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So, that was a great episode of Saturday Night Live. The show’s host, an American actress named Betty White, was sharp and spry for an 88-and-a-half-year-old woman. She was also very game, willing, it seemed, to do almost anything to get a laugh, especially if “anything” meant “making fun of her vagina and the vaginas of the Saturday Night Live castmates.” Tons of vagina jokes, you guys. Moreover, the guest appearances of Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Anna Gasteyer, Rachel Dratch, Molly Shannon, and Maya Rudolph made for a star-studded, nostalgia tinged, female-powered show, filled with today’s hottest sitcom stars, and also Anna Gasteyer, Rachel Dratch, Molly Shannon, and Maya Rudolph. (Just kidding Anna Gasteyer, Rachel Dratch, Molly Shannon, and Maya Rudolph. You’re the best!) Between this and the Charles Barkley episode, it is now clear that Saturday Night Live should ONLY be hosted by people well passed their prime!
After the jump, some of the evening’s oldest WHOOPS I MEAN BEST sketches:
The show opened with the always delightful Lawrence Welk Show sketch
Delightful, I tell you!
For those who expected Betty White to do lots of pre-taped sketches (I am not one of those people, incidentally, I had NO expectations going into this week’s episode), what followed was a pretty standard episode of live sketches, with the non-standard exception being that pretty much every single one of them featured a 99-year-old woman wearing a different costume each time. She really did it.
My personal favorite sketch(es) of the evening was probably MacGruber (in theaters May 21):
While we’re on the subject of sketches that cater to a younger, Internet-y audience, this week’s Digital Short was pandering, but the thing about stuff that is pandering is that it does kind of have a bead on what you want. So it worked, obvs. But it doesn’t seem to be on-line (yet), maybe due to licensing issues with the Golden Girls theme song? Or perhaps there is some kind of anti-ski mask Internet Law I don’t know about.
Then the Betty White Old Lady Sexual Innuendo Block stretched from the return of Delicious Dish through the entire episode, but the best of those sketches was the original Gingey sketch:
Hi, Sally O’Malley!
I always enjoy the recurring “Scared Straight” sketch if for no other reason than Bill Hader can never make it through without breaking character:
And Betty White and Tina Fey teamed up for a passable incarnation of Christopher Walken’s census sketch:
Although, it is not even close to as good as the original, which you can watch here.
Due to the over-abundance of talent on the episode, numerous “lost” sketches from the dress rehearsal have been put on-line for our pleasure. Now you can see the Debbie Downer sketch that never was:
The return of Bronx Beat:
And most importantly, Molly Shannon’s Joyologist!
There is also a “web exclusive” C-Span sketch that I am guessing was a potential cold open, but more like a potential cold SNOOZEPEN, right? You can watch it here if you want, but you don’t want.
Oh, and Jay-Z performed, but what was THAT all about? I mean, dude is a living legend, and the best rapper alive until Lil Wayne gets out of jail, but a 10-minute medley of his favorite songs that seems like he’s performing at a Billy Crystal-hosted Academy Awards? Relax, Mr. Hova.
But the very best part of the episode is that we are now done with the Betty White thing, right? The Internet will return to its damp, fetid cave and wait for the next ironic, absurdist fan fetish with a hint of nostalgia to grab in its lazy talons with the most dubious and self-satisfied of intentions. Good job, Betty White! Goodbye!
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The correct spelling of the CSI opening scream sound is “SSSKKRRAAAAAAWWWW!!!!!”
I’m going to vote you towards zero from now on.
This week on Videogum: Steve Winwood attains equilibrium.
“I have no life and I care a lot about upvotes and downvotes because I’m FUNtastik!!!” – Funtastik, May 10, 2010
Leave Funtastik alone!
“I have no life and I care about going on a random blog solely to be annoying because I’m Steve WINwood!!! Also, did I mention I have nothing better to do in my sad and lonely life?” – Steve Winwood (65 million BC-2012)
Moral of this post: Dusty muffin pee + Gabe’s Wheaties = Bad Combination.
