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Saturday Night Live Season 34 Episode 4

Anne Hathaway/The Killers

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EPISODE REVIEWS
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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 10/4/08

Live from New York, it's... Queen Latifah!

Sketches include "The Vice Presidential Debate," "The Lawrence Welk Show," "The Wall Street Bailout," "Nightclub Flirting," "Extreme Activities Competition" (Digital Short), "Mary Poppins," "Sioux City News 3," "Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals," "Pretending To Be Gay," and "The Less Provocactive Songs of Katy Perry."

The Killers performed "Human" and "Spaceman."moreless

Fan Episode Reviews (7)

Oh, are we skipping the talent portion?

8.0

By whoaitsconner, Feb 19, 2009

Boy, this cast is going through a nausiating roller coaster. First, they have 4 shows in a row, then, they supposedly have a "week off", even though 4 of those days will go to a prime time special. Then, they're supposed to come back to do a show on both Thursday, and Saturday! But, we're really making progress here. I've had the Phelps/Wayne show surgically removed from my brain, so, we've been kind of consistent. Tonight shouldn't be different.

Tonight's host is actress Anne Hathaway, a.k.a., the first host I know previous work of. Musical guest is The Killers. Tonight should be a double punch in the good guest spots.

Vice Presidential Debate: The Queen shows up! Queen Latifah reprises her role as Gwen Ifill for moderator tonight. Tina Fey goes through a third week as Sarah Palin. She's pretty much deadlocked herself as Palin, until the real VP nominee becomes unimportant to satire. I was happy to see Jason stick to his Biden that he did last November. This was a big stand-out for the show, but did it need to go 10 minutes long?

Monologue: Following after that 10 minute debate, we have a 1-2 minute monologue. I'm not complaining! Anne proved to us that she's a good sport for her recent boyfriend troubles.

The Lawrence Welk Show: Fred as Welk was pretty good. My dad actually told me a story, about when he was little, he always had to watch this with his grandparents, and that he hated it. So, I had some background on what this show actually was. It was cute, and entertaining, but not necessarily "first sketch of the night" funny.

C-Span: Man, Sudeikis's bush has been on hiatus for a long, long, time! It was also nice to see Kristen's Nancy Pelosi impression back. Everyone in this sketch was funny. The little foot notes at the bottom were enjoyable to read to. I had to rewind, because I didn't notice they were sarctical until I saw "People who should be shot" on there. But, this was a solid sketch, in my opinion.

Bar Dance: So, this was a one-joke premise, but it was entertaining. The fake slo-mo made me laugh a lot.

Digital Short: I'm glad to see Kristen co-star in a digital short. This digital short was very lonely island-ish, unlike the last... 7? 8? ... digital shorts. Jorma has finally gotten warmed back up. No need to say it was silly, anda fine digital short.

Musical Performance: The Killers perform their new single "Human". Great song. You can also tell Brandon's improved his ear for pitch.

Weekend Update: Update was a little shorter tonight, but I'm fine with that. Update was really strong for the 3rd week in a row, and Will's singing sketch was pretty funny. Although, I've gotta say, that fake name "Willis Forte III" or whatever kind of fell flat. The heaviest man jokes were hilarious.

Mary Poppins: You know, if Anne didn't say that last line "if a man and a woman fancy eachother very much..." I wouldnt' have gotten this sketch at all. That's called me being tired and stupid. But, needless to say, this was funny and enjoyable.

Most YouTubed News: Everyone in this sketch was very good, and made this sketch work nicely. Next time, control room guys, get to Sudeikis before he's half-way though his beginning line.

Mark Wahlberg Talks To Animals: This was another one-premise sketch, and, as it was a good idea, maybe using the exact same lines over again ("Say Hi To Your Mother For Me") to every animal could have been avoided.

Gay Fake: A man who's been living with a woman pretending to be gay for 5 years, finally admits that he has been straight. Another good idea, and a good take out with the sketch.

Musical Performance: The Killers perform "Spaceman" which is a great tune. But, really, what's up with the 80s techno?

