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S43.E12: Will Ferrell / Chris Stapleton


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What are the odds that we get an Alec Baldwin appearance with Ferrell as W telling Trump how great he looks in comparison to him now?

And speaking of odds what's the over/under on former cast members returning for cameos or to do one of Will's old recurring sketches. I'm thinking 2.5...

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20 hours ago, madpsych78 said:

I hope we get some sort of Celebrity Jeopardy!

The last time Will hosted, in 2012, they didn't do one. (Instead, he and Ana Gasteyer brought back the singing married couple The Culps). Then again, Darrell wasn't part of the cast in 2012, whereas now he is at least the announcer (I think maybe he records his intros in LA though? I don't think he is there every week doing it live).

The last time they did Celebrity Jeopardy was at the 40th anniversary, which was a really super-sized edition with many cast members.

I think they could definitely slot people like Melissa or Alex into the sketch, people who are good with impressions.

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Will Ferrell did another promo;

 

Will Ferrell Leads Nostalgic, 360-Degree Studio Tour In New ‘SNL’ Promo

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The interactive promo — be sure to click and drag to follow along — begins with Ferrell arriving on stage, pointing to where he auditioned for his 1995-2002 stint on the NBC comedy and then moving to the spot where he saw musical guests like U2, Foo Fighters and Tupac Shakur (“So bummed I never said hi to Tupac”).

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So far I'm loving this show.

The pilot sketch felt like classic Will Ferrell. Also loved him in the Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney reality show sketch.

I'm a big fan of classic Southern rock so I dug the hell out of Chris Stapleton's performance.

Heidi Gardner kills again in her WU segment. Her "teen Youtube movie critic" is hilarious and dead on.

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12 minutes ago, DuckyinKy said:

This has to be the worst SNL I have ever seen. 

Yes, yes it is. The best part was the dog. 

This episode is every single reason I DETEST Will Ferrell rolled up into one and multiplied by 1000. 

Edited by Fostersmom
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On 1/23/2018 at 10:40 PM, helenamonster said:

I would love for them to find a way to a Celebrity Jeopardy/Black Jeopardy mashup. Maybe Alex Trebek hosts Black Jeopardy? A concept.

I said the same thing in a Reddit thread last week.

Cold Open: We open with W! "Now, I'm no economer..." Man, he makes it look so easy, and fun. Ferrell's W is among my favorite SNL presidents, right up there with Dana Carvey's Bush 41, and Phil Hartman and Darrell Hammond's Clinton. Is Leslie Jones the first time Condoleeza Rice was spoofed on this show? (she still screwed up her line...). Now THIS was overall great.

Monologue: Uhh...Will Ferrell is bleeding and okay it's part of the bit. It's a song, but man, Will Ferrell powering through blood and a fake concussion is so genius and one of the most unique things I've seen from this show in ages. "Ladies and gentlemen, Matchbox 20!" And he even called out this show doing too many musical monologues.

Pilots: Clown Penis, of .fart fame? Will Ferrell's uniform even says "Clown Penis" (and Cecily's says "Cox"). This was fun, but ended so aprubtly.

Reality House: A Good Neighbor sketch! Finally! This was so stupid, but pulled off really well. This style of jokes just works so well with me for some reason, they just nail the cadence of terrible reality show dialogue. "Wait, we're going to the movies? But I'm wearing shorts!" And surprise Tracy Morgan cameo!

Dickenson's Commercial: Old Lady Kate and Old Man Will Ferrell in the same sketch was guaranteeing gold. "Nobody beats the Wiz!" The way Kate kept looking at Will was so great, as was Will saying "We raised five boys and some girls." This was silly, but pretty okay overall. Apparently this was spoofing an actual video?

Airplane: Hey, Luke gets to do something! Garrett was "woke" in a way I was not expecting. Will's accent just made everything more amusing.

Next: Ha, a deodorant for men going down for sexual harassment. When even the narrator gets it, you know how pervasive it all is.

WU: Trump is the Hamburglar in chief, makes so much sense. "...and now I have to talk to Colin about white golfers." The cut to Colin after that was great, as was the cut to Che after the Rwandan president joke. And that Super Bowl joke was straight savage. And man, Heidi's teen character was so dead-on realistic, it was scary. 

"Man, if there's one thing you don't expect when you are on a greyhound bus in Florida; it's for things to get worse."

And man, Jacob Silj made an appearance for the first time in forever, and this was probably his best one yet. And he broke character at the end for the punchline?! Damn. 

