Two (!) SNL reviews

[bob_barron 0]

SNL Review- Josh Brolin/Adele

 

 

Cold Opening

Cast- Gov. Sarah Palin, Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, Lorne Michaels, Tina Fey, Jason Sudeikis, Fred Armisen, Will Forte

Thoughts- Who would think that an obscure governor from Alaska would become SNL’s most anticipated appearance. As always, Tina’s impression was great, though I’m glad the election is over, since it was starting to wear thin. The Palin cameo was cute, and I thought it was cool that they got Baldwin to cameo. I attended a Baldwin Q-n-A, and he said he was supposed to spend the weekend in Long Island watching a documentary on Robert Mitchum (not making this up), but Lorne guilted him into cameoing on the show. The bit with Baldwin and Palin was hilarious, as was Lorne’s dig at the amount of times he’s hosted. I wish they had done more with Tina and the governor, but I do see Palin’s point that it wouldn’t have lived up to the hype. This was a fun cold opening, and I thought they worked Palin into the show quite well. ****

 

Monologue

Cast- Oliver Stone, Josh Brolin

Thoughts- Wow, all these cameos. This is like Christopher Walken/Foo Fighters- only that show was funny. Yea, I went there. I saw W. and while Brolin was excellent, the film was just two pointless hours. Really, Oliver Stone? That’s the best you could do? Brolin’s impression was funny and spot-on, but Stone’s cameo was just pointless and left a bad taste in my mouth. I know Lorne’s a starfucker, but no need to have cameos just because you can. **1/2

 

Macgruber

Cast- Brolin, Forte, Kristen Wiig

Thoughts- I guess I’m the last person on the planet who thinks Macgruber is terrible. And it always kills whatever show it’s on, because they do three of them, and they’re all usually terrible. ½*

 

Surprise Alert

Cast- Brolin, Forte, Wiig, Bill Hader, Casey Wilson

Thoughts- Oh no, it’s our second bad recurring character in a row. I hate this character, as it’s in the miss category of Kristen’s hit and miss wacky characters. It’s just not funny at all, doesn’t build to anything and is just really bad. To show you my dedication, I put on a hockey game during this skit, but then went back and re-watched just to make sure it was awful. And it was. DUD

 

Macgruber

Cast- Brolin, Forte, Wiig

Thoughts- As they say, a blind squirrel can find a nut, the Leafs can win a game, and there can be a funny Macgruber. I admit to laughing when Forte threatened him with the broken beer bottle. **3/4

 

Suze Orman Show

Cast- Brolin, Wiig, Poehler

Thoughts- The Suze Orman skits are usually pretty good, they just don’t know how to make them not seem like they go on forever. I mean, cut them in half, and you might have something really good. Brolin was funny though and the cooking hair thing was just gross. This was decent, but the Orman skits still need work though the lesbian jokes are funny. **1/2

 

Say Hi to Your Mother For Me

Cast- Wahlberg, Brolin, Samberg, Poehler, Thompson

Thoughts- I thought it was pretty cool for Wahlberg to pretend to be pissed about the whole thing, only to show up and cameo in the end. That was a better acting job than his performance in The Happening. While this was funny, I do agree with Downey that the impersonatee confronting the impersonator is kind of lame, especially after it was only one show and one impersonation. ***1/4

 

I’m No Angel

Cast- Brolin, Poehler, Forte, Samberg, Sudeikis, Thompson, Hader, Bobby Moynihan, Wilson

Thoughts- Skits involving Amy’s pregnancy? Really not needed. I liked Brolin’s mustache and Kenan’s bugged out eyes, but the rest was just Amy’s pregnant stomach. ½*

 

Macgruber

Cast- Brolin, Forte, Wiig

Thoughts- Sadly, Macgruber used up its one funny Macgruber per show limit in the previous one. Come on Forte, you can do better than ripping off gags from the South Park movie. DUD

 

Adele

Thoughts- What happened to the quality of this show? Adele ate it. High five. They should’ve had her as the musical guest for the Jonah Hill show, just so my head would explode. The song is decent though, though I wonder if chasing pavements is a euphemism for eating chocolate cake. **1/2

 

