I second what folks are saying, I’ve not really missed Kate McKinnon this season. She had ceased to be an amusing impressionist, and her double act bits with Aidy had become similarly one-note (vaguely non-coastal accent, tacky clothing, etc.). Her absence has given proper impressionists more work, and it’s giving…

Dunno how you draw a line between ‘Friends’ and terrible reality shows, besides somewhat boring people liking them both. I think ‘Seinfeld’ and the concept of a show about nothing is more directly influential on reality TV.

Nah, lots of people though he was the problem - same with the really little kid in the first of the prequels.

Not to pick nits, but was ‘The Casino’ really a standalone adventure? Yes it had “this ‘Big Bang Theory’ is really very good, very faithful to the slot machine” jokes, but didn’t it set the table for Nandor’s existential dread when the mechanism of the universe not being a big pile of turtles and elephants was…

That was uncharacteristic for me, and it was moving fast and we were trying to answer some really specific questions...

Oooooh, that’s eerily accurate.

He was a supporting character on a sitcom for a few years, so this isn’t his first rodeo.

Goddam that ‘Angelo’ sketch had me in stitches.

Nothing in this entire series has creeped me out as hard as the smiling people with Rubik’s Cubes turning their heads and pointing Nandor in Jan’s direction when he first walks into the center. That was so unsettling.

I maintain he and Annie Murphy had the hardest jobs in that cast. Aided by excellent writing, but their arcs were much more subtle, and of the four main and two proper supporting characters, theirs would lift out of the show the easiest. 

She did a great ‘Random Roles’ on here earlier this year.

Question re: the Itzkoff element. Is he recreating conversation that never happened, or does he directly quote how someone remembered something? Because if it’s the latter, the quotes don’t really belong to Itzkoff, either, they are simply the rememberance of whomever he interviewed.

Does Itzkoff say the scene actually happened? Because if so, it doesn’t belong to Itzkoff, either.

Exactly, unless you’re securing the music rights to a public figure whose estate holds those rights, you don’t need permission.

Lots of things there, but more generally, how is the concept of a biopic of a deceased person any less a matter of trading a shared parasocial grief? Do we give all of those a pass, because they have budget?

Re: Matt Damon....

There were a couple lines from the last episode that I was pretty sure were lifted from earlier seasons, but this episode I think all but one line I could identify the prior context and it was clear they’d rewritten to fit the storyline.  Considering the constraints, they did a great job.

Even if it’s clear (contrary to the show’s statement) Jessica Walter didn’t get the chance to record all the planned scripts (I clocked almost all of her lines this episode from other seasons) I thought the ending worked great. I wasn’t expecting it, and I was so glad to see how they sent Mallory off: just as Jessica…

‘Sloppy Copy’ is the newest album from Mannequin Pussy.

The writer of “I woulda 100% out-cardioed that guy.” deserves an award.