I am – Hercules!! Some notes on Thurday’s “SNL in the 2000s” special, written and directed by Kenneth Bowser: * Those who cry “SNL hasn’t been funny in years” could be dissuaded from doing so by the special, which reminds of the very numerous hilarious sketches that graced Studio 8H over the last decade. * It contains new interviews with current cast members: Fred Armisen Abby Elliott Will Forte Bill Hader Seth Meyers Bobby Moynihan Andy Samberg Jason Sudeikis Kenan Thompson Kristin Wiig * New interviews with former cast members: Jimmy Fallon Will Ferrell Tina Fey Daryl Hammond Chris Kattan Tracy Morgan Chris Parnell Amy Poehler Maya Rudolph Horatio Sanz Molly Shannon * New interviews with hosts: Alec Baldwin John McCain Justin Timberlake Christopher Walken * New interviews with behind-the-scenes types: Ken Aymong, supervising producer Jim Downey, writer/producer Steve Higgins, writer/producer Marci Klein, producer Beth McCarthy, director Lorne Michaels, mastermind Paula Pell, writer/producer Akiva Schaffer, writer Michael Shoemaker, producer Jorma Taccone, writer * Story Segments: 1) The rise of Tina Fey 2) The 2000 election 3) September 2001 4) The Bush Years 5) John McCain and Jimmy Fallon 6) The Women 7) Digital Shorts 8) The Hosts 9) “Pushing The Limit” 10) The 2008 Election * No appearance by Robert Smigel or examination of “Saturday TV Funhouse,” in my view one of the most important components of the series this century. * Much is made of Justin Timberlake’s mediocre “Single Ladies” sketch with Beyonce, yet the brilliant “Falconer” sketches are reduced to a half-second “Oh Donald!” soundbite. * Fey sees the post-Ferrell era as female dominant: “Amy and Kristin and Maya, they just crushed the boys for nine years. They just crushed them.” * We’re reminded that Barack Obama once opened the show with “Live From New York, It’s Saturday Night!” * We get to see again a very young Tina Fey on stage in her stripper outfit. * We learn Fallon turned down hosting Update solo. * Will Ferrell is hilarious in an old sketch playing Bush trying to understand debate questions. * We’re reminded first post-9/11 show, hosted by Reese Witherspoon and broadcast Sept. 29, 2001, was also the first for Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler. That show, it turns out, featured a hilarious Will Ferrell “Little Mermaid” sketch. Learn that Maya Rudolph cried at the end. * We’re reminded that sketches referencing 9/11 (including Ferrell in a patriotic thong) were incorporated into the second show back, hosted by Seann William Scott. I note that Ferrell’s buttcheeks have to be blurred for primetime special. * We’re reminded that the third show back, hosted by a freaked-out Drew Barrymore, was aired days after anthrax was delivered to 30 Rock. Fey tells a funny story about her reaction to the Anthrax news. * Horatio Sanz reveals how he felt about him and Fallon breaking up all the time. (He feels it helped the show.) * We’re reminded that Parnell, Hammond and Forte all played Bush after Will Ferrell left – but the special makes no mention of the fact that Sudeikis wound up inheriting the role following Forte’s long Oval Office tenancy. * The special briefly revisits a genius Update segment in which Fallon returns to the show to visit the “son,” Lorne, he seemingly fathered via Fey before he left the show. Poehler is a riot as Fey’s new partner. * We learn the original plan was for Fey to host Update solo following Fallon’s departure. “On the Friday she was doing it alone,” remembers Michaels, “and on the Saturday I got a phone call and she said, ‘I think I want to do it with Amy.’” * We learn that Fey wrote the infamous “Colonel Angus” sketch. * We’re reminded that “Lazy Sunday” was Samberg’s third Digital Short. The first, co-starring Forte, was titled “Lettuce.” The second was “Peyote.” * Higgens relates that Smigel was the first to remark, pre-air, that “Lazy Sunday” was “going to be huge.” * Walken notes that his work on SNL transformed his movie career. * We learn that in a Vincent Price sketch John Hamm played Dean Martin in dress rehearsal, then was switched to James Mason for the show broadcast later that night. * Wiig remarks that the SNL brand of humor tends to be more “joyful and funny” than “mean and funny,” which I think is an acute observation. * We learn Fey’s first appearance as Sarah Palin was highly tentative in the days and hours before its debut. “They’re experts at letting the clock run out over there,” she allows. * I was highly amused by this line delivered by Fey-as-Palin three days before the 2008 election, and well before her resignation as governor: “I’m not going anywhere. And I’m sure not going back to Alaska.” I submit again: Some Sketches From The Last Decade: The A-Holes Airport Security Seminar The All New Adventures of Mr. T The Ambiguously Gay Duo Annuale Appalachian Emergency Room Astronaut Jones Aunt Linda The Barry Gibb Talk Show Bear City Bearologist Beauty and the Beast Blue Christmas Brian Fellow’s Safari Planet Carpool Celebrity Jeopardy Centaur Job Interview The Census The Continental David Patterson Dear Sister Debbie Downer The Delicious Dish Dick in a Box Dirtball and Burnout Convention Divertor Donatella Doorbells and More Exclusive Connections The Falconer Festive Thanksgiving Firelight Future Lohan Game Time Gilly A Glimpse Of Our Possible Future Goodnight Saigon Grady Wilson Grandkids in the Movies Hamas Party Hogwarts I Drink Your Milkshake Inside The Actors Studio Iran So Far Jacob Silj Janet Reno’s Dance Party Jizz In My Pants Journey to the Disney Vault Kuato Laser Cats Lazy Sunday Live Lounge The Lovers MacGruber Mark Wahlberg Martin Vs. Baldwin Michael Jackson Michelle Dison Mike and Kanye Mistress 15 Moleculo More Cowbell Napster Testimony Natalie National Douchebag Championships The Needlers Oprah Penelope The Party Pooper Potato Chip Thief The Prince and the Pauper The Prince Show The Rock Obama Russian Brides Sarah Palin Save Broadway The Scorpion Prince Sex and the City Shazzang Sith Audience Summertime Superman, Master of Disguise Tales of Valour Teens Raising Awareness About Awful Parent Drivers 300 Tiger Tim Calhoun Torboto Trina & Thomas Under Under Ground Rock Festival Vinny Vedecci Virginia Horsen Wake Up, Wakefield Weekend Update What Up With That Woomba The X-Presidents Z105 (All photos derived from the incredibly useful SNL archive.) 9 p.m. Thursday. NBC. Follow Herc on Twitter!! Follow Evil Herc on Twitter!!

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