Hello people. How is everybody? I'm just terrific. Great, okay, now, I should preface this review by saying that I have never been crazy about Norm Macdonald. He's not that funny, at least in my point of view. I wasn't particularly upset when he was fired. In fact, I wasn't upset at all. So I wasn't exactly looking forward to this show with the great excitement and enthusiasm that I try to show for all SNL hosts. (I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm talking like this.) Why am I bothering to be so polite? This is so stupid. Okay, I don't like Norm, I was glad when they fired him, and I thought that he was going to do a crappy show. All right? That's my opinion. If you don't agree, that's your issue.

[OPENING] Rudy Giuliani makes a World Series bet
This was pretty good. I don't remember specifics, but I thought it was pretty funny. Not really an accurate Giuliani impression, but close enough. Funny.

grade: B+

[MONOLOGUE] Norm Macdonald
All right, I really hate to do this, because it makes me look like an idiot since I was saying earlier how much I don't like Norm, but his monologue wasn't bad. God, I don't want to admit it, but I actually laughed out loud at one point. I feel like such a moron. Good lord. Okay, I still don't like him, but he did a funny monologue.

grade: A

[SKETCH] Martha Stewart Living promo
Funny. Funny, funny, funny. Ana does this Martha impression sooo well, it's hilarious. I loved those references to her sudden wealth. I still can't believe that she's actually a billionaire. It makes me feel like crap, to tell the truth. I mean, god, what's next? That was a random tangent I just went off on, but I don't care. Anyhoo, great sketch.

grade: A

[SKETCH] Great Moments in Yankee History
Okay, this was kinda dumb. I mean, yeah, okay, what more can I say? This was stupid. I mean, the only joke in here was the crowd taking him seriously when he was being sarcastic. Ha ha ha. Very funny. I was being sarcastic.

grade: B-

[SKETCH] Celebrity Jeopardy
All right, I said that I didn't like Norm. And I don't. But the only thing that I actually liked of his was his Burt Reynolds impression. And I'm glad Burt's back on Jeopardy. And, as always, I loved Darrell as Sean Connery. And Jimmy's French Stewart was so accurate that it scared me. For a second I thought it was really him. This is the first guy he impresonated that he actually looks somewhat like. Anyhoo, terrific sketch, as usual. Will's Alex Trebek has never been that great, but it didn't matter that much. FUNNY.

grade: A

[SKETCH] NBC Crosstalk: How Thin is Too Thin?
All right, people are going to read this and think, god, get a life, it's just a sketch, loosen up, it's not that big of a thing, but I don't care. I have to say this. Wouldn't you think that having a sketch where Chris Parnell is talking about how hot these skeleton-frame women are and calling a "heavy" Cheri Oteri FAT only adds to the problem of girls with eating disorders? I mean, I know, I know, the whole point of the sketch was to make fun of that whole thing, but it kinda pissed me off. I mean, it REALLY pissed me off. It's fine to do a sketch and make fun of these 50-pound women (and I might add that whoever made Ana look so thin did a realyl great job; it scared the hell out of me), but it's another thing when several of the lines in the sketch are related to Chris insulting Cheri the "plus size" woman and saying that these frighteningly thin women are sexy. It bothered me. I know, it is a sketch, only a sketch, but when you think about all of the things in the media that influence teenage girls and make them anorexic and bulemic and give them low self-esteems, having Chris Parnell sit there and drool over these starved supermodels and insult heavier women is precisely the wrong thing to do. I don't care if that was the whole joke, it didn't strike me as funny AT ALL. You have to draw the line somewhere, and that's where I draw it. This sketch really depressed me and pissed me off. Maybe I'm a little more sensitive to the issue since one of my close friends had an eating disorder and got really sick a few years ago. I don't know. But that sketch really made me mad. Really. I didn't even crack a smile during that one. I know there are going to be people who think I've just made a really big issue out of nothing, but I don't give a crap. If you have any complaints about what I've just written, don't hesitate, just email me and voice your opinion. But that's mine, and I had to say it.

