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whatevs.org presents... by Nummer and H-Bomb Episode 4: Eric McCormack / Jay-Z (11/2/02) | |
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CONEY RATING SYSTEM |  |
| NUMMER | H-BOMB |
| pre-show | |
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I've never seen a complete episode of Will and Grace in my life. I once saw half an episode with the story line revolving around characters from the show trying to scam Sandra Bernhard into letting them sublease her apartment or something. With this as my only background, telling me that W&G star Eric McCormack is hosting doesn't do much for the old excitement engine. I guess the only other thing I can compare it to is the February 2001 hosting duties from co-W&G star Sean Hayes. That episode was pretty solid. Strong sketches included Hardball, the yet to be overused Brian Fellows and Action Week. Can McCormack deliver after the strong showing from McCain? We'll know Sunday morning at 1:00 AM. In other SNL news, sources are saying Nia Vardalos, Brittany Murphy and Jennifer Garner are close to the final stages of confirming upcoming hosting spots. Garner and Murphy could be cool. I'm not too familiar with Nia. | I really have no idea what to expect from this week's SNL with host Eric McCormack. I never watch Will & Grace, so I'm not at all familiar with his comedic style. Anyone's guess is as good as mine as to how good this episode is going to be. While McCain will be tough to follow, I'm hoping that since McCormack is a comedian, he'll do a decent job. I heard that Jay-Z will be performing "Bonnie & Clyde" with Beyonce. But as always with SNL rap performances, I'm wondering two things: how many people he will have on stage and will he be backed by a live band. But seriously, in all honesty, I don't have high hopes for this episode. |
| Cold Opening: Rudolph Giulianni Endorsements Premise: Rudolph Giulianni pre-records endorsements for Republicans running for the House | |
| What? It’s now been two episodes since Chris Parnell rolled out the new George W impressions with no return! Practically every episode last season began with a Presidential address/skit. This continues to leave me wondering about Lorne’s thoughts on Parnell’s job. Who knows? Hammond as Giulianni is usually pretty good. This time just seemed too forced. The concept was unique, but didn’t really go anywhere for how much time they gave it.
| This dragged on way too long for an opener. I was kind of disappointed in Hammond’s Giulianni. Everyone was so boring. It just wasn’t funny. |
| Monologue: Eric McCormack | |
| This was the basic Q&A bit with the audience. The topic this time around was McCormack reminding us he’s not gay in real life. The gay men in the audience were pretty funny, “You owe me a back rub. His eyes are green and I’m not gay”. McCormack even went so far to break into a song revealing he likes “boobies in his face”! It took a turn for the worse when Kattan came out dressed as Mango telling us he’s not gay either. Hopefully this will be the only appearance of Mango this season. | It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Q & A monologue. This one was ok, but mostly because of the audience members asking the questions. McCormack was so-so.  |
| Sketch: The Bachelor Premise: Spoof of TV Show “The Bachelor” | |
| Once this one started up, I knew it would only be a matter of time before Poehler’s one-legged Amber character came out. Maya and Dratch played the other single ladies competing for the bachelor. In a move not seen for awhile, Dratch put in an unusually funny performance. The scene with her serving food in the hot tub was best. It was Poehler who kept this sketch alive though. “You’re going down 10 toes!” There was also a little break in the sketch where a clever fake promo for “Last Chance Tuesdays on ABC” ran. The bit was basically putting the new sitcoms from Bonnie Hunt, Jim Belushi and John Ritter on in a block. Silly. | This sketch was pretty good. Dratch’s face in the hot tub scene was hilarious. Rudolph was also surprisingly good as the flaky blonde hottie. But as usual, Poehler steals the show with her reoccurring one-legged Amber. “At least I have two self respects.” This is a great character that I have yet to tire of. And Last Chance Tuesdays! Nice touch.  |
| Sketch: Couples Game Night Premise: 3 Couples get together to play a games – one takes losing too far | |