Awwww, she was really super! The best episode in years, I believe.
Betty White : Internet :: Topher Grace : Videogum
I really want to make sure we understand this analogy. Is this helping?
HA! The answer is yes.
That’ll do, Betty. That’ll do.
I love me some delicious dish, but nothing will ever top Alec Baldwin’s Schwetty Balls
This kinda gets to my problem with last week’s show. It had very much a feeling of a repackaged SNL’s Greatest Hits of the 90s, 00s, and Today!. Same old songs, often the same old performers, just minor key changes and never good enough to make us forget the original.
Better “that wasn’t quite as funny as the best Delicious Dish” than “that wasn’t quite as funny as the best Gilly.”
i definitely agree 100%, but that doesn’t mean they failed to make me laugh.
It was great when Anna Gasteyer made that comment about the caller board lighting up.
It was great when Betty White made that comment about Ana Gasteyer’s muffin-eating appearance.
The past and future of muffin eating in college.
Betty White was killin it with the lesbian jokes. I expected a lot of “old” jokes. I did not expect so many “lesbian” and “vagina” jokes. I guess it makes sense when you consider Betty White has had a vagina longer than most people, so she should be an expert on jokes about them.
get over yourself, gabe
For real. Smugness and ageism don’t become you, Gabe.
I never really got on the Betty White bandwagon because I actually think she’s pretty cool instead of ironic cool. Lady hasn’t aged in like twenty years!
I have said it before, but I had no idea there was a Betty White bandwagon, because I have always honestly liked her, and discuss both the Golden Girls and the Mary Tyler Moore Show more than is probably appropriate. But they were great shows! I will not apologize for liking great shows!
I was aware there was a bandwagon, but my reaction was more of a “finally! Everyone figured it out,” instead of the confusion that Gabe seemed to feel. We did it because we love her, Gabe! I am not ashamed to say that I totally choked up during the closing thank yous.
No, I liked Betty White first!
No, I liked her first. I have all of her early Dischord 7 inches.
I clicked a button on facebook, and then a funny TV show happened…I WANT TO BELIEVE!
this is a reply to Jeb, and that reply is “Hell Yes!” Thanks for the LoLs.
I reply to you because there is no more room to reply Jeb:
something something MY seven incher something, you know what I’m saying?
it was nice to see the ladies getting some nostalgia-love, but did it have to be at the expense of abby, jenny, and nasim? it seems like they only let them on the show when they need cute girls in skirts for a musical number.
To be fair, they do look pretty good in skirts.
it’s true. this cast has the best legs since the storied aykroyd-morris one-two punch.
They’re Pretty.
Agreed. They look great in those moments preserved in my memories.
Our memories.
She’s pretty.
I loved that Grandma Macintosh’s tall tale was the Wizard of Oz. And the way she roughed up Bill Hader was fucking priceless.
“Yeah! That’s right! And there won’t be no lion, a tin man and a scarecrow. It’ll be you lyin’ DOWN while ten men make you a scared HO!”
“Errrrrrr, simultaneous ‘whatever’ was my favorite line of the night.
Me toooooo! I had almost forgotten about it!
I was all up in the Betty White on SNL haterade but I will say that the ep was good, not great, good. Obviously BW is still capable of having what it takes or w/e and I did really love CSI Sarasota. The only thing I have to say about it now is this: Was this was everyone wanted? Betty White making old ppl jokes and sex jokes for an hour and a half? Is everyone happy now?
No, it’s not what I wanted exactly, but it’s what I expected. I thought they would have a little fun with her TV history, which is fucking formidable, but the writers were only interested in casting her as someone’s grandma in sketch after sketch and making her talk salty, because that’s hilarious (which it is, up to a point, but they passed that point and kept going). But she was awesome and spirited and did A LOT more live than I predicted, which I hope was completely her choice.
