Jon Hamm
This week on the pod we welcome back, Jamie Burwood! To kick off the show we get Matt's Minutia Minute before we get into a fantastic conversation between Thomas and Jamie. Thanks as always for listening. Rate and review the show!
Transcript:
Track 2:
[0:42] Thank you so much, Doug DeNance. It is great to be here back in the SNL Hall of Fame.
[0:50] Please, mind your feet, give them a wipe, use the map for what it's supposed to be for before you come into our hallowed halls.
The SNL Hall of Fame podcast is a weekly affair where each episode we take a deep dive into the career of a former cast member, host, musical guest, or writer, and add them to the ballotfor your consideration.
Once the nominees have been announced, we turn to you, the listener, to vote for the most deserving and help determine who will be enshrined for perpetuity inside the hall.
That's how we play the game. It's really quite simple.
You follow along, you vote, you celebrate or complain about who got in or who didn't get in.
It's really quite a bit of fun for us.
I am walking down the hallway now to talk to our good friend Matt Ardill, and we're going to get some information on who we're covering today and who will be nominating them.
Wait and see. Well, you don't have to wait and see because you can read the title. And I guess the title sort of gives it away.
That's right. We're talking about Jon Hamm today, and we're joined by Jamie Burwood. But before we do that, let's go to our friend Matt Ardill and get the skinny on Jon Hamm.
Track 3:
[2:13] Hello, Matt. Hello, JD.
What's shaking, my brother? Not much, not much. I am really looking forward to today's trivia.
Okay, who you got for us? John the Hamaconda Ham.
He is six foot one, born March 10th, 1971 in St. Louis, Missouri.
He is the son of a trucker and a secretary. He had a rough childhood growing up, which actually helped inform his backstory when he auditioned for his breakout role of Don Draper.
But his first acting role was as Winnie the Pooh in a first grade production.
[2:58] Oh, OK. OK, yeah, very early start.
But he didn't follow that up until playing Judas on Godspell at the age of 16 at John Burroughs School, where he was the member of the football team, the baseball team and the swimteam, because, of course, he was.
He actually dated actor Sarah Clark in high school.
He went on to attend the University of Texas before transferring to the University of Missouri, where he answered a newspaper ad for someone to play in a production of MidsummerNight's Dream.
[3:32] He's gone on to complete 118 acting credits, 10 producer credits, and he has one director credit.
He almost didn't get the role of Don Draper, which I can't imagine anybody else in that role right now.
But he was told by the showrunner that he was too handsome, which is not something I'm sure many people frequently hear in a like, I'm sorry, you're just too goddamn handsome for thisrole.
Yeah, they reevaluated and decided that he was he was the right fit.
[4:07] He rewarded he received an award nomination for Emmys for the show.
Golden Globe SAG Awards, Annie Hall Awards, Critics Choice, MTV Movie and TV Awards, National Board of Review Awards, Satellite Awards, Teen Choice Awards and TelevisionCritics Association.
Association um i'm guessing his teen choice was for something not mad men related there should be an acronym for all those awards like an egot you know yeah he should get some sortof uh preferential treatment in hollywood as a result of all those awards yeah they need to they need to broaden the awards like the mtv award teen choice award circuit that's right that'sright um the slimies I guess maybe I don't know that's good on television you know now before hitting it big he worked as a daycare worker and a high school teacher while teaching highschool he was actually Ellie Kemper's drama teacher and went on to help her break into the world of acting.
[5:12] Um gee whiz yeah so he followed the uh harrison ford school of of acting he worked as a set dresser uh unfortunately it was in a much more risque type of cinema uh as a set dresseron adult films get out of here no yeah that is one of the many jobs he did in the valley just trying to pay the bills yeah when he moved to la he actually only had 150 in his pocket and didnot book a single gig for three years.
He stretched that $150 then, didn't he? Yeah, well, he worked as a set dresser for adult films, so he was taking any job that came his way.
He actually set a career sort of deadline that if he didn't book something big, a breakout role by 30, he was going to move home.
Now, he did make that breakout role, and he's now gone on to star in all sorts of things.
While filming a young doctor's diary with daniel radcliffe he became an ardent cricket fan he has been a comedy nerd from the go yeah he's often seen on set quoting anchorman and.
[6:25] Amy poehler uh has recounted in her biography how when she was pregnant and he was coming on the show they were in makeup and she heard that her doctor had passed away shehad a freak out was was completely losing her mind because she was panicking he grabbed he took her by the shoulders looked her dead in the eye and said you know this is very sad.
[6:48] This is a really important show for me, so I'm going to need you to get your shit together.
At which point, she started laughing so hard, she almost, well, she says she peed herself.
But this is one of those moments that she says, you know, when somebody is so funny, they make you go from crying to laughing in a heartbeat.
And something that can only happen like five times in your life.
[7:12] He's so good. Have you ever listened to him on Comedy Bang Bang? Yes. Yeah.
He's just got perfect, that perfect sense of timing and the counterpoint to like going dark and going light and how to break that tension. Yeah.
So he's just, I think he's severely underrated as a comedic talent.
Well, I mean, less so now. I mean, he's kind of embraced it.
I mean, his Skip the Dishes ads are actually like super funny, which is like.
Great. you think a big star but like taking a gig doing ads for a food delivery service in canada not even uber eats but specifically a canadian one so it's like like people aren't gonna see itin the states i don't know but uh yeah he's just a super funny dude and i'm really looking forward to hearing um what what we have to have to hear today yeah me too we're fortunate to bebe joined by a friend of the show, Jamie Burwood.
[8:09] And gosh, I don't know how many times she's been on at this point, but she should be wearing a full robe and, I don't know, boots or something like that at this point.
I have to get like scepters for... Oh, that's good.
Scepters. I love it. Well, Thomas, take it away, buddy.
Track 4:
[8:56] All right, Matthew R. Dill and Jamie Du, thank you so much for that introduction.
Informative, as always. You guys do such a great job with Matt's Minutia Minute.
This has been a really great season of the SNL Hall of Fame in general.
Matt's Minutia Minute is going great. I feel like we've had a lot of great discussions this season.
So I think we're off and running. We're humming in this season.
And it's going to continue that way in this episode because we are welcoming a guest who I told her before we hit record, you're part of the fabric of the show at this point.
You're like a really special guest, like one of our VIPs at this point.
So Jamie Burwood, thank you so much for coming back here in Season 5 of the SNL Hall of Fame.
TV show graphs herself, Jamie Burwood, how are you?
I am doing great. It is good to be here again. Season 5, that's wild.
[9:54] Yeah, always love, love talking to you guys. I feel like we have a good one on deck for today.
So yeah, no, it's great to see you. Yeah, we've really done some fun ones in the past. Will Ferrell, Christopher Walken.
We've really just had really fun and very, very, very entertaining nominees.
And I would classify our nominee today just that a really interesting nominee.
Nominee and you're like the one of the perfect people to cover this nominee before we get actually before we get to the nominee who's TV related what have you been up to JamieBurwood just, Just in general, are you doing, I know you had the TV show Graphs.
How's that been going? What have you been up to?
Yeah, I know. Things have been going good here. I've been, I'll be honest, I've been a little slower on the actual graphing side lately.
I still have a few things I've been working on, but I have been catching up on a lot of television.
I feel like I go through like twigs of either like TV watching and then actually like working on projects.
