Saturday Night Live/Matthew Fox/Tenacious D

Matthew Fox/Tenacious D
Season 32, Episode 7
Airdate	December 2, 2006
Production Number	1478
Written by
Directed by	Don Roy King
← 32x06 Ludacris	32x08 → Annette Bening/Gwen Stefani & Akon
Saturday Night Live — Season Thirty-Two

Matthew Fox/Tenacious D is the seventh episode of the thirty-second season of Saturday Night Live, and the six hundred and fifteenth episode overall.

Guest Stars: Matthew Fox (Host), Tenacious D (Musical Guest)

Episode Breakdown

• Bush/Maliki Press Conference: President George W. Bush (Sudeikis) holds a press conference from Jordan with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (Armisen) in which Maliki answers questions from reporters, including Hader, Rudolph, Samberg, Wiig and Thompson. To Bush's embarrassment, Maliki describes how bad he has it in Iraq through his translator (Forte). Among his statements are bits about how he was nearly assassinated several times, kidnapped and had no Internet. He also comments on how he wishes the security force were deserters, because that would be a severe improvement over them giving their weapons and uniforms to insurgents.
• Matthew Fox's Monologue: Fox laments that Party of Five was cancelled before he could host SNL, although everyone else in the cast hosted. His life turned around when he ran into John Ratzenberger, who was the only Cheers cast member not to host the show. When Fox brings up other ensemble casts with one lone member who didn't host, Michael Richards (Hader) bursts onto the stage. He proposes the idea of hosting the show together, but instead of assuming his regular identity, he insists he's Cosmo Kramer. When Fox tells him that he'd like to host alone, "Kramer" asks for a part on Lost.
• Sale Mart: Employees of Sale Mart (Sudeikis, Armisen, Thompson, Wiig, et al.) happily pass the savings on to customers by not having insurance or worker's comp, using illegal immigrants as workers and making use of sweatshop labor to manufacture their products.
• Nancy Grace: Nancy Grace (Poehler) follows the "Michael Richards drama" with "victim" Dr. Albert Edwards (Thompson), a professor of African-American Studies, who expresses his desire to open up a dialogue in America about race relations. Grace, however, pushes victimization on Edwards and insists that he sue Michael Richards for using racial slurs. She moves on to OJ Simpson, where Grace shows how she would have reacted to the OJ Simpson interview if FOX had agreed to air it. Finally, she addresses a parking ticket given by a traffic cop (Fox). She tries to rationalize why she should be able to park in the handicapped space, but fails miserably so she calls him a racist in a roundabout way by connecting him with Seinfeld.
• Deep House Dish - Beginnings Chang, DJ Luxe & Lateesa Stroh: DJ Dynasty Handbag (Thompson) introduces his new co-host, T'Shane (Samberg), and the two talk to several dance music stars including Beginnings Chang (Rudolph), DJ Luxe (Fox) and Lateesa Stroh (Poehler). Most of the exchanges involve T'Shane over-enthusiastically making bad jokes and Dynasty shooting him down in the same way he did to Tiara.
• Lost in an Elevator: Matthew Fox gets in an elevator with an overenthusiastic fan of Lost (Armisen) who is certain Fox has no idea what's going on the show. Two women, Karen (Rudolph) & Diane (Poehler), get on the elevator, but Karen is only halfway through the second season. Despite this, a UPS delivery man (Thompson) gets on the elevator and, along with the first fan, spoils parts of the third season. Karen runs out of the elevator, and a bicyclist (Samberg) gets on the elevator and lobs more theories and questions at him. Diane asks Fox out, but he reveals he is married with two children. Karen runs back to the elevator to ask Fox out, but she is embarrassed to learn the question has been asked. After he has had enough, Fox relents and says all the fan's theories are right.
• Kickapoo: Tenacious D song.
• Weekend Update
  • Al Sharpton (Thompson) and Jesse Jackson (Hammond) comment on the recent racial issues causing tension in the United States. They propose a ban on "the N-Word," but attempt to come up with an equally hateful two-syllable word that can be put in already recorded rap songs. They settle on "Kramer."
  • Poehler's Aunt Linda (Wiig) reviews several movies that came out in the winter months including Borat, Casino Royale and Apocalypto—all of which she hated.
  • Poehler comments on the lack of modesty of celebrities such as Britney Spears, who was recently caught coming out of a limo in a short skirt but no panties. Poehler encourages female celebrities to keep their vaginas hidden and unshaven. When she is done with her rant, Meyers adds, "Keep up the great work, ladies."
  • Whitney Houston (Rudolph) comments on her mansion being repossessed and blames it entirely on Bobby Brown. She keeps getting prank phone calls from someone whom she believes to be Bobby Brown, but turns out to be Chaka Khan.
• Crazy Mountain Man: A crazy mountain man (Fox) comes to a house to get "a piece of pie" from two girls (Wiig & Poehler), but they refuse until he relents and bargains with them for a kiss before he'll be on his way. But, after the sketch deviates from what Fox rehearsed, he starts to question the teleprompters which start making him say things like "Kristen and Amy are the sexiest women I've ever seen." The two attempt to get him to take off his pants and open-mouth kiss them, he objects and demands to see Lorne. Rudolph appears, dressed as Lorne, and the three chase him around in circles.
• History Buffs: A college student (Samberg) comes back from college for the first time to face his parents (Forte & Wiig) with the fact that he's decided not to major in history, despite his parents' love of history. When he tells them that he dropped history and intends to become a mathematician, his parents lose their minds at him. They get into an argument when "a professor" (Fox) appears to bring the two together and stop all the hatred. He reveals that the reason why the father hates math is because he can't count. They make up and the professor disappears with their television.
• The Mayans: The History Channel profiles the Mayans' final moments before being wiped out. The Mayan king (Armisen) rallies his troops against the Toltecs. But, when he's given a drink by a servant girl (Rudolph), he becomes caught up in the wonder that is chocolate. His lieutenant (Fox) attempts to drive him back to the matter at hand, but winds up drinking the chocolate and gets caught up, too. Consequently, the Mayans, including a dying warrior (Hader) who suggests that they make brownies and an angry captain (Samberg), are all wiped out by their enemies.
• The Metal: Tenacious D song. Features an entire sub-sketch featuring actors representing non-metal rock movements such as New Wave (Armisen & Rudolph), grunge (Samberg & Sudeikis), punk rock (Hader & Poehler) and techno (Wiig). All try but fail to defeat the tall, heavily armored actor representing "The Metal."

