SNL Review, Molly Shannon/Linkin Park Options

[bob_barron]

SNL Review- Molly Shannon/Linkin Park

Cold Opening
Cast- Molly Shannon, Bill Hader, Maya Rudolph, Kenan Thompson, Amy Poehler, Jason Sudeikis
Thoughts- Ugh. I liked Mary Katherine Gallagher like 10 years ago, but it ran its course. And Superstar is one awful movie. They also screwed up the MKG formula- she’s supposed to take the big fall, not the other people. Sudeikis as Simon was funny, but the rest was Molly being Molly. *1/2

Monologue
Cast- Lorne Michaels, Shannon
Thoughts- Fun fact: The weekend of 9/11, SNL reran the Best of Molly Shannon. I thought- hasn’t America suffered enough? Seeing the old school board from 98-99 was pretty cool and even though they cribbed the Mambo #5 joke from the Office, it was still funny. The rest was well Molly being Molly. **

Urigrow
Cast- Sudeikis, Kristin Wiig
Thoughts- Sudeikis washing the dog while talking about urinating got me. I also kind of laughed at him taking the large piss at the end. Yes, I know I should turn in my comedy reviewing badge. ***

Penelope
Cast- Shannon, Wiig, Poehler, Thompson, Sudeikis
Thoughts- Ignoring the fact that Penelope sucks, they just did one! That’s been SNL’s biggest problem this year, they bring back recurring characters way too fast. I mean, she’s bragging. And she’s still bragging. Penelope had some good lines and I liked the stuff about going to Italy, but the rest was flat. *1/2

Fringe Candidates Debate
Cast- Shannon, Darrell Hammond, Wiig, Will Forte, Fred Armisen, Sudeikis, Poehler, Andy Samberg, Maya Rudolph, Hader, Thompson
Thoughts- A skit that not even Molly could ruin! I always enjoy Darrell’s Dan Rather, it’s one of my favourite impressions he does. Will Forte as the NAMBLA candidate was hilarious. In fact, in last year’s next to last episode, Forte also played a paedophile. Dennis Kucinich being in the debate was probably the most clever joke on the show. Also liked the Tony Blair stuff. Didn’t care for the Whig or Black Vampire stuff. ***3/4

The Sopranos
Cast- Shannon, Hammond, Armisen, Sudeikis, Forte,
Thoughts- I hate Molly Shannon. The Sopranos stuff was kind of funny though. But I really hate Molly Shannon. This was Molly being Molly.½*

Linkin Park
Thoughts- I saw Linkin Park at the SNL afterparty but admittedly had no idea who they were. This song was pretty good, as I like the few Linkin Park songs I’ve heard on the radio. The guy with the afro is freaky. ***

Weekend Update
Cast- Shannon, Poehler, Meyers, Armisen
Thoughts- Oh, fuck Molly Shannon. Seriously, don’t get me started. Don’t even get me started. Why couldn’t Molly bring back one of her funny characters like……

Thinking……

Ummmmm…

Okay, why did they have to have Molly Shannon host at all? She was plugging a movie that’s already tanked, directed by a guy who shot me a weird look because I told him I liked him on Undeclared. This was a really good Update joke-wise and Molly just killed. I have to say that Seth’s reactions to Jeannie Darcy were really funny, and almost saved the bit. Almost. Seth’s Katrina joke was ownage. Fred as the blind comic was alright.

If they didn’t have Molly and swapped her with something else, this could’ve been a great Update. Alas it’s only- ***1/2

Rick! Rick! Rick!
Cast- Shannon, Poehler, Hader, Armisen, Rudolph,
Thoughts- Jesus, is this crappy recurring characters night or something? I’ll give them some credit since they hadn’t done Caitlin in forever, but ugh, we did not have to see this again. Bill was good as the straight man and there were a funny lines here and there, but Molly as Caitlin’s mom is just hell on earth. **

Macgruber
Cast- Shannon, Forte, Rudolph
Thoughts- This IS crappy recurring character night! This Macgruber actually didn’t suck, so I’ll give them that. **1/2

TV Funhouse
Thoughts- Smigel’s lost touch continued. A cartoon about Albert Einstein’s saggy breasts? This was surprisingly funny, but it’s sad seeing that Smigel just can’t seem to deliver a great cartoon anymore. The ending with Truman was good stuff. **1/2

Oak Room
Cast- Shannon Thompson, Rudolph,
Thoughts- Kill me now. Maya Rudolph coming back to host if she ever leaves SNL would be the one thing that would top Molly hosting for awfulness. DUD

Macgruber
Cast- Forte, Shannon, Rudolph
Thoughts- This Macgruber didn’t work so well. DUD

Linkin Park
Thoughts- Thank God Molly had a good musical guest, or else this show would’ve been ugly. I’m talking Hilary Swank level bad. This was the perfect song to play as the second song. It was high energy and it wasn’t as weird as Bjork, so that’s good. ***1/2

Trump Steaks
Cast- Shannon, Hammond
Thoughts- Molly must have been one of the few Darrell fans left, given how much airtime he has had tonight. His Trump is always in the ***-***1/2 range and this one was no different. I actually got to interview Trump on Wednesday and Darrell’s impression is pretty accurate ***1/4

Macgruber
Cast- Shannon, Forte, Rudolph
Thoughts- At least the Macgruber’s were better then last time? I don’t know I’m trying to take solace in getting three Macgrubers. **

The Bottom Line- The avg. skit was **.15 making this a thumbs down show. To put on a positive spin on things, it was better then I expected. Really no need to analyse why this show sucked, we knew what we were getting the minute Don Pardo said: Next time…Molly Shannon. I’m hoping the season finale will surprise me, as I’m not a fan of Zach Braff, but they usually put forth a good effort, so we’ll see.

Thumbs Down

[DrVenkman PhD]

I didn't like this show and fell asleep early, but managed to catch th Debate skit which was a real bright spot. The line about the debate being on HDNet was really funny, I thought; "If you just got a new HDTV and need to test to see if it's working, then we're your channel".

[tommytomlin]

This ep just seemed like the 'let's use all the most annoying, unfunny female characters we got' night. I'm surprised Maya didn't do Isabella Versace.

[Richard]

Donatella Versace

[Black Lushus]

why doesn't Smigel do The Ambiguously Gay Duo anymore? That shit is always funny.

[DrVenkman PhD]

Carrell and Colbert could be too busy, but that's just a guess (they did the Best Of last year, afterall).

[ZGangsta]

I thought that show was just god awful, but then I've always hated Molly Shannon's characters. I think she's ok in regular sketches, but her characters just make me change the channel. The debate and MacGruber were the only saving graces for the show in my opinion. The MacGruber was amazing. Come on "He's 15 years sober" to "The guy's a social drinker" to "The dude's a raging alcoholic" and then ending with him doing the drunken David Hasselhoff video.
I think that was the worst TV Funhouse I've ever seen and maybe one of the least funny things I've ever seen on television as well. Just embarassingly bad.

[Gary Floyd]

With the exception of "Macruber" and TV Funhouse, I hated the show. Molly Shannon is comedy poison.

[strummer]

I can't stand Zach Braff and him hosting the finale has me as pissed off as when the Olsen twins hosted it in 03-04.