And I have been, yeah, knee deep in lots of TV watching, catching up on some like anthology type stuff, a little True Detective, Fargo, that type of genre at the moment.
[11:14] And just, I mean, it's winter in Boston, so there's really not a lot to do other than watch TV, occasionally sneak away for like some weekend trips here, trying to get to places that areslightly less cold.
Um but yeah otherwise just just live in life here in the very cold city of boston.
[11:35] Yeah catching up on tv that's i think that's a great way to spend time and uh our so our nominee today made his bones essentially in a prestige television show i would call it it's amadman arguably by a lot of tv show experts and viewers one of the handful one of the four or five possibly greatest television shows of all time.
So Jon Hamm is our nominee for today. A really interesting one, again, to me.
[12:06] Jamie, were you a Mad Men watcher? I was.
I wasn't watching it live as it was airing.
It was probably like right as it was wrapping up that I started watching it from the start.
So it's not one where I can say like, oh, I was so ahead of the curve on this one or I was watching before everyone else. Sadly, I was not, but as soon as I watched it, I absolutely loved it.
It is probably a top 10 all-time show for me.
It's one that I think just you can watch it and re-watch it and still catch new things.
I feel like the caliber of performances, the caliber of storytelling, it is an all-time great show, and I know sometimes there can be a little bit of backlash from prestige prestige TV or like, Ifeel like Mad Men is one of those shows that always is on high on some of those lists. But for me, it's, it's deserving.
And I think Jon Hamm in particular made that show what it was.
[13:07] Yeah, amazing show. I know some people and I include myself in this.
It took me Mad Men took me probably four different tries to get going.
So I would watch the pilot, maybe watch the second episode, then I would almost sort of lose interest.
But the fourth time that I tried to get into Mad Men, it worked.
And I finished Mad Men in like two months, I just could not stop watching.
Every time I had some downtime, I would throw on another episode of Mad Men.
I just got completely hooked, and you're right. Jon Hamm's performance as Don Draper was one of the huge reasons.
Can you describe what Jon had to do on screen as Don Draper?
What kind of character was Don Draper?
What did Jon Hamm have to be on screen for that?
[13:56] Absolutely, yeah. I feel like with Don Draper, he definitely fits the mold of those anti-hero. You feel like there's a lot behind the surface with the character.
I mean, at face value, he's this 1960s ad-exact kind of the smooth talker, has the wife and family at home.
And then as the show goes on, you kind of see all that's behind the surface here in terms of, I mean, the very obvious things around the affairs, the drinking, just the whole culture.
But also in terms of his family history, I won't give any spoilers, but you just kind kind of learn that there are so many different layers to who he is and why he does the things that he doesand one of those characters that you really have a kind of complex relationship with in terms of how you feel about you can go from being like oh my gosh I feel so bad for this person Ihave sympathy based on situations in their past to feeling like oh my gosh this person is unjustified in their actions, and I absolutely hate this character.
He does it in a way where you really get some of those subtle nuances coming out in his performance, and I just think it's a top-tier performance.
[15:12] Yeah, and he had to be really subtle, too, like you said. Especially he had to use facial expressions, but really subtle facial expressions.
His tone of voice had to be a certain way.
Especially in the earlier seasons, he had to play it a lot more stoic. Yeah.
And as the series progressed, he was a little more animated.
But especially at the beginning of the series, there was almost like this enigma.
I mean, that was probably part of the point. But this enigma, and Jon Hamm had to play it like that. So there wasn't really a lot of time for slapstick comedy in his performance, right?
And so what makes him a really compelling SNL host is that he came from that dramatic background with Mad Men that really got Jon Hamm on the scene.
And I'm wondering, because as an SNL viewer, Jamie, I mean, how fun is it to feel surprised by a host? because I feel a lot of people were surprised by Jon Hamm.
So as an SNL viewer, how fun is that when you see a host and they surprise you?
Like to me, it's one of the things that makes following the show so rewarding.
[16:22] Agreed. Yeah, I think it's one of the best things, right?
Like it's there are times when you go into a host and you know what to expect.
And that's great. And that's solid.
But I feel like those like really special moments come when you go in, you're not sure what to expect.
Or maybe you see a host known for one genre and you're not sure are they going to be able to deliver on the comedy side and I feel like with with John John Hamm in particular like hewas somebody who was known dramatic actor at that point and maybe a question of how will this go how will he hack it in in a true kind of live sketch comedy atmosphere and.
[17:02] And that is one of the most fun things about this show.
I always have to learn my lesson time and time again, that a lot of times the really good dramatic actors are some of the best SNL hosts.
For sure. Like, yeah, I can totally see an alternate universe where Jon Hamm was a comedic actor.
I mean, maybe his looks might be a little bit of a detriment.
I feel like figuring out the right way to, like, cast him in comedic roles.
Roles but i mean i think it it happened that mad men became a very successful tv show and that's how people were introduced to him but in an alternate universe maybe a comedic rolewould have been his breakout and then we would have been surprised to see him do a show like mad men 10 years into his career and be like oh my gosh this hilarious guy is also anincredible actor so it's just kind of funny how it how it works out yeah i agree with you the tape it could have been been total reverse we found out over the years that John really enjoyscomedy I mean he's been he had a role in Bridesmaids that was really funny like while he was playing Don Draper he was he was uh Kristen Wiig's uh jerk boyfriend yeah in Bridesmaidshe's been on comedy podcasts he's really good at comedy improv that's like something that John's expressed over the years and.
[18:18] About how he really enjoys comedy. He almost just sort of, the Don Draper thing is almost like the thing that took off.
But you're right. He could have very easily taken off as a comedic actor.
For sure. You see a spark in him, I feel like, whenever he does any sort of comedic role.
And I think people have maybe started to see that side of him a little bit more so over the last decade or so.
He's done various guest spots, 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm.
[18:45] Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Like he's had these roles where not necessarily the star of a comedy show, but able to shine in that type of role.
And you just you see that other side of him right away. Oh, my gosh.
This is a guy who no question can do comedy.
He's great at it. Yeah. People like Tina Fey, SNL Hall of Famer Tina Fey are giving their stamp of approval with Jon Hamm.
You mentioned 30 Rock, Unbreakable, Kimmy Schmidt. uh yeah he's getting like the the approval of people who really know their stuff with comedy so snl was maybe his first the firsttime that people got to see john ham's comedic chops so so that's why the uh john ham and snl that that's an interesting part of his story as an actor so we'll get to it gonna kind of like lookat some of his he hosted three times so we'll kind of look Look at his hosting gigs.
His first one, season 34, episode 6.
That was October 25, 2008.
So it was maybe the second season, I feel like, of Mad Men that was kicking up. So musical guest Coldplay.
And Jamie, this, I really, I'll say up top, when I saw this episode, I really enjoyed it.
So I feel like there's a lot of stuff that we can.
[20:08] Go over and choose from like what stood out to you uh you could make a specific sketch but like what stood out to you uh first and foremost from this episode yeah so what'sinteresting to me about this episode is just kind of the context in which it's taking place first so you have john ham coming in not necessarily the giant name john ham that we know nowright like madman i think took a little bit of time to kind of have the critical acclaimed bill and to have everyone and know it the way that they know it now.
So he's coming in a little bit more of an unknown than he is today.
