SNL -- Saturday Night Live -- Tim McGraw / Ludacris -- 11/22/08 -- Sketch by Sketch Review

Really, Fred Armisen needs to go. I could tell he was Barney Frank, but he really sounds more like Jerry Lewis and as always, his voice goes in and out. Pretty funny reasoning for why the car companies didn't come in cars, their American cars sucked too bad to actually get them there. Also funny that none of the big 3 CEO's had a clue that the price of gas was so high. But the sketch played very flat, without much building of laughs.

MONOLOGUE -- TIM MCGRAW -- 4

I agree with George Carlin, cowboy hats are Halloween Costumes. Tim's speech directly to hip-hop fans is quite amusing, but his song.... not so much.

CLEAR RIGHT ADULT RETAINER -- 8

Kristen Wiig does a wonderful job of constantly choking up on her supposedly invisible and hard to detect retainer. End of the sketch is quite funny, as we find out the truth behind the product.

DATELINE -- 9

Bill Hader's impersonation of the world's creepiest reporter, Keith Morrison is SPOT ON. Very funny (but the audience apparently has no clue what he's doing). Morrison's odd vocal tics and seeming delight in the stories he covers is excellently parodied here.

TURKEYS BEING HUNTED -- 3

Some serious technical glitches with the green screen in this sketch, which is essentially a bunch of cast members in turkey costumes running from hunters. Only funny part is Tim McGraw slapping a fellow turkey.

JAMES BOND -- LIVE ANOTHER DEATH -- 8

Just what the world of Bond needs, a redneck in the middle of 007's world. TIm McGraw's redneck response to Bond saying, "Pussy" to Pussy Galore is hysterical, as is his comment that he came to Monte Carlo because the first time he had sex with his wife was in the back of a Monte Carlo. Good sketch.

LUDACRIS -- FEATURING T-PAIN --ONE MORE DRINK -- 7

So many rappers lose their rhythm live. Ludacris is no exception. I'm guessing this is much better on record. Not bad, though.

WEEKEND UPDATE -- 4

Amy Poehler is still "on assignment". And so are the writers. A rather long winded fake Bill Clinton commentary ended with the funny line (about Bill not wanting to hurt Hilary) from Bill, "the last thing I want to do is screw Hillary." Michaela Watkins does a decent Ariana Huffington, but it wasn't very funny. The appearance of Will Forte's crazed Zell Miller was funny, but not exactly relevant for today. The jokes weren't great tonight. Time to bring on a new coanchor.

THE BLIZZARD MAN -- 5

Oh great..... it's Andy Samberg. UGH! Is it just me or is everything he does the same? Samberg plays a rapper who is whiter than white and raps the same way. Tim McGraw is funny as a permed hip-hop record exec, as is Ludacris. T-Pain looks like he just did a pile of blow. Could have been funnier.

ESCAPED MENTAL PATIENT -- 2

Will Forte reprises his molester character from Halloween. It doesn't get any funnier this week. Bad.

DALE BRITCHES' REDNECK PRANK PHONE CALLS -- 2

I think I saw this on Bob and Tom. Man was this a dumb sketch. Can't blame it on Tim McGraw, though.

T-PAIN WITH LUDACRIS -- CHOPPED AND SKREWED -- 2

It isn't fair to put on a song this headache inducing at 12:50 AM. SUCKED!

BAR SKETCH -- 1

Where is Lorne finding these new cast members? Bobby Moynihan sucks. The majority of the cast seems to do variations of the same character. Ugh. This sketch is one of the worst this season.

OVERALL -- 4

The retainer sketch, James Bond Sketch, and Dateline sketches were all very funny. Almost all of the rest were not. Tim McGraw seemed to be up for anything, and probaly could have been funny had SNL resisted the urge to write redneck stuff for him. Another mediocre show this season.