Two horrificially late SNL Reviews

[bob_barron 0]

SNL Review- Christopher Walken/Panic at the Disco

 

 

Cold Opening

Cast- Darrell Hammond, Amy Poehler

Thoughts- It’s always fun seeing the Clintons on SNL. Darrell may be incredibly stale and wearing out his welcome, but he always nails it as Bill. I also like Amy’s Hillary, it’s a shame that it’s probably on its last legs. While this another pro-Hillary skit, I do agree that candidates releasing tax returns is pretty stupid. This had lots of good lines, and at least we didn’t have to deal with Fred’s Obama. ***1/2

 

Monologue

Cast- Christopher Walken, Jim Downey, Paula Pell, Jon Lutz

Thoughts- I love that they’re sneaking Downey into skits after he achieved notoriety with the Hillary-Obama debate skits. I wonder if when he played a talkative homeless man in Dirty Work that he ever thought he’d be an Oscar nominated movie lauded as one of the best films of the decade. I doubt it. I also thought it was cool to see Lutz, especially after he’s gained some minor notoriety by being one of the bright spots on 30 Rock. I was glad we didn’t get Walken singing, since I’ve never liked his singing monologues. Taking questions from the audience always yields better results, and this one was no different. Love Walken berating the audience members about the question, and the superpowers question was great. ***1/2

 

Annuale

Cast- tina Fey, Kristen Wiig, Poehler, Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, Casey Wilson

Thoughts- Hey everyone, Tina’s back! I thought we’d get a vagina joke in the monologue, so I was pleasantly surprised that it took until the commercial for Tina to get her references in. DUD

 

Gene Rayburn

Cast- Christopher Walken, Poehler, Andy Samberg, Hader, Jason Sudeikis, Kenan Thompson

Thoughts- Grease is one of those films that you don’t realise is incredibly filthy into much older. It’s also one of those movies that I know I’ve seen a lot, but I think I’ve only seen the first 20 minutes and the last five minutes. One good thing about the Grease musical is that it’s really short, so it’s not as painful as the average musical. This was a pretty funny skit, and was Walken in his element. Amy was funny as the senile piano player, and any skit that somehow references Gene Rayburn has to be good. ***

 

Creepy Co-Worker

Cast- Walken, Sudeikis, Wiig, Hader, Wilson

Thoughts- This episode might have been called An SNL with Christopher Walken 101, given that every character seemed to be slightly off in some way. Walken can do these characters in this sleep, and while it’s not the best skit in the world, it’s always going to be pretty funny and somewhat creepy. I loved the fact that he did a painting for Jason, and then at the end he decided to nonchalantly kill him. ***

 

SNL Digital Short

Cast- Senator Chris Dodd, Lorne Michaels, Walken, Hader, Samberg, Thompson

Thoughts- Senator Chris Dodd becomes the latest presidential candidate to appear on SNL. Maybe in the next two episodes we can get Bill Richardson and Fred Thompson! I always love the Laser Cats films, and this one was no exception. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see Lorne’s office again, even though we knew the last two hosts anyway. The dog-cat fight was hilarious, and I loved the 3-D glasses part, especially with them constantly pushing the cat toward the camera. And the funeral for the cat at the end was good stuff. Interesting to see what happens to the Laser Cats next year. ***3/4

 

Not Penelope

Cast- Walken, Wiig, Forte, Hader, Poehler, Wilson

Thoughts- Kristen Wiig is so hot and cold with her characters. Some are hilarious, and others are well this one. I liked that they gave Walken the chance to play the straight man, and as always I enjoyed Casey. But watching Kristen just be awful was cringe inducing. *

 

Panic!

Thoughts- Even though I guess they’re pretty popular, I was not too familiar with Panic’s music, which seems to be a trend since the strike ended. Panic was as uninspiring as I figured they’d be. **

 

Weekend Update

Cast- Meyers, Poehler, Samberg

Thoughts- This was a disappointment, especially given how awesome Update had been in the past few weeks. It was still funny, and Seth still rocked it, but a lot of the jokes fell flat. Andy as the pregnant man was alright, but I think someone like Forte would be more suited to the role. Seth’s closing Roger Clemens joke was awesome though, kudos for that one. ***1/4

 

Reunion of the Walkens

Cast- Walken, Hader, Sudeikis, Poehler, Samberg, Armisen, Hammond, Wiig, Thompson

Thoughts- I was listening to Seth on Bill Simmons’ podcast, and I agree with him- I’m amazed it took this many episodes for someone to come up with the idea of having the entire cast do Walken impressions. I’m sure Jay Mohr hung his head watching this one. This was hilarious, and kudos to the cast for all being able to do quality Walken impressions, including Kenan. I think Amy and Bill were my favourite out of the Walken impersonations, and I really liked the bit between Walken and Samberg. ****

