:: snl headquarters ::

Sarah Michelle Gellar / Faith Hill

By Neil McCormick

I'd have to admit that, overall, I was pretty disappointed with last week's season premiere with Matt Damon. Even though the episode got a fairly decent rating of 71, I still believe it had much more potential. Last week's Weekend Update was probably the largest disappointment of the episode, so hopefully that will pick back up to where it should be this week. SMG has been a good host in the past so I didn't figure we'd have a problem there.

    {cold opening} Bush & Cheney
        The question of who will play Bush after Will's departure has been answered; Chris Parnell. It's certainly a different impression, that's for sure. It will take me awhile to be able to accept the fact that it will never be Will's impression, but it was still pretty good. Chris Parnell is a very talented impressionist, and this one is pretty impressive. It seemed like he was talking too fast, but maybe that's just me. Either way, good opening.
        RATING : 8/10

    {monologue} Sarah Michelle Gellar
        I really liked this monologue! Chris Kattan was absolutely hilarious as the vampire in the audience. Often times ideas this ridiculous are great, and this was no exception. I'd have no complaints on bringing this "character" back for another monologue later in the year.
        RATING : 8/10

    {commercial} Swiffer Sleepers
        I think I may be the only one who found this very unfunny. It seemed really corny and childish. I just didn't like it.
        RATING : 2/10

    {sketch} Safety Day
        This was a great sketch concept, simple as that. Fred, Amy, and SMG were all really good with their roles. I laughed pretty much through this entire sketch. I loved when Fred demonstrated how to stop a person with a gun by using a pen. "If you don't have a pen, grab one from your assailant". Classic! I'm all for this being a recurring sketch!
        RATING : 9/10

    {sketch} Dentist Daydream
        Hmm, not sure why this is near the start of the show. Chris's masseuse character was okay during last season's Derek Jeter episode, but really isn't worthy of another shot. I really didn't enjoy this sketch too much, not enough jokes.
        RATING : 4/10

    {commercial} TransAmerican Airlines
        Okay, I don't understand why the crowd was barely laughing during this. I loved this commercial. I think Tracy's commentary was the funniest. "People say that with racial profiling, the terrorists have won. Why would the terrorists want racial profiling? That's how we catch em..." Good logic there, haha. Good job SNL, I don't care what your audience thought, I was impressed.
        RATING : 8.5/10

    {commercial} Corona Part 1
        *note* There are three parts to this commercial. I'll give a comment on each one throughout the episode and give all three a final rating under 'Part 3'.
        This was pretty decent, I suppose. I think this was definitely best suited for a one part commercial, but what can you do. Jimmy was funny as the drunk.

    {sketch} Saddam's Look-alikes
        Darrell's got a pretty classic Hussein impression. A pretty non-eventful sketch, with the exception of Horatio as a Saddam look-alike...that was comedy at its best. An average sketch, but I'd definitely like to see more of the Saddam Hussein impression in the future.
        RATING : 6/10

{commercial} Corona Part 2
Jimmy even more drunk. I'll agree, it is a funny concept, but I really don't think more than one part is a good idea. It's already not funny.

{music} Faith Hill
Yeah okay, not a big country fan, but it really beats rap. Um... yeah it'd be nice to get a good rock band in here sometime soon. It's too bad that the White Stripes count as a rock band...not a big fan.... Anyway, good performance I guess.

    {weekend update} Weekend Update
        Yes! Back to the classic style of Weekend Update : hilarious. A lot of the jokes were top notch, but I especially liked the "that's what happens when you screw the junk drawer" one. We also had the pleasure of Seth's best impression ever, the Dell Computer Guy. Wow... he even looks like him. I loved that commentary. The Ramada sisters weren't really that great, but it doesn't matter, this Update rocked.
        RATING : 9/10

    {sketch} Christina Aguilera Video Shoot
        "It's just not skanky enough!" Classic!! The actual video is pretty skanky, but I have no objections. I loved how the director kept ordering new things to make the video skankier, like more BO and urine. The baboon ass at the end just sealed the deal. Good sketch, I got a kick out of it.
        RATING : 8/10

    {sketch} Arli$$ DVD Collection
        Yeah okay, so they're saying Arliss isn't funny. I've never seen it so I wouldn't know. This sketch really wasn't anything special, but I suppose it was meant to lead into the following sketch...
        RATING : 4.5/10

    {sketch} Tracy Attempts to Organize Wrestling Match
        I knew from the sketch spoilers here at SNLHQ that this would be coming, so I had been looking forward to it all night. There are a lot of things that Tracy can do that are just funnier when he does them. He sort of has a Will Ferrell thing going for him in that way. The sketch got better at the end where Lorne tries where Tracy left off, but the highlight, of course, was Tracy yelling at Lorne. "Now go get me a Pepsi, biotch!" They should do things like this more often.
        RATING : 8.5/10

{music} Faith Hill
Yeah okay, whatever works.

    {sketch} Maya's Sensual Descriptions
        I don't know what else to call this. The only part funny about this sketch was how Tracy kept interrupting by talking about her breasts. Again, perfect example of how things are funnier when Tracy does them. The end was really funny, yet disturbing at the same time. Average, but it suits the end of the show.
        RATING : 6/10

    {commercial} Corona Part 3
        Same as the first two, just different. I liked the concept of this whole commercial, but again, it was too long and should have only been a one part thing.
        RATING (for all three) : 5/10

    {sketch} America's Pissed Off...
        It's funny cause it's true... A nice, clever little commercial at the end of the show is always a good time. "America's pissed off, not necessarily at you, but you'll do". The little testimonials really made this though... "...thanks Saddam...".
        RATING : 8.5/10

    {sketch} Merv The Perv
        Okay, I think it's official. Chris Parnell is now Will Ferrell's replacement. You can tell this role has Will all over it, but Chris handled it pretty well. Overall, this was an average sketch. It's pretty much the same joke over and over...he's a perv. I like when he called everybody by their first name except for "black lady".
        RATING : 6/10

   {overall rating} 71 / 100
    {sketch of the night} Safety Day (9)
    {quote of the night} Fred Armisen as Officer Fred : "Wow. I hope you get assaulted every day for the rest of your life."
    {points of interest} Chris Parnell replaces Will Ferrell as George W. Bush

Well, this episode ended up with the same rating as the season premiere. The Weekend Update was much better this time around, but since there were a lot of short sketches in this episode, and since some of them weren't that great, it sort of brought the rating down a little bit. Either way, I was happier with this episode than I was with the season premiere, even though they had the same rating. Next week we have Senator John McCain hosting, so that should definitely be something different. Performing as musical guest is The White Stripes, who I'm not a big fan of, but what can you do.