[20:42] He's talked a little bit about this episode in terms of just like his own nerves and like excitement to host, but also being nervous, like going out, doing that monologue.
He was telling a story at one point about how he almost missed his cue to actually go out and like almost had to be like pushed out.
And I mean, once once the episode kicks off, I feel like he's he's a pro and like the professional Jon Hamm who does everything brilliantly comes out.
But yeah, it's just it's a little bit crazy to me in a good way how he pivoted from apparently being so nervous to doing everything he needs to do to just deliver on the sketches in thisepisode.
Yeah, there was a little bit of nervous energy, which is to be expected when you're hosting SNL. But it's kind of funny to see somebody like Jon Hamm, especially somebody who playedDon Draper, to be a little bit rattled by an experience.
So I love seeing the human side of somebody like Jon Hamm. Not everyone has discovered our show yet.
So tonight, in hopes of boosting our ratings, I'd like to tell you what you'll see if you tune in.
[21:51] Mad Men is a measured period piece set in the early 1960s that explores the social mores of advertising executives who, well, who like to dance with the stars.
It's a cutthroat elimination celebrity dance-off show, and it's on AMC, 10 p.m. on Sundays. days.
The show stars me, everyone from CSI, all of the Phillies and the Rays.
He's almost like this good looking robot actor in some ways.
So it's fun to see the human side of it. And he was in a lot of...
[22:32] Pretty classic sketches from that season, all in one episode. This was from SNL.
SNL fans really enjoyed this episode.
Is there a particular sketch that you think we should start by talking about?
Yeah, so I feel like I have to start with Trick or Treat, and maybe it's a cop-out going a little bit chronologically, but I think it's interesting because we were talking about how he comesout, was maybe a little bit nervous, his first time hosting a gig, you can maybe start to see a little bit of that.
But I feel like with this sketch, and so this is the Jeff Montgomery, it's a classic Halloween sketch.
Folks have probably seen it, but you have Will Forte in the kind of creepy, is he a pedophile? Is he not?
Kind of interplay with John Hamm.
[23:22] John Hamm just crushes this.
And I mean, obviously, he's more of the straight man in this, but such an important part and you were talking earlier about his like facial reactions during mad men and just how he bringsthat you see that in this sketch and a i'm super impressed that he didn't just break a million times in this sketch because it is so hilarious and b not only did he not break i feel like he bringsthat kind of professionalism into this in a way that just makes the whole thing work so yeah i'm curious what you think about this one i feel like this This is a top tier sketch for a lot ofpeople.
Oh, no, this is a classic one. And it's a very much like it's a Will Forte showcase.
And it really plays in Will Forte's really twisted, dark, weird sense of humor sometimes.
But you're absolutely right about Jon Hammond, his acting ability.
And I think a sketch like this, this is where being a very good actor can really help elevate a sketch.
Because you're right. He had to play the facial expressions just right. He had to go from...
[24:28] Being annoyed by Jeff Montgomery to kind of feeling bad that he was annoyed to then start to catch on about what the game was.
Let's just let's just be clear on something here is is sex offender your Halloween costume or are you fulfilling a legal obligation to declare yourself a sex offender?
Bob lighten up it's Halloween!
[24:48] Besides this is a tradition you know I do this every time i move to a new town are you jeff montgomery a sex offender am i jeff montgomery a registered sex offender on halloweenyes what about not on halloween yes even when it's not halloween i'm still jeff montgomery a sex offender look you're missing the point he had to play that just right so you're he's kind ofthe voice of us you're just kind of sitting there going like Like, is he going to ask these questions?
And Jon Hamm, he's not a dumb neighbor.
He's a neighbor that's picking up on this. So this is such good acting.
I feel like Jamie, and this is what I was talking about as far as like these dramatic, quote unquote, dramatic actors or people who we know as dramatic actors.
This is where the really good actors can elevate sketches. And I shouldn't be surprised, but this is yet another example of that.
Yep, absolutely. Yeah, I feel like this is a sketch where the material was great so it would have been fun if it was a little more chaotic or he was breaking or all this stuff.
There's a place for that. But I love that this sketch just comes across as super professional, well-delivered, well-executed comedy and I think that played a big role in how folks received itand just the...
[26:12] The place that I think it has in SNL history and thinking about like the Halloween compilations and everything, this is is always right up there.
And I think one of one of the best, maybe even the best Halloween sketch.
Definitely, definitely at the top for me. Yeah, for me, too.
It's up there. And I feel like this episode for Jon had like an interesting trajectory. It almost felt like they sort of ramped him up as far as what he led or how much of the sketch was aboutJon Hamm leading.
So it seems like at the beginning of the night that this, because this was the lead-off sketch. This sketch happened right after the monologue.
[26:49] And it was, like I said, like a Will Forte showcase. And Jon played a specific role in this.
And then they had him playing Don Draper in the next sketch.
Sketch the two a-holes which was really funny that's of course a Jason and Kristen vehicle he played a he had a very brief appearance as John F.
Kennedy in another sketch but you can kind of I think watching this episode they're kind of ramping John up a little bit he played Don Draper a second time but this this one was a littletwist on it so Don Draper's guide to picking up women Jamie is a pre-tape it's one that that did stand out to me I know it was very very beloved amongst SNL fans.
He's playing Don Draper again, but this time it was more fun and comedic.
It was a twist on Don Draper.
When asked about your past, give vague, open-ended answers.
[27:43] So Don, tell me about your family. Any brothers and sisters?
There was a man with bright, shiny shoes.
I saw him dancing.
Until the accident.
[27:59] How mysterious. Yeah, I love this one.
I think this is a fun just ode to Mad Men fans or just something that they will extra appreciate and, I mean, hopefully has a little bit broader appeal as well.
I think some of the jokes work regardless, but I think especially for folks who know the character of Don Draper, there's a little bit more to the laughs on this one.
So I love how he's basically kind of going through all of the different steps to, as it says, his guide to picking up women um all of the things that are just kind of a little bit ridiculous abouthis character or memorable so things like when in doubt remain absolutely silent which again on mad men you see that he is just this kind of stoic person especially in the early seasonsand just the women and the affairs come from every every angle and just like the reaction that like every woman has around him.
Another one of the steps being like, have a great name. You have the context of like the ridiculous name coming out. But yeah, this was just a fun.
[29:09] Fun way to kind of give a little bit of love to the Mad Men fans while also I think putting in something that anyone can appreciate.
Oh, you're absolutely right. And I was in I was in the camp of not being a Mad Men fan when I first saw this.
But I knew I mean, there are once you watch Mad Men, there are Mad Men specific things that are funny.
But when I first saw this, I wasn't real familiar with Mad Men.
So to me, this this sketch really just like it did convey just a good looking guy who doesn't have to say anything to pick up women essentially and so there's that joke as well so you're rightlike it's for mad men fans but it was for people like me at the time who was not a mad men fan so this this was that's good writing and and good acting uh by john and we'll see like that'sjust a common thread throughout all his sketches like he's just such a good actor he's just such a presence on screen he's has like total command of the material agreed agreed yeah This isa fun one.
The next one. So we kind of are going chronologically well because this is such a fun episode.
It is. And this next one possibly is the highlight for me of the night.
I think with Vincent Price's Halloween special.
So John plays James Mason, who was an old British actor. He was in the Stanley Kubrick movie Lolita.
And I had to look up Jamie James Mason interview because I wanted to compare.