Barbecue: Will Ferrell doing a better Californian than The Californians. He and Cecily looked so freaking over the top weird, like Barbie dolls. I really loved that dog, too. It was a goddamn professional. Aidy (and Will!) nearly broke, but that dog as as chill as possible. This was one of the silliest sketches I've seen. Like, Will is just showing everyone how it's done.

Dinner: Oh no, it's about Aziz Ansari, and other divisive talks. Everyone's reactions we so freaking great. "We're in a post babe.net universe now." Gotta love Pizza Rat making the doom montage.

"Race."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Crate & Barrel: Messing up a funny story, that's something that just HURTS. And just digging, that's so great. "Speaking of molehills, you don't wear condoms." I mean, damn. Man, the twist that he was the boss? Fun. Taking the water jug (side down so it's just spilling everywhere), and then just walking out and staring at everyone? That's when it got weird and gold. I'm not even convinced that Will just standing there at the end was even part of the sketch.

Chucky Lee Byrd: Yeah, the 50s (er, the 80s) were weird. This was definitely supposed to spoof Jerry Lee Lewis, who married an underage girl who was also his cousin and had his career ruined until he outlived everyone who remembered that. A weird note to end on.

This was a fun show. I guess the style of late 90s "Stupid SNL' really gets to me. I'm shocked that Will only pulled out two recurring characters. Next week is Natalie Portman, which I'm assuming is the last show before the Olympics.

Edited by Galileo908
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13 minutes ago, DuckyinKy said:

This has to be the worst SNL I have ever seen. 

Oh there have been waaaaay worse. Anyway agree to disagree. Always been a huge Will Ferrell fan from SNL to the movies. Not his best episode but still enjoyable.

The last oldies commercial got a little uncomfortable but Kate's outrage saved it for me and I like the twist about Ferrell being Beck's grandfather and the songs were recorded in the 80s. On a shallow note, Kate looked fantastic.

Edited by VCRTracking
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I thought this was easily the best show of the season even if by the time the office sketch at the end, I thought things were a bit too repetitious (i.e. Will yelling at people).

Still that's how it's done. Will shoots up the list for a guest acting Emmy.

15 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

Is Leslie Jones the first time Condoleeza Rice was spoofed on this show?

Oh no , not at all.  I believe she was played by both Janet Jackson and then Maya in the same episode!

Update keeps getting better and better.

And in the Luke Null airtime watch, we now know he can beatbox. Hey it's something.

Edited by vb68
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2 minutes ago, vb68 said:

Oh no , not at all.  I believe she was played by both Janet Jackson and then Maya in the same episode!

The Janet Jackson was particularly  memorable because they also spoofed her Super Bowl "wardrobe malfuction" incident!

I was surprised Darrell Hammond didn't show up as Cheney.

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5 minutes ago, vb68 said:

I thought this was easily the best show of the season even if by the time the office sketch at the end, I thought things were a bit too repetitious (i.e. Will yelling at people).

To be fair, "Will Ferrell yelling at people" summed up most of his sketches when he was in the cast.

And yeah, totally forgot about the Janet Jackson episode. It's been a while since I saw it.

Edited by Galileo908
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20 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

but man, Will Ferrell powering through blood and a fake concussion is so genius and one of the most unique things I've seen from this show in ages.

I meant to say I wondered about this. So the blood was real? At first I did indeed think it was, but then I thought the whole thing was just a gag.  

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I realize the idea was supposed to be comedy, but I thought the GWB sketch was all of SNL's political cowardice and hypocrisy all rolled into one. SNL soft-sold Bush during the 2000 election and supported him during 9/11. Their enabling during that time period helped put forward many of the things that were laughed at in this sketch as being bad things. And now here we are again, with Ferrell's adorable, cuddly GWB being used to sell some aimless "I was terrible and you're saying I'm great...lol!" sketch which gives a pat on the head to Trump, another candidate coddled and enabled by SNL. 

Even the "my VP was so much worse...lol!" joke decided to soft-sell Mike Pence, merely saying that he meant "no cake for gays," when his record goes much much further than that. They would have been better off just mentioning the "heartless" bit. Given that the show does such a terrible job with gay humor and has barely gotten past asking us to leer and jeer at two men kissing, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

I came away thinking they just desperately wanted Ferrell to reprise his GWB caricature but had no idea how to do it, so this was the end result. Instead of laughing, I mostly just got reminded, yet again, just how impotent and incredibly confused the writing has become, and how often they do more harm than good.

