bob_barron 0 Report post Posted October 4, 2008 SNL Review- James Franco/Kings of Leon Cold Opening Cast- Darrell Hammond, Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader Thoughts- SNL’s political humour has been pretty weak it seems. There’s really not much to mock about McCain and I guess you can’t make too much fun of Obama for being black. They’re just two bland candidates I guess. This one just missed its mark. I get what they were going for (McCain claiming Obama wants to raise taxes), but it just really fell flat. I’m glad they found something for Darrell to do at least. ** Monologue Cast- James Franco, Sudeikis Thoughts- Not the idea I would’ve had in mind, but then again I didn’t really have any ideas. Having James Franco in your class would be pretty wicked, though I would just make him uncomfortable by awkwardly staring at him. A few good lines, and Jason made me laugh, but this one didn’t do it for me. **1/4 Cougar Den Cast- Cameron Diaz, Franco, Amy Poehler, Wiig, Kenan Thompson, Casey Wilson Thoughts- Remember when everyone was clamouring for this to become a recurring character after the Ashton show? No, I don’t either. It’s nice that Cameron Diaz is in town, but if she wants to come to SNL, that’s what the afterparty is for. Plus, Amy playing these skits while disgustingly pregnant is just wrong. Kenan has the beleaguered producer had some laughs, but it’s time to put Cougar Den out to pasture. *1/2 Agent 420 Cast- Franco, Hader, Sudeikis, Wiig, Forte, Andy Samberg, Fred Armisen Thoughts- You knew they were going to do a Franco stoner skit, but I can’t fault them for it since Franco as a stoner always brings the funny. I also liked the initial bailout joke. The interplay between Hader and Franco was hilarious. The ending was a little weak, but it was nice to finally get something funny on the show. ***1/4 OJ Jury Selection Cast- Franco, Thompson, Hader, Forte, Armisen, Wiig, Samberg, Sudeikis, Moynihan Thoughts- It has been too long since SNL had a great OJ skit. I don’t care what anyone says, the skit where Norm played a lawyer questioning OJ about why he should have custody of skits is one of my favourite skits of all-time. While not as good as that one, this was still hilarious, with lots of great lines throughout. Loved Andy as the alien sent to prevent the murders. Not even Moynihan could bring this down, Jason finding the book too was also good stuff. **** SNL Digital Short Cast- Blake Lively, Franco, Wiig Thoughts- I learned that the word dingdong really isn’t that funny. Penis is a much funnier word. What a waste of Blake Lively and a digital short. * The Looker Cast- Franco, Wiig, Forte, Armisen, Sudeikis, Samberg Thoughts- That Closer spoof was hilarious, and I loved the little bit with Jason. The Juliette Lewis bit….not so much. **1/4 Kings of Leon Thoughts- I’ve heard these guys on AltNation a few times, and I like what I’ve heard, they’re a pretty solid band and I like what I heard. Better than Lil’ Wayne at least. ** Weekend Update Cast- Seth Meyers, Poehler, Sudeikis, Armisen Thoughts- Some good jokes this week, especially Seth’s Pope joke and Amy’s Weather Channel joke. Jason’s commentary was really funny, especially the part about them not getting bailed out while other companies got bailed out, and him owning two hot air balloons. I also thought Fred was pretty funny as the sleazy sexual harassing CEO. Really good Update, and the multiple Law and Order duns duns was good stuff. ***1/2 NY Times Cast- Everyone but Seth Thoughts- I love James Downey with all my heart, but when he misses, dude MISSES. No one at SNL could pull Downey aside and tell him that this wasn’t his best work? But wow, this was deader than that debate skit from Brian Williams. ¼* Of Mice and Men Cast- Franco, Hader, Moynihan Thoughts- Kudos to whichever SNLer drew inspiration from Of Mice and Men. Very clever. I actually liked Moynihan here, as him figuring out all the bad stuff he did was funny, and him selling George out was a nice twist. *** Yankee Stadium Stories Cast- Poehler, Armisen Thoughts- Fred’s Scorcese impression is great. Amy looks nothing like Rosie Perez, but I think anyone doing a semi-accurate Rosie Perez impression is going to make it funny. And the scene