And John was pretty spot-on.
[30:38] No spaceman costume, James? No, didn't even open the box. Too old-fashioned.
The suit was too old-fashioned?
No, I had two old fashions and I couldn't open the box. I've been drunk since 11 a.m., Price. Please, James, family show.
Understood. Say, where are the hordes? Cheesy, crazy, James!
[31:00] He had the cadence down. He had a good British accent. like this was a really this is like it's probably a deep cut impression but John Hamm's James Mason impression was reallygood playing opposite of course Vincent Price Bill Hader's character and then Kristen Wiig was playing Gloria Swanson from Sunset Boulevard this is set in the late 50s so what did youthink of John actually playing doing an impression like playing a character and not himself or Don Draper yeah I love that like the episode starts to like pivot in this direction right of justlike allowing him to do even more I feel like second half of the episode it's like all bets are off we'll let this guy just be be totally wacky and going beyond the the Don Draper sketches thatwe kind of had to start off so yeah I think this one is really just like a fun ensemble sketch for me right you have Fred as Liberace you have kind of Bill kind of coming it being like raisedI don't know if it's a platform or what but like starting off the sketch with like a little little bit of a gag, just kind of being frustrated that that device is not working as expected.
[32:09] You have a little bit of everything, and then you have the impressions.
I was not familiar with James Mason, so I had heard from folks that he did a great job with this impression, but it wasn't one that when I first saw it, I was like, oh, it's that guy orwhatever.
But for me, even without that, just the line delivery and that drunken cloud over his performance in the best possible way just made it super fun.
And he has a lot of great lines.
The, hey, where are the whores? Just kind of like coming in.
He absolutely was having fun. And it's fun to see somebody like Jon Hamm.
He was playing in the SNL of the time.
Because this was already a fun, this Vincent Price Halloween special.
[32:55] It was either a recurring sketch at this point, or it ended up being a recurring sketch.
But this was part of something that a lot of people liked about this part, this era of SNL. So it's fun to see John play with like a recurring sketch.
[33:10] But it's always really neat to me, too, to see a host really pull off an impression because we expect our cast members to do that because they're on the show.
This is what they do. But to have a host come in and have an impression and really pull it off.
And that's what you see from a lot of the greats. Like Alec Baldwin has a handful of impressions that he was really good at.
Not Trump, but stuff like Tony Bennett, stuff like that. That, like, Alec Baldwin had his forte of impressions. It looks like Jon Hamm.
He probably, I wonder if Jon Hamm randomly told them, like, I can do a James Mason.
So what I read about this, and someone might need to fact check me on it, but that he was supposed to be Dean Martin, I think, but then it got changed at the last minute.
I don't know the why. I think it was, like, Lauren saying to change it, and he suggested that he can do James Mason.
What's his name mason james mason um so i feel like that there it sounds like was an element of him suggesting it um and he does it i mean it's it's great yeah i think this might have beenhis best performance of the night for me just because of like the degree of difficulty for a host to do something like this uh the the next sketch i think is probably the most memorable interms of just the snl community at large yeah from this episode and we had a lot of this around around that time we saw like a play on the host name.
So we saw like Peter Skarsgård, Sarsgård is a famous one.
[34:39] So playing off the host name and creating a product and it's such a dumb idea, but it does work for me. And especially the delivery.
So we have Jamie, Jonhams, Jonham, what a product.
Tonight I'm here to talk to you about a product that doesn't need any glitz or gloss.
It's a product that speaks for itself and I'm proud to endorse it.
John Hamm's John Hamm. And you can eat in the bathroom.
[35:07] Let's face it, we live in a fast-paced world. But if you're as busy as I am, every day you have to make a decision.
Am I going to eat lunch or am I going to go to the bathroom?
Now you never have to make that choice again.
This is probably, across the three episodes that we're going to talk about, this is probably my favorite in terms of like you just may makes me laugh the most when i watch it right like idon't know what that says about my brand of humor but i something about just the toilet paper rolls of ham and like his commitment as he's eating this probably disgusting prop ham hamright um but yeah i just thought this was silly well executed fun um it's not super long it's not like he has this crazy amount of stuff that he's saying or doing but the line delivery of evenjust like when he's like now that's good ham just the way he says some of these things i I feel like brings the laughs.
And when we talk about Jon Hamm and Hall of Fame and just his legacy as a host, I feel like his ability to take great material and elevate it is what I look for in those elite caliber hosts.
[36:28] And this is one that I think actually showcases that really well.
You're so right. He speaks with such gravitas.
And that's what this sketch means. and I love that I'm a sucker for that when when it's really dumb material but it's presented in such a grand way with again with such gravitas like it's justlike that funny dry delivery of something so stupid I love too that they even called out the name thing he said I bet you I bet you're thinking that I'm only endorsing this because my name'sJon Hamm and this is Jon Hamm Then he had to explain how his name's spelled and it's not spelled that way and all that. So I love like taking.
[37:10] Taking that idea for the sketch and really like putting it under a microscope and saying no i know i know that i'm up here because it's john ham and my name is john ham but here'sthe deal i'm not i believe in this product so he had to really deliver that like really straight like this is so, fantastic and this is another example like so this is toward the end of the night andwe're seeing like him get more responsibility in sketches as the night goes on i think there there really is like this upward trend of how much responsibility they're going to give Jon Hammthis episode.
Yep. No, I, I love, I love that kind of flow with this episode.
Like you, by the end of this episode, you really see like this, this guy can do comedy and like, you're not even that surprised by it anymore because he's just such a natural and he's justkilling it left and right.
So yeah, I, I really liked the progression of this episode.
Yeah. And speaking of gravitas, the last sketch, It's actually like a three-part runner, but they're back-to-back-to-back. Pat Finger.
Hi, I'm Pat Finger, and I'm running for city council right here in beautiful Butts, New York.
You know, I grew up here in Butts, so I'm very familiar with the sights, the sounds, and the smells of Butts Valley.
In other words, I'm deeply concerned with what's going on inside Butts.
I promise to improve our bridges and roads with a special focus on repairing potholes.
I vow I will do everything in my power to plug up each and every butt's hole.
[38:39] If there's one thing I know, it's this. To get these things done, you're going to need a finger and butts.
[38:47] Cast your vote and put a finger in butts. Paid for by the committee to elect Pat Finger for city council.
Would you vote for Pat Finger, Jamie? I mean, those ads were so convincing that I don't know how.
The name change might confuse me a little bit, right?
Like, it might get to me. But, no, this, I mean, we were talking a little bit about just, like, silly, dumb humor.
And so we're, I feel like, doubling down on that with this one to end the night. But it's fun, right?
I mean, it's basically a bunch of, like, finger and butt jokes for however long this goes on.
Um but i i love that again he keeps a straight face pretty well like he's literally just giving the most childish lines and innuendos throughout and the fact that it's john ham makes it thatmuch funnier that this kind of larger than life guy type of personality is doing this kind of sketch sketch really makes it work.
[39:48] Yeah, I love childish things that are said with such commitment and gravitas.
John Hamm, more than most, pulls that off so well.
He's running for mayor in a town called Butts. His name's Pat Finger.
Of course, you can see where some of the jokes might go.
He changed his name because I love the progression, the escalation of these sketches.
