Sorry no time to talk right now, let's just jump right into the review.
I will itemize my comments for brevity.

PRE-SHOW THOUGHTS
Tonight's host is Hugh Jackman, best known for his role as Wolverine in "X-men", and um... ok just that. And he is Australian, which practically guarantees that tonight's episode will be funny. Something about that accent just inspires screams of laughter. So Hugh follows in the tradition of fine comic actors scuh as Yahoo Serious, Paul Hogan, and Greg Norman. Hilarity. And our musical guest is Michael Jagger. I'm not too familiar with this guy; he apparently got his start in "Faerie Tale Theatre", a children's TV show from the '80s. He then went on to the role of Victor Vacendak in the sci-fi action film "Freejack". But his big break came as "Greta" in the war drama "Bent". After being snubbed by the Academy, he fell into seclusion and obscurity, only resurfacing this year to appear in "The Man from Elysian Fields" with Andy Garcia. He has apparently decided to shift his focus to music, and I hear he is a fresh, exciting new talent in the business. I wish him the best of luck.

On to the review...

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COLD OPENING
[Darrell,Will,Maya,Seth,Dean]
* General Meyers?
* All impressions good
* This was OK, but political stuff is getting stale

B

LIVE FROM NEW YORK, IT'S...
Darrell Hammond

MONOLOGUE
[Hugh,Rachel,Tracy,Ana,Amy,Maya]
* Don said Hugh's name right this time, unlike last week
* I think Hugh should have dressed up like Wolverine too
* Being able to react to unexpected shouts from the audience is a good skill
* His singing made me cry a little bit

A-

FAUX AD
[Amy,Ana,Jeff]
* Loose Bear, what more can I say

A-

JARRET'S ROOM
[Jimmy,Horatio,Seth,Jeff,Hugh]
* DJ Jonathan Feinstein's role gets expanded
* This is the first recurring character from one of the featured players
* Jeff's role is the second recurring character from the featured players
* Gobi is funny as hell
* Hugh was funny as hell
* This sketch is funny as hell
* There is no <http://www.jarretsroom.com>www.jarretsroom.com

A+

ROBERT GOULET ALL HOLIDAY SPECIAL
[Will,Darrell,Hugh,Chris]
* I can actually see the USA network doing something like this
* Hugh is a pretty good singer
* Neil Diamond is funnier than Robert Goulet
* Chris doesn't need much help to look like an elf

B-

SEARS PHOTOGRAPHERS
[Seth,Hugh,Horatio,Chris,Rachel,Ana]
* I think these guys are wearing the same clothes from the Sean Hayes Jeffrey's sketch
* This isn't Sears at Christmas-time, where are all the screaming kids

B

MUSICAL GUEST
[Mick Jagger]
* I'm no fan of Mick Jagger, but this was OK
* Nobody can accuse him of not being energetic on stage
* You should not treat your harmonica like that

B+

WEEKEND UPDATE
[Tina,Jimmy,Jeff,Chris]
* Jokes: A-
* Chris - terrible re-enactment: A-, it was very terrible
* Jeff - Drunk Girl: C+ for general funniness, A- for accuracy

A-

HELLO DOLLY
[Ana,Hugh]
* I always hated this sketch, to me it was just one step above Dog Show
* This wasn't too bad though
* The audience seemed really into this

B-

MICK'S SELF REFLECTIONS
[Mick,Jimmy]
* Jimmy looks like Mick probably did 40 years ago
* Mick really does like to point
* This was funny, that's the only thing left to say about this

A

FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE
[Hugh,Will,Maya,Rachel]
* It's like they recorded one of my phone conversations with my parents
* Is Hugh trying to get all the comic book superhero gigs?

B+

MUSICAL GUEST II
[Mick Jagger]
* Like I said before, I'm no fan of Mick
* This was good though, I can't deny

A

VERSACE
[Maya,Hugh,Jimmy,Mick]
* Like I said last time they had this sketch, this would probably be funnier if I knew anything about the fashion world, or cared
* Maya looks a lot like Versace though

B

XMAS IN AUSTRALIA
[Hugh,Will,Seth,Rachel]
* This frightened me
* I am going to have nightmares of Freckles the Xmas Kangaroo

A

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SYNOPSIS:
This was a pretty good episode, as I expected. It's always these semi-unknown actors who have the best episodes. The share of airtime was fairly spread out, which usually makes for a good show. A good musical guest, a good host, and no Jack Handey! It's all good!

BEST SKETCH: Jarret's Room
WORST SKETCH: Hello Dolly, Robert Goulet All Holiday Special
PEOPLE WITH TIME TO SHAVE MARK POLISHUK'S BACK HAIR WHILE SINGING "EYE OF THE TIGER": Dean, Tracy (1 sketch each)
MISTAKES: No "Cartoon By Robert Smigel" as stated in the intro, a bit of cracking-up by Jimmy and Hugh

OVERALL GRADE: B+/A-

NEXT WEEK:
Ellen DeGeneres/No Doubt

Ellen can be funny, but she can also be un-funny. I shall make no predictions at this time.
No Doubt doesn't make me want to puke too much.

Hasta!

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