Hey everyone, this is JØÊ )-(ÅѧØÑ, also known as )-(¤TT ÑÎKK꣧.

I was pumped up for SNL this week. One of my favorite comedians and one of
my favorite bands. My expectations were very high. Read on, see what I
thought......

[OPENING] Rudy Giuliani makes a World Series bet.

okay, I liked this one. It wasn't the best opening of all time, but it was
funny. Darrel did a very good Guilani impression (this guy is very funny
and can do more than Clinton). The crowd reaction was no doubt enlarged by
the fact that that they live in NY and love the Yankees, but I was laughing
at Rudy's lines. Like to bring him the head of that Braves player on a
stick and Rudy would cross dress and be serinaded. And when he told New
Yorkers to just vote for a Yankee fan in the upcoming election! Solid
opening, but I expected better.
RATING: B+

[MONOLOGUE] Norm Macdonald

This will probably show up on the best of year's monolouge. This was just
hilarious. Could not have been better. Norm talked about his whole
controversial deal with getting fired from SNL.

"....You see me and the management had a little disagreement, I wanted to
keep my job, and they felt the EXACT OPPOSITE.....then here it is a whole
year and a half later and I am hosting...what I am wondering is how did I go
from not being funny enough to even be allowed in the building to hosting
the show? How did I get so GOD DAMN FUNNY?...,then I realized a dude like
me can't get that funny in a year and a half...I haven't gotten funnier, the
show has gotten worse!.....So I guess I am funny compared to--well, what
you'll see later..."

Classic material and great delivery. I loved it. RATING: A

[SKETCH] Martha Stewart Living promo

I didn't really hear or care about the Martha Stewart stock success in the
news until Colin mentioned it on update. It was then that I understood the
sketch. Ana did a good Martha Stewart impression but the writing seemed
rushed and wasn't there. I like the comment by Ana as Martha Stewart: "The
real Martha Stewart is a frigid 58 year old divorcee with a filthy mouth and
a mean streak." That was the high point of the sketch but the earlier
Stewart sketches were funnier. Solid, but could have been better. RATING:C+

[SKETCH] Great Moments in Yankee History

Hilarious. Norm McDonald as Lou Gehrig making the announcement about his
disease. "I was being sarcastic! I am the UNluckiest man in the world! I
have DISEASE so rare they named it after ME!" It was a great concept and
Norm was perfectly cast and his delivery was hilarious. Great. RATING: A

[SKETCH] Celebrity Jeopardy

One of my favorite returning sketches of all time (right next to The Ladies
Man and the Roxbury Guys) makes another fantastic appearance. Every one of
these is innovative and funny. The sketch could just be Hammonds as Sean
Connery arguing with Ferrel as Trebeck and I would love it. I didn't think
they could ever top "The Pen is Mightier" but they did with "A petit
Dejeune" (Ape Tit!) I thought Norm would steal the show as Burt Reynolds,
but once again Hammonds shows and proves his worth as a cast member. I love
the remarks about Trebecks wife and the DX inspired reference at Final
Jeopardy in the end. Norm played his part well and was very funny. The 3rd
guy was Fallon (my favorite new guy) as French Stewart. He looked and
sounded like him, but he really didn't have much to say. No substance. He
was ok, but I wanted him as Sandler again. The crowd didn't really get much
into him. Brilliant sketch. RATING: A

[SKETCH] NBC Crosstalk: How Thin is Too Thin?

Started off kind of slow....basically just Parnell as some newsguy talking
about how Oteri as some commentator was fat. Then Ana came in and had some
good lines as the hopelessly annorexic woman. And we get our first glimpse
of the new female cast member who played Calista Flockheart. She did a good
job, she even had the stuttering and rolling eyes down! And she threw up at
the end! Good but dragged a little. RATING: B+

[SKETCH] Larry King's News and Views

This is funny if you are a fan of Norm Macdonald. It is the kind of funny
where you quote the ridiculous lines from Norm as King the next day in that
drab monotone. Things that just either make little sense or are just
unnecessary comments! Such as "You know, gang, if you see only one movie
this summer it should be "Mickey Blue Eyes" And "Vertical blinds are good
blinds, but SO ARE HORIZONTAL BLINDS"
Good, solid sketch. I love it when Norm just stares straight ahead and you
just listen to the waves of laughter from the crowd.
RATING: A-

