> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.theomnicosm.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Sorry, Jamie Foxx, but this ‘SNL’ episode should be locked in a lighthouse crawling with gators
- URL: https://www.theomnicosm.com/sorry-jamie-foxx-but-this-snl-episode-should-be-locked-in-a-lighthouse-crawling-with-gators/
- Published: 2012-12-09T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2025-10-16T21:02:05.000Z
- Description: A republished recap of the Dec. 8, 2012, episode of ‘SNL’ hosted by Jamie Foxx.
- Author: Bill Kuchman
- Tags: The Cold Open • From the Archive, SNL Season 38, The Cold Open, SNL, Jamie Foxx, The Cold Open • Episode Reviews

*I wrote* SNL *recaps for the original version of Popculturology from 2012 to 2015\. The opinions voiced in these recaps may be outdated based on the events that have occurred since their writing. This article was originally published on Dec. 9, 2012.*

Welcome to the ninth edition of *Sunday Morning Live*, **Popculturology**'s look at the latest edition of *Saturday Night Live*. All of your questions about the **Jamie Foxx**\-hosted episode will be answered after the jump.

### How'd Jamie Foxx do?

After taking a few weeks off, *SNL* probably hoped to get back on air with a strong episode, an episode that would carry the show into Christmas next week and wrap things up before the new year. Well, this weekend's episode didn't quite do that. In fact, it didn't come close. The Foxx-hosted episode may have been the most uneven and disjoined episode of Season 38\. **Cecily Strong** and **Kate McKinnon**, this season's two standouts, were absent for pretty much the entire show. *SNL* went to the game show well not once but twice. Most of the sketches failed to land their punches.  
  
The blame shouldn't go to Foxx, though, as he was only doing the best he could with the material *SNL*'s writers gave him. Unfortunately, that wasn't much. Foxx's monologue was a weird collection of catchphrases ("How black is that?"), piano playing and a rapper that I have to admit I'd never heard of. Foxx did whatever *SNL* asked him to do, and he barely appeared to be relying on the cue cards. It's great to see a host who wants to do everything, but this may be the rare occasion when the rest of the cast should have been more involved.

## Sign up

Join the hundreds of ****Deep SNL Thoughts** subscribers who already get free editions including the episode recaps, news and more.

Subscribe 

Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. 

➕ Already a ****Deep SNL Thoughts** subscriber? ****Please consider becoming a supporter** by [****upgrading your account**](https://www.popculturology.news/?ref=theomnicosm.com#/portal/).  
  
🍿🍪 Wanna add ****Popculturology** and ****Snackology** to your subscription? ****Update your email preferences** [****on your account page**](https://www.popculturology.news/?ref=theomnicosm.com#/portal/).

### What were the best sketches of the night?

This is going to be the one that people will probably be talking about. Taking a page from the infamous *Potato Chip* sketch, *Maine Justice* put **Jason Sudeikis** in a Col. Sanders costume and let him loose. Sudeikis was clearly having a blast in this sketch, causing Foxx to break character at the end. Regardless of how these people got in Maine — relocated after Katrina? Courtroom exchange program? Space portal? — this sketch is going to live on as one of the more bizarre things *SNL* has done this season. **Charlie Day** popping in as a Cajun-speaking Maine congressman makes up for the lack of good writing *SNL* gave him when he hosted last season.

After her rise to the top of the *SNL* talent chart, I can't understand why Strong only made it into one sketch this episode. Strong and **Vanessa Bayer** as former pornstars promoting Swarovski crystals may have been the episode's final sketch, but it was one of its bests. Maybe *SNL* felt it couldn't get Strong listing "anal" as the "one thing that never goes out of style" past the censors at the beginning of the show.

There was a time when **Justin Timberlake** frequently hosted *SNL*. In every episode, he would dress up in some ridiculous costume — can of soup, omlette, bottle of beer — with every costume involving a pair of oversized, Mickey Mouse-esque four-fingered gloves. With *SNL* in a serious Timberlake drought, it looks like the show found another use for those gloves, giving them to Foxx when he played a Hostess Ding Dong on *Weekend Update*.

### What kind of shorts did SNL have this week?

The best short was *Marcus Banks: Tree Pimp*, a documentary style look at a pimp who left the prostitution game only to start selling/pimping out Christmas trees. Thanks to **Keenan Thompson** in this short, "photopimpythesis" is now a word.

While **Tyler Perry**'s *Alex Cross* movie flopped at the box office, Perry is already working on a sequel, but this time he's bringing in his most well-known character: Madea. Yes, that's the premise of *Tyler Cross 2: Madea: Special Ops*. Not only is Foxx's Perry playing both characters, he's playing both at the same time, Two Face style.

### With the presidential election a month in the past, how's SNL dealing with politics?

**Jay Pharoah**'s President **Barack Obama** is still around, getting joined by **Bill Hader**'s Speaker **John Boehner** in the cold open. I'm pretty sure that Hader also plays the Cowardly Lion whenever *SNL* does a *Wizard of Oz* sketch, meaning he uses the same sobbing cry for both Boehner and the Cowardly Lion.

### What was the biggest problem with this episode?

Well, besides the lack of Strong and McKinnon, *SNL* made the mistake of doing two game show sketches. Look, I'm all for game shows now and then, and *SNL* can do *Celebrity Jeopardy* anytime they can convince **Will Ferrell** and **Darrell Hammond** to swing by. Most of the time, though, the game show sketches are lame and fail to bring in any big laughs. This is why it was shocking that *SNL* would do two game shows in one episode. If you're only going to do eight sketches in an episode, why make a quarter of them game show ones?

*Bitch, What's the Answer?* was the first game show sketch of the night. By my count the word "bitch" was used 33 times. I don't know if that's an *SNL* record, but it didn't make the sketch any funnier. This was the first sketch after the monologue. Didn't bode well for the episode as a whole.

Do black people have trouble telling **Dylan McDermott** or **Dermott Mulroney** apart? Personally, I think everyone does. Having the real Mulroney show up and express confusion over who was salvaged a small bit of this sketch's dignity.

****Deep SNL Thoughts** is written and produced by ****Bill Kuchman**.   
Copyediting by ****Tim Kuchman**.  
  
💰 Like what you’re reading on ****Deep SNL Thoughts**? [Send ****a one-time tip to show your support** for the newsletter. ](https://www.popculturology.news/?ref=theomnicosm.com#/portal/support)  
  
➕ Already a ****Deep SNL Thoughts** subscriber? ****Please consider becoming a supporter** by [****upgrading your account**](https://www.popculturology.news/?ref=theomnicosm.com#/portal/).  
  
🍿🍪 Wanna add ****Popculturology** and ****Snackology** to your subscription? ****Update your email preferences** [****on your account page**](https://www.popculturology.news/?ref=theomnicosm.com#/portal/).  
  
You can also follow me on [****Bluesky**](https://bsky.app/profile/billkuchman.bsky.social?ref=theomnicosm.com) and [****Instagram**](https://www.instagram.com/popculturology/?ref=theomnicosm.com).

![The Omnicosm](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f4/8b/f48be8ca-23c6-4d81-b0cf-da2fb0785911/content/images/size/w1000/2025/05/the-omnicosm-wordmark-new-1.png)

**Deep SNL Thoughts** is a publication of The Omnicosm.