So it was three consecutive commercials for Pat Finger, who is running for and i love that that he realizes why people weren't taking him or the ad seriously so he kind of like became self-aware and of course you know he changed his name to his mother's maiden name which was a cajun name uh deldo so yeah so that's just sort of like the cherry on top of of all the childishuh wordplay that john just sells so well like i'm a sucker for this probably Probably because of his delivery.
Like, Johns is such a good actor. He made this type of material work.
[40:46] No, absolutely. I feel like it was a perfect matchup of the right person to be doing this, this type of sketch.
So yeah, this, this was a fun way to end it.
So this type of so you're if you're watching this type of episode, as it's as it's going on, like your reaction after it ends as an SNL fan, are you just sitting there going like, dang, like, thatwas impressive.
Like, what's your reaction after this type of episode, especially from a first time host?
Yeah i mean i think for for me it's again if you had any doubts that this guy if you had seen mad men a few times or kind of starting to hear about this john ham guy doing some greatacting over on amc i feel like any of those doubts at this point are gone and you're like okay this guy is the real deal he is i mean a legitimate great actor but also just fun and willing to todo a bunch of of silly stuff.
I think we see some of the silly stuff even elevate in the next few episodes, which we'll talk about.
But I feel like by the time this is over, you're like, okay, this guy just talked about finger and butts for three minutes.
[41:56] He's he's in like, we like this guy, we can have fun with him.
He can come back. He's in.
And he made an impression on the cast in this episode.
Amy Poehler, I don't know if you've read her book called Yes, Please. I haven't. I haven't read it yet, but it's on my stack that I need to read.
Okay, I'm going to spoil just a little bit for you. Yes, that's all right.
I can handle it. So she had a funny story in her book about Jon Hamm's episode and about him in particular.
So in her book, Yes, Please, she said that during Jon Hamm's first hosting stint here, she was pregnant and she was very close to her due date.
And she called her doctor's office to check in with them. and the receptionist was crying and told Amy that the doctor had passed away the night before.
[42:40] So this was on the set of a pre-tape that they were filming.
I think it was the How to Pick Up Women pre-tape because I know Amy was in that one.
And Amy started hysterically crying in front of everybody.
So John went over to Amy, put his hand on her shoulder and said, in picture John Hamm's voice, he says, this is a really important show for me.
I'm going to need you to get your shit together.
[43:04] He told Amy that. Amy said she laughed so hard that she probably peed herself.
And I know that that's something that John did to make her feel better and to kind of lighten the tension a little bit. And it was absolutely perfect.
So if I didn't already think that he was funny just in real life and good on his feet, that Amy Poehler story about John saying that to her at that exact moment, it's like left no doubt in mymind.
I don't know if you've ever heard Amy tell that, but I love that story. No, that's amazing.
And again, you hear that story in his voice, which just makes it even better.
Yeah so he yeah he left an impression on amy poehler left the left an impression on the show itself because this was season 34 that he did he had his first hosting gig season 35 it doesn'ttake him long to come back it's just a little over a year later season 35 episode 13 this was january of 2010 musical guest michael buble and that's important that michael buble was amusical guests tonight so we have Jon Hamm returning yeah second season in a row they must have really liked him so.
[44:15] Yeah, this, his monologue, Jamie, he joked about playing variations of Don Draper in different acting gigs prior to Mad Men.
So he's talking about Don Draper again in a monologue, not taking himself too seriously again.
[44:29] It's always been a dream of mine to host SNL, and that dream came true last year when I did it.
So honestly, this time it's really just for the paycheck. check i love that and i think with each progressive episode you just get the sense that he's feeling more and more at home and i feellike it seems like he had great relationships with the cast i don't know exactly the order of that if he had some connections with this era of cast first or if they developed as he was on theshow um but it definitely it feels like he was kind of intertwined with this era the like hater wig like that whole group of people he just fits in so flawlessly with this cast and i think thisepisode kind of his second episode hosting is where you really kind of start to see that it wasn't just kind of a one-off he did a great job and in his first time but he really kind of starts tofeel like part of the fabric of this era in a way that's that's kind of cool yeah i bet when the cast was told that john ham was going to come back they were probably like that's a great ideawe loved working with him last season so i bet a lot of them were really happy to have him back i have an important question for you jamie are you a fan of the movie the lost boys.
[45:46] Not specifically oh man can i give a confession i don't know if i've seen it i don't know if i've seen it you know okay this is a safe space it's okay the movie came out in 1987 ohthat's where i was born oh my gosh i need to get on that yeah it's a good one the cory's cory hame cory fellman, they're both in that jason patrick's in that um also another person who's inthat is a gentleman He's a saxophone player named Tim Capello is in that.
He plays a shirtless sax player in The Lost Boys.
So he was the inspiration. I am sure, I'm 98% sure that he was the inspiration for Sergio.
[46:32] So talk to me about this goofy digital short Sergio, Jamie.
So much fun. um so basically have the guy who's getting cursed Sergio just keeps appearing in in being played by Jon Hamm in the most ridiculous ways just instantly silly right like wewere talking about the build up from the last episode of like putting Jon Hamm in these increasingly like stretch roles for for For him, this is just all in on let's have him play this characterwho is just hilarious.
He's shirtless, right? Shirtless, shiny, kind of the hair, everything going.
The absolute best part of this sketch, though, like the punchline at the end.
I don't know if punchline is the right word, but kind of having him emerge covered in goo as the baby.
When you find out the like whatever the good luck thing has been broken and so he'll be back but just one of my favorite like ends of a sketch in terms of just nailing that ending and inmaking it super memorable.
[47:44] Earlier today, I accidentally knocked your good luck trinket out of the floor.
I didn't know that it fell, and I stepped on it really, really hard, and I broke it. Sorry, don't be mad. No! No!
Take her, and I just pull it. No! Here it comes.
[48:16] Yeah john is really great at selling this goofy idea and i could just see andy and them telling him like we're gonna make you you know if you're up for it we're gonna make you justbe more goofy and silly and look ridiculous in your second time here because like we're not playing like we're taking some of the training wheels off and we're gonna have you shirtlessgyrating with the a saxophone covered in oil and goo are you up for it and john ham says yes i am up for it that's what i love about a good snl host we say we like to say this person wasgame and that person was game no doing something like this is game yeah yep next level game absolutely it's so it's so fun like he you get that goofball side of him yeah and i'm gonnaneed you jamie after we record to go on youtube and look up i think if you just search lot the lost boy saxophone player, you'll see the source material i am so curious now i did not knowthis and i actually need to watch that movie for sure when we stop recording i'm going to stay on with you and like i'm going to have you go on yes yes watch this okay i want to see yes ican't wait so that was sergio a lot lot of great this was a great episode like what else stood out to you here jamie yeah i mean i'll touch on this one just briefly but the the new senator onewhich is well it fits it's like yeah.
[49:44] It's interesting to me in terms of like just letting him be goofy so this is one it feels like a very like dated of the moment reference it's talking about senator scott brown from fromMassachusetts.
So as a Bostonian, that was my initial connection as well, who was like, I guess, known for being this like hunky kind of senator.
I don't remember that being part of his aura, but I guess it was as kind of the basis for this sketch. And he's played by John Hamm.
And you have each one of the folks in the meeting and various political types.
I forget who exactly was who, but they're all kind of envisioning him.
And then you have kind of the Jon Hamm, I don't know, not cutaway, but like the little person hovering on the screen.
