December 17, 2005 – Jack Black / Neil Young (S31 E9) [THROWBACK REVIEW]

Cold Open – Santa Cheney

• I love the visual of Darrell-as-Dick-Cheney doing his trademark grin in that Santa outfit.
• Rachel’s always spot-on as a little girl.
• Kinda funny how obviously Rachel’s reading from cue cards while she’s talking to Cheney-as-Santa.
• Kinda fitting that Rachel’s walk-on is immediately followed by Andy’s, given how this season is his first and ends up being Rachel’s last. And it’ll never not be weird seeing them on the show at the same time.
• It’s kinda easy for me to forget how shaggy Andy’s hair was early in his tenure.
• I’m a little unsure what to make of Amy’s part of this sketch.
• Very funny seeing Will-as-George-Bush on Cheney’s lap.

Rating: ***

Monologue

• Ah, it feels great to cover Jack Black, as I’ve always loved the guy. His mere energy can’t be topped.
• Very fun, energetic entrance from Jack as usual.
• Looks like we’re getting a musical monologue, but I don’t mind, given how Jack Black’s musical numbers are usually very fun. Plus, this “King Kong song” has always been a favorite of mine.
• I absolutely love the melody to this song, as it’s very epic.
• Funny reveal that Jack didn’t read the script, and for some reason, the way he sings “also, I don’t know how to read” has always stuck with me.
• An absolutely priceless third verse where Jack gets very personal, right down to saying that he urinated in the director’s coffee pot.
• I love Jack insisting that the audience doesn’t sing along, because it’ll “mess up the song”.
• An overall great song from Jack as expected.

Rating: ****½

Stuart Little Mouse Removal Kit

• As usual, Chris is great at playing commercial spokesmen.
• I love the random concept of a Stuart Little-themed mouse removal kit.
• Great pairing of Jason and Kristen, two of this season’s featured players, as a couple.
• I love the elaborate way of building this trap, as well as it ending with the car randomly getting blown up.

Rating: ****

The Wind

• Hmm, not too sure about this premise.
• Yeah, the more this goes on and the more the wind gag is being repeated, the more the humor starts to lose its steam. It’s at least not too bad so far, but it’s leaving me kinda cold.
• I got a chuckle from Fred’s hobo character angrily hissing (?) at Jack when he asks for the table.
• Good angry yelling from Rachel during one wind-blowing portion.
• It always feels so weird seeing Kenan on the show during this time period. He still looks so young.
• I got another chuckle from Kenan’s dialogue after the wind caused him to smash the pizza on his face.
• I like the part where Jack forces the door onto Chris to make it stay closed.
• Was the part where the wind blows off Chris’ toupee intentional? It didn’t really seem that way.
• Blah at the Weather Channel ending.

Rating: **½

Appalachian Emergency Room

• Looks like I’m covering one of these sketches. I understand that a lot of online fans don’t like these, but I’ve always been neutral to them.
• The pairing of Darrell and Amy is odd, but strangely kinda works, and Amy usually steals these sketches.
• Nice use of Neil Young, and that’s coming from someone who’s not a fan of his music (not really a folk music guy).
• There’s a very interesting story behind Bill and Jason’s part of the sketch. I don’t remember all the details, but from what I recall, Bill was temporarily blind when it was time for him to walk on, so Jason guided him while they were live so that Bill could perform his part well as usual. That’s very admirable of Jason.
• Man, even when he’s blind, Bill is hilarious when he’s talking about the arrow on his hand.
• Great part with Chris having his penis stuck in a watermelon. In fact, Seth’s smiling when he sees this seems kinda genuine, though it’s probably in character.
• Hilarious walk-on from Jack in that garb, which is very fitting for Jack.
• Jack’s dialogue is cracking me up, especially the random ball of clay line.
• I love Seth’s facial expression after Jack finishes talking.
• Very funny seeing Johnny Knoxville appear in this sketch. In fact, part of me thinks this is SNL’s apology for the crappy episode they gave him last season.
• An overall better-than-usual installment of this sketch.