But mostly I’m glad that Gabe can now stop foaming at the mouth over the internet’s relationship with Betty White!
Totally. She was in EVERYTHING. When Weekend Update started I was like, “Ok, now a break for Betty. Now I get to kick back with Seth, Amy and Tina.” But lo and behold Amy and Tina were not present, Whitney Houston was great, Molly Shannon shows up and then “Hey what the WHAT? BETTY?! I thought you were on break!”
And then of course Amy showed up and then Tina closed.
I also incorrectly thought that they wouldn’t have a Digital Short, and then of course they did. This episode of snl was jam-packed with talented alumni. Whatever quality that was lacking in the quality of the writing of the show was completely over-powered by the quality of the talent. I was rolling in the aisles (actually, just swaying back and forth on my couch) throughout most of the episode.
I think that Maya Rudolph revisiting Whitney Houston was one of the highlights of the episode. I am still chuckling even right now thinking about it.
Totally! I love Maya, but for the life of me couldn’t remember whether her as Whitney Houston was entertaining in the past, but I was grinning like an idiot as I watched her slowly lose energy until she silently stared at Seth while sitting on the desk. That was SUCH A GREAT BEAT in that performance. I loved it thru and thru.
She killed in the cut “Bronx Beat” sketch, too.
@Sen Tankerbell
yes she did! I could watch her smack on chewing gum, speak in that Brooklyn accent and say things are ‘skusting’ all day!
not to be an asshole, but i am one. so it’s kind of unavoidable. seriously, KajusX? brooklyn accent? it’s called bronx beat. they have bronx accents. duh.
Oh shit. Dstar, I apologize. My bad.
Right because we all know that line between Brooklyn and the Bronx totally changes one’s diction.
To be fair, Betty White has always had a dirty sense of humor. It’s sorta her jam.
“You’re barking up the wrong lesbian.”
This was my favorite line of the night.
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okay okay okay…
“saturday night live IS jay leno at the white house correspondence dinner” IS a slightly harsh (maybe)
I want to take all you monsters on a hayride.
If Betty White was on the hayride at the Juggalo gathering, my life would be complete.
the Jugglettes bit was the best 3 seconds of the night. I am still laughing.
Betty was A DELIGHT, as I thought she would be. This was the most fun SNL has had in a while.
That being said, am I the only person who’s had enough of the Lawrence Welk Show skit? When I typed “skit,” I accidentally typed “shit” the first time, because Freudian keyboard slip.
nope i love it. singing AND physical deformity? it’s like ke$ha except less dumb.
Thank you for letting Betty White be great, Gabe.
I honestly loved this episode! All the sex and elderly jokes were completely expected and also just hilarious! Betty White’s stand-up has always been filthy! It’s nothing new, and I would’ve been disappointed if they’d just made her play Rose Nylund the whole time.
Honestly, I don’t know what more anyone could ask for in an SNL episode in 2010. It was one of the best, if not the best episode of the season, if you’re just calculating pound-for-pound laughs. It’s kind of a shame that we’ve all been jaded by the internet hype and couldn’t just take this episode for what it was – fucking awesome!
I’ve read a few reviews of this episode now and lots of people seem eager to point out that there was a steady stream of inappropriate for an old lady and just general sexual innuendo humor running through the show. It kind of seems like they’re trying to diminish the good feeling a little. And while that analysis may be accurate, I thought the show sustained a level of good humor from start to finish. Why classify/explain the jokes if they’re working? That’s like going to a magic show and telling people afterward that you know it isn’t real. We all know it isn’t real. The point wasn’t to be confused… It was to be entertained…
This isn’t directed at Gabe or anyone in particular.
Exactly! The biggest reason people loved Golden Girls is that it is slightly disarming and hilarious to hear old people talk about sex! It’s a formula that works and it gets me basically every time.
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Boy, people really took a hatred to this comment. Groupthink, ahoy!