 

Indoor Gardening Tips From a Man Whose Very Scared of Plants

Cast- Walken

Thoughts- Sometimes Walken being weird and bizarre leads to a classic SNL skit for the ages. Sometimes it leads to indoor gardening tips from a man who is very scared of plants. This was one of those times. *1/2

 

Top Chef

Cast- Walken, Wiig, Thompson, Samberg, Poehler,

Thoughts- While this skit was okay, I’ve never seen an episode of Top Chef, so I’m sure something was lost on me. Walken was funny here, but he didn’t have much to work with. **

 

Panic! At the Disco

Thoughts- A lot of people have talked to me about how ridiculous this Panic performance of Nine in the Afternoon was. Given that I know nothing about Panic! At the Disco and had never heard the song before, I just nodded and smiled. We get to enjoy My Morning Jacket next, another band that I know nothing about. **1/2

 

Larry King

Cast- Armisen, Hammond

Thoughts- Two things I’m contractually obligated to point out-

 

1) Fred’s Larry King makes me long for Norm’s hilarious news and views.

2) As always, making Darrell stay until the show is just cruel.

 

In a show filled with bizarre skits, this seemed to be the most bizarre. I mean, really, a skit involving Larry King interviewing Jimmy Carter about this books? Really? What the hell? This skit was just so random and out of place that I ended up almost really liking this. It just seemed so out of the box. Am I overanalysing a skit that was probably created because a writer was really bored and watched Larry King interview Jimmy Carter? Perhaps, but this skit just really stuck out to me. **1/2

 

The Bottom Line- The avg. skit was **.56 making this a thumbs up show. While not a classic like other Walken-hosted shows, this was a fun show, and I liked seeing a bunch of bizarre different skits, instead of a recurring character-fest like other shows tend to be. I was disappointed by the lack of a Continental, but the rest of the show made up for it. The show died off after Walken Family Reunion, but the first half was very strong.

 

Thumbs Up

[bob_barron 0]

SNL Review- Ashton Kutcher/Gnarls Barkley

 

Cold Opening-

Cast- Fred Armisen, Will Forte, Bill Hader, Darrell Hammond, Amy Poehler, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudekis, Kristen Wiig, Casey Wilson

Thoughts- This was quite the long cold opening, but it worked most of the way. It followed the usual formula of everyone pandering to Obama and hating on poor Hillary. I loved Hillary’s bit about being against the war in Iraq, and General Petreaus talking about their books. And the protestors were funny too. This did go on way too long, but was a fine way to kick off the show. ***1/2

 

Monologue

Cast- Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Samberg, Poehler, Armisen, Kenan Thompson Thoughts- While we did not get Ashton in his underwear, we did get the token Demi Moore cameo. This was really funny, and Ashton played it perfectly. The scene where Andy bought weed from Kenan had me dying of laughter. Ashton always brings the good stuff in his monologues. I didn’t like that Ashton brought up the shows he produced, but didn’t mention Miss Guided. Granted, I was the only person who watched ***3/4

 

Cougars

Cast- Cameron Diaz, Kutcher, Poehler, Wiig, Wilson

Thoughts- We got Ashton hosting, we don’t need a skit that would be better fit on the Tina Fey show. Cameron Diaz’s cameo was cute, even though I don’t get why the two were bothering to promote a film that wasn’t coming out for another month. The girls tried, but this just wasn’t happening. **

 

Ashton at the Club

Cast- Kutcher, Armisen, Thompson, Sudeikis, Poehler, Samberg, Hader

Thoughts- Kenan is wrong- there was a black guy on That 70’s Show. Tim Reid played Hyde’s father on the show. This was a funny little skit, and all the gags worked generally well, and I liked seeing Forte back as Lyle. That was great, as was Andy’s way of trying to get into the club. ***

 

SNL Digital Short

Cast- Samberg

Thoughts- I know a lot of people hated this, but I thought it was great. I even liked the actual digital short before they revealed that it was terrible. Andy’s nonsensical ramblings at the end were hilarious. If anything, the digital short people should’ve apologised for the digital shorts they did post-strike. ***1/2

 

Jamie Lee Curtis

Cast- Kutcher, Wiig, Poehler, Hader

Thoughts- This one just didn’t work. It was okayish at first, but I kept waiting for the big joke and it ended up being Jamie Lee Curtis pooping. That’s not that funny.*1/2

 

Gnarls Barkley

Thoughts- This was a fun song, and I definitely dug the unique look of the band. And naming yourself after a basketball player is always cool. It worked for Pearl Jam at the beginning, so why not have it work for these guys too? ***