Katy Perry's Less Provocative Songs: Other than Katy Perry's song "I Kissed a Girl", we have a bunch of songs with the same tune, but more family-friendly lyrics. I can see why this sketch was cut for the last few episodes, but, it was funny in some aspects.

Tonight was a strong delightful broadcast. There really wasn't a weak sketch tonight, and both guests were enjoyable. Anne Hathaway was no doubt the best host of the season thus far, which I had expected. The Killer's songs were both very enjoyable. This is actually the first time I liked a song the first time I heard it, on SNL. Like, I'll usually have to review it in the morning, but both songs were automatic "straight-to-itunes" songs.

In two weeks, we have host Josh Brolin and musical guest Adele.

For the next 3 Thursdays, we have "Weekend Update Thursdays" at 9:30. I'll be watchin.

This Saturday's repeat is Michael Phelps/Lil Wayne. I'm good, thanks.moreless
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Great episode

9.0

By happysadfun, Dec 07, 2008

There was not a single bad skit in this one. There were a couple filler ones, like the Katy Perry one, but they were all funny. Highlights include: Opening, Lawrence Welk, Mary Poppins, C-Span Bailout. The Killers are a bit strange and seem stoned; their music reminded me of 80's hairdos. The ostrich feather thingy was weird. sometimes I wonder if they tell the musical guests to be as weird and funny-ish as possible. Either that or they're drugged/crave attention. Either way. Possibly the best so far this season, definitely top two. i have watched the Lawrence Welk skit probably 25 times online and know all the words... hehehe.moreless
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A very good, solid episode. The best so far this season. A very 'musical' episode with the Lawrence Welk Sisters, Forte's song, Mary Poppins, and Jason's love song.

8.5

By FarleyRules, Nov 09, 2008

Biden/Palin Debate - TIna Fey really owns this role and she was born to play it. I feel it is the strongest thing she has ever done on SNL or 30 Rock. Her mannerisms and speaking style are dead on and the writers really nailed the calculated aspects of Palin's performance, including asking permission to call Biden 'Joe' so that she could later say "Say it ain't so, Joe." The sketch was about as perfect as I could have hoped for and did a decent job of mocking both sides. If Palin got the short end of the stick in the sketch, you can chalk that up to her doggone maverick-style performance which pandered to the Joe Six-Packs and Hockey Moms among us (wink). Grade: A+

Monologue - Nice and short and kind of cute. Hathaway has a very likable personality and is easy to watch. Grade: B

Lawrence Welk Show - Very good! This totally came from left field! Just about the complete opposite of Deep House Dish. The song was nice and catchy, the performances were good and Kristen was exceptional as the half-baked sister. Kristen excels at playing strange characters and she did it again. Grade: A

Bailout Press Conference - An excellent and informed take on the financial crisis. The writers did their homework this time and really came up with a winner. Kristen's Pelosi was dead on and I was very pleased to see Armisen tackle the role of the inimitable Barney Frank. The cast of characters they paraded before the camera showed just how stupid a lot of the policies and decisions were that enabled the ensuing mess. Grade: A+

The Pickup - I was almost expecting Ferrell and Kattan to show up and do their Roxbury thing. Bobby has some great moves and a really good presence. I expect great things from him. The slow motion segment was priceless. A good, silly sketch that adds relief to a show heavy on politics. Grade: B+

Extreme Activities Competition digital short - A series of random ideas that didn't add up to a whole lot. I'm starting to question if Andy and dudes still have anything left in them. The music was almost the same as People Getting Punched While Eating. Grade: C+

Weekend Update - Will's song was a bit reminiscent of that episode long ago when Andy Kaufman read from The Great Gatsby until he drove the crowd into a frenzy. It might have been even better if Will had gone on a bit longer to the point of generating boos from the audience. Due to the long political sketches, WU was limited to one guest and was kept at 8 minutes overall as compared to the usual length of 12-14 minutes. The shorter format is much preferred and keeps it from getting stale. Grade: A

Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious - Very unexpected and delightful. The idea that Mary Poppins is a s1ut spreading VD to the townsfolk is outrageous and hilarious. I loved the concept and all of the performances, especially Hader. Grade: A

Local News - Not particularly good, but not bad. There are a lot of stupid clips on YouTube featuring these kinds of outtakes. SNL has done lots of local news parodies, but the one with Seinfeld doing the exaggerated headlines remains my favorite. Armisen was very funny as the crotch-grabbing, camera hungry, mullett-wearing white trash. Grade: C+

Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals - Not much to this other than Andy's take on Mark's faux tough guy demeanor. Andy seems to be more and more of a loner on the show. Grade: C

Not Really Gay - I actually guessed this twist from the moment it started. Still, it was pretty enjoyable. Having sex with even ONE guy for the sake of the deception is insane! But, Jason "sold it" well. Very good at playing the gay guy too. Grade: B

The Less Provocative Songs of Katy Perry - The concept was kind of funny. Too bad they had to use the same music and the same lyric structure for every song: "I 'verb' 'noun' and I liked it..." Grade: Cmoreless
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Freakin' electric!!!

10

By DarkNinja1994, Oct 08, 2008

I was really disapointed with the episode with Anna Faris. It's not that I don't like her; I'd never heard of that person before until SNL annonced her as a host. I didn't like it because the skits weren't funny and there was a sexual theme to like every single one. I liked this episode a lot better because it was funny without being totally perverted. My personal favorite skit was the one where there were 4 sisters on PBS and they were all singing a lovely little song, but then the fourth sister was all funky looking and she sang about eating a dead cat. :? I also liked the Mary Poppins one. "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is a disease of the liver!"moreless
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Vunderful, Vunderful!

7.0

By HelloStuart, Oct 06, 2008

A Review by "HelloStuart," Amateur Critic and Perpetual Bridesmaid

For some reason, turning points in SNL's annals have a tendency to occur in years ending with 5 and 0, but it's easy to forget the critical impact of 1978, 1988, and 1998. It was thirty years ago this weekend that The Rolling Stones became the only band to host SNL, a moment of hype that threw the original cast and writers even further into the pop culture stratosphere. Twenty years ago marked the return of live shows after a long and brutal writers' strike, a hit-the-ground-running moment triggered by the all-time classic Tom Hanks/Keith Richards broadcast. Finally, 1998 found SNL at the center of the political satire world, a year best-remembered for one viciously funny Clinton scandal sketch after another. With that history, you have to wonder what 2008 will have in store for us…

This week's host is Anne Hathaway, a seasoned movie and TV actress best known for playing Jake Gyllenhaal's wife in "Brokeback Mountain" as well as dating a tax-dodging real estate developer. The Killers are the musical guests, as they make their third SNL appearance in five seasons.

And now, the sketch-by-sketch analysis:

COLD OPENING: A few days ago, I jokingly suggested that Queen Latifah could reprise the role of Gwen Ifill if the show was going to cough up another vice-presidential debate sketch. As it turned out, Dana Owens got pegged as Ifill, Tina Fey agreed to play Sarah Palin at least one more time, and the inevitable parody of the overhyped debate between running mates was all systems go. Like most sketches of the ilk, it was overlong if only for the purpose of nailing every quirky aspect of the debate, from Palin's forced "straight talk" and constant maverick references, to Biden's depiction of his hometown of Scranton, PA as a godforsaken black hole that only he could escape. At least Ifill had a moment to plug her new book…

MONOLOGUE: Upon making the obligatory plug for "Rachel Getting Married," Anne mentions her slimy ex and announces that she's rebounded with a Nigerian prince via spam e-mail. It wasn't terribly creative, but at least Anne kept it short.

"The Lawrence Welk Show": The champion of champagne music (FA) introduces a squeaky-clean sister act with one weak link (KW). Usually throwaway sketches like this air later in the show, but considering what aired after the first commercial break this might've been intended as a palette-cleanser for those of us who are already burnt out by the election. That didn't make the sketch worthwhile, so to speak.

