Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale
A tale of a guy who's bland
He lost his run for president
In the year two thousand
Supported by Streisand

He was VP for 8 great years
His name was Albert Gore
He'll be running again for president
In two thousand four
He'll still be a bore

He lost to a son of a president
George Dubya was his name
He was helped by his brother Jeb
Who put us all to shame
This song is getting lame

It all became a big fat joke
Cause of shows like SNL
Kept funny by George Dubya
Played by Will Ferrell
As the country goes to hell

Darrel Hammond is out of a job
No more skits on NBC
With Al Gore's loss and Bush as pres.
Hammond's left to play Sean Connery
And Dick Cheney occasionally

With Darrell not playing Bill
It gives us all a fright
His impressions were really good
LIVE FROM NEW YORK IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT!!!

Hello everyone. As most of us know, it was announced this week that SNL will air for at least the first two Thursdays in February, from 8:40 to 9:00. This was done to combat the amazing force of Survivor. This poses a conflict for me. For anyone who has read my reviews, you know that I love Survivor, and have followed every moment of it. (No there isn't anything wrong with me) SNL will have to be taped. Luckily we have two VCRs in my house so I can also tape "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" Although I love SNL, I do not understand why NBC would schedule SNL against Survivor II. SNL does decently; Survivor is a powerhouse. 8:40 to 9:00 would be the time that Survivor hits its peak audience because Tribal Council takes place at that time. Why would anyone think that SNL would take viewers away from the high point of Survivor? Maybe I'm mistaken. Also, will the Thursday sketches be included in the following Saturday's sketches? Although it sucks that they would be repeating sketches, I don't think that the writers can handle another 20 minutes per week. The show always gets bad around 12:30 as it is. Will this cause the show to suck at 12:10? Also, will there be a musical guest, host, or Weekend Update? Will the show's opening line be said? Or will it become Live From New York It's Thursday Night? Clearly many questions have arisen because of this announcement. But let's discuss tonight's show
As I read a lot of last weeks reviews (P.S. Sean, I think it's good that you put the reviews up on Sunday night, it's quite an improvement) I noticed that many reviewers had no idea who Mena Suvari is. Well, I have no clue either. According to IMDB.com (The Internet Movie Database), she was in American Beauty, American Pie, Loser, Carrie 2, and others. The only one I saw was American Pie, but I don't remember her. I have no idea if she'll be a good host. But Lenny Kravitz should be quite good as the musical guest. Tonight is a great night for political sketches, Bill's last minute actions, Bush's inauguration, and Jesse Jackson's child. Maybe they'll even make fun of the Thursday Night Live announcement. (Sean, if you're reading this, do we get overtime for reviewing Thursday SNL?) After this incredibly long opening let's hit this show sketch by sketch

COLD OPEN: Citizen Bill
Cast Members: DH, WF
- Clinton said "Suck on it," isn't that Connery's line?
- Did anyone else notice that Will got a lot of applause when he entered?
- Great Line: "Hey America I'm your new President, and keep in mind, that's for a whole year" ­ Will Ferrell as Dubya
- Have Clinton and Dubya ever been together in a sketch before?
- ERROR: Shaky camera work at the end
- I hope this is not the last time that Clinton says "Live From New York"
GRADE: A ­

Opening Credits: ERROR: Don Pardo must have been partying hard all night, he introduced Jerry Minor as Jimmy Minor. I am almost sure that he said and introduced the hostess as Nina Suvari

Monologue
Cast Members, WF, MS, Lorne, TM
- Damn, she looks a lot like Heather Graham
- I think this is the first "host leaves the stage" monologue for this season
- Why is Will in the Spartan Cheerleader outfit? Is Cheri making a cameo appearance?
- I have to give Bonus Points for the Mary Katherine Gallagher and Tracy Morgan in the rose petals thing. It was quite unexpected and funny. Other than that, the monologue wasn't funny.
GRADE: B

Advertisement: Gatorade Love Bucket
Cast Members: MS, WF, HS, JF, AG, CP
- Clever Idea
GRADE: A ­

Sketch: Is that a gun in your pocket?
Cast Members: MR, HS, CP, TM, WF, JM
- Sound like a "Simmuh dah now" sketch
- This reminds me of the sketch from many years ago, I think it was called really rude airlines, or something like that
- Good Line: "If you put up a fight, you ain't getting on the flight" ­ Maya Rudolph
- Mena is screwing up her lines
- I think the sound effect guys used Geiger counter sounds
- Did anyone else notice that the metal detector only went off when people walked forward not backward? I don't think they normally work that way.
- Jerry Minor bolted as soon as the sketch was over
GRADE: B

Sketch: Janet Reno's Dance Party
Cast Members: WF, DH
- Why does he/she always wear the blue dress
- How many extras were used for this sketch?
- Apparently they've done this sketch before, I didn't know that
- GREAT CAMEO!! How'd Reno get from DC to NY so quickly? Shouldn't she be partying?