Weekend Update

Cast- Gov. Palin, Seth Meyers, Poehler, Sudeikis, Forte

Thoughts- Another awesome Weekend Update. Some of the jokes were pretty old school. I mean, Dan Quayle and Clarence Thomas- this isn’t a Kevin Nealon Update. But the most awesome thing- no, not the Palin rap, but Tim f’n Calhoun. Calhoun is probably my favourite Weekend Update commentator, as it’s just hilarious line after hilarious line. It’s probably my favourite Forte character as well. The blind Pole joke was amazing. And then we got Jean K. Jean! It’s like the Weekend Update All Star Commentator Edition. It’s such a great bit. The Palin bit was also awesome, loved seeing Palin and Meyers getting down and the Paper Planes-esque gun shot noises. Terrific Update. ****1/2

 

Fart Face

Cast- Brolin, Hader, Forte

Thoughts- This skit falls into the category of wait- how did this make this past read through? I mean, they had a whole week to pitch it, write it and block it, plus performing it dress and no one thought that this skit might not work? Really? ¼*

 

Narc School: School for the Narcs

Cast- Brolin, Wiig, Forte, Darrell Hammond, Wilson,

Thoughts- I always liked skits that have their own intro and theme music. Kristen saying crunk and then having use her glasses to read from the index card was pretty funny. Darrell’s bit at the end was just bad, but the soccer exchange made up for it. **1/2

 

Readitrade.com

Cast- Sudeikis, Thompson, Armisen, Wilson, Moynihan

Thoughts- Fun fact: SNL actually bought the domain name and turned it into a real website. I love when they do stuff like that. There wasn’t much to this, but I did laugh pretty hard at the sell drugs line. **

 

New York Underground

Cast- Hader, Poehler, Armisen, Forte Wilson,

Thoughts- I’ll be honest, I have no idea what the heck this was supposed to be. If it was spoofing some New York show, well I’ve never heard of it. I guess they needed to fill time, and didn’t want me to kill someone by showing another Macgruber. ¾*

 

Adele

Cast- Despite the fact that I wanted to make more fat jokes about Adele (who knew Camryn Manheim had a daughter) but she was actually pretty good. **1/2

 

Fall Foliage

Cast- Brolin, Poehler, Thompson, Samberg, Forte, Hader, Wiig

Thoughts- For a last skit, I didn’t mind this, since I like when they make the last skits just a little bit bizarre. While it wasn’t a laugh riot, I did love the ending when they explained Brolin’s backstory and Kenan mentioned being raped. Because when in doubt, rape is always funny. **1/4

 

Thoughts- The avg. skit was ** making this a thumbs down show. While it had a lot of bells, whistles and cameos, there really wasn’t much besides the Palin stuff. A lot of the skits were just dead on arrival and didn’t go anywhere. Brolin did his best, but unfortunately he was overshadowed by all the Palin stuff, and it seemed like all the writers just put their eggs in that and forgot about the rest of the show.

 

Thumbs Down

 

[bob_barron 0]

SNL Review- Jon Hamm/Coldplay

 

 

Cold Opening

Cast- Jason Sudeikis, Darrell Hammond, Kenan Thompson, Andy Samberg, Casey Wilson, Bobby Moynihan

Thoughts- I looked it up on Election Night and apparently Murtha won re-election easily. The gaffe off between Biden and Mutha is a decent idea, but Darrell as Murtha really didn’t work. The facial expressions from the people in the background was pretty funny though. Weird that they had the cast in the background when they didn’t do anything, and this just went on for too long. **1/4

 

Monologue

Cast- Jon Hamm

Thoughts- I’ll be honest, when they announced Hamm as host, I had no idea who he was. I’ve never seen Mad Men, and I also thought it was on A&E and not AMC. It felt weird that SNL basically allowed Hamm carte blanche to advertise his show, since it’s not part of the NBC Universal family. I liked the line about making over homes in an extreme way at least. **1/2

 

Creepy Trick or Treater

Cast- Hamm, Forte

Thoughts- I’ve said it before, but no one plays a creepy paedophile better than Will Forte. I once asked him how he did that, and he said: years of practise. I wonder how former Kansas City Royals closer Jeff Montgomery feels about sharing the same name as a fictional pedophile. According to wikipedia, there’s also a Jeff Montgomery who is a gay activist and has a really fruity earring. This was great, and I loved the awkward pause and Forte’s segueway that followed it. ****

 

