March 17, 2018 – Bill Hader / Arcade Fire (S43 E16)

by Anthony

ANDERSON COOPER 360
fired Rex Tillerson (John Goodman) is relieved

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

— Kate reprises her Jeff Sessions impression again, because why not continue to beat a horse that was dead months ago?
— I did chuckle at Sessions’ “I’m just a simple man who wanted to make things bad for immigrants”, but other than that his section of this open is basically like a slightly more irritating version of a white noise machine to me.
— Kate’s Sessions makes a reference to a Tyler Perry movie he definitely would have never seen or even heard of, because, hey – reference! To a mild hit that predates this episode by 9 years!
— I love John Goodman, but I’m not exactly keeling over in anticipation at the return of his Rex Tillerson. At least this is the last we see of it, besides a quick cameo in this season’s Fey finale (because that episode didn’t have enough cameos already), though sadly it’s FAR from the last pointless celebrity cameo we’ll get in one of these opens over the next few years.
— Funny description of Trump as “a man who used to sell steaks in the mail” by Tillerson.
— Fred cameo number who knows anymore. I’ll get into a bit more in my review of the Californians sketch, but I don’t have the seething rage others have for these as much as general indifference. Bill on the other hand, I’m always happy to see, though Scaramucci is hardly my favorite impression of his.
— The bits with Fred’s Wolff aren’t really doing anything for me, as they’re just a repeat of what he did in the Joe & Mika sketch from Sam Rockwell’s episode.
— Got another mild laugh now from Tillerson giddily interrupting Cooper mid sentence to scream “Trump is a moron!”
— The bits with Scaramucci forgetting he’s being recorded and saying revealing things also aren’t really doing anything for me.
— Overall, another tepid, cameo filled Cold Open from the Trump era. Like a lot of these, it managed to sneak in a couple of lines I chuckled at (three in this one’s case) that kept it from being a complete dud, but I still really have no use for these. This one especially felt old hat, as we’ve seen literally all these impressions before, and other than Tillerson being a bit looser here, the writers gave them nothing new to work with.
STARS: *½

MONOLOGUE
BIH is only now realizing some basic truths about the show

• 

• 

• 

• 

— Fun, energetic entrance from Bill.
— Apparently John Mulaney had a hand in writing this monologue. This makes sense, as he would have already been in the building for reasons we’ll get to later…
— Bill’s announcement that was in the show for “210 episodes. I was nervous for every one of them, and I’m nervous now!” was charming.
— Some mild laughs during the bits where Bill acts like he’s only just now realizing a bunch of obvious things about the show.
— The bit with the actor being told by a newsboy outside of 30 Rock that he was being impersonated felt particularly Mulaney-esque to me.
— The way Bill says “I didn’t know that” when talking about the fake commercials felt very Norm Macdonald.
— A very cool transition to the next sketch where Bill does his quick change on stage, leading to a very rare modern post monologue sketch before a commercial break. The specialness of the moment is a bit ruined by it being a Californians costume Bill’s changing into, however.
STARS: ***

THE CALIFORNIANS
Devin’s (BIH) love child (PED) attends Stuart’s party

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

— Now would probably be a good time for me to give some context into my relationship with Bill as a cast member, these Californians sketches, and his era in general (bare with me). I started watching in season 34, and watched through the doldrums of season 35 and 36 as a tween virtually unaware of any flaws in what I was watching. And trust me, there were plenty. While I’m now able to view their era with more of a critical eye, that’s still probably the cast I feel the most personal connection to. Bill especially is a comedic hero of mine, and one of a few cast members from around that time who can basically do no wrong in my eyes along with Jason, Forte and Bobby. Fred on the other hand is one of the only performers from that era I can kind of take or leave. I agree with most that he spent far too long on the show and was responsible for a lot of unwatchable material in his last few seasons, but I never got quite as tired with him as some. I certainly don’t foam at the mouth with rage any time he cameos, though they certainly don’t make me jump for joy either.
— As for The Californians, I never really hated these like some do, though I agree it’s some pretty weak sauce shit that in no way deserves to be remembered as a cornerstone of the era (it didn’t even debut until Kristen’s final season!). While I never really hated these sketches, I certainly understood the hate. The massive love these sketches get on the other hand has always confounded me a bit. Thanks for indulging me if you read all that, now on with the review!
— No Vanessa Bayer sadly, though her absence is acknowledged. I guess we are past the (shockingly recent) cut off date of when a character like Rosa would be acceptable.
— Speaking of which, with the mentions of Trump and Rosa being deported, this is certainly the most political a Californians has ever been. Not sure I need these characters to weigh in on current events, but I guess it is something, which is usually missing in these Californians sketches.
— During the usual bit where the camera does a close up on everyone while they make silly surprised faces, I laughed at the camera doing a close up on the picture of Rosa.
— Some audience members are applauding during the first transitional scene as if the sketch were over already. If only.
— Decent meta bit with Pete’s character pointing out the Californians don’t sound like real life Californians.
— Wait, that Pete bit I just mentioned is how they END the sketch? Talk about underwritten.
— Also, why does Pete get meta with the rest of the sketch but then just join in on the weird mirror ending they always do? That could have at least been a way to spice up that tired gag a bit.
STARS: *½

