The ratings for last night's Justin Timberlake-hosted episode of SNL aren't in yet, but if they're not the season's highest, Lorne Michaels is going to be a very disappointed dictator. The show brought out the big guns to celebrate JT's inclusion into the Five Timers Club: the episode began with Timberlake as Elton John singing a parody of the highest selling single of all-time, "Candle in the Wind," and from there, we were treated to appearances from Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Martin Short, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Candice Bergen, Paul Simon, Andy Samberg, Jay-Z, and a drink called The Gilly. It was packed together than Aykroyd in his pants, but was it funny?
For the most part: very. There were two notable duds, but knowing the expectations that came with having Timberlake as a host, the writers mainly stuck to premises that had successfully worked for them in the past. Hence, the returns of the Dick in the Box guys, dancing food, Maine Justice, Vanessa Bayer and Cecily Strong's porn stars-turned-commercial hawkers, and, of course, Stefon. (Count John Mulaney as a guest star, too.)
It wasn't one of the season's most original episodes, but thanks to JT's welcome charisma, it was one of the best.
It was nice to see "Five Timers," honorary or otherwise, Steve Martin, Martin Short, wee Munchkin Paul Simon, and Candice Bergen, and sad to look at Chevy Chase and especially Dan Aykroyd, but where was the in-person/portrait love to Bill Murray, Christopher Walken, Elliott Gould, and Danny DeVito? Also, Aykroyd's creepy skull vodka bottles could be seen behind him at the bar, which was actually the first of two instances of product placement for the Ghostbusters star, the other being his stomach for Dan Aykroyd's Pork Loin Emporium.
I was dreading the return of the "Dick in a Box" guys, right up until they sang, "Both of us railin' on your butt," then I was instantly happy they did. The Wild and Crazy Guys? Not so much. Martin doesn't look like he's aged a day over the past three decades and his timing is still sharp, but Aykroyd...yeah. Oddly, the sketch MVPs were Bobby Moynihan, who played JT's "rival" throughout the evening, and Vanessa Bayer, who's been killing it this season.
An exact reaction to "Nuva Ring."
(Also, it's crap "Veganville" isn't available online.)
This week's greatest additions to the (Smash writer) Stefon canon:
"Donald Duck waking up from a Vietnam nightmare" was particularly inspired.
The writers were soooooooooo wasted when they wrote "Sober Caligula," one of two sketches last night to mention getting or giving sexual pleasure to a helpless barnyard animals.
Let's pretend this never happened (until it's time for the Worst Sketch of the Season) and move on.
Timberlake couldn't possibly top Jamie Foxx's unhinged performance in the original "Maine Justice," and he didn't ("CLASSIC JT, doing another black man's job, just not as well," says someone on the Internet today), but it was still nice to see the Honorable Marshall T. Boudreaux again, as well as a alligator who so badly wanted to be a judge. "Maine Justice" is the kind of nonsensical, weird, sloppy sketch we always demand SNL do more of, so it'll never become the next "Californians," though I'm sure the writers will try.
A+ Not sure the biggest laugh: "Monica and Chandler Champagne," the jerking off a horse line, "I graduated magnum cum loudly," Ricky V.I.Penis, “I did this weird shoot in Mexico and two of the girls disappeared but I survived. Thanks champagne," “One time, I woke up covered in blood. But it wasn’t mine. I was like, ‘Hello?’” Actually, the whole thing was perfect. Kind of like feminist porn.
Would it have killed JT to sing "Here We Go"? He'd only feel dead inside.
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FYI: a bunch of the sketches aren’t available online, for various copyright reasons.
Timberlake for the win. I was pretty sure he would deliver. But with all those big names in one spot last night, they should have done an episode of “Whats Up With That?” It would have gone over better than that Caligula skit.
I wonder where Kenan was last night? He said, like, two things.
That Caligula skit definitely felt like a leftover.
Oh shit, I totally didn’t realize until JT said it – we were all staring at The Three Amigos. And as star-studded this episode was, I woulda traded it for digs in Santa Poco.
I realized it a split second before he said it and then imediatedly looked for it on Netflix
Funny episode. I didn’t get Maine Justice at all and I’m from Mass. Someone explain? Also, I thought She Has A D$&k was funny.
The connection between Maine and Louisiana is the Acadians. They settled in Canada and the U.S. in the 17th Century. During the French and Indian war, many of them moved south to what is now Louisiana.
Geez, after explaining all that, the skit is even less funny.
If you go back and watch the original skit it was set up that a bunch of Louisiana folk displaced by Hurricane Katrina resettled in Maine. With that said, what Chimpo said is true. There are parts of Maine where the accents of locals is similar to South Louisiana accents, and the surnames are also similar as well, though often with different spellings (Boudreau instead of Boudreaux, etc.)
She has a D*ck was totally funny. I thought it was innovative for SNL. Usually they’d just throw Amrisen in drag and call it a day with the same premise.
Le Grande Derangment, and we didn’t move to Louisiana…we were dumped there.