Rating: ****

TV Funhouse – Christmastime for the Jews

• Here comes one of my personal favorite TV Funhouse installments, though I may be biased due to it being the first one I ever saw back in 2012, while watching the annual Christmas compilation.
• Oddly enough, in my copy of this episode, this short is horribly cropped, due to it being zoomed in. I wonder why that’s the case.
• A priceless concept of Jewish people celebrating Christmas while all the Christians are sleeping.
• A very fun and catchy song, with beautiful vocals from Darlene Love.
• I love the visual of the three wise men suddenly being turned into the four main characters of Seinfeld.
• Our second mention of King Kong tonight.
• So many great lyrics and visuals throughout this number.
• I love the lyric of Daily Show reruns “dancing in their heads”.
• Overall, I don’t know if this is considered a classic, but it certainly is in my eyes.

Rating: *****

Band Shot

• Now this is getting very fun, as we have Darlene Love singing to commercial.

Channel 5 Photo Shoot

• Jason is already coming off funny and likable as the director.
• That sounds like the same music they used in that dreadful News Team Promo sketch from the S37 Sofia Vergara episode.
• The premise for this sketch is rather simple, but the execution from all five performers is making it work.
• A funny bit with Jack accidentally getting hit in the eye from Chris’ finger pointing towards Kenan.
• Jack: “I’m just trying to get some finger-loving up in here.”
• I like the part where Chris’ point towards Jack ends up being a thumbs-down.

Rating: ***

SNL Digital Short – Lazy Sunday

• HELL YES! Here comes a classic and legendary Digital Short, and one that would end up being a significant turnaround in Andy’s tenure.
• I love the pairing of Andy and Chris, as it’s not only a great combo of their rapping skills, but it also, in hindsight, feels like a passing of the torch.
• So many great lyrics and moments throughout this short. In fact, it’s hard for me to single out my favorite, it’s just that good.
• Here’s one lyric that I love: “Mr. Pibb and Red Vines equals crazy delicious.”
• I love Andy and Chris’ look towards the camera during the line “It’s all about the Hamiltons, baby”.
• Here’s another great line: “You can call us Aaron Burr from the way we’re dropping Hamiltons”.
• I love the ending.
• Overall, a friggin’ classic.

Rating: *****

Weekend Update

• Wow, way to piss all over the good mood that Lazy Sunday short put me in, SNL. Then again, I could make the argument that the good mood was already pissed on by listening to that first Neil Young song, but I digress.
• I didn’t get the Mr. Furley joke, but then again, that’s kinda to be expected from the Fey/Poehler era. Not sure why I make that association, but I just do.
• As usual, a lot of bad jokes from Tina and Amy throughout tonight’s Update.
• THREE mentions of King Kong tonight?
• The camera started to pan towards our first guest commentators a little early.
• Random Tracy Morgan cameo. I recall hearing that this was a last-minute decision after he was in the building that night, as his role was initially gonna be played by Finesse.
• Not too crazy about Kenan’s African accent.
• Tracy’s first few yellings are cracking me up.
• The more this commentary goes on, the more Tracy’s providing my only real amusement, with his performance and delivery.
• Amy’s line about blonde women didn’t work for me AT ALL.
• Ha, Amy refers to Tracy by his real name at the end.
• An Ashlee Simpson graphic? Well, THIS should end well…
• I’m assuming Tina’s joke about Ashlee’s concert going well without her is another reference to the lip-syncing incident, judging by the audience reaction afterwards. And as always, the actual incident ends up being funnier than the joke about it.
• Tina and Amy’s side bit where they passionately talk about 15 year-old boys isn’t working for me.