KISS ME I’M IRISH
contestants (KAM) & (CES) are bachelor’s (BIH) cousins

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

— Bit interested to watch this as I have absolutely zero memory of it (nor another sketch coming up tonight, “CBC Report”).
— Fitting sketch for a St. Patrick’s Day episode.
— Bill’s intro is pretty funny.
— Some sloppy direction (another unfortunate staple of this era) when the camera cuts to Aidy while Kate’s character is still introducing herself, causing Kate to speedily finish her line.
— Some lazy, stereotypical humor here. This almost feels like a Season 20 sketch (though thankfully this one will probably clock in under 8 minutes).
— Aidy is at least playing her reaction to the cousin still being in play well. She’s always good at selling that kind of indignation.
— I laughed at Bill’s delivery of “picky, picky”.
— Yea, despite a few choice lines and some decent performances, can’t say I cared much for this. Tonight’s episode is not off to a great start.
STARS: **

GIRLFRIENDS’ GAME NIGHT
(CES) has wheelchair sex with elderly husband (BIH) in front of friends

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

— For once, Anderlette come in to save an episode (though Anderson is still partly to blame, since he co-writes The Californians). This has always been one of my favorite sketches of theirs—though, as we’ll see, it’s not entirely because of the writing.
— Bill is funny from his entrance here, clearly having a ton of fun dicking around with the motorized wheelchair.
— Very juvenile concept to this sketch, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t amuse me.
— I laughed at Aidy’s dry delivery of “you can’t do that old man here”.
— Another laugh when Aidy asks if the couple can at least move to the bedroom and Heidi quickly interjects with “don’t offer them my bedroom”.
— Cecily’s really having a hard time not breaking at Bill’s aroused moans.
— Classic gaffe now when Bill reverses the wheelchair and accidentally drags Melissa and the table along with it. As you can see in the screenshots above, this causes pretty much everyone to break.
— Heidi not breaking at all during the table mishap and immediately protectively covering the table as if she really owns it are a couple of the small actor-y kind of touches she brings that always really impress me.
— A fun sketch that brought a dose of much needed energy back into the proceedings tonight.
STARS: ****

JURASSIC PARK SCREEN TESTS
Jurassic Park 25th anniversary DVD contains unsuccessful screen tests

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

— These are always fun, if toothless. I remember Mulaney telling a story during an interview once that happened to involve him writing one of these screen test sketches, and when describing them he kind of laughed them off and basically said they weren’t exactly the work anyone at the show was most proud of (he then made some crack like “hey, 90 minutes is a lot of time to fill”).
— Always a treat to see Bill’s Alan Alda.
— Oh Kate does an Ellen? Who knew?
— Solid Drew Barrymore from Heidi, though we’ve seen better before (Kristen) and will again later (Chloe).
— Always interesting seeing Kenan play Sinbad, as he was one of Kenan’s co-stars in Good Burger.
— Oh Bill does a Pacino? Who knew? (I’m actually always happy to see Bill’s Pacino, but thought I’d include this in the interest of being fair).
— Speaking of being fair to Kate, she busts out a fantastic Lisa Kudrow here. Her Jodie Foster scene is also fairly funny.
— Eh, Bill’s Clint Eastwood is an impression of his I actually have seen enough times for a lifetime.
STARS: ***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Creature Comfort”