I don't know what the technical term is for that. But in all of these different.
[50:35] Costumes outfits just dancing gyrating at one point he's in like a a flapper that was my favorite dress right yeah um so i mean it's it's a sketch that like yes feels very much a productof that moment they mentioned the scott brown thing literally during weekend update in the cold open of this episode so like this must have been a big story this week for some reason umbut taking Taking that aside, I feel like just what he did in that sketch was really fun to me.
[51:06] And again, makes it very clear from the first two or three sketches that like this guy is here to just have a wild good time with us.
Yeah, it's his second sketch in a row where he's dancing around shirtless. Yep.
[51:21] So, you know, he was just completely up for that on this particular evening.
[51:26] Yeah, and the way he played it too is Scott Brown. he would walk in like oops i accidentally walked into the wrong room and then he would on like flirt with one of them yep just tokind of like get and he would like flirt with each of them individually he knew what he was doing uh but uh yeah so i think i think this does like with this one in sergio there is thatcommon thread yep yep of that yeah um i guess we are gonna maybe go a little bit chronologically uh the next one is one of my favorite recurring sketches from around this time uh gametime with randy and greg like do you remember these when they were so goofy wonderful bill hater yeah showcase but john plays he plays an alien bill bill hater plays an alien he playsgreg who's quote unquote not an alien but he is but john matches bill so well playing playing a an alien in this sketch jamie i mean bill hater like one of the all-time time greats just so soincredible to be able to play.
[52:27] With and play off of bill hater in the way that john ham does in this sketch was really impressive to me like there's a a moment or a few moments actually where they're almostdoing like synchronous movements together in like full alien style and i thought that was really well done um as they kind of keep multiplying and we We have four Greggs and then eightGreggs.
It was a zany, fun sketch, I feel like.
[52:57] It's cool seeing Jon Hamm too with some of these different pairings.
And again, we talked about how he fits into this cast so well.
But yeah, any time throughout these episodes where he's with Bill, I just love that.
Because I feel like they have this energy or just something with their different comedic styles that just works well for me. So this was a fun one.
Yeah, a comedic genius like Bill Hader sees Jon and trusts him as a comedic actor and a scene partner.
So that was very obvious here. It was obvious in the Vincent Price one.
It's just obvious how much trust that the cast has in Jon Hamm to pull off this material.
I love when he and Bill Hader's the aliens. They're looking at that globe and the caller's like, oh, that's not good.
They're talking about doing stuff to the earth. That's classic alien.
[53:48] I love these sketches and Jon Hamm just felt right at home.
Because i think they did these like three or four times and all of them were like five star solid yeah yep no this was this was great yeah i have a feeling that you love the next one too andthe next one might might be my favorite john ham sketch okay on snl so i'm gonna let you start start talking about it yeah so i assume we're talking ham and bubbly absolutely yeah so thiswas the you'll have to help me with the details here restaurant is supposed to be a restaurant was the the vibe right yeah john had an idea that he pitched to michael buble at a party whenhe was a little drunk michael buble sings he gives the backstory in song form so this is supposed to be be a restaurant yeah yes and the entire sketch is essentially sung to the tune of i justhaven't met you yet maybe little breaks throughout but you kind of get that whole like michael buble and and first of all like love the when you have the musical guests kind of coming inum to to have fun and and to be such a crucial part i feel like sometimes you have the musical guests coming in and they maybe say a line or they get to say that they were in a sketch butum i love that he is such an integral part of this and by the end you have michael buble basically admitting that he's been taking captive and asking for the police to.
[55:15] Get involved it's a lot of fun.
[55:18] Seeing kind of this side of john ham um in.
[55:22] In this one yeah john is perfect as like this intimidating guy or this like low-key sinister guy like he's trying to like have a have a smile on his face and say hey come to ourrestaurant that serves champagne and ham and pork products and yeah bubbly and I just love like you see the intimidation you see you see that side of him in little spurts.
Good evening. I'm Jon Hamm. If you're looking for a romantic night out at a restaurant that specializes in pork dishes and fine champagne, then look no further than Hamm and Bubbly.
[56:02] It's actually pronounced Bub-lay. Well, Bub-lay doesn't work, so now it's pronounced Bub-ly.
It's just like, this is played so perfectly. To me, this is one of my favorite sketches of that era, like 2010s, around that time. I just absolutely love this.
You're right, Michael Bublé shows such fun comedic chops as well.
This is a classic, in my opinion.
Yeah, and I love just the interplay across these different sketches.
You have him from an alien before to now this kind of intimidating guy holding someone else captive in this one.
All of these different sides of Jon Hamm's character breadth that he can do.
It's really fun. yeah this was great is there anything else from this episode that that stood out to you the only other one that i would give a quick shout out to is the the two-part closetorganizer.
[56:57] Series um so this is super fun you have basically a ton of things getting thrown at the is it zipco is that the name zipco closet organizer yeah it's basically a guy in like a blue bluesuit will forte's character who's like just dealing with all this stuff kind of being thrown being basically the closet organizer marbles yeah pies pies yeah so it's it works on its own but ithink for me like seeing the second part was what made me really appreciate it so the second part being basically it seems like this random bar sketch you don't even realize at first thatThere's a connection.
You have Jon Hamm, Will Forte sitting at a bar together, Jon Hamm recognizing and being like, oh, my gosh, you're that closet organizer guy.
The guy from that wearing the blue suit and goes into this whole thing, finds out his name is Tarantino.
[57:58] Fencing to and then like it becomes a whole a whole ordeal uh john ham's like asking him to do a little bit of his role and then you find out he like kind of wants to go over to hishouse or like meet up have him come over to like use his closet organizing services and the guy's mad that that's what everyone just wants to use him for and it's just fun right i feel likethey could have gone in the direction of just like giving us more of those like commercial spots but in 10 they Instead, they kind of like flipped it and gave us like the inside look at the guywho was in this commercial. So I thought it was a cool twist.
[58:33] Yeah, I love when SNL does this and especially how they did it here.
So I like runners in general, but you're right. This was like a different, this wasn't just a second closet organizer commercial.
It was like that we've already established that there's a commercial.
Commercial now we're gonna see the guy who play who was in the closet organizer commercial just add a bar somewhere that that was like perfect john it's kind of funny because in thefirst one john just played an actor who gave a testimonial that had nothing to do with the product so it was kind of like a non-sequitur testimonial so then john is in the second one uh asyeah you were as this person who's like and at first he said oh we can come we can hang out we can play video games we can let me have fun and then maybe you can help me organizemy closet and will forte is like oh Oh, there it is. There it is.
[59:21] So it's a great acting by John. Just the perfect, like when he's revealing that Will Forte is the closet organizer.
He does it in just such just a...
[59:31] Great timing yeah great delivery in that reveal so that's something that's it that was again i'm saying this a lot but that was a very memorable sketch amongst snl fans around thattime and john ham again part of it so again so you two we're two for two as far as like would you consider this like a classic snl episode absolutely um honestly both of the like these firsttwo episodes like i was trying to think like of the three which are my favorite it's either number one or number two but I keep going back and forth like yeah I think the the first oneprobably had my favorite like sketcher moment with the like Jon Hamm's Jon Hamm but this one like from a consistency standpoint I feel like had a lot of just classic really great sketchesso it's kind of like it's it's hard to pick between these two yeah I think they're pretty equal I think Jon was given a little more responsibility in the second one yeah so if we're talking JonHamm that might edge it out for me but to me honestly these first two john ham episodes are two classics from the era agreed not a lot of not a lot of hosts get one classic much less twoclassics yeah agreed yeah and so and we really only see like the best of the best hosts on three seasons in a row so like john goodman was on a bunch of seasons or i think alec baldwin hashad stretches where he's hosted hosted uh through like three seasons or more in a row john does it this time so he's.
