“You know a bitch gotta stay dipped”
Cold Open: WikiLeaks: TMZ
4 Stars
We start with Fredbama but luckily he’s interrupted quickly by Julian Assange doing WikiLeaks in a TMZ style. We see Kadaffi leaving a restaurant with a prostitute, the Afghanistan president taking a bribe, and Hilary Clinton getting out of a limo sans underwear. The last one being filmed by Joe Biden won me over. I wish we would have gotten Vanessa as Hilary. It seemed like that’s where we were going at the end of Season 39 before Kate McKinnon took it over.
Robert DeNiro Monologue
DeNiro gets a bunch of New York facts wrong. What seems like yet another ripoff of the Season 20 Marisa Tomei monologue turns perfectly DeNiro when he starts attacking audience members who call him out for his incorrectness. He stares down Mike O’Brien, has Paula Pell roughed up by his goons Sal and Cheech, and Rob Klein gets a horse head delivered to him. I had low expectations going into this one but this is exactly what I want from a Robert DeNiro monologue.
The Abacus Conundrum
The author of The Genghis Rubicon, The Nostradamus Mechanism, The Marmaduke Betrayl, and The Fuddrucker Ultimatum promotes his new book. DeNiro is really funny here, “Lot of good words in this one”.
What Up With That?
Weird that DeNiro is the guest spot that usually goes to a cameo but he’s also kinda perfect for this role. If he wasn’t the host but they just got him for this sketch I would have said it was a good call. It’s also subtly hilarious to give Robin Williams the role that traditionally gets no lines. We get the normal absurdity with Bobba Fett, an Oompa Loompa, Mothra, of course Lindsay Buckingham, and Kristen as a weird 80’s musician. Wish one of the featured players could have gotten some airtime instead of Kristen doing something we’ve pretty much seen already. I truly never get tired of this sketch. It may be my favorite recurring segment. It always an energy booster and always offers some big chuckles.
From The Garden
Mr. Produce berates his son for not watering his vegetables. They have a fight, reconcile, and fight again. DeNiro is funny here too. I was really expecting not to like this one. It’s gotta be the future Mueller of it all that’s clouding my judgement of him.
Party At Mr. Bernard's
Bill and Andy find a dead DeNiro and decide to Weekend At Bernie’s him. The twist is that everyone else immediately realizes that they’re partying with a dead man and rightfully freak out. The screaming and chaos transitions to their trial which also turns into a raging party when DeNiro’s will declared his final wishes were to be dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and party with babes. Every second of this was hilarious.
Diddy-Dirty Money
"Coming Home"
Weekend Update
Janet Judy Tran, an 80s aerobic instructor, does some step routines and demonstrates her flexibility. This had energy but no substance. The punchline of her being on cocaine felt like an after thought. Seemed more like an excuse for Kristen to do an 80s aerobics routine.
Little Fockers
We last saw Keith in Season 34 but now he’s with his aunt since his mom was originally played by Michaela Watkins. He’s on the set of Little Fockers and is enchanted by everything except DeNiro. Great exchange about DeNiro’s makeup man.
“His whole job is to make me look good.”
“Where was he when you made Analyze That?”
We get a Ben Stiller cameo. Liked how the 13 year old Keith’s favorite Stiller film is Permanent Midnight, “Now that’s how you do drama”.
Blizzard Man
This episode has been riding high. Surely the 4th appearance of Blizzard Man will kill my buzz, right? Nope, I enjoyed this too. It’s the same structure as always, Blizzard Man dorkily raps, one rapper is in awe of his skills, everyone else is confounded. Even the old “put the host in drag” bit got a laugh from me as DeNiro is pretty funny as Blizz’s mom and treats us to some bumping and grinding that I never thought I wanted to see but once I did I couldn’t look away.
La Rivista Della Televisione
The 9th and final Vinny Vedecci sketch is (just like the preceding recurring sketch) exactly the same as all the others but still has some juice. Vinny’s guest is DeNiro playing himself for the 3rd time tonight (think you may have cracked the code on how to use him). We get a drunken Vinny Jr, a visit from the deer from The Deer Hunter, and a funny bit where Vinny makes DeNiro say “you talkin’ to me?”. Paul replaces Will Forte as the spaghetti eating crew member with no lines.
How’s the new job going, Paul?
Could be worse. At least the audience saw my face. Taran had to do the sketch in a deer costume.
Rerun of Bosley Hair Restoration
Diddy-Dirty Money return with "Ass On The Floor"
It's A Living
Andy and Jason get no service at a bar and ask who they have to screw to get a drink. The answer is a mysterious old man who takes them in the closet. 7 hours of love making later they get their beers. We get our second Ben Stiller cameo, which gets about as much applause as the first, as another guy in the closet. It was only a matter of time before we got a stinker, although not a complete waste of time this didn’t do much for me.
I, Hippie
The 2nd and, I think, final one of these cartoons from Fred Wolf. An old hippie voiced by Dana Carvey reminisces about his hippie days until we pan out and find he’s working at a Burger King. Nice quick gag.
FINAL ANALYSIS
“Have you watered your son lately?”
Average
3.6 Stars
MVP
Andy Samberg
WikiLeaks: TMZ, What Up With That?, From The Garden, Party At Mr. Bernard’s, Weekend Update, Blizzard Man, It’s A Living
Best Sketch
Party At Mr. Bernard’s
Worst Sketch
It’s A Living
How I Would Have Lorne Michaels-ed It
Limit the Ben Stiller cameo to one. Other than that I have no notes. This was fun until the last sketch but if you only got one stinker you might as well end on it.
Host Analysis
This is the Robert DeNiro I want on SNL. He played himself most of the night, he was staring down the cue cards but came off much better than he did in his other episodes (and a hell of a lot better than he did during his stint as Robert Mueller). They used him really well. The thing you have to realize with DeNiro is he is absolutely unfunny but he can react humorously to funny things. That’s why he works in Meet The Parents but if it seems like he’s in on the joke in any way it all falls apart.
Final Thoughts
I really wasn’t expecting the DeNiro episode to be my favorite of the season so far but here we are. I even surprisingly enjoyed Diddy-Dirty Money (and it was fun to hear DeNiro introduce the band). The What Up With That? energy was topped by the Digital Short. The back half was all recurring characters but ones I didn’t mind seeing again.
Up Next
Paul Rudd hosts for the second time with fellow Paul Paul McCartney
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