SNL Review

[bob_barron 0]

SNL Review- Ludacris

 

Sports Report-

 

Leafs- Wow, that game against the Devils tonight set a new standard for boring. Especially since the GWG was such a ticky tacker. Yes, that’s my new phrase. They’ve been playing well, and I think we get Mats back in about 2-3 weeks.

 

Canucks- I was almost at my wit’s end with the Canucks but at least they won on my birthday. I expect more underachieving in the weeks to come.

 

Saints- That Saints game was great, even though I nearly broke my hand in frustration punching the wall. And toaster oven. And microwave. The Bengals won’t be an easy game, but it’s not like they have the best defence, so hopefully Brees can continue being awesome.

 

Nets- They’ve had a brutal schedule, so I think they’re a lot better then their record indicates. Plus, Antoine Wright has been playing well.

 

Mailbag!!!!-

 

hayashikm@ optonline.net writes-

 

Hey Bob-

 

So far this season, you’ve used the word “emo” liberally in you

SNL reviews. (Well, just twice- but still.) For the past few years,

I’ve heard the word “emo” thrown around on Fuse and MuchMusic. To

this day, I’ve don’t know what “emo” music is. I was wondering

how do you would define the emo musical genre.

 

From my understanding, I think emo is supposed to be some sort of

alternative rock music performed by young bands who only go for loudness,

and whose lead singers are whiney and scream-y, and write gay songs.

 

I’ve tried Wikipedia, but they pretty lump all new rock bands under

the emo umbrella. But I won’t dispute that most rock bands from

Dashboard Confessional (gay crap) to My Chemical Romance (loud crap) are

considered emo.

 

So, in your opinion, how can you tell if a band is “emo”? Thanks.

 

Later-

 

Ken

 

Actually, I think I’ve been pretty conservative with my use, considering I have only used it twice. To me emo is if a song is really whiny and stupid. Like Fall Out Boy. Or Panic at the Disco. Or other sucky bands that whine.

 

Chad Ruffner writes-

 

Hi Bob, I was just curious if you caught TNA's 2 hour prime-time regular time slot debut this past week? I know you really don't like the guy for various reasons, but you have to admit that Vince Russo has done a pretty decent job since returning to TNA. Of course with The WWE being so horrid as of late,(even more so than usual), it doesn't take much to get me interested. What do you think? Chad

 

Actually I don’t have to admit it? That #1 contender thing was stupid, they gave away Angle’s first match on free TV and it bombed and BG James and Kip James are now named Voodoo Kin Mafia. Wow. Go Russo Go! Smackdown’s been good recently, don’t hate. That Regal-London match was sick.

 

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

 

And now the review....

 

Cold Opening

Cast- Jason Sudeikis

Thoughts- Hmmmmm, who did Will Forte piss off? I never had a problem with his impression, and I didn’t anyone else did either. I could understand if he was leaving soon or something but I don’t think he is. This wasn’t like Parnell or Hammond, where they were so unbearably bad, that a change was needed ASAP. I guess this is another attempt to make Sudeikis the centrepiece of the show. I don’t mind him being the centrepiece, but not at the expense of someone else’s good impression. His impression was fine though, the writing left a bit to be desired. There were some good lines, but they could do a lot better. Sudeikis impression is good, so at least they didn’t replace Forte with someone terrible. But still…poor Will. **1/2

 

Monologue

Cast- Ludacris, Kenan Thompson

Thoughts- Don Pardo pronouncing his name as Ludaycris was pretty funny. This got off to a good start with Ludacris explaining when to use Ludacris and Chris Bridges. I think Kenan’s appearance killed it a bit though. While his name as Rickdiculous was funny, the rest of their interplay….not so much. Great start, lousy finish. **1/2

 

Young Douglas

Cast- Ludacris, Sudeikis, Maya Rudolph, Samberg, Amy Poehler,

Thoughts- I’ve always been annoyed by the guy in the background who always goes “What What”, so it was fun to see that mocked. This was pretty funny, especially Ludacris and James Blunt. I normally rag on Samberg, but his James Blunt impression was really funny. ***1/2

 

Dr. Archibald Bitchslap

Cast- Ludacris, Rudolph, Sudeikis, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Poehler

Thoughts- So Archibald is recognised by Microsoft Word, but bitchslap is not? Okay then. This was a one-joke skit, and once the one joke was paid off, I didn’t really think it was that funny. Bill was really funny though at least. I laughed a little at Ludacris, but this just fell flat. **

 

O’Reilly Factor

Cast- Ludacris, Thompson, Darrell Hammond

Thoughts- I usually enjoy the O’Reilly Factor skits since I heart Bill O’Reilly but this one just seemed to never get going and was dying live. I do kudos them for doing an O’Reilly Factor skit given that Luda was the host. The O’Reilly is a clueless dumbass bit usually works for these skits, but his rambling about boycotts just did not work. I loved the bit about the Mississippi River, but the rest was just bad. **

 

Booty Bidness

Cast- Ludacris, Poehler, Wiig, Rudolph, Sudeikis

Thoughts- I couldn’t get into this one. None of the shirts were really that funny and the joke just didn’t work. ½*

 

Blizzard Man

Cast- Ludacris, Sudeikis, Rudolph, Thompson, Samberg

Thoughts- I have to give it to Andy, he’s two for two so far. His raps were awesome, especially the one where he mentioned shooting people and sleeping with women. No one plays a geeky white rapper better than Andy. Ludacris was also hilarious here, I loved him reacting to Samberg’s raps. Kenan even had one good line too! Wouldn’t mind to see the Blizzard Man again, I think I would enjoy some more inane and ridiculous raps from him. ***3/4

 

Ludacris “Shake Your Moneymaker”