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Anthony: I feel like I have a similar relationship to Arcade Fire as a lot of people. I thought their first three albums were fantastic, thought Reflektor was messy but had some great songs, and thought Everything Now, the album they’re promoting with this performance, was a bit of a disaster. They’re always great, theatrical live performers, however, so this should still be good.
— Although it’s not the title track, the only song I love off Everything Now, this has always been one of the ones off the album I don’t mind as much. Got a bit of an LCD Soundsystem energy to it.
— Blue:
— It’s been mentioned many times before, but it bears repeating: god damn there are a lot of people in Arcade Fire.
— Immediately the performance comes off as a bit of a spectacle, with all the band members decked out in gold and silver suits, while the fog machine rolls and the flashing LED screens light up the darkened stage. Win Butler even appears to be standing on a speaker.
— The jerky movements of some of the backing musicians are cracking me up a bit (though it’s not intended to be funny).
— Not sure if I’m just in a cynical mood, but my reaction to the first lyrics of this song is currently “feeling real edgy, aren’t we.”
— Not loving Regine Chassagne’s voice. She sure is singing fiercely, though.
— The song has a nice, driving electronic rhythm, and I love the repeated synth riff that sounds like bells.
— One of the band members (who I can’t identify) just pulled out a violin, but I can’t hear it in the mix at all.
— The rare wide shots of the stage present a striking visual, especially now that the screens are flashing at a quicker rate, resembling strobe lights.
— Despite its epic presentation, I did not care for that song.
STARS : *** (mostly for the presentation)

WEEKEND UPDATE
Betsy DeVos’ (KAM) thoughts on education are uninformed gobbledygook

PED has little sympathy for Kevin Love’s panic attack

Stefon’s lawyer (John Mulaney) helps with St. Patrick’s Day attractions

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

— Che’s knack for analogy comes through again with a solid comparison between the Trump White House and Dominos.
— Great bit with Che worrying Trump’s sex tape could actually be good.
— Jost criticizing the media for hyping up the potential effect of the Mueller Report too much is ironic, since I remember a lot of pandering “we’ve totally got this guy” moments in the De Niro Mueller sketches.
— Kate’s Betsy DeVos returns again. I’m so burned out on Kate’s political impressions, but I’ll admit this is one of the better ones (I hate all these people by the way, it shouldn’t be so hard to get me excited that someone is mocking them).
— This impression is pretty much as one note at this point as Sessions, but certainly less annoying at least. Her segment tonight was decent enough, if completely unremarkable.
— After a groan from the audience over a joke about Donald Jr.’s wife leaving him, Che says an amused “you know what we do here, right?”
— After Jost gets a laugh with his dry description of Taco Bell’s new Strawberry Skittle Slushie drink as “you know, Mexican food”, he gets an even bigger laugh by adding “just like me abuela used to make”, a joke made even funnier by it being delivered by Jost of all people (in a very Jost manner, at that).
— Here’s a Pete segment I remember being minorly controversial, though certainly not on the level of his Dan Crenshaw comments next season. (Man, remember how fucking stupid all that was? Glad I’m not writing about either of those episodes to be honest.)
— I can certainly see how Pete’s comments would rub some people the wrong way and seem as if he’s dismissing Love’s experience. While I don’t think that was his intent myself, I can see how some would see it as him gatekeeping mental health issues.
— Always love an acknowledgement of Mike Love as the worst Beach Boy.
— Some very dark portions of Pete’s segment. During one especially dark bit that starts with a story of him being hit as a child and ends with him mentioning his father’s passing, you can hear several audience members audibly gasp and wince.
— Pete’s “I gotta pretend I care about this guy” when doing the requisite bit at the end when he reaches out to Love is an example of Pete’s seeming indifference towards the show actually coming off as charming. Pete very much wants to do his own thing, which can be annoying when he tanks someone else’s sketch with a poorly rehearsed supporting performance or gets several minutes of airtime to parody rap songs from 20 years ago, but in cases like this where that manifests as a blatant disregard for the bullshit formalities of show business that cast members are forced to participate in, I can respect it. That’s also what made it especially disappointing this year to see him defending a certain controversial billionaire host (you know, the one that’s actually a billionaire).
— A solid piece for Pete that walked a difficult tightrope well for the most part, though it was a step down from his last piece I covered in the Chance the Rapper episode, which I think is one of his all time best Update pieces.
— As always, huge applause before Stefon even comes out. While I don’t have quite the undying devotion for this character many do, I’m never upset to see him.
— As always, Bill is barely able to keep it together as Stefon.
— Stefon’s description of “the stranger” was funny enough, but the Bruce Springsteen tag was hilarious.
— “If you’re Irish, or just white and violent…”
— I got a huge laugh at the random mention of a Garry Marshall Memorial Drive.
— The repeated mentions of the Denzel Washington film Roman J Israel, Esq. definitely seem like they were added last minute by Mulaney to throw Bill off (as is tradition with Stefon), as Bill loses it every time that gag comes back.
— And now we get the famous John Mulaney cameo. The audience’s reaction to Mulaney is so wild I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the entire reason Lorne decided to let him host 2 episodes later. As a massive fan of Mulaney’s work on the show and his stand up, this moment and his subsequent run as perennial guest host (he’s hosted more than any cast member from the Wiig era!) were very vindicating. By the way Lorne, if you’re reading—and I know you aren’t—it’s a damn crime Sudeikis and Forte haven’t hosted yet.
— Mulaney immediately cracks everyone up by delivering his lines in his typical, straightlaced manner while dressed as “conceptual piss artist” Shy. Bill later said he didn’t know Mulaney would speak in his normal voice (if anything, he’s a bit more professional as Shy), which makes me wonder if Mulaney’s addition here was a last minute thing they didn’t have time to rehearse, or if Mulaney just did a voice more similar to Stefon’s in rehearsals.
— Mulaney cracks up Bill again by whispering a silly phrase in his ear during their “conference”. Bill later revealed the phrase was “my girlfriend works at Yoshinoya Beef Bowl”.
— We get the set up for a fun deviation with Stefon doing a parody of Seth’s “A Closer Look” segment from his Late Night show, but they don’t really do anything with it.
— As always, Stefon was a lot of fun and packed in a lot of great, absurd details.
RATING: ****

