February 23, 2008 – Tina Fey / Carrie Underwood (S33 E5) [THROWBACK REVIEW]

I swear to God, I did not pick this episode due to it relating to the current ongoing Writer’s Strike. I picked this because today is Tina Fey’s 53rd birthday. That, and the fact that “All-American Girl” by Carrie Underwood is a childhood favorite of mine.

Cold Open – CNN Univision Democratic Debate

• Hoo, boy. The debut of Fred’s infamous Barack Obama impression.
• Very funny opening spiel from Kristen, made even funnier by her completely deadpan delivery.
• Funny how Will’s first question towards Fredbama regards whether or not he’s okay.
• Oof, Fred’s initial attempt at doing Obama’s voice is terrible. Unfortunately, as we know now, he never improves it.
• Amy-as-Hillary’s confusing and false answers to Jason’s questions are hilarious, with her saying that they never intended to win in the states she lost.
• Random but funny involvement from “Obama Girl”, a character who originated from BarelyPolitical, aka The Key of Awesome (a channel I loved as a kid). Granted, I have no idea how the Key of Awesome could possibly be related to this review, but– (*Jesse then remembers that the co-founder of KOA was once in an episode of 30 Rock*) Oh yeah, forgot about that.
• Funny reactions from the performers while Obama Girl sings (or lip-syncs) her famous “I got a crush on Obama” song.
• Kristen: “If you ever interrupt Obama Girl again…I will personally escort you from this building.”
• Will’s statement towards Fredbama has plenty of funny lines, and I love how his question ends up being “are you mad at me?”.
• I love Kristen’s reaction after Fredbama says “yes we can”.

Rating: ****

Opening Montage

• It’s worth mentioning that this is the first episode for Casey Wilson, a cast member who, though funny, never really got the chance to break out. At least she was beautiful.

Monologue

• A funny opening bit with Tina being hit by a boom mic after saying that there are no hard feelings between the crew.
• Tina’s technical spiel is giving me chuckles, even though it involves terms that I will never understand. Then again, that might be the point.
• Steve Martin cameo.
• I got a laugh from Steve saying that he rushed down to the studio after saying that Tina said she felt more like a writer than a performer, despite her having only said that less than a minute ago.
• Steve’s getting his usual laughs from me with his typical Steve Martin-esque lines, and he and Tina have a good camaraderie.
• I like the part where Steve tells him to say “I can do it” in various ways.

Rating: ****

annuale

• Here comes a classic pretape.
• The straight setup is making me laugh in spite of myself, mainly because I’m already aware in hindsight of what it leads to.
• Casey Wilson makes her first appearance.
• Aaaaaaaannnnd there it is. A freakin’ PRICELESS montage of all four women doing batshit crazy things during their period. My favorite parts are Tina wielding an ax and Kristen randomly making out with a dog.
• Hilarious text crawl mentioning when you shouldn’t take Annuale.
• Overall, a classic.

Rating: *****

Rock of Love 2

• I have a feeling I’m not gonna care for this.
• Jason’s performance as Bret Michaels is fun, and he has a decent amount of funny lines.
• Wow, the puffed lips on Tina are pretty terrifying, even if it is a spot-on take on these types of reality show girls.
• Oh God, why did we have to see this random appearance of Amber the one-legged woman? I never liked this character, even in Amy’s first season.
• The conversation between Jason and Amy is annoying the crap out of me, mainly due to Amy’s performance and her character in general.
• Yeah, I’m losing interest the more this goes on. Not just because of Amber, but also because the material is boring me. The performances are good, but reality shows are not my thing, and this seems to be going for an accurate parody of them, which only makes it worse in my view.
• Well, at least Casey got to make out with Jason on her first night.
• Okay, this is dragging on a little too long for my likings.
• (*sigh*) Cue the fart joke when Amber hops.
• Overall, aside from the performances, this was a bust.

Rating: **

SNL Digital Short – Grandkids in the Movies

• Odd seeing an unknown actor deliver the main dialogue in a Digital Short.
• A funny concept of Bill and Andy being superimposed into various movies.
• I like the part where Bill and Andy reassure their grandfather that the phone ringing in Michael Clayton is not actually his phone.
• The part with Andy trying so hard to explain all the terms being used in Juno is so perfectly Andy Samberg-esque that it’s working.
• I have no idea what to make of the fact that Juno and Transformers are the only movies being shown that I have actually seen.
• I love the part where Bill and Andy warn their grandfather to turn off Transformers while he’s just enjoying it.
• The grandfather is coming off very funny during his testimonials.

Rating: ***½

What’s That Bitch Talking About?

• I believe this is the first instance of Kenan playing a game show host, which wouldn’t become a frequent thing again until Tina’s S39 stint.
• A funny idea for a game show sketch.
• Tina seems like she’ll be absolutely perfect for this sketch.
• Casey’s ranting in that Southern accent is cracking me up.
• I’m loving Tina’s absolutely Tina Fey-esque answers to every “bitch”.
• Funny how brief Kristen’s part is.
• Tina’s correct answer towards Kristen made me laugh so much.
• The “who does that bitch think she is?” bonus round is providing plenty of laughs.