Thoughts- I don’t know who the guy in the Cincinnati Reds jacket. Who was he? I also laughed at the saxophone guys. Can you imagine being a professional saxophone player and being asked to play for Ludacris in a song about the female ass? That’s got to be a trip. I also thought Ludacris could’ve gotten some hotter chicks. This song was stupid, but had its moments. **

 

Weekend Update

Cast- Seth Meyers, Poehler, Hader, Sudeikis, Rudolph

Thoughts- Holy lord, Jason and Maya are in everything tonight. I thought Amy took a step back from her performance last week. Instead of continuing her good streak, we got the bad old Amy from the Tina Fey days. Her jokes were just weak. But finally- LEGIT SETH AND AMY INTERACTION! Oh my God!!! They could’ve done a better job mocking Scientology, but the Brooke Shields joke was nice. Hader as John Mark Karr was funny, I guess they didn’t trust Kenan or Ludacris with an OJ impression. I thought this was a pretty average Update until the end. Seth’s last two jokes were tremendous and again showed why he should’ve been on Update two years ago. That Muslim joke was amazing. I love how it seems like every week we get the Tasteless Seth Joke of the Week that Would Make Norm proud. Just awesome. ***

 

Poolwatch

Cast- Ludacris, Thompson, Rudolph

Thoughts- Another one joke premise. Yay for lazy writing! And yay for more Maya! Ludacris was funny here, but there wasn’t much to do with the premise. The bit with Kenan and Ludacris refusing to give the guy CPR and throwing him back into the pool was funny stuff. **1/4

 

Dr. Schultz

Cast- Ludacris, Sudeikis, Will Forte

Thoughts- I still feel bad for Forte. Poor bugger. This was a pretty good post 12:30 Forte skit. Forte did his usual idiot innocent victim quite well and I liked Ludacris putting on the running shoes and talking about Forte signing a waiver. The Elton John bit was dumb and really killed a promising skit. I mean, really, that’s the best ending you can do? **3/4

 

Lesbian Cruise

Cast- Ludacris, Poehler, Wiig, Rudolph

Thoughts- I thought the joke would be that Ludacris didn’t know they were lesbians and thought he would get some action. Instead, we got….this. Here’s one: If they threw Ludacris overboard…..who’s going to drive the boat? Those lesbians should’ve thought of that one. Ludacris being turned on by the lesbos- just not that funny. *

 

Ludacris with Mary J. Blige “Runaway”

Thoughts- I always like it when Ludacris tackles serious issues. He previously tacked the issue of how you should move bitch get out the way, an issue that was plaguing society. Then addressed the issue of the need to get back get back because we in the red light district, another issue that I feel cost the Republicans in the midterm elections. Now he deals with the issue of an 11 year old doing a 16 year old. Okay then. This was good though, and I always like seeing Mary J. Blige. One thing- when Ludacris said to close your eyes, he opened them. When he said to open your eyes, he closed them. ***

 

Grumpy Old Men

Cast- Ludacris, Hammond

Thoughts- They made Darrell Hammond stay until the end of the show for this? ¾*

 

The Bottom Line- The avg. skit was **.24 making this a thumbs down show. Ludacris tried, but there’s only so much he can do with one-joke premises that fall flat. And too much Maya. Way too much Maya. I think they took the week off after the amazing Baldwin show, which I understand. Hopefully they can come back in December and deliver three good shows.

 

Thumbs Down

[King Kamala 0]

I liked the monologue and the Hypin' The Classics skit but it seemed to kind of go down hill afterwards. Ludacris had better than I expected comedic chops but the premises were just terrible. And I concur, way too much Maya Rudolph on this show.

 

 

 

 

Hopefully, The Matthew Fox episode will be better though I have my doubts. I think with this season, the show is only as good as it's host.

[SuperJerk 0]

I usually enjoy the O’Reilly Factor skits since I heart Bill O’Reilly

 

So much just got explained.

[bob_barron 0]

I just got his new book Culture Warrior!

[Guest Shylock]

I thought the show was pretty fun. Nothing special, but nothing bad. I really hope they bring him back again in the future, though. He showed a bunch of promise and with better stuff, he could be a great host. Maya needs to get cut back, though. So does Keenan. They need a better black cast member than him, because he's not versatile at all. Also, I loved the Haders Kerr impression. That was pretty funny. I'm sure if they wanted to go with doing an OJ Simpson thing, they could've called in Tim Meadows for it.

 

And I was pleasantly surprised that someone else took over the Bush mantle. It's about time. Neither Forte or Sudeikis are particularly great at it, but Forte's was pretty blah. Way too goofy and not that great of an impression to boot. Sudeikis' impression shows some promise, so I'm going to wait it out on that.

[Gary Floyd 0]

I usually enjoy the O’Reilly Factor skits since I heart Bill O’Reilly

 

So much just got explained.

JerkSC strikes again.

[Ted the Poster 0]

Because pompous, bullying windbags who enjoy vibrators in their asses are such good role models.

[Richard 0]

What's wrong with enjoying a vibrator in the ass?

[bobobrazil1984 0]

on a semi-related note (hey its an SNL thread), I heard Tina Fey on howard stern the other day, talking about what Paris Hilton is like backstage. Funny stuff, Tina just rips into her, calling her a dumbshit, a piece of shit, was really funny. Apparently she hates jessica simpson b/c Jessica is fat. or something.

[Mik 0]

Yeah... Andy Samberg as James Blunt was gold.

[bob_barron 0]

Tina also said she lost her virginity at 24

[imajackoff? 0]

pretty funny show this week imo. i always felt that Forte's Bush impression bordered on embarrassing. He didnt look or sound like him. I actually laughed out lound during the monologue, "hypin the classics", and "Blizzard Man" , an SNL rarity nowadays.