SNL Review

[bob_barron 0]

SNL Review- Dane Cook/James Blunt

 

Sports Report-

 

Maple Leafs- They had a pretty good road-trip, but that game against San Jose tonight was so frustrating. They’re so inconsistent. They’ll have great first or second periods, but then the other period will see them play some awful hockey. Hopefully Eddie can pass Sawchuck when they play LA.

 

Canucks- I’m glad they finally beat the Avalanche, good to get that monkey off their back. Didn’t get a chance to check out the Edmonton game, but they lost. I still don’t think Auld is that good and people just will give any excuse to hate Cloutier. Now I don’t like Cloutier that much either, but Auld is not better. I do like the trade for Ouellet though.

 

Nets- The Nets seem to be just going through the motions now, and it’s frustrating. I know it’s only November, but a lot of their play has been very uninspired. Vince isn’t jacking up 30, and they still desperately need help down low. And they lost to the freaking Raptors! The Raptors!

 

Saints- They won a game!!!! Sure they beat the unluckiest team in football, but a win is a win. It was a good game too, and I was sure after that holding penalty that they were going to blow it but thank God, they won. 3-13 here we come!

 

Mailbag!!!!!-

 

While I didn’t get any letters, I did get an IM from the younger sister of punting is for quitters. She was angry that I laughed at the skit. I told her she should be angry at her brother for being a horrible coach.

 

Wanna be in the mailbag??? Email me at [email protected]

 

And now the review...

 

Cold Opening

Cast- The whole cast (Yes, I’m lazy)

Thoughts- I caught a bit of the holiday lighting thing. Rod Stewart was good, Pam from the Office actually looked hot, and the banter between Al Roker and Megan Mullally was painful. This was a really funny cold opening, and I loved the singing of Silent Night and Wiig mentioning airing My Name is Earl reruns. The other songs were funny too, even though nothing will top the first. Hammond as Trump was its usual hilarious self (especially the Chanukah mispronunciation) and helped put this over the top. ***3/4

 

Monologue

Cast- Dane Cook

Thoughts- It was great seeing a real monologue for once. I don’t think Cook is a great comic or anything, but he shows a lot of promise and kept my interest. He does need to stop laughing at his own stuff, that just makes him seem like a hack. I liked some of his bits, especially the one about taking pictures and the leaving your legacy bit. I had heard the Superman bit before as well. Cook wasn’t great, but he was good enough. ***

 

Morning Announcements

Cast- Cook, Parnell, Poehler, Meyers, Thompson, Dratch, Forte, Mitchell, Armisen, Hader, Wiig, Samberg

Thoughts- A good idea for a skit, even though I think it fell slightly flat. The best of the announcements was easily the first one, as Seth was hilarious there. The bit with Kenan and Rachel was okay, but seemed awkward. I didn’t really like Wiig’s bit too much, she’s starting to kind of annoy me. This had its moments, but seemed to die off after the first bit and never fully recover. **3/4

 

Commercial

Cast- Sudeikis, Samberg, Hader

Thoughts- When featured players attack! I think I now am able to tell Samberg and Hader apart, so bully for skits like this. This commercial reminded me of Colon Blow, but unlike Colon Blow, I didn’t really find it to be that funny. This is one of those things where once you get the joke, and you don’t like it, you’re kind of screwed. *

 

Long Ride Home

Cast- Cook, Thompson, Mitchell, Parnell, Dratch, Sudeikis

Thoughts- Blaming Jay Feely for the loss of the Giants is a tad unfair. Yes the fact that he missed three field goals is bad, but two were wicked long, and the false start penalties by Luke Pettigoat are what really hurt them. So you can blame Feely, since he does somewhat deserve it, but he’s not the only one. I think what Doug O’Brien did to the Jets in January was worse. With that said, I thought this was pretty funny. The ending was a bit hokey, but Kenan’s line about irony was hilarious and I thought the interaction between Cook and the other two Giants was good stuff. I also liked the throw to Eli Manning and the random cameo that presented stuff. Like I said, I thought the ending was a bit much, but for the most part this was good. ***

 

Wool Sweater

Cast- Cook, Dratch, Meyers, Poehler, Samberg

Thoughts- Credit to Dane for taking that table bump. That was the highlight of what was an otherwise lame skit. I don’t really see the appeal in wool sweaters, or sweaters in general. I do agree with Seth on the awfulness of turtlenecks. I don’t know, Dane Cook freaking out over being too hot in a sweater really isn’t that funny, and he’s not a good enough physical comic to make all the pratfalls work. He’s no Chevy Chase. This was a waste. Dane Cook is many things, being good at pratfalls and playing over the top is not one of them. *1/2

 

Lettuce

Cast- Forte, Samberg

Thoughts- I’m really sick of SNL skits that turn into commercials for something. It’s become such an overused cliché and I end up souring on the skit as a whole. Also, SNL digital films they do never seem to be good either, so this was 0-2 going in I guess. I laughed at them randomly eating lettuce but this wore thin pretty quick. **

 

James Blunt ‘You’re Beautiful’

Thoughts- With Dane Cook hosting , I thought James Blunt would be some sort of stoner rocker of some sort, but instead he’s the usual whiny British guy that the UK seems to fit to export to us every once in a while. I’m not going to deny that I didn’t like this song, because I did, it’s just that this stuff tends to wear thin. I admittedly missed the first few bits of this watching Oilers v. Bruins, and having to deal with my remote refusing to work. But what I saw I liked. It wasn’t a bad listen and Blunt’s got a nice voice, even if he looks like a psycho. ***

 