Rating: ****

Weekend Update

• Oddly enough, in my copy, Don Pardo’s voice can be heard playing twice on top of each other.
• Hoo boy, hearing Amy mention how much money ended up being lost in the Writer’s Strike back then has me worrying about what’ll happen with this current Writer’s Strike.
• Mike Huckabee serves as one of several politicians who do an Update commentary around this time period.
• Mike’s serious delivery is making me laugh for some reason. That said, whenever I look at this guy, all I can think is “I learned how to handle a gun, and I never thought about murdering someone”.
• I’ll admit, the dialogue between Seth and Mike is confusing me, mainly because I’m not too good at political terms, unlike a certain reviewer/commentor.
• Good laughs from Mike starting to overstay his welcome.
• The “kitten/hip-hop” joke was pretty lame.
• Weird hearing talk of a live-action Dora movie predating 2017.
• Nice seeing Tina’s “Women’s News” segment back.
• Already off to a good start with Tina’s opening line about yogurt.
• Tina’s various stories are providing my usual laughs, mainly due to them being delivered in that typical Tina Fey-esque way.
• Tina: “Why would you let Starksy talk to Hutch?”
• Even the brief interaction between Tina and Amy is working for me.
• Tina: “Bitch is the new black.”

Rating: ***½

The Celebrity Apprentice

• Wait, Ted Allen was a thing before Chopped?
• Weird seeing Darrell’s Donald Trump impression at this point of his tenure.
• Jason’s Ted Allen impression is pretty lousy.
• Fitting casting of Casey as Rachel Ray.
• Bill’s stare at the camera is pretty funny.
• The performances in this sketch are fun, but the material is only okay so far.
• What the–? I thought Amy played Dennis Kucinich in this sketch instead of the Six Flags guy. Odd, seeing as how my memory hardly fails me.
• That’s the ending?!

Rating: ***

Wedding Toast

• Funny opening bit with Kristen.
• The return of Ed Mahoney, a one-off character that Jason previously played in Scarlett Johansson’s S31 hosting stint.
• Jason’s overeager delivery is already cracking me up.
• Odd seeing Tina have no dialogue in this sketch. That said, her facial expressions are making me chuckle.
• A lot of Jason’s lines are priceless so far.
• Jason saying what marriage is about is very funny.
• Jason: “I hope you two die.”

Rating: ****

Virgania Horsen’s Hot Air Balloon Rides

• I already love the vintage look of this.
• A great concept, and such a perfect use of Kristen’s deadpan, which, as I implied in earlier post, is where she truly shines.
• The poorly-edited visuals and edits are all hilarious. In fact, this is creating somewhat of an anti-comedy vibe that I love.
• Kristen has plenty of great lines throughout this short.

Rating: ****

I Drink Your Milkshake

• Bill’s Daniel Day Lewis impression is slaying me, especially the way he says “I’m an oil man”.
• Great theme song sung by Will, even though the audio in my copy sounds off.
• I absolutely love the idea of this sketch, with Bill-as-Daniel Plainview going to several ice cream bars and milkshake places (?) just to drink other people’s milkshakes.
• Fred’s a dead ringer for Anton Chigurh.
• Bill’s “I’ve abandoned my boy” freakout is friggin’ PRICELESS.
• I love Bill’s interaction with Will.
• Will: “Why do you have a lady’s hairdo?”
• Funny casting of Tina as Juno.
• The pointless closeup of Bill shouting “I’m finished” made me chuckle.
• One complaint I have about this otherwise-great sketch: how come Amy doesn’t get any lines whatsoever? Kinda makes it pointless for her to be in this otherwise.

Rating: ****½

Lady Business

• An okay premise for a fake ad.
• The performances so far are a spot-on take on how people in these types of shows typically act.
• Tina’s role is so perfectly Tina Fey that it’s kinda working.
• This overall sketch was a little too short for my likings, but it was decent enough.

Rating: ***

Goodnights

• Fun to see Don Pardo in the goodnights.
• A memorable visual of Don Pardo blowing out his candles, which sadly gets cut off due to the show running long.

Final Thoughts

• A very solid episode. Aside from the Rock of Love sketch, everything tonight worked for me, and there was a good number of segments that received a rating in the 4-5 star range, including a classic fake ad (annuale). All of this is impressive considering that this was the first show back from the Writer’s Strike. It also helps that we had Tina Fey being her usual reliable hilarious self, and I liked how this episode utilized her very well, casting her in roles that play to her strengths, rather than having her act so smug.

Well, that was fun. I’m Jesse Nathan, reminding you that you’ve only got one life to live, so you might as well live it big time.