In an interview with Vulture, Bayer said she did not think the J-Pop sketch was racist: We're obviously making fun of a certain kind of person that loves that culture so much and is sort of ignorant about it.
Ryan McGee of HitFix said: "I used to love this sketch, but at this point, I would rather see a digital short involving Jason Sudeikis' horrified professor after a taping of this show.
"[3] However, Vulture's Joe Reid said, "In classic SNL fashion, it's the one-joke premise stretched out over countless repetitions, but I am so fond of Taran Killam and Vanessa Bayer, I could watch them bounce around to that theme song all day.
"[4] Hillary Busis wrote for Entertainment Weekly that "It’s been long enough since the sketch last appeared for Bayer’s anime eyes, Killam’s wig, and the pair's cultural insensitivity...to be amusing again.
Following the January 31, 2012 announcement that Brittain was departing the show immediately, several sources expressed disappointment that there would be no further appearances by Lord Wyndemere, whom Entertainment Weekly called "wonderfully weird.
Andy Samberg and a female co-host host a television show devoted to acting out pornographic vignettes using various technological devices as the characters (e.g., an iPad as a wealthy hotel guest who recognizes his chambermaid, a video game controller, as a downtown callgirl).
Calling it "so-stupid-its-funny", Katla McGlynn of The Huffington Post wrote: "The funny part is the dialogue, which is so soap opera-y and over the top that it sounds hilarious coming from an iPad or a curling iron in a tiny yet dramatic bedroom set.
Joe and Barbie play doctor, so having a beeper and a Nintendo Entertainment System gun engage in a beach rendezvous should be just plain weird.
"[24] Drunk Uncle (Bobby Moynihan), real name Dale Norway,[25] appears on Weekend Update to deliver a rambling monologue deriding the culture of the day, in particular young people, food, and technology.
Originally written by Colin Jost, an earlier prototype of the character was inspired by Moynihan trying to make his friend Chris Gethard laugh.
[26] The Huffington Post wrote in November 2012 that "Moynihan provides the perfect vessel for the spirit of avuncular alcoholism...He covers every aspect of your typical drunk uncle, including 'back in my day' folksy-isms, a luddite cynicism of all modern technology and quaint anti-immigration rants, all of which inevitably give way to mournful laments on his own failures in life.
"[27] Moynihan later created a plot for a potential Drunk Uncle movie, in which the character would save the world from aliens, in addition to quitting alcohol.
A soap opera parody featuring Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, and others as wealthy blondes with valley girl accents (Valspeak) exaggerated almost to the point of incoherence.
The title sequence shows the pouring of a glass of white wine and some beach front property, with an acoustic guitar lick and chords that are reminiscent of America's "Ventura Highway" on the soundtrack.
Every installment includes three scenes, generally involving unexpected guests such as a doctor, a private detective, a runaway, or a lost family member.
"[59] Josh Brolin, who starred in the first sketch as Stuart's doctor, told Seth Meyers that Hader and Armisen originally rehearsed "at the round table.
"[62] According to Hader, the accents were not originally so pronounced, but Armisen spontaneously changed his almost to the point of incoherence the first time the sketch aired live.