Last night's SNL wasn't listed as an official reunion show of the 2002-2003 season, but, yeah, that was a reunion show. Fallon trotted out names like Tiny Fey, Tracy Morgan, Horatio Sanz, Amy Poehler, Chris Kattan and Rachel Dratch -- not to mention that current cast members Seth Meyers and Fred Armisen were featured players that season, as well. Of the 10 full-time cast members during the 2002-2003 season, only Darrell Hammond, Maya Rudolph and Chris Parnell did not make an appearance last night (though Hammond did appear last week and Rudolph, the week before). Of course, this severely limited the contributions from the current cast -- but, hey, how often do you get to see every "Weekend Update" anchor since 2000 behind the desk at the same time? On to the the 10th scorecard of the season!
Sketch of the Night
"Tebow" (Taran Killam, Jason Sudeikis, Keenan Thompson, Andy Samberg) Finally, like the rest of the world, I have an excuse to write about Tim Tebow! You know, I have really nothing to say about Tim Tebow other than I find both the love and hate for this man fascinating. Tebow is a very religious fellow and after another "miracle" comeback win for the Denver Broncos, Jesus visits Tebow to ask him to tone it down a bit with the worship. Yes, Jason Sudeikis plays both Jesus and the Devil. Also, nothing against all the returning alumni, but it is fitting that the sketch of the night comes entirely from the current cast.
Score: 9.0
The Good
"One Man Show" (Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Bobby Moynihan, Vanessa Bayer) I already know there will be a lot of disagreements over this one. If you don't like Armisen's Nicholas Fehn, there's a very strong chance that you didn't like this sketch, either. But as someone who has suffered through Off Broadway productions similar to this -- yes, where the actor pretends to be part of the custodial staff before the show begins -- this is pretty dead on accurate.
Score: 8.0
"Weekend Update" (Seth Meyers, Andy Samberg, Jude Law, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Jimmy Fallon) I hate admitting this, but I think I enjoyed Meyers' original "Bring a toy for charity and Charity will give it to the manger," line the best. But, as stated before, we got to see every "Update" host since 2000 -- Fey, Fallon, Poehler and Meyers -- sitting behind the desk at the same time. Also, Andy Samberg as Nic Cage interviewed Jude Law as Jude Law -- who, in real life, not acting, looked like he wanted to be anywhere but right there at that moment.
Score: 8.0
Score 7.5
"Jimmy Fallon Monologue" (Jimmy Fallon, Ensemble) As opposed to "Christmas Treat" (we'll get to that), this was just a lot of fun. I'll admit, I was kind of surprised that Fallon didn't play up the whole "It was predicted by Alec Baldwin in 1998 that I'd host the show this month" angle, but no matter! Personally, I love it when the whole cast gets to participate in something together. And if it were up to me, the cast would be gleefully dancing together onstage at the end of every monologue. Also, I loved that Fallon admitted that he ruined some of the most famous sketches in recent "SNL" memory by laughing. To be fair to Fallon, the sketches he mentioned were probably enhanced by his laughing. (Yes, he did ruin quite a few others.)
(Unfortunately, the monologue isn't available on Hulu so apologies for the YouTube video.)
Score: 7.0
Score: 7.0
Score 7.0
The Bad
"1920's Holiday Party" (Kristen Wiig, Jimmy Fallon, Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, Andy Samberg, Abby Elliott) Wiig's "don't make me sing" character is one of her few recurring characters that I enjoy (Note: I think it just officially became recurring last night). But here, Fallon kind of mucked up the proceedings. Wiig's faux-reluctant singer is a pretty nuanced thing. The problem is that Fallon's quite aggressive "don't make me dance" character just seemed kind of awkwardly spliced in. So it felt almost like there were two separate sketches going on at the same time: one in which Wiig doesn't know when to start singing "Jingle Bells" and another featuring Fallon dancing on a piano.
Score: 5.0
Score 5.0
Score: 4.0
Score: 3.5
The Ugly
"Today Show" (Kristen Wiig, Nasim Pedrad, Jimmy Fallon, Bobby Moynihan, Vanessa Bayer) This week's "Ugly" was a tough choice because, luckily, there weren't any egregiously terrible sketches. And Today Show wasn't particularly bad, but it sure wasn't better than any previous installments. It's just that it's so strange watching, now, a third person play the role of Hoda Kotb. The last two, Michaela Watkins and Jenny Slate, were fired from the show. I don't think Nasim Pedrad, who was promoted to full-time cast member this year, has anything to worry about. But, still, it's weird, distracting and the show would be better off if this sketch were retired.
Score: 3.0
Average Score for This Show: 6.17
Weekly Host Scorecard:
· Jimmy Fallon 6.17
· Jason Segel 6.05
· Charlie Day 6.00
· Steve Buscemi 5.95
· Emma Stone 5.85
· Alec Baldwin 5.80
· Melissa McCarthy 5.45
· Ben Stiller 5.18
· Katy Perry 5.09
· Anna Faris 4.95
You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.
Stay up too late just to watch him as he loves what he does, is great at it, and is the best~
Also, I felt like the Tebow sketch was definitely not the sketch of the night. While it had some funny parts, I feel like it would've worked better with Tebow appearing on Update. Honestly, the "Jesus" thing should be considered blasphemy (at worst) and intolerant (at best).
In my opinion, "One Man Show", the monologue, the mirror, and the joke off were the funniest bits (or most nostalgic) of the night!
Shouldn't be that low.