 

Weekend Update

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

Thoughts- Another subpar Weekend Update. These guys were just starting to get rocking, and now they’ve hit a mini-slump. And wow, Kristen’s bit was terrible. I know everyone loved it, but I found it to be cringe inducing. I want to like Kristen a lot, I really do, but these types of characters that she does just make me want to punch her in the face. They’re so bad! Fred’s Nicholas Fein character also has to be put to pasture. It might have been funny at first, but again, it’s just painful to watch. The rest of Update was pretty good, and I thought the jokes with Seth and Amy were strong. They just need to ditch the awful commentaries. ***1/4

 

Aimee

Cast- Kutcher, Sudeikis, Hader, Forte

Thoughts- You guys will be happy to know that according to wikipedia, the Pure Prairie League is still around. I felt the skit was done after the Zach Braff bit, but this was just awesome. Forte’s anecdote was the funniest thing I’ve seen on SNL in a long time. I also loved Jason’s bit about the wife being in the coma. Ashton’s bit about being a woman was eh and as always the ending was terrible, but much of this skit was total greatness. ****1/4

 

Death by Chocolate

Cast- Kutcher

Thoughts- Apparently these were done by Jason Reitman, the guy behind Thank You For Smoking and Juno. He also has the distinction of being the first guest on Howard Stern after Artie’s meltdown. That’s quite the accomplishment. This was one was okay, but definitely I can only Tom Green it, and not go higher. **1/2

 

Mellow Show

Cast- Kutcher, Samberg, Hader,

Thoughts- While this was a crappy late in the show skit, the callback to the JJ Casuals commercial was certainly out there. This show has more callbacks than an average episode of Arrested Development! I still don’t get what the point is of wearing the JJ Casuals, since you still are wearing shoes, they just look like feet. It defeats the whole purpose of the casual footwear! **

 

Death by Chocolate

Cast- Kutcher, Sudeikis

Thoughts- Ashton leaving the gun with the old lady, and then deciding to kill her anyway, made this one a little funnier than the first one. ***

 

Gnarles Barkley

Thoughts- I’m always against a slow second song and this was no exception. They couldn’t have played that song that everyone knows instead? Again, kudos for the unique look though.**

 

Strip Club

Cast- Kutcher, Thompson, Forte, Samberg, Sudeikis, Wiig, Wilson

Thoughts- It’s official, I think I’m love in Casey Wilson. Definitely the hottest thing to come on SNL since the glory days of Tina Fey. Granted, I would still take Tina, but Casey is up there. This is a character she’s been doing in UCB for a long time, and I’m glad we got to see it on SNL. Andy’s facial expressions were hilarious, and I would not mean seeing this character again and not just because I love Casey. ***

 

Death by Chocolate

Cast- Kutcher, Samberg, Wilson

Thoughts- Kudos to Jason Reitman, as the Death by Chocolate skits actually got funnier as they went along. Usually when SNL does multiple skits in one night, by the third one, you’re offiically sick of the concept. But these worked. Plus, it involved Andy Samberg getting killed by a chocolate bar, how is that not amazing? ***1/2

 

The Bottom Line- The avg. skit was **.95 making this the best show of the season. Ashton as always was a great host, and added to almost every skit he was in. The Death by Chocolate skits were hilarious, and this was a consistently funny show with hilarity from top to bottom. If Update had met expectations, this could’ve hit three stars, but that doesn’t damper what was a very good show. Ashton is someone who totally deserves to be in the 5-timers club.

 

Thumbs Up

 

[Youth N Asia 0]

Aimee and Death by Chocolate were the best parts of Ashton's shows. I barely remember the Walken ep. Although I liked the gardener with the googlie eyes bit

[Black Lushus 0]

Yes, Casey Wilson is indeed pleasing on the eyes...she's no supermodel, but she's the old cliched "girl next door" that we all love so dearly. Plus, she's funny, and a chick that's funny gets mega points in my book.

[bob_barron 0]

Yes, Casey WIlson is indeed pleasing on the eyes...she's not supermodel, but she's the old cliched "girl next door" that we all love so dearly. Plus, she's funny, and a chick that's funny gets megapoints in my book.

 

I love Casey- as my friend said, she has the just right amount of fat on her. And she's got that great rack

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

bob, I'm going to be in NYC on Saturday. Use your magic to get me into the season finale (it's my birthday, almost).

 

Thanks champ.

[bob_barron 0]

When SNL was on my birthday last year, they went on strike :-(

 

Your best bet is to wait overnight for tickets on Friday, and they're given out at 7 am on Saturday