Saturday Night Live Season 39 Reviews - Episode 21 - Andy Samberg / St. Vincent

"Nineteen Ninety Snarf"

Cold Open: A Message From Solange & Jay-Z

3 Stars

Jay-Z and his sister-in-law reconcile their differences

For those of you who don’t remember, video surfaced of Solange and Jay-Z getting into a fight in front of an elevator.  They say they have made up and we get a cameo from Maya Rudolph as Beyoncé.  Then for what is probably the first time in SNL history, four black cast members share in saying “Live from New York...”.

Andy Samberg Monologue

4 Stars

Andy breaks the record for most impressions

Andy brags that as a cast member he appeared in 100 Digital Shorts and 6 live sketches.  He wants more bragging rights and says he only trails Bill Hader by 23 impressions.  With the help of Seth Meyers he runs through some quick impressions like Paul Giamatti, Alan Arkin, Alf, the dad from Alf, Macho Man Randy Savage, and Smokey The Bear.  Bill Hader himself comes out and tops him by doing impressions of Casey Kasem and Andy.  Then he gets flowers from Martin Short.  Remember like 2 episodes ago I was bitching about celebrity cameos in the monologue?  Well, this is Bill Hader and Martin Short we’re talking about.  This was a lot of fun.

Camp Wicawabe

1 Star

Kids host a talk show from camp

It’s like Girlfriends Talk Show just with younger kids and Kate instead of Cecily.  Or it’s more like that talk show sketch with Nasim and Lena Dunham.  Whatever you want to compare it to, it’s a very lazy sketch.  Here’s a question, who are they doing this talk show for?  Are there cameras?  Are they allowed to do this?  Is this a supervised activity?  I probably wouldn’t ask these questions if this sketch was even slightly amusing.  Aidy already has a talk show sketch I hate, luckily this one only appeared once.

SNL Digital Short
When Will The Bass Drop?

1 Star

A DJ builds anticipation

A new Digital Short.  This raises the question, what is the difference between these and the shorts Kyle and Beck have been doing all season?  Aren’t all commercial parodies Digital Shorts when you think about it?  Andy plays a DJ who builds momentum by frying eggs, playing computer games, and faking a heart attack before finally dropping the bass causing everyone’s heads to explode.  This marks the last SNL sighting of Brooks, Noel, John and Mike (as a credited cast member) and it feels like an absolute waste of time.  I would have considered this a forgettable short had it been during Andy’s time in the cast but knowing this is the last episode for a number of this cast, I feel bad that they felt the need to include this.

Confident Hunchback

1 Star

Quasimodo picks up chicks

Speaking of huge wastes of time.  Andy hits on ladies dressed as a hunchback.  He gets a theme song and jizzes in his pants when Esmerelda touches him.  I get that it’s supposed to be stupid but once again I feel like this is taking away an opportunity for one of the newbies to get one last shot at earning a second season.

St. Vincent

"Digital Witness"

Weekend Update

I noticed a lot of jokes about Obama being ineffective in his second term.  I bet y’all wish you supported him more while you could.  This is the last show for Cecily as an Update anchor and I am going to give her high marks this season.  She was in no way the reason that I disliked this segment.  I thought she handled herself better than both Seth and Colin when it came to delivering punchlines.  In retrospect they made the right decision partnering Colin with Michael Che and I doubt that a Colin and Cecily Update would have grown if given a second season.  At the time I thought they got rid of the wrong anchor though.  Colin only had a short time to establish himself but he definitely didn’t succeed here.  He got a lot better but he started at the very bottom.

Veteran standup comic Bruce Chandling shows up for the first time since the season premiere.  He tells some jokes that don’t go over well with the audience and then reveals his deep depression and worries that he might answer the door the next time the grim reaper knocks.  I really like this character and think we’ve seen just enough of him throughout the years.  It’s really cool how this season bookends with Bruce Chandling and we follow his decline over the year.

Wait, no.  Andy has already done this bit with the real Nicolas Cage.  You can’t do the whole “doing the impression in front of the real person” routine and continue to do the impression.  That’s like bringing The Joe Pesci Show back after Pesci stopped by (come to think of it, they did do that).  Nicolas Cage interviews Paul Rudd about Ant-Man and his future plans to teabag the holy grail.  Much like the Digital Short, was anyone really clamoring for more of this?  This is again time that could be spent letting a featured player get some screen time.  Paul Rudd has been in more sketches this year than John Milhiser and Noel Wells combined.

Affectionate Family

2 Stars

The Vogelchecks make out with each other

Oh man, come on.  Let’s do another The Californians while we’re at it.  I had 8 years of these sketches already.  Tina Fey called this a rebuilding year in the season premiere but it’s felt at times more like a regression year.  Andy brings his boyfriend home for the holidays to meet his overly affectionate family.  Fred Armisen comes out to applause, followed by Kristen Wiig, then Bill Hader, then Paul Rudd, and finally Maya Rudolph as they all take turns kissing each other and fondling each other’s privates.  An exciting and surpassing sketch the first and maybe the second time they did it.  I feel absolutely no enthusiasm seeing it this time.  It feels like a rerun in the middle of the episode.

Waking Up With Kimye

2 Stars

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian host a talk show

I’m done with this before it begins.  Another recurring talk show sketch.  I guess it’s nice to give Nasim one more showcase in her last episode but I would have been much happier with another Shallon, Heshi, or even the Indian kid on the Disney Land ride from the Drake episode.  Taran shows up as Bruce Jenner, a very out of date impression, and Andy comes out as their wedding planner, who of course is slightly effeminate.  All of this feels lazy.  Gay stereotypes, talk shows, recurring characters, I would love to see something new this week.