Sketch: Rap Street
Cast Members: JM, HS
- What will they name the movie?
- ERROR: Horatio screwed up the line and laughed. He's also losing his mustache
- Maybe the movie won't be horrible
- The Aaron Carter impression is great
- Yet again this sketch is saved by the guest-host
- ERROR: Jerry Minor said CBD not CD
- Mena was the only one who didn't screw up this sketch
GRADE: B +

Cartoon: The X-Presidents
- Will Bill join them tonight?
- Bonus Points for the uncounted votes being the enemy
- Bonus Points for Katherine Harris being a man
- The cartoon was great, up until the song
GRADE: A ­

Sketch: Wake Up Little Snoozie
Cast Members: TM, WF, JM
- This is sooooooo screwed up
- Good Line: "I'm an orderly, Dr. Carl is my DJ name" ­ Tracy Morgan
GRADE: B

Weekend Update
Cast Members: JF, TF, WF, DH, JM
- Tina Fey speaks Spanish well, the joke was great
- Sentenced 2 Life, clever and cheesy
- Jimmy's dancing was the low point of the segment
- Jacob Silj is a great character
- Thank goodness Silj doesn't have his own sketch or else the joke would be killed
- The Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton thing was great again
- I missed their football analogy though
- ERROR: Tina began to say "I'm Jimmy Fallon" (I guess Don Pardo wasn't partying alone tonight)
GRADE: A ­

Musical Guest: Lenny Kravitz
- Macy Gray looks a lot like him
GRADE: B +

Sketch: Veronica & Co.
Cast Members: MS, AG, WF, CK, CP
- Is this show actually on Lifetime?
- Mena's accent sounds like that of Christina Ricci in the "Who Wants to Eat?" Sketch
- Why, why, why did they do this sketch again?
- Parnell's Robot Man is great, not great enough to give him his own sketch though
GRADE: B ­

Sketch: DeMarco Brothers
Cast Members: AG, CK, CP
- Lots of recurring characters tonight
- Lenny is in a lot of sketches tonight
- It is time for the new cast to develop some recurring characters who are funny and don't piss you off
- Where is Mango?
- What the #$&@ was the gay thing at the end?
- If the DeMarco brothers finally got cast in a video, does it mean that we don't have to put up with them anymore?
GRADE: C

Musical Guest: Lenny Kravitz
-They went to commercial in the middle of his song; they must be low on time
GRADE: B +

This show illustrates my point; it will be difficult for SNL to get viewers against Survivor II. The show started to suck after the first music segment. How much will the Saturday show suffer if the writers work hard on the Thursday stuff? Although there is not a new show on February 3, the Jennifer Lopez show will hurt. Anyway, Mena Suvari was not a great host. I don't think she was funny in any of her sketches; even her monologue stunk. And now for the final wrap-up:

Final Wrap-up:
BEST CAST MEMBER: Darrell Hammond
BEST SKETCH: Citizen Bill, Janet Reno's dance party, X-Presidents
SKETCH THAT WON'T BE SEEN WHEN THIS EPISODE AIRS ON COMEDY CENTRAL: DeMarco Brothers, Veronica & Co.
HOST: Mena Suvari is not very well known, the cast was funny around her, but she brought no jokes to the show. Despite her, the show was good.
PROBLEMS: Don Pardo called Jerry Jimmy, and Mena Nina; RAP STREET, Tina thinks she's Jimmy.
PERSONAL GRADE: B+
AVERAGE GRADE: B+

I don't know when I'll be writing my next review, whether it be Thursday February 1 or Saturday, February 10. Either way I'll review the Thursday show, I just don't know when. Now that Survivor is competing against SNL, we may never see a Survivor parody ($#&%!). I think the Jennifer Lopez show will be good, unless all the good material is wasted on Thursday. See you next month!

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