On a lighter note: Ms. Dratch (I believe that is her name). Rachel. FANTASTIC Calista Flockhart impression. FANTASTIC! I didn't like the sketch, but I thought that that was a really good impression, and I would have appreciated it more had this sketch not bothered me so much.

grade---for the whole sketch: F
for the Ally McBeal impression: A

[SKETCH] Larry King's News and Views
Wow, I sure did write a hell of a lot on that last sketch, didn't I? Anyhoo, moving on.
Sadly, the funniest moment in this whole Larry King bit was when he paused for that long period of time and then suddenly turned and launched into the new bit. Other than that...not that great. I think Kevin Nealon had a better Larry King impression.

grade: B-

[CARTOON] Fun with Real Audio
This was a brilliant idea, and it could have been really funny, but...no. Something about it didn't quite work. It could have been sooo good, but it just missed the mark. Too bad. By the way, isn't Robert Smigel supposed to have a cartoon show on Fox sometime soon? I thought he wasn't going to do any more cartoons on SNL. And if/when he does move to Fox, I hope he won't stop his work on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Anyhoo.

grade: B

[SKETCH] Larry King's News and Views
And then they carried this idea out too far. Too long. Stupid. Bad bad bad bad bad.
I hate it when they do this.

grade: C

[WEEKEND UPDATE] Colin Quinn
Colin is a funny man, and this was a great update. That "Millenium" bit they did this week was a hell of a lot better than that crappy shark thing they did on the Seinfeld show. But anyhoo, as I was saying, Colin is on a roll. Keep it up.

grade: A

[MUSICAL GUEST] Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg
This gave me a migraine. I left the room.

grade: ---

[SKETCH] The McMulluns argue at Halloween
Mildy amusing for a one-joke sketch. I actually laughed at the beginning. But it WAS a one-joke sketch, and I got really irritated with it. And maybe I missed something, I don't know, I was kind of distracted (playing fetch with my doggie), but I totally didn't get the ending. Maybe I did miss something. Hmmm.

grade: B

[SKETCH] Michael Jackson drowns his sorrows
Funny. Tim did a great job with the Michael Jackson bit and although it seemed kinda random, I also loved Jimmy as Howard Stern again. Good sketch. Abrupt ending, but funny sketch.

grade: A-

[MUSICAL GUEST] Dr. Dre featuring Eminem
This time I didn't wait for the migraine to come. I muted it right after Norm announced them.

grade: ---

[SKETCH] Bravo's Inside the Actors Studio
And for the last sketch of the night, this had me laughing hysterically. Norm, although he didn't sound much like Clint, did a good job. FUNNY STUFF. But now I am REALLY getting sick of the sight of Will Ferrell. But other than that, good sketch.

grade: A

[COMMERCIAL] Chess for Girls
This was random, about two years old, and REALLY REALLY BAD. I never liked this commercial, I think it's really dumb. And it's stupid to even air it. They aired an old commercial when Bill Murray hosted last season, but that made sense because Bill appeared in it. But what relevance does this one have? Norm doesn't even appear in the commercial. It's so pointless.

grade: C

All right, to my sheer and utter surprise, I thought Norm did a fairly good job tonight. Better than I ever thought he would do. I even caught myself laughing at him a few times during the night. I was laughing at NORM MACDONALD. The guy who was fired for not being funny. The guy whom I thought wasn't funny. The guy I was glad to see leave SNL. And I laughed at him. Will wonders ever cease? But don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean that I like him now. Truth be told, I think that I will always dislike Norm. But I have a little more respect for him now. He's going to have to settle for that. Overall, this was a pretty good show, except for that one sketch, "How thing is too thin?" It may be my personal prejudices getting in the way of seeing the "humor" in that, but I wouldn't know. All I know is that I thought that that sketch pushed it a bit too far, at least in my point of view. As for the new featured player, she seems to be pretty good, and hopefully we'll see more of her as the season progresses.
And that's it. Until next time, remember, "I am not narcoleptic. I just fall asleep all the time."
Buh-bye!

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