[1:00:59] Hosted season 34 35 he's back it's for.
[1:01:02] Season 36 like jamie is this a clear sign that the show holds john ham in like rare.
[1:01:09] Like high regard yeah absolutely i feel like at this point it's like okay people want to see this guy back clearly gets along well with the cast i feel like just in all directions you seehim kind of fitting into this era of the show like we talked about before so.
[1:01:28] Love the the three and three seasons i feel like it also allows us as viewers to kind of feel like you're getting to know the host a little bit better right like sometimes there's these bigbreaks between when a host will come on which is all right as well but i i do think there is something to be said for like really feeling like okay here he is he's back again let's see let's seewhat he's gonna bring us this time yeah this is october 30th 2010 so two in the same calendar under a year too he had two hosting gigs in 2010 so that that's quite the accomplishmentmusical guest Rihanna uh this one had some good uh John performances there are probably a couple of kind of standout things that John did I I agree with you though like I think this onewould be probably a clear third if we're kind of ranking the episodes I think this one would be a clear third but what like uh what do you want to um kind of highlight from from this thirdJohn Hamm episode yeah so i think for me like the monologue was interesting actually on this one because he specifically calls out like the progression of his nerves and how much lessnervous he is at this point or i guess he says only slightly less nervous but um at this point it's season four of mad men i think he shouts out so um still does a few little like connectionsand he's basically like giving slogans or marketing visions for various products with kind of different cast members chiming in.
[1:02:53] So I thought that was kind of a fun way to like give us a little bit of Don Draper, Mad Men stuff without it being like entire sketches worth.
[1:03:02] And you know, one of the many benefits of being on Mad Men is getting to know the world of advertising.
[1:03:09] It's funny, but playing Don Draper has made me think about ad campaigns a lot.
Sometimes I'll be walking down the street and I'll see a product and a slogan will just pop into my head.
Here, I'll show you. Someone name a product.
[1:03:24] Um, it can be anything, uh, purses, purses, uh, water purses, uh, they're for ladies to hold things. Uh, but they're more than that.
Um, purses are the things you need for the small trips in life.
They're, uh, Oh, I almost have it. Uh, every day is a secret vacation with your tiny lady suitcase purses.
Not bad, right? I enjoyed that.
Um, I think that was probably probably the best monologue of the three.
Yeah, yeah, for me, it was. Yep. And I think, again, it's maybe also my bias of just by this point, you you know, him, you are like, Oh, my gosh, Jon Hamm, here he is.
And you're just kind of ready for for him to kick things off and and get into some actual like funny material.
So I like that we got that in this monologue. Yeah, definitely.
So he did another Vincent Price, which he played John F. Kennedy, I thought that was pretty cool to see him do a character, do an accent.
Another guest. Who could it be?
[1:04:28] Well, it's none other than Democratic presidential nominee John F.
Kennedy. It's good to be here, Vincent.
And who's your friend? Oh, well, you told me to bring candy, so I'd like to introduce you to Candy DiCenzo of the Reno DiCenzos.
You're so funny, Johnny. My God, man, you're running for president.
Oh, don't worry, Vincent. She's just my campaign manager.
Oh. And also a prostitute. Oh.
How was Jon Hamm's Boston accent, Massachusetts accent?
Um, oh, all right. I'm a harsh critic of Boston accents. Yeah, that's why I was asking. Yeah, you're like, yeah.
It wasn't bad. I'll tell you what, if I notice it being bad, that's when it's like, oh my gosh, like when it feels like someone's trying too hard.
I feel like it felt pretty pretty natural um it didn't distract i feel like from what he was doing either so yeah it worked it worked for me yeah so another uh fun installment of vincent price'shalloween special uh yeah what what did what did you want to highlight from this yeah so let's see the back to the future uh dvd spots were kind of fun um so we have just so manydifferent different impressions like.
[1:05:45] 10 or more. I forget how many. There's so many, so many.
But again, like John Hamm kind of being part of it as well with Robin Williams.
Robin Williams, take one.
Marty, it's getting heavy in here. Oh, yes. Oh, 1.21 gigawatts.
Yo, Marty, Libby, we got to get the hell out of here.
No, Marty, we got to harness the lightning. Woo! Praise Jesus.
Oh, the space-time continuum, Did you get it?
Oh, Mr. Happy thinks so.
[1:06:19] That was surprising to me. Out of all impressions that Jon Hamm could do, like he broke out a Robin Williams. I know.
Yeah, that was really surprising. I think it missed a little bit of manic energy.
I think he could have maybe, pardon the pun, I'm thinking he could have hammed it up a little bit more.
But like, it wasn't bad to me. And I have respected that he tried a Robin Williams. Exactly.
Yeah, I feel like the impressions from these, like, there was the whole gamut.
We had, like, an Eddie Murphy and Al Pacino in there.
Some were great, some were just okay, as it always is, I feel like, with some of these, like, impression-based sketches.
But I love that he just got right in on the action, and it was fun.
I, again, props to any host that'll just jump right into the impression game with everyone else.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And this third episode for John, you could tell he was just like, I want to have fun. I'm just gonna have so much fun.
I'm less nervous than I was before.
And I want to do some really goofy stuff. He did one right after that Back to the Future DVD anniversary thing.
It was he played the husband of a woman who was auditioning for I think was Kristen Wiig, who was auditioning for some roles.
And he played this husband who was advocating for her. I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm her husband. I just have to know how this is going.
Oh, he just told me. I didn't get the part. It's done.
[1:07:48] Well, you are making a huge mistake, sir. Sandy, please. No, I want to do this.
[1:07:53] This woman isn't just my wife. She is an actress. She is a masteress of her craft.
Are you insane in the membrane?
[1:08:04] Insane in the brain? You guys got to go. First, let me ask you, sir.
Have you seen this woman's Stanley Steamer commercial? Sandy, don't. Let me remind you.
That was such fun, like, dramatic, over-the-top dramatic acting by John.
I think this was where he was, like, really well utilized in this episode.
Yep. And it's interesting. Like, we were talking about episodes one and two, maybe, if you had to rank having more of the, like, classic sketches.
But I felt like this episode had solid sketches. It had him doing different things in ways where, like, he understands the assignment and does it extremely well.
And I think having somebody who can do that, not every sketch across somebody's hosting career is going to be a put it on the DVDs, like, best of all time kind of sketch.
[1:08:56] But I feel like with, like, across all that he's doing, like, he does a great job with the material he's given. And there were some fun moments in this episode, too.
Yeah, he gets to have fun with the cast. He gets to kiss Jason Sudeikis in a sketch, the highway cops one.
Yep, yep. I really also liked the I didn't ask for this one, where you have kind of all of these different people who became famous for, like, bad reactions to things on the Internet.
Or you have, like, one guy who, like, reacted to an internet jump scare video and, like, wet his pants and punched the laptop and was coming onto the show to talk about that.
