SNL Review

[bob_barron 0]

Sorry this is so late gang.

 

I was at the dress rehearsal and then went to the afterparty, so I missed the live show. It always takes me a while to get the episode torrented and to write a full review. Anyway- here it is-

 

SNL Review- Rainn Wilson/Arcade Fire

 

 

Cold Opening

Cast- Rainn Wilson, Darrell Hammond, Fred Armisen

Thoughts- I wish SNL had done some Anna Nicole stuff the week she died instead of waiting a while to make sure that it was okay to make fun of her. Even though it was great seeing the host in the cold opening, I thought this was came off really flat. In fact, it pretty much died off once Rainn came on screen, since none of his bits were really that funny. This would be the first of many skits where I would have to see Rainn without clothes on. The stuff at the bottom of the news ticker was funny, but not much else. **

 

Monologue

Cast- Lorne Michaels, Rashida Jones, Wilson, Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudeikis, Kenan Thompson, Amy Poehler

Thoughts- The JIM HALPERT SMIRK!~ makes its debut on SNL. Awesome. The Office is my favourite show, so I was ecstatic seeing it get spoofed on SNL. Jason and Kristen were great as Jam, and as much I hate Karen, her cameo was funny. And loved the nice touch of Kenan doing the crossword as Stanley. Fun fact: Kenan has never watched the Office and had no idea who Stanley was. Lorne’s Michael Scott was pretty bad though. It just wasn’t funny. I was also disappointed that we didn’t get a “That’s what she said.” Aside from Lorne, this was some real good stuff. ***1/2

 

Even Though We Ain’t Got Money

Cast- Wilson, Will Forte, Sudeikis, Bill Hader

Thoughts- Who would’ve thought Danny’s Song by Loggins and Messina would inspire so many memories? Also, whatever happened to Messina? According to wikipedia, he now runs the Jim Messina’s Songwriter’s Performance Workshop. This was an awesome skit, and all the bizarre stories were hilarious. Sudeikis’ story was slightly changed up from dress. I don’t recall the specifics, but it involved his uncle looking like a goat. So maybe you don’t want to know. The line about Bill’s dad having Down’s syndrome and Rainn yelling excitedly about pee coming out of his nose were my favourite parts, but this skit was hilarious. I didn’t really care for the Pulp Fiction ending, but that’s a minor quibble in a great skit. ****1/4

 

SNL Digital Short

Cast- Arcade Fire, Wilson, Poehler, Sudeikis, Hader, Andy Samberg, Forte, Thompson, Hammond, Wiig, Maya Rudolph,Armisen

Thoughts- Wow, they even got the musical guest to do the Digital Short- impressive! This was the usual funny bit from the Digital Short guys with some good lines throughout. Loved the bit with Chief Big Cloud and Gary, The Arcade Fire’s random cameo and the Invisible Man. In what seems to be a recurring theme for the night, I thought the ending was really lame, and it seemed like they had no idea how to end it. ***

 

Noonies

Cast- Wilson, Armisen, Rudolph, Wiig, Samberg

Thoughts-I think Noonies is one of those skits that the hosts must enjoy doing, since I don’t understand how it keeps getting on the air. Which just goes to prove my theory: The hosts are idiots. This wasn’t an abomination in the eyes of God like previous Noonies, because Rainn did a good job of playing off of them, but it still sucked. I wonder what the Noonies do for a living that allows them to have such extravagant architecture. *1/2

 

Peeping Tom

Cast- Wilson, Rudolph, Poehler, Sudeikis

Thoughts- Rainn playing creepy…..nice. This should’ve been later in the show and in dress, it was. Rainn got some mileage out of being weird, but there wasn’t much else to this. And if you’re going to have two chicks make out….have them make out. Don’t half-ass it! That was weak ending #3. **1/4

 

Arcade Fire “Intervention”

Thoughts- The female in the band looks like Lorelai Gilmore. How do these guys make any money with so many people being in the group? Plus, what was with the megaphone? Is Jimmy Hart in this band? And they’re from Montreal, so boo. I wasn’t feeling this song. **

 

Weekend Update

Cast- Seth Meyers, Poehler, Armisen, Wiig, Samberg

Thoughts- This was a bit of a letdown considering how good Update was last week. Two of the commentaries were brutal. Fred as the crying judge went over really well in dress but I think it was more of a “Oh man it’s the crying judge!” rather then people laughing because it was funny. Aunt Linda is starting to grow on me. I mean, I know it’s not that funny, but her going OH GAAAAAAH makes me laugh. Call it a guilty pleasure. Andy didn’t even try to sound like Prince Harry! I guess he was inspired by the Will Ferrell vomiting from 97 but there was a big difference….Ferrell vomiting on Norm was setup perfectly, and it had the added shock value of the vomit and then Norm eating. This was just Samberg in a horrible British accent and then being all “Oh, might as well vomit now”. Wasn’t shocking or funny. Go away Andy, stay from the desk. The jokes were fine for the most part.

