Season 36, Episode 22
A fine example of a regular episode, a so-so season finale
Strauss-Kahn Imprisonment (Cold Open): You had to see it coming, right? In order to give us the comedic reversal of expectations, the sketch started with the “prison rape” angle, before quickly turning into a discussion of European economics. Hilarious, right? Not so much. It was a twist that I saw coming, so the only real laugh I got was when the sketch swung back around to the rape angle, and only because I was so distracted/enraged by the obviousness of the first twist.
Monologue: It’s a good thing that Timberlake is such a charismatic performer, because I don’t think everybody could have pulled this particular monologue. In fact, most music-based monologue are hard to pull off, as not all performers can adequate capture comedy with their singer. But Timberlake’s a pro, and he was able to capture the tongue-in-cheek nature of the song – which mocked all of his singer performance moves – well enough that the song was both charming and funny.
Tea Bag vs. Beer Bottle: Yes, this is just another version of a sketch that Timberlake has done before. But you know what? It was fairly funny before, and even if this one is an example of the diminishing returns of recurring sketches, this one was still good enough that I’ve got to give it a pass, especially since the sketch managed to give us some actually funny teabag jokes, and Lady
WXPD News: Herb Welch is character who is a bit hit or miss, and after the last deadweight Welch sketch, I was a bit worried about this one. But it turns out there’s a formula to make these sketched work: keep the grumly old man jokes to a minimum, and up the amount of prejudiced one-liners. Unfortunately, the ratio was skewed the wrong direction on this one, so it didn’t really work. Also, the sketch needs to find some other way to end besides a Herb death freak-out; it’s not funny anymore.
The Golden Rule (Digital Short): Well of course we would have another one of these shorts. At some point, the steam is going to run out on these songs, but this wasn’t that time. Something about the truth as the heart of this song – the relative “gayness” of a Devil’s Threesome – was funny enough to carry this song, even if it took a little longer than it should have to get to the joke.
Weekend Update: Oh, such an improvement over last week’s WU…Though I’ve never really thought the “Really” segments have been as strong since Amy Poehler left, I still more or less like this one…The “In The Cage with Nicolas Cage” segment was much better this time around, even if I liked the first one. Whereas the last one’s success was based on the easy charm of Jake Gyllenhall, this one succeeded by upping the Cage-like craziness. Good thing too, as Bradely Cooper’s presence didn’t really add anything here...Lastly, the appearance of Stefon to close this WU was a nice button – I think it’s a play off his last appearance – but it also left me wanting more Stefon. But if that’s the only criticism I can level against an edition of WU, then I guess that’s okay.
What’s That Name: Though I feel like I should complain that this is the third sketch appearance by Lady Gaga tonight, I feel a much bigger urge to sing the praises of this very funny sketch. Sure, the idea of a music star not remembering people he’s come into contact with isn’t exactly original, but the way that the sketch presented Timberlake as having his back up against a wall, and Lady Gaga knowing everybody’s name, made it all work. The best part came with the appearance of Chris Kirkpatrick, a joke that worked on two levels, seeing as how he was always the least popular member of N*Sync.
Merry-Go Love Tunnel: I get that everybody loved the original version of this sketch, but I didn’t, and I didn’t find this one any funnier. Sorry.
Secret Word: The second game show sketch of the night, and first one not to work. This is another recurring sketch that just needs to die.
The Barry Gibb Talk Show: I guess I should have expected this sketch, though I guess I didn’t because I didn’t want it to happen. It’s not that I think this sketch is terrible like “Secret Word”, but I certainly don’t find it funny. It’s just of a bunch of funny voices and over-the-top anger. I did like the bit of using the gold chains as mini defibrillators, though.
While I liked this episode overall, I’m a bit disappointed with this as a season finale. Usually at this time each year, SNL goes big, and brings in a good amount of surprise guests. Sure, there were some, but given how the show has upped the amount of surprise guests they have in regular episode, this episode should have had more to make it feel special. The same can be said for the sketches, which while good, didn’t really give the sense of wrapping up the season. It may be a little thing to quibble about, but it threw me a little to hear Timberlake say during “Goodnights” that it was the finale, only for me to realize that it didn’t feel like a finale.
Best Sketch – What’s That Name
Worst Sketch – Secret Word
Quotes, Etc.:
“Bitch, you know I ain’t got no love for Portugal.”
“So, uh….we’re gonna rape you now.”
“Your cup is empty, that seems wrong, so let me teabag you all day long.”
“Why does everything you say sound so nasty?”
“No, she can go back to her kitchen.”
“They burned my friend.”
“It’s hard to know what was said at the meeting, but I’ll bet there was heavy use of the word ‘mushugununa’.”
“I’m not married, and I erase my internet search history every four hours, just in case I die an my mom comes over.”
“You have giant balls for someone who certainly has tiny steroid balls.”
“So get ready for a very disturbing sequel to Up.”
“You’re like a dangerous Eugene Levy.”
“You seem nice, Cooper-Scooper.”
“I’m ready to get out of the cage.” “Yeah, that happens.”
“Or what protestants call ‘sex’.”
“Hey girl, you look good.” “I know, that’s why we had sex.”
“This show’s awful.” “I think you’re awful.”
“If you can tell me even part of his name, I will donate $10 million to every charity on earth.”
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