And you have Kristen Wiig, who was, like, stung by a bee and it got, like, remixed into some ridiculous thing.
And then you have Jon Hamm coming in as a guest on the show who was like this absentee father who reconnects with his son and then has this viral moment where he just like sobs inthis really like ugly cry but also like makes a really weird noise while he's doing it kind of way.
[1:10:17] Then it kind of becomes a whole thing where they all start laughing at him on the show itself, and then he does it again.
Which, again, just like if you look at the Jon Hamm part of that sketch, I feel like he was just doing crazy things, making weird noises and weird faces, and didn't care, and just having agood old time with it. So I liked his role in that one.
[1:10:41] Yeah, me too. I did like that one. Even if it's not A-plus material, you know Jon Hamm's going to go for it. Right, exactly.
And that's what I like. You know you're going to get a solid Jon Hamm performance.
So all in all, three episodes, two classic episodes, I think we're in agreement about that, and one good episode.
[1:10:59] Yep. I think that's a really great hit rate for three episodes.
Absolutely and I mean he has that up for anything vibe honestly in all three episodes to me you definitely see the progression of how they use him and kind of trying out different thingsbut honestly like throughout all three I feel like he exudes that energy he kind of brings both the the seriousness in in some of the sketches but also that goofiness and humor to others andAnd everyone loves seeing that person they know from the prestige drama show come in and do absolutely ridiculous, wacky things.
And I feel like people had a real taking to him.
Like, I've talked to some people who actually were surprised that he's not a five-timer, thinking that he's hosted the show more often than he has just because his impact when he doescome on is so memorable.
And you do associate him with classic sketches. And I think also the fact that he did a couple Halloween episodes, I feel like there's this association of Jon Hamm and Halloween sketches.
And I feel like he had that impact that makes it even feel like he hosted more than the three times to me.
Yeah, that's a mark of a potential Hall of Famer is an outsized impact relative to how often they hosted the show.
That's a really great point. So after Mad Men, he hasn't been in anything as the lead that's really hit.
[1:12:29] He's made a lot of great appearances. And like you said, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, he was in Top Gun Maverick, which I love.
He was like seventh on the call sheet, probably in Top Gun Maverick.
So he's appeared, he appears in a lot of things, but he hasn't had that hit yet.
Like mad men so i'm wondering like do you think it's possible that we could see john host again or was he just kind of specific to that era of it's so interesting because we do see him popin still from time to time right like he is somebody who i feel like is just like has fun with the show and is like hey you want me to come do a cameo come be in this one sketch like Like,I'll do that. That's so cool. He was in that Manning cast.
Yes, I loved him in that, actually. Yeah, I really did.
[1:13:19] He played a politician. Who did he play? I remember he played a politician that was like, it was like a soap opera political sketch.
And he had like a love affair with AOC, who Melissa Villasenor played.
But Jon Hamm just randomly appeared there.
So you're right. He has made appearances here and there. Yeah.
I also heard that apparently when Lindsay Lohan was host, he was the backup host on call for if she could not perform her duties.
And I think he came in on the episode. I'm not 100% sure. But he was like on deck in case that did not work out.
[1:13:51] So I feel like there is this relationship that he seems to have with the show of like part of the gang had strong relationships, I think, with that like late 2000s cast.
But also seems to have maintained connection with the show overall i would not be surprised if we saw him again i was surprised that we actually didn't see him so season five of fargowhich i have not seen yet i'm still catching up but i've heard great things about him on that and i think somewhat of a lead-ish role so i was wondering if there if that might tie in um butyeah.
[1:14:27] I if i had to bet money on it i would think we might see him again but it's also a little weird that it has been so long so um so i don't know yeah it could go either way on this onebut i hope if he has like a big like starring like movie role or big tv role or something that he's really trying to promote that that we can't count it out entirely yeah he's one of the one of thehosts that i want want to see return the most honestly yep yeah yeah i want to see i think it would draw great ratings i think people would love it like people i think at this point associatehim as this host that when he comes on it's a great snl episode so i think it would be a great move if if they do find out a way to to bring him back at some point yeah i agree and just kindof sum it up so So Jon has only three hosting stints, as we've mentioned.
[1:15:23] He didn't rack up the numbers like some of the other greats.
But why do you think voters should look at Jon Hamm as a potential Hall of Fame caliber host?
Yeah, for sure. So I think he, to me, feels connected to the DNA of the show.
And I mentioned that before.
[1:15:41] Specifically in the era he was on, yes, but also the fact that he has had cameos and appearances that extend all the way to the present era.
I feel like he has that relationship with the show and the impact on the show.
I think his chemistry with the cast feels extremely natural.
You really see that, I think, in all three of the episodes that he has.
He's somebody that has multiple classic sketches, but more than that, I think he actually helps create the greatness in those sketches.
So he takes great writing, great material, but then brings his own comedic chops to that.
And he kind of leaves that impression of somebody where you're like, oh my gosh, I love seeing what he can do from a comedy perspective on a show like SNL.
So like I said, he's the kind of person where I think his reputation as a host is extremely strong.
When I talk to people, there is that sense that he did even more than the three that he's done and that when he is on the show, people want to watch.
So to me, that is a Hall of Famer.
Track 2:
[1:17:08] So there's that kudos to jamie burwood and thomas for opening my eyes to the snl hosting career of john ham i really like the idea that he brings the greatness to sketches sketcheseven as a host, which is ideally what we want a host to do.
Let's listen to one of those sketches now.
And hear the greatness of Jon Hamm.
Track 5:
[1:17:46] Hello, I'm Jon Hamm. You know, ad executives are always trying to find new and exciting ways to present products to the American consumer.
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[1:18:44] Mmm. That's good ham.
Now, I know what you're thinking, that I'm only endorsing John Ham because John Ham is also my name. Well, you're wrong. You're dead wrong.
First of all, my last name has two Ms, and second of all, my first name doesn't have an H.
Feel like a dummy yet? Because you should.
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And remember the Jon Hamm's Jon Hamm motto. If it feels like a slice of ham, don't wipe your ass with it.
Track 2:
[1:19:48] That's fantastic uh you might remember that sketch uh when it aired it uh it was it was great then and it's great now listening to it it's very very funny so is it funny enough to landjohn ham into the snl hall of fame well that's not for me to decide that's for you to to decide.
When we open voting after the roundtable episode, you will be able to vote your favorites.
You'll have 15 votes to cast and there's quite a few people that are going to be on this ballot.
You've got some tough choices to make. Are you a small hall person?
Are you a big hall person. It's going to depend on those types of things as to who gets in.
The hosting category is relatively slim at this point, but there are some surefire Hall of Famers.
Well, of course, they're surefire Hall of Famers if they're in the Hall of Fame, but you catch my drift.
[1:20:56] Anyway, next week we have a fantastic show for you. Our nominee is going to be Emma Stone.
So this will be the third host in a row that we are discussing.
Where does Emma Stone fit in with that triumvirate?
You'll have to, uh, listen and decide for yourself.
She will be, uh, nominated by special guest SNL stats guru for the Saturday night network, Mike Murray.
So definitely download that episode, download them all rate review, share, subscribe to all your friends.
And, uh, you know, get involved.
[1:21:38] That's all I've got for you this week. So if you please do me a favor and on your way out, as you pass the weekend update exhibit, turn out the lights because the SNL hall of fameis now closed.d
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