of Scorcese swinging the loaf of bread and running killed me. ***1/2 Kings of Leon Thoughts- Not really feeling this song, I’m sorry to say. **1/4 Willem Dafoe Cast- Franco, Hader, Samberg, Wilson Thoughts- Fun fact- Casey’s mom is dead, so she did not really need an autograph for her from James Franco. They have a foundation for her and everything! True story, I looked that up. Hader’s Dafoe impression was really funny and I liked him throwing something at Dafoe’s face. *** The Bottom Line- Avg.skit was **.5 making this a thumbs show. While Franco was not a great host, it was nice getting to see a host that could actually act and perform in skits, and the show was much improved as a result. The slow start troubled me, and I was worried we were headed for Phelps 2, but once the Agent 420 started, the show found its groove and aside from Downey’s clunker was really good down the stretch. Thumbs Up Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bob_barron 0 Report post Posted October 4, 2008 SNL Review- Anna Faris/Duffy Cold Opening Cast- Tina Fey, Amy Poehler Thoughts- Tina’s back! Again. I want to, but you can’t fault SNL for this one since her as Palin was huge both ratings wise and actual news coverage wise. Amy looks nothing like Katie Couric anyway, and then you add in the fact that Katie Couric is not massively pregnant and you have one inaccurate impression. This was funny, though I agree with others who said that it was so dead-on to what Palin actually said, that it wasn’t insanely funny. But Tina’s impression is good and there were funny lines sprinkled throughout. ***1/4 Monologue- Cast- Anna Faris Thoughts- Damn, Anna Faris is hot. I always thought she looked better as a brunette, but I’m starting to dig her as a blonde. I liked the House Bunny, but I couldn’t buy her as a sexpot. Anyway, this was funny, and Faris is always good for laughs. I liked the part where she didn’t know SNL was live until a few hours ago, and hey, an actual solo monologue. *** Back from the Party Cast- Faris, Jason Sudeikis, Bobby Moynihan, Casey Wilson Thoughts- When featured players invade! I heard Jason wrote this, and he did a really good job. Loved the exchange about Faris using the ‘n’ word and them joking about the suicide. A contempt usually reserved for paedophiles was another good line, and I enjoyed the chemistry between Faris and Sudeikis. I don’t understand the ending at all, and it really killed a lot of the skit for me. I mean seriously, what WAS that? ***1/2 Debate Cast- Chris Parnell, Darrell Hammond, Fred Armisen, Poehler Thoughts- There really is nothing to get McCain and Obama on. I mean, wow. The first debate was so flat and uninspiring anyway that there really was nothing to write about to begin with. If they hadn’t had to do a debate skit, I would’ve just passed on it and tried again another day. Plus, while the impressions in 2000 became iconic we have Darrell phoning in a McCain, and Fred’s embarrassing Obama impression. Again, what prevents Lorne from finding a black guy? Do we want four years of that impression? No. I will confess I briefly considered voting Kerry b/c I loved Seth’s impression. Bringing Parnell back was a nice touch. I feel bad that he never found the right sitcom. I know no one watched it, but he was so funny on Miss Guided, which was criminally underrated. Not much in the way of good lines, though McCain’s rant about always being to turn on his own party was hilarious and line of the night. I also liked Amy’s pop-in as Hillary. Hopefully they get Biden-Palin right. **1/4 Date on a Boat Cast- Faris, Thompson Thoughts- I love skits like this. I know this sounds weird given the subject matter, but this seemed really sweet. It had a certain charm to it. I didn’t like that Kenan could hear Faris singing, but not the other way out. I bought the initial singing, since it’s part of musicals that no one notices the other person singing, but if Kenan can her, she should hear him too. I mean, yes, she is dumb, but still. The songs were great, and Faris can play an airhead in her sleep at this point (loved the part where they talked about what they had in common, and she said something about him copying her facebook) and everything worked out in the end. Yay! ***3/4 