DRATCH! Who knew? This sketch was hilarious – all because of Dratch! Dratch’s reactions as a women so upset with losing that she’d destroy a house was dead on perfect. “Who the balls wrote Felix Mendleson?” Dratch must have written this sketch since she was really giving it her all. If she’s thoughtful enough with the writing, this along with Armisen’s Safety Gang sketch (see Gellar episode) could be the new recurring sketches of the next few seasons. Time will tell. | Whoa Dratch! I can’t remember ever seeing her this enthusiastic about a sketch. Going crazy and throwing things around is always hilarious. And when she crashes through the wall at the end! Funny stuff!!  |
| Commercial Vignette: Talarico vs. Frankel 1 Premise: Political ad in which candidates urge the public to call their opponents | |
| Good premise. Very accurate portrayal of current political ads. Didn’t come off as funny though. | Good play on recent political ads. But no laughs. |
| Commercial Vignette: Talarico vs. Frankel 2 Premise: Political ad in which candidates urge the public to call their opponents | |
| What? I guess they do sometimes run the opponent’s ad back to back in real life. This one was worst than the first. | Same as Talarico vs. Frankel 1. |
| Sketch: American Morning with Paula Zahn Premise: Paula Zahn falls in love with her new co-anchor | |
| : Fey in a sketch! Sans glasses in a wig! I thought this was pretty funny. I watch cable news network morning shows every day while I’m getting ready for work (I recommend Fox and Friends). They really do get so far off topic sometimes that this scenario probably isn’t too far fetched. And Dratch again put on her third consecutive good performance as the jealous news correspondent. This is really turning into a Dratch-show-stealing night. Some say this hasn’t happened since at least 2000. Fey got what I think was her first (and second and third) on screen kiss here as well. | This is only the second full sketch I’ve ever seen Fey in. What’s going on?? I love Fey and would love to see her in more skits. However, I didn’t laugh as much as I thought I would. I did chuckle when Fey asks her co-anchor, “Are we in love?” I also liked the contrast between Dratch’s lovey-dovey reporter and Poehler’s no-nonsense “what the hell are you doing” correspondent. |
| Commercial Vignette: Talarico vs. Frankel 3 Premise: Political ad in which candidates urge the public to call their opponents | |
| Thrice (Farley voice)? This one was a bit funnier since they were cuing up the wrong newspaper articles as sources. | What?! I mean I know it’s close to Election Day and all, but come on. I did like the little electric guitar solo at the end though. Still... |
| Music: Jay-Z (with Lenny Kravitz) | |
| I’m not a big Jay-Z fan unless we’re talking Hard Knock Life. As for Lenny, I tuned out after the 1993 single “Believe”. I did like the Run DMC shirt homage to Jam Master Jay though. | This was aight. Lenny Kravitz and band was a nice touch. Not a huge fan of Jay-Z though. I agree that the tribute to Jam Master Jay via t-shirt was pretty awesome.  |
| Weekend Update | |
| This was a strong update - again showing it can provide a boost for an inconsistent episode like this one. There was a good joke early on about Britney’s NY restaurant going out of business after only 4 months, but Christina’s “Filthy Hot Dog Wagon” was doing just fine. Sanz once again came on as movie critic Gene Shalit and got some big laughs. Jackass and Ghost Ship were his topics tonight. He basically kept coming up with ways to say they suck while using various play on words with their titles. “Jackass the movie is a jackass of a movie”. “Ghost Ship? More like a steaming pile of Ghost Ship”. Simple jokes, but Sanz makes them work. I have to say Richards took the cake in this WU when he played a Tiny Elvis sized rapper named Baby K from Jay-Z’s band. “I’m gonna get this party started”. Baby K. More like Baby Title TK. Best. | This was a decent installment of Weekend Update. Sanz as Gene Shalit was great. Even while his lines get more and more annoying, his look more than makes up for it. His little dance was pretty amusing too. And Baby K!! Richards just keeps proving himself over and over. I’m just so sick of seeing Fallon laugh. I read though that he is planning on signing onto 2 movies, so keep your fingers crossed we won’t be seeing that much more of him. |
| Sketch: Courtroom Bullhorn Premise: Defendant keeps blowing a bullhorn during testimony | |