"The Wall Street Bailout": Live on C-SPAN, President Bush (JS), Speaker Pelosi (KW), and Rep. Barney Frank (FA) explain how the seemingly unwieldy $700 billion rescue plan was passed by congress. In spite of some partisan bickering, they introduce several victims of the sub-prime mortgage crisis: two irresponsible deadbeats (BM, KT), a yuppie couple (BH, Anne) with 20 timeshares and a surrogate mom (AP) that more than resembles Angie Ostrowiski, and an older couple (DH, KW) that are actually doing just fine. SNL always seems to be on the ball with topical humor in election years, and this is no exception; though the output was far from short and sweet, and the object of parody was right on target.

"Nightclub Flirting": Four guys in a bar struggle to make the moves on three singletons until two of them (BM, Anne) have a special, freaky-deaky moment. It was amiable when it should've poked fun at modern sexual politics, but I can't force myself to say it was a bad sketch…

DIGITAL SHORT: "Extreme Activities Competition" pits Andy against Wiigy in a series of increasingly inane tasks ranging from arm wrestling to looking casual. As their rivalry goes into bizarre extremes, their referee (WF) has an emotional breakdown. Unsettling as it may be, this was probably the vignette Samberg et al. had in mind when they slapped together "Space Olympics" last month.

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: "Human" feels like a rewrite of "When You Were Young," but with a New Order influence in lieu of The Boss. It might make a good ringtone someday.

WEEKEND UPDATE: I'll admit that it took me awhile to warm up to the Amy-Seth combo, and I'm not alone in that sentiment, but you have to admit that the one-liners have gotten crispier with time. Even on a bad night, you can eagerly anticipate their spin on the news and put Kenan's sad attempts at a recurring character on mute. In lieu of Kel's partner, however we have Orville Willis Forte IV (that's his real name, I kid you not) singing about the congressional vote on the $700 billion bailout, a concept that was silly in execution but by no means a time-waster. I could've done without the barrage of jokes about the world's fattest man, though.

"Mary Poppins": The two Banks children (BM, CW) don't seem to understand that "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" is a painful venereal disease and that Bert (BH) and the Constable (WF) have probably contracted it from the beloved Disney nanny (Anne). This demented twist saved this sketch from being a cheap homage to Hathaway's "Princess Diaries" co-star. "Sioux City News 3": A sextet of Iowan newsmen has received more YouTube hits for their constant bumbling than any other media outlet. It almost sounds like the premise of a bad sitcom, but they made the most of their 3 ½ minutes.

"Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals": Marky Mark (AS) has tense and repetitive conversations with a variety of farm critters. There's not much else to this, which makes me wonder if this would work better as a "Family Guy"-type non sequitor.

"Pretending To Be Gay While moving out of their apartment, a man (JS) explains to his ex-roommate (Anne) that his homosexuality and promiscuity was an elaborate ruse to get into her pants. For all its emotional honesty, the premise was too far-fetched to make this work.

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: "Spaceman" may remind some music geeks of The Cure, but otherwise it's an album cut that doesn't merit much radio play.

"The Less Provacative Songs of Katy Perry": A mostly predictable sketch where the flash-in-the-pan singer (CW) purrs about other, far more mundane things she's done, all to the tune of her signature song.

I was half-expecting the show to be running on fumes after airing four live shows in a row, but this grueling streak actually ended on a high note. After staying mostly in the background for the first three shows of the year, Casey and Bobby were fairly prominent in tonight's broadcast and even carried a sketch or two. On the other hand, if you're looking for a '80s covers band for your daughter's wedding, than The Killers would be just perfect. Anne was an above-average host, rolling with the punches while stuck in the romantic-interest archetype that nearly hindered Anna Faris the week before. I normally don't say things like this, but I wouldn't mind if Anne hosted again next year; she seemed like a cool customer and fit in well with the cast.

Segments That Will Probably Be Removed in Repeats: "The Lawrence Welk Show," "Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals," "Pretending To Be Gay and "Spaceman."