[CARTOON] Fun with Real Audio

Stupid. They might be having with Real Audio with this cartoon, but I am
not. Charleton Heston audio from some NRA hearing in Congress intermingled
with Planet of the Apes audio. I bet it sounded good on paper, but this
sketch reeks of mediocrity. To quote Phil Hartman off a Newsradio rerun, it
is very adaquate. Average sketch, bring back the Ambigously Gay Duo! This
sucks! RATING: C+

[SKETCH] Larry King's News and Views

Scroll up to what I said about the last one. This one ran shorter, which is
good because much longer and this would have gotten stale. I don't have
anything new to say. RATING: A-

[WEEKEND UPDATE] Colin Quinn

CQ has become a good Weekend Update anchor after a shaky start. He makes a
few jokes about the Wu-Tang Clan every once and a while and I love him for
that. He did not tonight, but had a solid performance with little bad
jokes. Oteri as Maples was good when she teased Quin. I was really wanting
Norm to show up, but he did not to my dissapointment. RATING: B+

[MUSICAL GUEST] Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg

Best musical act since 2pac in 96. I thought Snoop would get in a sketch
but he didn't. The song was "Still D.R.E." and it was very good. The beat
was ill, the lyrics made sense, Snoop was used well, and both Dogg's and
Dre's flows were very tight. Near the end they cut in a beat from another
song off of Dre's upcoming cd, which was also ill. A great live performance
of a very tight song which is tearing up radios everywhere. Also, Snoop and
Dre looked cool out there feeling the beat, they didn't Puff Daddy dance.
Puff dances like a damn clown who has to go to the bathroom real bad.
RATING: A+

[SKETCH] The McMulluns argue at Halloween

Without Norm, this sketch would have been crap. Maybe Ferrel could have
pulled it off. This sketch was basically a hopelessy corny hilarious
rendition of the Ghostbuster theme song, sung by Oteri dressed like a tooth
and McDonald as a toothbrush, to trick or treaters at the door. (Who you
gonna call? The Tooth Brusher!! I ain't afraid of no sweets!) And then when
they left they argued back and forth and destroyed each other's possessions
with great insults by Norm. "....you fire breathing whore.." (and when
Cheri started to drink) "I'll call rehab, I bet your bed is still warm) Very
funny,
Good ending. RATING: A-

[SKETCH] Michael Jackson drowns his sorrows

okay at best......Meadows was a good MJ and this sketch had a few good
spots..however Fallon's Stern was cut off too short and overall it just
wasn't that funny. RATING:B-

[MUSICAL GUEST] Dr. Dre featuring Eminem

Wow. This topped the first one. This song is "Forgot About Dre." That beat
is nasty and Dre's lyrics were even better than before. His flow came off
real smooth (he almost swore once). Eminem stole the show. He really
impressed me. He sounded real nice, did the hook of the song well, and his
actions as a live performer were dead on. I love that beat to this one, and
Dre raps about how he made the Eazy-Es, Ice Cubes, Snoop D-O-double Gs.
Great, great song. I have this show on tape and I watched this performance
3 times after. Very good. RATING: A++

SKETCH] Bravo's Inside the Actors Studio

Good interplay between Norm and Ferrell. Norm said "god damn" 3 times!
Basically just Ferrell as an annoying show host and Norm insulting him.
Loved Norm's remark about what he would want God to say when he went to
heaven. Good way to end the show. RATING:A-

[COMMERCIAL] Chess for Girls

What the f#ck?!! This is a year old, at least!!!! COME ON!! I have seen
this a million damn times! If they were going to do a fake commercial they
could have at least done a new one with Norm, maybe even for the Note to
Self thing! Damn, I should be writing for Snl. Norm could do an add for the
Note to Self and just rattle off some funny messages. Can't miss.
RATING: (if you have never seen this before)A- (it is a good concept and it
was funny the first time)
RATING: (if you have seen this as much as me)D- (get some new material!)

Overall: A

I had high expectations and they were well met. I was mad at that there was
no "Note to Self" or any appearance of Norm as Dole or as Letterman, or even
on Weekend Update. But the sketches were for the most part excellant with
some great music in between. Too bad Tracy Morgan went unused along with
Horatio Sanz. I want to see Tracy do another Brian Fellows sketch! Peace,
I'm out.

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