| Alright. I thought this sketch was ridiculous when we saw first saw it (keep in mind I was liquored up at the time). Heather and I both sort of dismissed it as soon as Forte used his Tim Calhoun voice (see McCain episode) for the judge. When I gave the sketch a second watch on Sunday, my opinion totally changed. This is the kind of random humor that made Thorton’s Fenced in Area sketch last season such a classic in my mind. This overtakes Dratch’s Couples Game Night as my favorite sketch of the night. | Ok, so once you get past Forte’s Tim Calhoun voice, this is a pretty funny sketch. McCormack’s “whatever” face while blowing the bullhorn was great!! I also got a chuckle out of Parnell’s reaction as prosecutor when McCormack is declared innocent. |
| Commercial Vignette: Talarico vs. Frankel 4 Premise: Political ad in which candidates urge the public to call their opponents | |
| 4 times! Unnecessary. This one surprisingly did get a few laughs since the source of all the news bites were intercepted Verizon calls | Knock it off already!! |
| Sketch: Z105 Morning Show Premise: Fallon plays obnoxious characters on a one man radio morning drive show | |
| Fallon actually did something right in this sketch – he captured stupid morning show DJs all around the country 100% perfect. Do we really need to hear about boners at 5:30 AM? Will this performance force me to stop drinking Fallon haterade and give the sketch a fair chance? Hell no! His bits with Andrea the Weather Lady and Man in Box were funny, but then I reminded myself I’m laughing at Fallon. | I must admit I did laugh a bit at Fallon’s different voices in this one. I’m pretty sure it’s a fluke though. |
| Commercial Vignette: John Hancock Life Insurance Premise: Couple worries about their future | |
| 5 commercial parodies in one episode? I guess they are really making up for that whopping 0 commercial parody run in the McCain episode. This one was OK. It taught me the average price for sex in a Waffle House parking lot is $10.00. Still, I’m just sort of burned out on fake commercials by 12:35 or so. | Blah. |
| Music: Jay-Z (with Beyonce Knowles and Lenny Kravitz) | |
| Bonnie and Clyde. Too bad they didn’t do the Luna version. Gets a mark since Beyonce is cute and I sort of liked the song. | : ˝ Coney for Beyonce’s thighs. Damn!! |
| Sketch: Jackass – The Musical Premise: Jackass the transformed into a musical | |
| : Haven’t seen Jackass (according to Sanz I should skip it). All I know was Richards in underpants was funny. Plus there was a GORGEOUS blonde dancing in black underwear for most of the sketch (I just realized I’ve given out 2 coneys this season based on background pretty girls). | This was interesting to me since I had just seen Jackass. Richard’s Party Boy was right on!! He was pretty much the funniest thing in this sketch. |
| Sketch: Morgan and Maya Premise: Morgan’s exaggerated stories keep getting discredited by Maya | |
| I wish they would stop these things. | Bad way to end this show. Not even remotely funny. |
| Closing Comments | |
| This episode defined how important a second viewing of a new SNL episode is. I actually left in the middle of the Morgan/Maya sketch rambling on about how I was going to do the unthinkable and give the episode 0 coneys. Where the hell was Armisen I kept thinking? Did the episode truly deserve 0 coneys? No. Put yourself in last night’s viewing situation though: I met Heather at her place at 7:15 for pre show festivities. We decided on a mellow night and watched The X-Files: Fight the Future and Powaqqatsi. During the next five hours, I downed about 4 beers and a half bottle of wine. One would think I would be in a pretty good mood after that right? Not the case. Talk got a little dark during Powaqqatsi and drunk Jason began making comments about how the Earth sucks and humans are drones. By the time SNL started, we were both in sort of weirded out tired moods. By no fault of it’s own, I think McCormack was up against a tough room. I was also forgetting the good sketches shortly after they aired (I blame that on the Hungry Howies butter cheese crust and not the alcohol by the way). When Sunday morning rolled around, that all changed. The good ol’ VHS told the sobering truth and here we have the McCormack episode with... | As per Nummer’s closing comments, this episode did seem funnier the second time around, unfortunately not by much though. Better than Gellar but still nowhere near the caliber of McCain or Damon. There were a few surprises, like with Dratch and Fey. Another surprise: Where was Armisen?? On the whole, I think it could’ve been a lot better. Oh well, luckily I wasn’t expecting too much. |
| EPISODE RATING | |
| 25 Coneys out of a possible 68. | 16 Coneys out of a possible 68. |