Duffy “Mercy” Thoughts- Wait, Duffy’s white? Gotta say, I did not figure that. My only experience to Mercy though, had been that they played the song in The Women trailer. Duffy’s dance moves violate one of my rules for musical guests which is- no stupid dancing. ** Weekend Update Cast- Seth Meyers, Poehler, Hammond, Wiig Thoughts- If you’re going to give Darrell something to do, you can do no better than having him be Bill Clinton. His Clinton was great as always, and I loved him talking about being invited to many different parties. Kristen’s Judy Grimes was great just kidding it was fantastic just kidding it was terrible. And I’m not kidding about that one. While it’s impressive that she can do that vocally without tripping up, it’s just not funny The jokes were really good this week, I hope they don’t spread themselves too thin with the Update in Primetime stuff, but I have faith in Seth. ***3/4 Strippers on the Bailout Cast- Faris, Bill Hader, Thompson, Wiig, Wilson Thoughts- Well this was one big allegory that just did not work. It was like that episode of 30 Rock where Jack Donaghy became coach of the baseball team and the episode turned into a big allegory about the Iraq and became an unfunny mess. If you’re going to have Casey be a stripper, have her be the paralysed one. * Deephouse Dish Cast- Faris, Thompson, Andy Samberg, Wiig, Samberg, Sudeikis, Moynihan Thoughts- Awww crap, one of my least favourite recurring characters. This was dreadful, like the other 9,000 Deephouse Dishes they’ve done. At least Anna Faris looked hot, I guess. ½* Wedding Dresses Cast- Faris, Thompson, Wiig, Poehler, Wilson Thoughts- Did anyone else think that Anna Faris looked like Taryn Manning from Hustle and Flow? That line about how she knew she was never getting married was just sad though. This was alright, but again, we really don’t need to see Amy Poehler’s massively pregnant stomach. ** Duffy Thoughts- Remember in the 60s when the British invasion brought all those cool rock ‘n’ roll bands? Now we’re being invaded by female singers who sound black. No thanks. ** New Girlfriend Cast- Faris, Sudeikis, Will Forte, Hader, Wilson Thoughts- A great way to close out the show, with a winning performance from Faris . Some good lines throughout at the end and the penis line totally clinched it. I just realised that this was Forte’s only skit in the show. Sucks for him. ***1/4 The Bottom Line- Avg. skit was **.5 making this a thumbs up show. Faris was a winning and fun host and seemed to be having a good time. Lots of good skits from the top and bottom of the show, but it was hampered by a poor musical guest and the topical humour (save for Update) falling flat. I’m excited for tonight’s show, maybe they can make it three in a row. Thumbs Up Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mik 0 Report post Posted October 5, 2008 Hader's Dafoe was fantastic. That was my favorite skit of that episode. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Youth N Asia 0 Report post Posted October 5, 2008 Do you ever had shows rank *** or better? I see a lot of 2 point somethings Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bob_barron 0 Report post Posted October 5, 2008 Yes. Usually there's 1-2 shows a year that merit a 3 star or better average skit rating. These shows tend to be pretty memorable. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Youth N Asia 0 Report post Posted October 5, 2008 I watched the entire Anna show and got very few laughs out of the whole thing. Duffy's dancing was funny in itself Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boner Kawanger 0 Report post Posted October 7, 2008 Nowhere else to post this, but my Comcast OnDemand has an SNL section for E! and the Mad Tea Party sketch is up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LivingLegendGaryColeman 0 Report post Posted October 7, 2008 Nowhere else to post this, but my Comcast OnDemand has an SNL section for E! and the Mad Tea Party sketch is up. The Buscemi Mad Tea Party sketch?! I LOVE that one and haven't seen it in years! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boner Kawanger 0 Report post Posted October 7, 2008 The one and only. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