Notes

"Live from New York, It's Saturday Night!"

• Fred Armisen as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (in Arabic) and Will Forte as Maliki's translator.

Music

• Kickapoo, performed by Tenacious D: Kickapoo is the first song off Tenacious D's second album, The Pick of Destiny, and serves as sort of an overture for the film of the same name. In the album version of the song, Meatloaf sings the part Kyle Gass sang and Ronnie James Dio, appropriately, sang the part of the song after where Jack Black asks for Dio's help in becoming a rock legend.
  

  

  Tenacious D performs "The Metal."

• Word Up, performed by Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton: Originally performed by Cameo, "Word Up" was the R&B/Dance group's only hit in 1986.

• The Metal, performed by Tenacious D: "The Metal" is the final song off Tenacious D's "The Pick of Destiny" and dictates how metal music has remained strong despite other genres' attempts to "kill" it. The actor portraying "The Metal" is not a cast member and is probably JR "Lee" Reed, but the actors portraying the various genres are all cast members including new wave (Armisen & Rudolph), grunge (Samberg & Sudeikis), punk rock (Hader & Poehler) and techno (Wiig). Incidentally, Rudolph formerly sang back-up vocals for The Rentals, a synth-pop band that can be directly connected to the popularity of new wave in the 80s.

Quotes

• Nancy Grace: I like you, Dr. Edwards. The only N-word I would call you is "nice."
  Dr. Albert Edwards: I don't that that sentence came out the way you wanted it to, Nancy.
  Nancy Grace: Mmmm, I think it did.