 

They did cut this one hilarious bit called Shame On You. They played this funny music and the person Seth shamed was someone who shot and killed their landlord. After reading the story he goes, Mr. Vasquez….shame on you. And then they played the music. Hilarious

 

This Update was alright, but would’ve been better had it not been 10 hours long. ***1/4

 

That’s America, It’s a Problem

Cast- Wilson, Forte, Wiig

Thoughts- I really like these characters, and I think Rainn fit right in with them. In dress this was much earlier in the show, but they moved it way back. I agree with that decision, since a skit like this plays better later in the show. It’s your typical bizarre Will Forte skit, and it would be weird seeing it before midnight. The guys teaching Rainn how to use the copier and hazing him with the pen was some funny stuff. The bit with the water wasn’t funny, but I liked the passage of time stuff and the ending murder bit. Kristen saying, “That’s America, it’s a problem,” killed me. Great catchphrase. ***1/2

 

White Possum Scream

Cast- Wilson, Thompson

Thoughts- This skit was done right below me so I saw WAY too much of Rainn Wilson. That could’ve been the story of the whole show. They needed to do that when they have a hot host. I laughed at the fake movie posters (Rainn’s face in the My Big Fat Armenian Funeral killed me) and the critics quotes ( A good try) were great. I also liked the bit at the end with Rainn attempting to escape only to get chained back. ***

 

Arcade Fire “Keep the Car Running”

Thoughts- It was weird seeing Lorelai Gilmore play a totally different instrument then she did on the first song. It threw me off. And they had the megaphone again! I really enjoyed this song, a lot more then the first one. It had a good fast beat to it and they used all the instruments really well. ***

 

New Age

Cast- Wilson, Thompson, Wiig, Rudolph, Armisen

Thoughts- I can’t believe this made it on the air over several deserving skits. Especially the Falconer, although this was short while the Falconer went way long. Some funny facials and I laughed at Rainn’s Jesus look but there wasn’t much. **

 

The Bottom Line- The avg. skit was **.77 making this a thumbs up show. Rainn Wilson was a very good host and his willingness to do anything made for a lot of fun skits. I don’t think we needed to see as much as him as we did, but it was all funny. The Arcade Fire were a solid musical guest, and most everything was worth watching and provided the laughs. Plus, they spoofed the Office which is almost an automatic thumbs up in my eyes.

 

Thumbs Up

[starvenger 0]

NBC put the monologue up on YouTube if you want to watch it. Sudekis' "Jim smirk" is spot on.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I thought the monologue was at least ****. The best thing I've seen them do in a while (which, admittedly, is not much). Sudekis and Wiigs' Jim and Pam was so good that I almost want to see this as a regular sketch. Lornes Michael Scott was better the second time I watched it, with the look at the end being the capper.

[bob_barron 0]

I just don't think Lorne did a good Michael Scott. Seth as Ryan would've been funny.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Ok, Seth as Ryan means this has too much potential not to kick ass as a regular sketch.

 

Lorne is Lorne, all he can be is Lorne and the only reason he was Scott was because he's the boss. Beyond that, the talking head, "Worlds Funniest Box" "...Timing" and the glare at the end were enough Michael Scottisms for me. Granted, Lorne sexually harassing a Seth-played Ryan would have made it pure *****.

[bob_barron 0]

How have you been Rudo?

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I made a stew the other week. It was delicious. I ran out of jasmine rice so opted for some pasta. A radical move, but one that paid off and was well-received.

 

Other than that, been good.

 

I dunno if you heard of it, but Superdeluxe.com is great. Bunch of shorts. Brad Neely is the shittles.

[razazteca 0]

I have to say that Arcade Fire's second song was one of the few songs that I actually liked most of the time the musical act will get the WTF is this crap reaction but this band sounded like a legit live band that knew what they were doing instead of the usual act that uses backup recordings and lip sync the songs. Overall entertaining show with Rainn Wilson giving a surprising good performance in every skit that he was involved in.

[Special K 0]

I watched that epsode solely for Rainn, and I wasn't disappointed. The guy is just really funny.

 

Three notes:

 

I had never heard Arcade Fire, and they were pretty dang good!

 

I've watched SNL about 3 times in the last seasons. Every single one has had the Noony sketch. It sucks. It sucks incredibly hard. Oh, the suck. Oh the suck. Let;s kill time for 5 minutes, of a joke we've seen a billion times!

 

It sort of reminds me of the Lavas, except for it's shit. They're just trying to crack the host up, I guess, But that sketch sucks.

 

Lastly, I like Kristen Wiig. I think she's quite funny and a good addition to the show. However, that Aunt character she plays is just awful. Just awful. I didn't think CAWFEE TAWKK could be worse.

 

Here: a bl;ack screen. "People in NY sometimtes have unique dialects!" Scene.

[Mik 0]

It's nice to see Dr. Pat have such a flourishing career. I thought it was going to be all downhill for her after she got three orgasms from the Hutch. She's one of my fave's on SNL as well.

 

This was a good episode, I thought. Although I have really been enjoying this season.

[strummer 0]

Kristen sticks out because she's good at subtle comedy and doesn't blatantly over act like most of the cast. She isn't overtly funny or anything, just a well trained, solid comedic actress. She reminds me of Jan Hooks.