 Stars
MVP
Bobby Moynihan
Transportation Security Administration, The Miley Cyrus Show, Free Thanksgiving Dinner, Weekend Update, The Essentials, Mega-Mart, Camel Tame
Best Sketch
Mega-Mart
Worst Sketch
The Essentials
How I Would Have Lorne Michaels-ed It
Swap Herb Welch with The Royals and move Mega-Mart to the first half. Cut Camel Tame and Horse Play and make room for a sketch. Something had to have been cut last minute seeing how the show ends with 3 commercial parodies.
Host Analysis
I remember her Katie Holmes impression being praised at the time. I can't really speak to the accuracy since my only real exposure to Katie Holmes is from her SNL hosting stint, but it was fun. I feel like every time a host does an impression on SNL people overinflate it. "Wow, that professional actor can actually impersonate another professional actor? That's incredible". Other than that there wasn't much to her, but that's not really her fault. She played the lady upset with Penelope, Kate Middleton, a lady who gets Herb Welch's microphone shoved in her face, Dorothy Gale, and Alanis Morisette. Not much to write home about. I did enjoy her brief bit in the Mega-Mart commercial as a lady hopped up on Four Loko ready for some Black Friday shopping.
Final Thoughts
A not-too-bad episode but a bit on the weak side. Mostly due to all the recurring characters (although 2 of them were on their first outing with Herb Welch and The Royal Family). Hard to get excited for the 2nd Miley Cyrus Show, 7th Penelope, a retread of a musical impressions sketch, and whatever the hell Fred was doing in the Wizard Of Oz sketch. My favorite bits were the pre-filmed commercial parodies so I feel like this is gonna be one I'll have trouble remembering come the end of the season.
Up Next
Robert DeNiro and Diddy-Dirty Money
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