Edited by Pete Martell
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2 minutes ago, VCRTracking said:

I know  the criticisms that the show wasn't hard enough on George W Bush and Ferrell's impression even made him likeable from former people and even cast members like Horatio Sanz and some of it probably is valid. In Trump's case though after one year where each day he's demonstrated his incredible incompetence and downright dangerous unsuitability for the office as well as the corruption of his administration and despite all that his supporters still think of him as a great President reveals a level of mass insanity I can't blame on SNL.

I don't blame SNL for how his followers currently feel about him. I blame SNL for their enabling of him during the election and for sketches like this one that unwittingly continue that enabling for the sake of some old GWB strategery chuckles circa 2001. To me the show still seems incredibly hesitant about how to address him. I just wish they would avoid the topic entirely. 

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4 minutes ago, Pete Martell said:
10 minutes ago, VCRTracking said:

I know  the criticisms that the show wasn't hard enough on George W Bush and Ferrell's impression even made him likeable from former people and even cast members like Horatio Sanz and some of it probably is valid. In Trump's case though after one year where each day he's demonstrated his incredible incompetence and downright dangerous unsuitability for the office as well as the corruption of his administration and despite all that his supporters still think of him as a great President reveals a level of mass insanity I can't blame on SNL.

I don't blame SNL for how his followers currently feel about him. I blame SNL for their enabling of him during the election and for sketches like this one that unwittingly continue that enabling for the sake of some old GWB strategery chuckles circa 2001. To me the show still seems incredibly hesitant about how to address him. I just wish they would avoid the topic entirely. 

I think this could also be true of the other presidents they covered. I'd like to think that Clinton and definitely HW Bush are more fondly remembered thanks to being impersonated on this show, and hell, the reason why people think Gerald Ford was clumsy was because of Chevy Chase.

Edited by Galileo908
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7 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

I think this could also be true of the other presidents they covered. I'd like to think that Clinton and definitely HW Bush are more fondly remembered thanks to being impersonated on this show, and hell, the reason why people think Gerald Ford was clumsy was because of Chevy Chase.

It's difficult for me to explain but I felt like there was a difference in tone and the quality of the writing up to the mid '90s. Before then even if the impersonations could be goofy, the overall tone was harder-edged. I think that changed with Hammond's Clinton. Hammond's Clinton was one-note smarm, but that was already the image of Clinton out there anyway, so it didn't matter much. In the case of GWB, SNL helped set the tone for coverage and support of him (likely one of the reasons he agreed to appear on the show during the election). I think their political material has been compromised and pulled in too many directions from that point on, and over this past decade or more I just don't think it's been very funny either. 

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9 minutes ago, Pete Martell said:

It's difficult for me to explain but I felt like there was a difference in tone and the quality of the writing up to the mid '90s. Before then even if the impersonations could be goofy, the overall tone was harder-edged. I think that changed with Hammond's Clinton. Hammond's Clinton was one-note smarm, but that was already the image of Clinton out there anyway, so it didn't matter much. In the case of GWB, SNL helped set the tone for coverage and support of him (likely one of the reasons he agreed to appear on the show during the election). I think their political material has been compromised and pulled in too many directions from that point on, and over this past decade or more I just don't think it's been very funny either. 

I mean, Clinton helped with the Monica Lewinsky scandal. That stuff was gold for the writers. In the 2000 election, it was Bush vs Al Gore, who SNL had avoided the eight years he was VP because he was a stiff so of course they're going to devote more time to Bush being a dumb, frat boy, which people for whatever people liked.

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I was surprised they didn't do very many recurring bits, but it forced the skits to be more creative, and that's a good thing. And I will always love Jacob Silj (imagine sitting in church rocking your crying baby and saying HUSH HUSH GO TO SLEEP. DEAR LORD PLEASE HELP MY BABY FALL ASLEEP. ALSO PLEASE HELP ME FIND A BAG OF MONEY)

Will and Kate were eerily like my 80-year-old grandparents in that sketch. I'll save that on the DVR forever. And Heidi was practically playing my teenage cousin on Weekend Update! I was worried it was gonna go too much into caricature, but it was actually...respectful for lack of a better word. It really*IS* hard being a teenager!

I didn't love every skit tonight, but Will Ferrell commits to every joke and character so precisely that I appreciate it, and I like that the Ferrell skits always fall on the weird side. I don't think anyone else would have been as funny in the Cracker Barrel/Crate & Barrel sketch.

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Minus Luke, this is a super solid group of featured players. Heidi knocked it out of the park during WU. When she started crying I almost lost it. Otherwise, a fairly meh episode but I've never been a huge Will Ferrell fan.