So are you admitting defeat Gabe?
Best line of the night:
“Do you think we’ll ever catch this guy?”
“It’s like my underwear: Depends”
I think Gabe is being a douche because, even at 88, Betty White is still funnier than him.
Gabe is becoming the Steve Winwood of his own blog.
So far nobody on this thread has spelled it right, so I need to point out that it’s ANA Gasteyer, not Anna. Sorry, that was my one Winwood moment of the year. I’ll go back to my closet now.
Thank you! I felt like i was on hall monitor CRAZY PILLS!!!!! It’s Ana get your not even moderately successful comediennes from the 90s right!
Frank Decaro knows what i’m talkin bout.
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“what was THAT about” what does THAT mean? Jay-Z has a greatest hits album coming out, and he is also Jay-Z. I don’t understand the snark, he did a great performance full of great songs. Why not…appreciate it?
Agreed, though I’m not so keen on this new Fonzie look.
I was hoping for a lot more animated .gifs, I’m disappointed in you Monsters.
[IMG]http://i39.tinypic.com/acft6w.gif[/IMG] ?
Clearly a no-GIF kinda day.
http://tinypic.com/r/2v2xlki/5
I’m sorry, what’s happening?
thank you for being a friend.
While watching this episode, I was kind of surprised that I’d never noticed her cameo in E.T.
Are you stalking me? When that skit came on I turned to my friend and said “She looks like that scene in ET where they put him in a wig”.
There are a fair share of ET dopplegangers running around, tho.
This is true! We must give the ensemble cast that played E.T. the Extraterrestrial their proper recognition!
Also: I am stalking you.
I thought the same thing!!! Bwahahaha!! Oh man…
As great as Betty White was, I was more excited to see Molly Shannon and Ana Gasteyer back on the SNL stage. Those ladies are such champs and it’s plain wrong that they don’t have bigger careers.
I believe Tina Fey wrote the original census sketch, so I thought it was nice (and timely) to give her a go at performing it herself. Plus now we have TWO sketches to embed in our inevitable 2020 census articles that we will read on our hover-computers.
Wizard of Ass
We have all failed to realize that on Saturday, Betty White stayed up later than she has in the past 30 years.
Lil Wayne actually really really really really really sucks??? (I know that was a throwaway remark but I read it and got irrationally angry because COME ON, LIL WAYNE IS SO BAD.)
All the downvotes for this one.
No dress/cut sketches for Canadaland. Boo.
The main thing you missed is in the “Pretty Living” sketch, Gail Gleason says, “The closest I’ve ever come to an intense frienship was kiss-crying a gay neighbor after his play unexpectedly closed.”
Keep reaching for that rainbow, Canada.
The best part of this whole episode was Dotty O’Donaghan kicking her little legs in the air. Keep kicking, Betty! We love you non-ironically!
Me too! I know the internet loving Betty White thing is weird and all, but I am all for legitimately lovable people being loved more because of Facebook or whatever. My love of her is long-standing and also unironic.
What IS ironic is that the father of the internet’s burgeoning Topher Grace interest (and on the real, I think we can agree that TG is no Betty White) is having so much trouble with this!
It doesn’t faze me that Betty White is 88. What freaks me out is that she was born in 1922, you guys. That’s three years before television was invented, only a little more than twenty years after movies were started coming out and sixy two years before I was born. And 88 years before she would be on SNL joking about Facebook. You. Guys.
don’t wanna be the naysayer here but really? (with seth and amy) am I the only one who got a little tired of the “old lady unexpectedly saying sexual innuendos repeatedly” by like the second sketch?
I enjoyed all the old throwbacks but nothing really made me lawl this ep, I mean the digital short was amusing but it was no Cherry Battle
I had the exact same reaction, although I’m even more confused by Gabe’s apparent liking of Molly Shannon’s awful characters. Rehashing unfunny characters from the 90s in 2010 is what’s hot in the streets now?