SACRED ROCK
(BIH) warns Sedona tourists (ALM) & (HEG) about his close encounter

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

— A random rehash of a sketch from Bruno Mars’ S38 episode. I didn’t care for that sketch much the first time around, which doesn’t bode well for this belated sequel.
— A description of a vagina as a “wookie cookie”? Hmm, is it possible James Anderson had a hand in writing a THIRD sketch tonight?
— Laughed at the way Bill said “Phoebe Snow”. His nonchalant exits are also funny.
— Alien rape jokes have a history of making for all time awful SNL sketches (think Deion Sanders and Johnny Knoxville—or better yet don’t), so I’m not too thrilled about this premise.
— Bill just pronounced fools as “ferls”, further adding to my theory Anderson was at least partially behind this.
— Always appreciate a good “crazy thing is happening in the background while the people in the foreground remain oblivious” joke. I don’t know if I’d call this a good one of those, but it is one of them, that’s for sure.
— Yea, there was no reason to bring this back.
STARS: *½

CBC REPORT
Canada’s Harvey Weinstein equivalent (BIH) is inoffensive & penitent

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

— Another #MeToo related sketch this season.
— Really? A sketch about how Canadians are super nice? Wow, never seen THAT comedic premise before.
— Dave Foley references are always appreciated.
— The picture of Bill in the fifth screencap above made me laugh.
— The scene with Heidi’s character did nothing for me.
— Interesting to see SNL alum Mike Myers included in one of the photoshopped paparazzi pics of Bill’s character with famous celebrities.
— And now the sketch is about how Canadians say “sorry” funny? Again, never seen THAT joke before.
— I did like Will Butler’s “not Canadian, but still sorry”. Still this Arcade Fire sketch appearance is no “New Cast Member or Arcade Fire?” (and it’s not like that sketch is a classic).
— Between this, The Californians and Kiss Me I’m Irish, a lot of sketches relying on lazy stereotypes tonight.
STARS: *½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Put Your Money On Me”

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

— Anthony: It’s hard to tell, but apparently Spike Jonze is one of the slot machine operators (guessing he’s the one directly to the left of Win in the fourth screenshot.
— Very cool visual element to this, as there usually is with Arcade Fire. Helps lift up the performance, as I don’t particularly care for this song (though I still prefer it to a lot of the music we see on that stage these days…)
— Blue: We open with a close up shot of a row of slot machines at the foot of the stage. Looks like this’ll be another theatrical presentation.
— Once again, the violin is hardly audible in the mix. I’ll have to look closely to see if there are any other instruments being played that I can’t hear.
— Win’s black suit with his hat and his unplayed acoustic guitar is making him come off as a country/western singer, which is pretty far from Arcade Fire’s actual sound. Regine’s stylish red outfit is more fitting.
— I was starting to wonder when Win or Regine would play their instruments. Maybe Regine was playing the whole time and her odd movements distracted me. Speaking of inaudible instruments, that guitar might as well not be played.
— I like the fake ads they’re showing on the screen behind the band.
— For a moment I thought Win was going to go into the audience. Slightly relieved that he didn’t.
— Despite the repetitiveness of the chorus, I like it.
— The outro of the song, with the piano flourishes and Win singing in falsetto, is my favorite part of this performance.
— There sure was a lot to look at during that performance, so that it almost detracted from the listening experience. I’d like to look into the album Arcade Fire were promoting at the time and what sort of themes/concepts it explored, so I might get a better sense of the meaning behind the visuals. Complex lighting/staging can greatly enhance a song’s performance (as we’ll see three episodes later with one of my favorite SNL performances), but at the same time, with something so clearly visualized as this, I feel the need to understand the underlying concept, because otherwise it takes away from the music being performed.
STARS: *** (again, the visuals keep it from being **)