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I guess this was a bit of a polarizing episode from reading the comments, but I come down on the side of “best of the season.”  That news story that came out this week about GWB’s approval rating being its highest ever was tailor-made for the mockery heaped on it during the cold open.  “I’m no econo-mer, but even I know that is no bueno.”  Also, “Who has two thumbs and created ISIS?” was truly savage (although I know, I know, an oversimplification). 

I really liked the monologue, which I don’t think I’ve said in forever.  That Matchbox Twenty line was very funny, Will sitting down so that he could pass out was good, and side note that I really liked Cecily’s dress in that piece.

Edited by Peace 47
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GWB is back! He WAS terrible, but man Will makes him so funny. And him singing "Those Were the Days" with Leslie's Condeliza Rice was gold.

The Next commercial and the Aziz Ansari skits were the best. A shame we didn't get more of Will's old characters, but what are you gonna do?

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I really enjoyed the airplane skit because atheism is so rarely acknowledged in the media. It was especially nice that it was shown in a positive light through a very enthusiastic Leslie Jones. It made me realize that while we've made many inroads with many other previously repressed groups of people, there is still a lid on atheism. It was jarring, even to me, to see the group I identify with the most, getting some high profile attention at last.

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9 hours ago, DuckyinKy said:

This has to be the worst SNL I have ever seen. 

There were several skits that took annoying things and then tried to make them more annoying. Reality shows (twice!), old people who can’t get their line right, and southern rock (wait, that was a real musical act?).

Haven’t they already done the “don’t you miss me now?” George W. Bush skit? 

I did enjoy the Southwest skit and its comment in religion, and the dinner where they showed how ridiculous discussion around me,too has become. I also liked the set up of Clown Penis but it didn’t go anywhere ... Clown Penis was also a bad pilot? Should have had him sell the hell out out of the call sign while being competent. 

The one-liner about Pats and Eagles fans was perfect. 

So-so ep. 

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1 hour ago, Toaster Strudel said:

 

I really enjoyed the airplane skit because atheism is so rarely acknowledged in the media. It was especially nice that it was shown in a positive light through a very enthusiastic Leslie Jones

 

Not gonna get into a substantive discussion of atheism, but I didn’t see that sketch conveying atheism in a positive light. It was conveyed by Will’s character as fairly bleak. Leslie’s character just seemed to adopt Will’s character enthusiasm on a generic level, everyone else seemed pretty shocked.

I am not a Farrell fan and really disliked that era of SNL but I did love the Real Housewives sketch and I liked the Crate and Barrell sketch for its absurdism.

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3 hours ago, jonesingjay said:

The blood was fake. It was a gag. 

Yeah, it just looked realistic to me at first. I imagine if he was legit hurt, we would see some genuine panic.

7 hours ago, Peace 47 said:

I guess this was a bit of a polarizing episode from reading the comments, but I come down on the side of “best of the season.”  

I'm noticing this more and more, but I'm very surprised on this episode. I guess it's especially hard now for the show to cover it's bases with everyone.

17 minutes ago, ahisma said:

One of my favorite lines of the year: "They used Russian interference. We used the Supreme Court. Like Americans." 

That's a fantastic line.

Edited by vb68
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I LOVED the cold open. I don't think it was so much trying to prop up Trump (which the show has done many other times much more obviously, like literally letting him host which is just going to look worse and worse as time marches on) as remind people that 2001 to 2008 was not great times for America, either. It's not uncommon in discussion's about Trump for someone to start a point with "At least Bush never...." Everything is just so crazy nowadays that we put on some rose-colored nostalgia glasses regarding the early aughts and forget some seriously fucked up shit that happened (and is still happening; we're entering year 17 of the war in Afghanistan!).

Heidi's WU bit was great. Especially when she started crying but was pushing back her tears so her eyeliner didn't run. We've all been there, girl!

The dog in the sketch with the reality show contestants returning to Flagstaff was amazingly chill. Did they slip it a little something? Will and Cecily were really yelling, I'd feel like most dogs would be freaking out being subjected to that.

I liked the Aziz Ansari sketch because I think it reflected the real trouble that most people are having discussing the issue ("We're living in a post babe.net universe now" was an amazing line) but I've also seen some great pieces online and on tv (Sam Bee did a great bit about it on her show last week) about the issue that are able to effectively navigate the nuances of the situation.

When I was little, I used to call Cracker Barrel Crate & Barrel, and I didn't even notice Will's character had slipped up until the other characters started correcting him. He was right, the decor of the restaurant is crates and barrels, it wouldn't be out of place for that to be the name!