Weekend Update

Cast- Fey, Poehler, Dratch, Thompson

Thoughts- As bad as Fey/Poehler are, those bits with Rachel Dratch never seem to work out either. That fatsuit bit was officially certified painful when JB Smoove made his appearance. As usual with WU, there were lots of clunkers. I did laugh at a few of Tina’s jokes, but I don’t really remember Amy having any good ones. As usual, I did not like the mugging that follows the jokes either. I thought Kenan as Michael Irvin was hilarious and dead-on. I loved the clip of him on Monday Night Countdown. Irvin talking about debating whether to shoot the cop was probably the highlight of WU. The rest pretty much sucked. **1/4

 

Coma

Cast- Cook, Poehler, Parnell, Forte

Thoughts- Parnell always brings the goods as a sleazeball. I also really liked Forte, especially when he said he had no problem with Amy sleeping with the guy’s brother. I thought the skit seemed to die off a bit until the end, and did Cook really need to go into a second coma? Probably not. Amy had some good lines, and I liked her interaction with Forte, but the rest was eh. **1/4

 

CanTV

Cast- Cook, Sanz, Poehler

Thoughts- Nothing makes me want to flip over to Oilers v. Bruins faster then a Horatio Sanz skit. Boat Trip was on TBS this week. I have to wonder what favour Will Ferrell and Artie Lange owed the director to be in this. This was really bad and painful to watch. The one potential joke (The constant screwing up of Poehler’s last name) was beaten into the ground until it wasn’t funny anymore. When you saw the set-up, you know this was going to suck, and it certainly delivered. DUD

 

James Blunt

Thoughts- This was pretty boring, as playing the piano at 12:50 am does not lend itself to goodness. And this was pretty gay. The fact that James Blunt really does look like a creepy deranged man makes his songs unsettling. **

 

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter

Cast- Forte, Poehler, Armisen, Samberg

Thoughts- These ads creep the heck out of me. Forte was hilarious here and I loved him just going off on Amy. I also laughed when Samberg called him a dick. Welcome to the show Bill. Word of advice: If you want to make me laugh really hard, say cock. It’s funnier. Anyway, thought the ending was a bit flat, but Forte was awesome. ***1/4

 

The Bottom Line- Avg. skit was **.2 making this is a thumbs down show. Given that Cook’s a comedian, this was a mild disappointment. The show got off to a good start, but once that Wool Sweater skit hit, it was all downhill from there. Cook provided us with a long and good monologue but didn’t seem to add anything else to the show. No one here really stood out, as the only really good skit was the cold opening. SNL is still stuck in this rut, and I’m waiting for that one show that either tanks the season or salvages it. Next week is Alec Baldwin and if they can’t get a good show out of him, then they’re really screwed. The next two weeks are SNL’s big test to prove they can do a really funny episode, and I hope they can deliver.

 

Thumbs Down

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Dane Cook was one of the best guests they've had in a long time. I didn't see all of the show, but from what I saw, the dude either never looked at a cue card or is really good at covering it up. He was a lot better than most of the regulars, actually.

 

I liked the coma skit, but I think they carried the initial joke a lil too far. I do think the extra 15 minutes was necessary, but I don't think they should have told us "15 minutes later". They should have drawn it out a lil more.

 

I luved the Sanz skit though. DUD? You crazy. I thought Cook was hilarious in it with the throwing star and whatnot, their stereotyping of terrorists was great. The gag about the last name was bad, and Phoeler -who seemed to be in the entire show- wasn't very good (then again the role didn't call for very good).

 

I like the "lit" line from the Weekend update, but then she had to go ahead and ruin it by acknowledging that the crowd liked it.

 

Oh, and Fred is the fucking all star of that cast. The gossip schtick was fantastic, even if the audience didn't quite know what to make of it.

Edited December 4, 2005 by RavishingRickRudo

[Boner Kawanger 0]

Aside from Update, I thought this was one of the standout shows of the season. Why? Well, yes, I am a Dane Cook fan and have been for a couple of years now. But for once, I laughed at SNL which is a rare occurance for me.

[Mik 0]

What about the Target skit with the candles and the weird cashiers? Very stupid.

 

I laughed at the cold opening but things went downhill from there - fast. How is Dane Cook a hot comedian right now? He laughs at his own jokes - very noticeably. Annoying.

[razazteca 0]

What got me laughing was the joke about him in the kitchen with the cashews. The sweater skit was great physical comedy, everything about it was funny from the bit with the straw and the ice cubes to him scratching himself nervously to the fall and getting up with the Great Cornholio look.

[Guest OKCoyote]

Who the hell is Dane Cook? I've never seen this guy before.

[bob_barron 0]

Dane Cook was one of the best guests they've had in a long time. I didn't see all of the show, but from what I saw, the dude either never looked at a cue card or is really good at covering it up. He was a lot better than most of the regulars, actually.

 

Well he's a comedian, so he should be good at memorising stuff.

 

I luved the Sanz skit though. DUD? You crazy. I thought Cook was hilarious in it with the throwing star and whatnot, their stereotyping of terrorists was great. The gag about the last name was bad, and Phoeler -who seemed to be in the entire show- wasn't very good (then again the role didn't call for very good).

 

I just wasn't feeling it at all, it was just too stupid for me to laugh at.

 

Oh, and Fred is the fucking all star of that cast. The gossip schtick was fantastic, even if the audience didn't quite know what to make of it.

 

Yea, Fred is pretty awesome.

 

Okay, quoting posts has become impossible now.

[bob_barron 0]

Target skit was * btw. Sorry about that

[razazteca 0]

Dane Cook's facial expressions makes the Target skit entertaining.

[treble 0]

Victor Ramos sounds too much like the Ladies Man.

[A Happy Medium 0]

The show gets a thumbs up from me for the Chuck Norris reference alone.

[MDH257 0]

Bob, what was the previous SNL Digital Film?