UNDERCOVER OFFICE POTTY
Undercover Office Potty allows (BEB) to crap in his office while at work

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

— A very stupid Beck/Kyle short I’ve always loved.
— Solid voicework from Cecily as usual. Beck similarly is playing “unassuming doofus” as well as always.
— While I’m generally not crazy about toilet humor (the IBS medication commercial parody from Carey Mulligan’s recent episode for example really didn’t work for me), skits like this one and “Fake Cocaine” that let the potty humor just be a backdrop to more absurd ideas tend to really work for me. This sketch especially feels like a spiritual successor to another potty humor sketch I’ve always liked, “Bathroom Businessman” from Melissa McCarthy’s season 38 episode—though I prefer this one by quite a bit as I think it goes even more extreme in its absurdity.
— Beck’s bad lying about anything being off with his office is really funny.
— Is it just me or does Bill look kind of like Stephen King here?
— Hilarious escalation with the huge office supplies.
— I can see how the screaming match between Bill and Beck could be too over the top for some, but it’s very funny to me. I especially love the reveal that Beck’s character hasn’t even been working and has only been going to the bathroom.
— Hilarious gross ending. Love seeing some unblurred, nasty looking diarrhea on my network TV.
STARS: *****

GOODNIGHTS

• 

• 

— Jon Hamm! Now there’s a face I’ll welcome on my SNL screen anytime.

CUT FOR TIME: ST. PATRICK’S DAY
eccentric (BIH) showcases his favorite St. Patrick’s Day goodies alongside (BEB) and a sheep

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

— The third in the show’s “creepy holiday decorations” recurring sketches, following the Christmas one with Steve Buscemi and the Easter one with Michael Keaton. I don’t love those as much as some, but I do enjoy them.
— Laughed at the shift in tone from the lame corned beef joke to Bill’s character imploring viewers to kill themselves.
— “Steven, what did I say about eating butter?” “Do it?” “That’s right.”
— While certainly enjoyable, this is a bit hard to review as it’s really just a series of one liners. I’m happy to report at least that most of the one liners work for me.
— Bill is doing really strong work as the host here. This is the type of role he’s been given dozens of times before, but he always finds fun little touches in his performances. I like how he plays this guy so you’re not sure how aware he is of how creepy he’s being.
— Not crazy about Beck’s characterization in the role Kristen/Kate had in the previous sketches as the host’s strange sidekick. I like the childish nature he’s bringing, but something about it just isn’t fully clicking. Maybe I’m just not a huge fan of the material he’s given.
— Love Bill’s character mistaking Buffalo Bill for the Lucky Charms mascot.
— Confused why the audience laughed at Bill’s friggin’ sweet Colin Farrell collage.
— Probably due to issues with the lamb, Beck has to come in early on some of his lines. Wonder if that had anything to do with the sketch being cut.
— Funny casual reveal at the end that Bill’s character was supposed to be Liam Neeson this whole time.
— Overall, a strong piece, about as good as the other two. Certainly better than a lot of tonight’s material that made it on air.
STARS: ****

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A disappointment for an episode hosted by one of the show’s former greats. Only a handful of sketches worked for me tonight, with a lot of the material relying on lazy and frankly kind of hacky ideas. Outside of Stefon, The Californians, and a couple impressions, we didn’t get too many callbacks to Bill’s time on the show, and yet the whole thing had a very “been there, done that” feel.

MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Undercover Office Potty
Girlfriends’ Game Night
Weekend Update
(CFT: St. Patrick’s Day)
Jurassic Park Screen Tests
Monologue
Kiss Me I’m Irish
Sacred Rock
The Californians (did not expect two sketches below a Californians)
Anderson Cooper 360
CBC Report

TOMORROW
Kabir gives his thoughts on the late Chadwick Boseman’s first and, sadly, only episode as host.