Next… Thursday?: The first of three prime-time Weekend Update specials airing after "The Office." And yes, I'll have the review in by Friday afternoon.

Send your questions and comments to sma17kc@aim.com. Stuart replies to all queries.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Darrell Hammond	Himself
Amy Poehler	Herself
Seth Meyers	Himself
Fred Armisen	Himself
Will Forte	Himself
Kenan Thompson	Himself

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Queen Latifah	Gwen Ifill	Guest Star
Anne Hathaway	Herself	Guest Star
The Killers	Themselves	Guest Star
Tina Fey	Gov. Sarah Palin	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (1)
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- In the Cold Opening, Gwen Ifill( Queen Latifah) says her book will be available on Inauguration Day. Towards the end of the sketch, she says the book will be available on November 4, obviously Election Day.
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QUOTES (6)
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- Mark Wahlberg: Hey, goat. It's good to see you. I like your beard. I had a beard like that in "The Perfect Storm." Did you see that movie? Did you? Did you see "The Perfect Storm," goat? Say hi to your mother for me, okay?
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- Seth Meyers: Two planes scheduled to land on the Greek isle of Lesbos had to circle for half an hour because an air traffic controller overslept. Though I'm guessing a lot of activities on the isle of Lesbos involve circling for half an hour.
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- Amy Poehler: Panasonic this week unveiled a 150-inch flat screen TV. Just in time for no one to afford it.
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- Seth Meyers: (referring to the $700B Wall Street bailout) Good news, everybody. That house you couldn't pay for? You're paying for it!
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- Gwen Ifill: I would now like to give each of you a chance to make a closing statement.
  Gov. Sarah Palin: (holding a flute) Are we not doing the talent portion? (she plays the flute, then winks)
  (Ifill stares at Palin for a moment, than turns to address Biden)
  Gwen Ifill: Senator Biden, your closing statement?
  Sen. Joe Biden: My goal tonight was a simple one. To come up here and at no point seem like a condescending, egomaniacal bully. And I'm gonna be honest, I think I nailed it.
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- Gwen Ifill: How will you solve the financial crisis by being a maverick?
  Gov. Sarah Palin: You know, we're gonna take every aspect of the crisis and look at it and then we're gonna ask ourselves, "What would a maverick do in this situation?" And then, you know, we'll do that! (winks)
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NOTES (8)
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- Sketches not shown in the 60 minute version: "Financial Bailout Press Conference," "Pretend Gay Roommate," "Sioux City News 3," "The Guest House Dance Club," "Less Provocative Songs of Katy Perry," "Extreme Activities Competition" (Digital Short), and The Killers performance of "Spaceman."
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- Anne Hathaway played Mary Poppins, which was played by Julie Andrews in the 1964 movie of the same name. Anne Hathaway worked with Julie Andrews in "The Princess Diaries."
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- Queen Latifah (Gwen Ifill) also worked with Jason Sudeikis in the 2008 movie What Happens In Vegas.
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- Anne Hathaway also worked with Casey Wilson in the 2009 movie Bride Wars.
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- International airdates:
  Latin America: February 28, 2009 on Sony Entertainment Television.
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- The "Wall Street Bailout" sketch was the cold opening in dress rehearsal.
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- Sketches cut after dress rehearsal: soap opera actors (Anne Hathaway, Bill Hader) use body doubles that don't look like them for their sex scene; a game show where contestants are asked "Is this the man's daughter or his date?"; Tyler Perry (Kenan Thompson) showcases his film with an all-white cast; a string quartet (Bill Hader, Bobby Moynihan, Andy Samberg, Kenan Thompson) plays soothing music; On Weekend Update, Al Pacino does a commentary.
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- The Katy Perry sketch was previously cut from the Michael Phelps/Lil Wayne and Anna Faris/Duffy dress rehearsals.
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- During the "Extreme Activities Competition" sketch, there was a contest called "Becoming Jane", where Andy Samberg transformed into Anne Hathaway with a dress. Anne Hathaway played Jane Austen the 2007 movie Becoming Jane.
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