I knew Maine had a French population but I guess I just didn’t find it funny
Let me add: Kanye is a fucking clown!
Best episode in weeks.
The episode felt kinda safe aside and I wish they went further with the She Has A Dick sketch, it had potential.
And I thought Chevy aged pretty bad, Aykroyd, my goodness.
“seperating” ? C’mon, man.
Didn’t make the GIF.
Dan Akroyd’s crystal skull vodka is drunkenly wonderful. I puke nothing but smooth chunks.
Best endorsement ever.
Copyright laws are the worst. I want to see the whole episode. Not seeing the opening is a crime against TV. . . . Veganville is on Hulu for what it is worth.
Tom Hanks mustache yes.
Ducktales shoutout? Fuck yeah!
I was very happy to hear that shoutout
That skull vodka is good vodka.
MAINE JUSTICE 4-EVA!!!!!
Oh no. Oh no no no no.
Paul Simon is plastic surgery’s newest abomination.
How many people do you think honestly thought the Wild and Crazy Guys were new creations
I was afraid that Maine Justice and the infomercial porn stars wouldn’t work as recurring skits, but hell if they didn’t.
Sayonara, muchacho.
I’ve been waiting forever to hear Vanessa Bayer say ‘… jerking off a horse.’ That was by far the highlight of the evening.
Best of the season and best episode I’ve seen in a long time. Just terrific.
I really wish the writers would try this hard every week.
And maybe the most amazing of all – not a single time while I was watching did I get that all too familiar feeling of a sketch dragging slowly to its death. Everything actually had an ending right about when it needed to.
Maybe they should hire more writers and pair them into two groups. Each group writes every other week. The week off would give them time to come up with some inspiring stuff and not burn out.
i think that would only make the show even more uneven
I actually don’t think the writing was anything special. They trotted out a ton of guest stars and recurring characters, then let them do what they do. The show’s three original skits — Caligula, “She Has a Dick,” and the cold open — were terrible. Bringing out the greatest hits certainly isn’t a bad strategy — frankly, it’s a move SNL, with its giant comedy network, should adopt more often — but I’m not sure the writers get a ton of credit for Saturday’s success.
Agree with most of Professor’s comments with the exception of Caligula- that sketch shoulda ended about 5 minutes sooner.
I’ve watched it three times now, and I still don’t get “Maine Justice.” I’m even more confused that this wasn’t the first installment.
I’ve decided that a town from old timey Louisiana fell into a wormhole and has been transported to present day Maine.
Watch the Jamie Foxx episode for backstory – it’s people that were displaced due to Hurricane Katrina
I need a gif of JT coming on screen saying “Did someone say ‘celebrate’?”
/Monica and Chandler champagne
Ricky V.I.Penis everybody
also this
I still don’t understand why Timberlake is so loved.
if you watched the episode you’d get it.
Charm quotient?
Watched the episode…still don’t get it…fearing for our future as a society.
Dude’s got charisma. I wanted to hate his guts for being the pubey-headed little wimp from NSYNC, but he’s won me over. He’s a decent actor and has some comedic talent.
I too once deemed JT nothing more than a dweeb but I gotta say, over the years, he’s proven his talent. I think he is an even better comedic actor than dramatic. He should host this show 3 times per year.
I wanted to axe-murder that LSU heckler during Maine Justice.
Yeah, what the shit was that all about? This better not start something where the audience does dumb shit
Southerners.
Veganville is online, but the cold opening is not. Very good episode.
With the exception of Stefon, I thought it was a fantastic episode. I love the Bayer and Strong pornstar characters. I hope we get to see them at least one more time this year because they’re always good for a laugh at the end of the show.
Romantic comedy was really inspired. I’m kind of shocked that they didn’t have Amrisen dress in drag and JT pretend he thinks he’s a woman, like they always do.
You… don’t like Stefon? I thought everybody loved Stefon.
I’m speechless. I am without speech
What kind of joyless existence do you lead?
I wasn’t a huge Stefon fan at first, but last night’s absolutely killed.
I loved Stefon at first, but, it’s the same thing every-time. It’s all about the writers coming up with a bunch of random stuff at the last second to make Hader break character. *shrugs shoulders* I just find it predictable and boring.
You’re right. I was just thinking ‘Donald Duck waking up from a Vietnam nightmare.’ was soooo predictable.
I love Stefon, but I gotta be honest, when he does the Club Names (and in this case, also de Donald Duck thing) I don’t find it funny.
It stops being Stefon and it turns into Hader doing funny voices/noises. Funny, yes, but that’s not the Stefon I originally liked.
God I hate people on the internet so much
I thought Stefon’s Donald Duck nightmare was the ONLY funny thing he did !!
JT wearing U of M shirt at the end.
Go Tigers!
Solid, but dang if the monologue didn’t seem to go on forever. If it had cost us Stefon, there would have been a riot
The length was fine considering it was turned into a sketch and not a monologue.