54 minutes ago, Mumbles said:

Not gonna get into a substantive discussion of atheism, but I didn’t see that sketch conveying atheism in a positive light. It was conveyed by Will’s character as fairly bleak. Leslie’s character just seemed to adopt Will’s character enthusiasm on a generic level, everyone else seemed pretty shocked.

I think it was also that the last place you want someone to tell you that there's no God is on a plane that is about to take off

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11 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

I'm a big fan of classic Southern rock so I dug the hell out of Chris Stapleton's performance.

Not a follower of country or Southern rock, but I don't get why this guy is SNL-worthy.  That first song was just the same guitar riff over and over and over with some shouted lyrics.  Meh.

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1 hour ago, Inquisitionist said:

Not a follower of country or Southern rock, but I don't get why this guy is SNL-worthy.  That first song was just the same guitar riff over and over and over with some shouted lyrics.  Meh.

LOL, that's pretty much early rock and roll in general. It was as basic as that. Whenever rock becomes too bloated or complex it always goes back to the simplicity of like punk.

I really enjoyed the Aziz Anzari dinner sketch more on rewatch. It the awkwardness of bringing up touchy topics that might cause and people trying not to offend in a conversation with their opinions. I love everyone being both hesitent and warning: "Carefullll..." "Watch iiiit...."

I'm actually surprised how much hate the episode and Will Ferrell in general has gotten. I know he, like a lot of cast members are YMMV but he was absolutely one of my top favorites and that mid-90s to early 2000s is one I particularly love. Yes there were lots of bad sketches but with time I just remember the good ones like "Wake Up and Smile", Neil Diamond Storytellers, "Sean Muldavi wine commercial", Mr Tarkanian, etc. That's just my opinion. Comedy is subjective. I don't want any counterarguments on why he sucks.

Edited by VCRTracking
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Also, Luke. He's been on SNL for who knows how long and all I know about this guy is that he can beat box. He was probably the only one who could do it so that was how he got into that sketch. He doesn't show up much in sketches even as a supporting character. He could have been in other sketches. Does the cast not like him or something?

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7 hours ago, helenamonster said:

The dog in the sketch with the reality show contestants returning to Flagstaff was amazingly chill.

Whatever the dog was given should be given to some of the cats at Whiskers R We. (Though the one that went after Tiffany Haddish still makes me laugh.) 

 

Will is polarizing to some but to me, he's the reason the late 90s to the early 2000s were so great.  And unlike others departed cast members who come back (I'm talking to YOU Kristin Wiig,) he does sketches that doesn't make them  all about him. 

Edited by mtlchick
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I liked the ep, but then I like Will Ferrell. He's a terrific, committed performer. I think he's just naturally funny.

I always like the Good Neighbor sketches --- well, except for one... last week? -- but anyway, I like that kind of humor. This one was a good one.

Next, the deodorant for accused men, was great, as was the "discussion" about issue brought about by the Ansari article. I thought this was very well done.

I also liked the reality show/BBQ sketch. And man, the makeup dept is really stepping up their game, what with last week's Mueller makeup on Kate, and now the face-lifted faces of Will and Cecily. Will just yells funny at people. The chillest dog ever.

Not too much else to say. I loved Heidi as the teen movie critic.

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53 minutes ago, TV Anonymous said:

Who are the Asian family photographed with Ferrell?

I think that was the show's idea of a joke. 

Quote

Are Villasenor's days numbered? It is her second year already and she never gets a major role in the sketches. Too bad. I like her.

 I like her too. She has some great imitations (you can find them on YouTube) which the show has underutilized.

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1 hour ago, TV Anonymous said:

 

Are Villasenor's days numbered? It is her second year already and she never gets a major role in the sketches. Too bad. I like her.

I'm reallllly hoping with Natalie Portman hosting next week, Mellisa will break out her impression of her. That's the one that blew me away when I saw videos of her on YouTube. Portman is one of those celebrities that you don't think would make a funny impression(like Robert Reed from The Brady Bunch) but when someone does you're like "Oh my god."

Edited by VCRTracking
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12 hours ago, burner said:

Minus Luke, this is a super solid group of featured players. Heidi knocked it out of the park during WU. When she started crying I almost lost it. Otherwise, a fairly meh episode but I've never been a huge Will Ferrell fan.

i guess i am the only one that hated the teen critic.

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The weirdest thing happened to me when I watched this show. When Chris started playing, after about 30 seconds, I grabbed my phone to search for Sturgill Simpson’s performance on SNL. I hadn’t even typed in his name when he came out and started playing. I literally sat here with my mouth open. That was the weirdest thing. And awesome too.

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