SNL Digital Short

Hugs

1 Star

The Lonely Island give out hugs

Another Digital Short from The Lonely Island?  Was this necessary at all?  This feels less like a fun Digital Short and more like a commercial for a new album.  Andy and Jorma rap about how they give out more hugs than Oprah selling drugs.  Here's my impression of John Milhiser this week.

"Hey, remember last week when I almost got a sketch on air?"

"You mean the sketch that would have been your second one in 21 episodes?"
"Yeah, that one.  So, I was thinking...maybe I could get a sketch on this week seeing as how it's the season finale and it might be my last chance."
"Oh sorry dude, Andy Samberg wants to do two digital shorts this week."
"Oh, is it on par with Dick In A Box or Mother Lover or I'm On A Boat?"
"No.  It's definitely one of their weaker ones.  In fact, it's not even that good.  Plus Kristen, Bill, Maya and Fred are coming back, so...better luck next episode."
"But this is the season fin..."
"Sorry, I have to take a phone call."
"You're just holding your fingers up to your ears."
"What's that?  Sorry John, I really have to take this.  This friendly NBC page will show you out."
"Why is he wearing a security uniform?"

Legolas From The Hobbit Tries To Order At Taco Bell

1 Star
Exactly what the title says

Andy comes in to a Taco Bell dressed as Legolas and orders two beef chalupas and a cool ranch taco.  If you think that sentence is hilarious then you are probably stoned.  It's weird that SNL usually has 20 episodes per season but this one has 21.  This is feeling less like a season finale and more like a filler episode to meet a contractual obligation.  Shit, NBC ordered one more episode this year and we've completely run out of ideas.  Throw on some old recurring bits and half formed sketches.  Speaking of contractual obligations, did Taco Bell sponsor this?  This feels an awful lot like a commercial highlighting all their fantastic menu items.  Have you tried their new nacho fries?

Blizzard Man

3 Stars
A lame white rapper lays down a hook for 2 Chainz

After an episode full of repeats, Andy brings back Blizzard Man, his white rapper character who raps about country hams, Ashton Kutcher and ladies putting their boobs on his butt.  I was a little warmer on this than all the other callbacks tonight because it still had some laughs, and it's been a while since I've seen it so there was still a hint of nostalgia left.

St. Vincent returns with "Birth In Reverse"

Bvlgari

2 Stars

Two ex-porn stars sell watches

Cecily and Vanessa give us one last appearance of their former porn stars that have been ending quite a few episodes this season.  It's weird that this is supposedly a rebuilding year but I'm bored by season's end.  And I'm not bored by the new cast members, I'm bored by all the things still hanging on from previous seasons.  I want more John Milhiser.  I want more Brooks Wheelan and Mike O'Brien.  I want more Noel Well...ok, I don't really need any more Noel Wells.  The last sketch of the season not only gives us a sketch we've seen too many times but brings back Andy and Kristen as two porn stars who used to be twins conjoined by the penis.  There's still some good lines in this but, like I said, I'm just bored.

FINAL ANALYSIS

"My spine's not the only thing that's curved"

Average

1.9 Stars

MVP

Kyle Mooney
Camp Wicawabe, When Will The Bass Drop, Weekend Update

Best Sketch

Blizzard Man

Worst Sketch

Legolas From The Hobbit Tries To Order At Taco Bell

How I Would Have Lorne Michaels-ed It

Oh, there are a lot of things I would do differently.  First off, Season 37 was fun but you have a whole new cast now.  Stop living in the past and show me why you hired these people in the first place.  If I wanted to see Blizzard Man, a Lonely Island video, The Vogelchecks, and Nicolas Cage, I would watch a rerun.  I'm honestly surprised that Seth didn't do a pop in on Weekend Update.  I didn't care for anything in this episode and would scrap everything and start looking through the pile of rejected Brooks Wheelan ideas.

Host Analysis

It wasn't Andy Samberg I had a problem with, it was this episode being too much Andy Samberg.  We didn't need 2 Digital Shorts, we didn't need Confident Hunchback and Legolas at Taco Bell when they are basically the same joke, we didn't need Nicolas Cage or The Vogelchecks.  Andy is a really good comedic actor but instead of putting him in well written and original sketches, they rested on their laurels and just played the hits.

Final Thoughts

This episode actually made me upset.  They're doing an alumni show when the alumni hasn't even left yet.  Wasn't it great to see Fred Armisen back on SNL?  No, it wasn't.  Hell, if you told me he was a cast member this season I would probably believe you.  We've seen enough of him already that I just assumed he never left his dressing room.  This was the last chance for the new cast that they showcased in the season premiere and just like every episode this season, they weren't given a thing.  I'm not just talking about main roles in sketches.  There were episodes where they didn't appear at all.  Why do Kenan and Kate play parts with one line?  That's the bread and butter of a featured player.  The audience is not going to be able to relate and recognize to these people if they never see them.  I will admit that Noel was kind of bland and didn't stick out from the rest of the female cast but Brooks, Mike and John showed a lot of potential that was never capitalized on.  Maybe they never fit in with the cast on a personal level or maybe they never applied themselves.  I doubt that is true since I've seen a number of cut for time sketches featuring the newbies.  Casting this season turned out to be a huge waste of time for all involved and I blame the show completely.  Every now and then you see a Laura Kightlinger or Beth Cahill or Jerry Minor and think, they were fine but didn't really stick out.  These guys were barely given a chance.  Both John and Noel got one sketch and that's it.  No Update pieces, no recurring characters, just one single sketch is all they really have to show for their season on SNL.  At least they got to hear their names read by Don Pardo.
Up Next

Lists, lists and more lists.  A Best Of and Worst Of the season, a cast ranking, and who should have stayed for Season 40.