When did Dan Aykroyd become a weebble wobble?
10 years ago.
Do you guys really want to see Veganville again? I thought it was the worst (live) segment of the night. It gave me no joy and dragged on forever.
I dunno, I really enjoyed that one.
Veganville was great and Bobby’s sausage guy was hilarious
Kinda weird that the Weekend Update was only Seth Meyers and Stefon, but other than that, it was a very solid show. If Bill Hader doesn’t win some type of award for that Donald Duck-Vietnam thing, then the world is truly lost…
Also: “My wallet? YEAH, RIGHT!”
It was a really short Weekend Update – I guess they didn’t have a need to kill a lot of time as usual.
this is why SNL is still great.
It was nice to see so many ringers last night, but it definitely took time away from regulars. That can be good or bad, I guess.
I feel like the women weren’t on that much.
I am shocked they got “jerking off a horse” past whatever censors are available to them.
Really. Then couldn’t say ‘dick’ on the movie trailer thing? Maybe they had to choose one or the other, but I think they made the right decision. I live in California so we don’t get it live and I was kind of shocked that the line got through, but now I’m in love with Vanessa Bayer, so it all works out.
jerking off a horse is always the right decision matty.
The joke in Maine Justice is that the actors like doing Cajun accents. That’s pretty much it. The whole premise is just an absurdity to allow them to talk funny.
It’s basically just a chance to let Sudekis go nuts.
Every band that wants to do an appearance on SNL needs to look at Timberlake- I’ve seen a lot of bad performances on that stage, and heard excuses about it being hard to perform on, and then he just kills it. Clearly he’s figured it out.
To be fair though, Justin is just so damn talented at every thing he does, he makes it look easy.. Though his 2nd musical performance was technically flawless and admirable, the song itself is not really a winner.
Please tell me this is…sarcasm. This is why we live in a world where Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are lauded as comic geniuses. Time for the alien invasion…we are doomed.
@xlarti–agree that the second song was a letdown but all in all, nobody has been better than Alabama Shakes yet.
@cajun….Tina and Amy are super-talented comics…please tell me who which female comics you think will save us from doom…..
The reason Martin looks like he hasn’t aged a day is because he’s always looked middle-aged.
He was born a poor black child.
I don’t always catch snl so this was my first time with both “main justice” and the ditzy porn girls and I nearly died of laughter during each one. Ditzy Porn girls were perfect in every way, and Maine Justice was a hit with me, but a miss with my gentleman caller, even though I explained to him in-between laughs that “it’s funny because that’s not what Maine is like.”
That champagne commercial is a classic, freaking hilariousness
Got to see the first half hour and.. well… with all the novelty worn off of the stuff we’d seen before (like the 5-timers club, Timberlake dressed in a mascot costume, etc.) it was just smirk-worthy. Not sure I laughed at anything.
Sorry to hear I turned off before Stefon came on. That could have done wonders.
champagne commercial. hilarity.
I loved the part in Suit & Tie where Jay Z didn’t know or forgot what was gonna happen and JT said: Everybody HEY and Jay just went with it and looked confused afterwards!
Is it just me or is JayZ just a fat-headed turd?
What about five timer Buck Henry? He hosted 10 times and got cut by Belushi’s samurai sword.
Donald Duck having a Vietnam Nightmare made the night for me.
That was one of Bill Hader’s more inspired (and spot-on) impressions. Stefon must never leave us!
Even though the writing was meh I’ll give it to JT, he really goes for it. One of the only hosts that could probably be a solid cast-member. Also, can we just kick off Aidy Bryant and Tim Robinson already? Cecily Strong has distinguished herself, but those two are useless.
Ah great, now my 6 year old wants to see the man have sex with the pig.
What the hell was he doing up so late??
Always talented, I would love to build Justin’s website http://www.blistic.com @teodoramiami
I only caught the last half hour (shame not all of the clips are online), but that porn star sketch slayed me. I was so shocked that SNL actually had a skit that was hilarious.
I want Maine Justice to be real. I think True Blood would be so much better if they just changed Bon Temps, LA to Bon Temps, ME.
I thought Update was phenomenal, and the majority of the episode was still damn good. Timberlake is almost always a quality episode though.
Stefoñ was fantastic, as usual. Reall enjoyed the Moet and Chandon sketch and bling ring sketch. And the Maine Justice is sublimely absurd.
The rest was meh, but I’ll take it.
Laughed out loud a few times. Best episode in the past few seasons. Sure, a few jokes that you had to know about, but what ya gonna do?
Moet & Chandon commercial was amazing. I watched it on demand, on hulu, and called it up at work to show people. Productivity was down for a bit.
Hi, I hope someone are able to help me out here. I’m subtitling SNL for Danish television and have a hard time understanding a few lines in the Maine Justice bit. Jessup (Timberlake) says something about “Last night we…?? over there in the French quarter.” The judge then replies: “Oh yeah, you know when the quarter…???” Please help
Vanessa Bayer is so hot right now.