Rating: **

A Very Downer Christmas

• Something about the casting of Jack as Santa amuses me, for some reason.
• Uh-oh, a Debbie Downer sketch. However, I do love the change of pace with this installment, showing her as a girl on Christmas Eve.
• I love the Grinch-esque theme song for Debbie, especially seeing as how “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” is one of the few Christmas songs that I’m not sick of.
• Jack’s straight man reactions are hilarious.
• I love the part where Debbie sings a variation of “12 Days of Christmas” after Jack-as-Santa asks her if she wants a roller skate.
• A funny detail with Rachel’s pratfall once Jack stands up.
• I like the part with Jack-as-Santa dipping a cookie into scotch and then immediately throwing the cookie away so he can drink the scotch.
• Another great part, this time with the horns frequently stopping after Debbie mentions what she wants for Christmas.
• Overall, this was better than most Debbie Downer sketches, mostly due to the fun change of pace and the fun vibe throughout tonight’s episode.

Rating: ****

Deserted Moon

• Oddly enough, Jack’s doing the opening voiceover.
• Not loving the voice Andy’s using as the alien, though it’s nice to see him get a lead role at this point in his tenure.
• A pretty funny reveal of Andy having both male and female genitalia, even if it does leave me kinda wary as to what this sketch has in store for me.
• Despite the homoerotic premise of this sketch, it’s coming off well in its execution, mostly due to the performances from Jack and Andy.
• I like Jack’s reaction to seeing Andy’s genitalia.
• A very funny gaffe from Andy where he accidentally breaks the glass top to Jack’s ship when it’s supposed to jumpstart at that point. Jack’s ad-lib is friggin’ hilarious.
• Never mind what I said about the odd decision to have Jack do voiceover at the start, as the ending text crawl is now from Jack’s point of view.

Rating: ***

Two A-Holes Buying a Christmas Tree

• Ah, the debut of the two A-Hole characters. These always work for me.
• Right off the bat, Jason and Kristen are great as these characters, and the two of them have solid chemistry.
• Jason and Kristen’s dumb statements towards Jack are providing plenty of laughs throughout. Jack is also a solid straight man.
• Great part with Jack leaving instead of Jason and Kristen.
• Poor, poor Finesse, making his only appearance of the night near the end of the show. In fact, he’s not alone. According to SNL Archives, Fred only made one appearance tonight, and Horatio didn’t appear AT ALL. Ha, certainly no complaints regarding the latter.
• An overall strong debut for the Two A-Holes.

Rating: ****

Spelling Bee

• Here comes another classic.
• Will’s soft-spoken voice is slaying me, and it gives me heavy Tim Calhoun vibes, which I love.
• A great part where, after asking Chris a whole bunch of questions regarding the word “business”, Will straight up asks Chris to spell the word, which Chris responds to with a deadpan “no”.
• Will’s misspelling of “business” is friggin’ PRICELESS. One detail I like is the fact that he doesn’t even use any vowels.
• I particularly love the part where Will says nine “q”s in a row, then briefly pauses and gives us three more “q”s.
• Great followup to Will’s misspelling with Chris just saying a flat, deadpan “no”.
• Fun inclusion of Tenacious D at the end.
• I love the reveal that Will’s character is actually a young Jack Black, as well as the mock-dramatic closeup of Will at the end.
• An overall great way to end tonight’s episode (not counting Neil Young’s second performance).

Rating: *****

Goodnights

• Skating goodnights! Always a treat!

Final Thoughts

• A killer Christmas episode, and one that serves as yet another addition to my list of favorite Christmas episodes the show’s done. Tonight’s episode had plenty to enjoy, including three segments I gave a perfect five-star rating to (TV Funhouse, Lazy Sunday, Spelling Bee), as well as a few other strong highlights, mainly a fun monologue and some of the better installments of Appalachian Emergency Room and Debbie Downer. Tonight’s episode also had a fun, feel-good vibe throughout, which I always love to see in a Christmas episode. Add to that Jack Black being his usual fun, funny, energetic self, and you have an episode that’s a keeper.

Up Next:

The Season 48 reviews continue, with host Austin Butler and musical guest Lizzo