SNL Digital Short

Cast- Andy Samberg, Kristen Wiig, Wilson

Thoughts- Casey as a rastafarian was pretty hot but the rest of this was pretty bad- save for the Cool Runnings, Judy Blume, and Murder, She Wrote references. It’s a shame that the Digital Shorts seemed to have dipped in quality. *3/4

 

Two A-Holes Visit Mad Men

Cast- Elisabeth Moss, John Slattery, Hamm, Forte, Bill Hader, Sudeikis, Wiig, Moynihan, Wilson

Thoughts- Oh man, Casey’s role in this skit would’ve made it ***** had nothing else happened. That might have been one of the best things I’ve ever seen. This would be advertisement for Mad Men #2, and I thought it was funny that they just got the actors to play their characters. Not only do we get hot Casey, we also get the Two A-Holes! It’s like Christmas but at the end of October. My lack of Mad Men knowledge caused some of this to be lost on me, but the A-Holes were their usual great stuff, especially Kristen’s “imitation” of Marilyn Monroe. ***3/4

 

Barack Obama Election Special

Cast- Hamm, Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen, Sudeikis, Hammond, Wiig, Hader, Thompson, Samberg, Moynihan

Thoughts- This reminded me of the Dukakis After Dark skit from Matthew Modine/Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians episode. Dana as Lloyd Bentsen kills me in that skit. Also, two Joe Biden appearances? SNL cares about him more than anyone else. The bit with Hader and Kenan was awesome. I could quibble about Maya’s cameo, but it wasn’t that horrible and she didn’t do much, so I’ll give them a pass. ***1/4

 

Don Draper’s Guide to Picking Up Women

Cast- Hamm, Wiig, Poehler, Armisen, Wilson

Thoughts- I get it SNL! I promise, I will watch Mad Men from now on. Hamm was great in this skit, and the list at the end was really funny. I believe this will go down as Amy’s last skit as well, so quite the farewell. And of course- Casey looked hot. ***1/4

 

Coldplay “Viva La Viva”

Thoughts- I love Coldplay, and think Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends is a tremendous album, but they still aren’t a great live band, and Chris Martin makes you want to punch him in the face. And that’s overlooking the fact that he named his kid Apple. I knew they were going to play Viva La Vida, but it’s probably my least favourite song on the album and the one I play the least. It’s a really good song, it’s just a bit too pretentious at times. And wow, Chris Martin could not hit the high notes. I know I’m being overly negative, but I did really like this. It’s just that Coldplay bugs me more than they should. ***1/4

 

Weekend Update

Cast- Rudolph, Seth Meyers, Forte, Hader, Armisen, Thompson

Thoughts- Seth solo on Update! My dream has come true. And it’s the first solo Update since May 20, 2000. Yes, I looked that up. Forte as RoboCall was great and I loved that he drank a flask of oil and that Robocop was his older brother. Seth’s Greenspan joke was tremendous and sadly I bet that explained the economic crisis for a lot of people. Hader’s Nader was decent, but I’m surprised they didn’t just get Nader to play himself. Also I believe Seth was incorrect, and that Jacob is the most popular name for boys. While the first solo Update wasn’t great, it’s understandable given they probably had to scramble with Amy going into labout. And good lord, Nicholas Fein should be shot, it’s such a dead character. The Amy tribute was sweet I guess. ***1/2

 

Vincent Price Halloween Special

Cast- Hamm, Hader, Wiig,

Thoughts- They haven’t done a Vincent Price in forever, which is a shame, since I love these skits. Hader’s impression is so good, and it’s always fun seeing the obscure impressions. Hamm’s impression of James Mason was awesome, and I loved Fred’s Liberace as Hader tried to read the Raven. Kristen as Gloria Swanson didn’t really do it for me. But Hamm owned this skit, and I hope they make Price a little more reoccurring. ***3/4

 

Jon Hamm’s John Ham

Cast- Hamm

Thoughts- SNL never seems to miss a chance to make a pun with the host’s name. They even made a joke out of Peter Sarsgaard’s name! Also, this was a subtle Mad Men advert. Feel like a dummy yet was a great line. **1/4

 

Coldplay “Lost!”

Thoughts- The song is actually called Lost! with the exclamation point, it wasn’t that I was excited that they were playing this song. I was excited though, because I think this is one of the better songs on the album, and they actually did a really good job of singing it live and not having it come off as flat. ****

 

Pat Finger

Cast- Hamm

Thoughts- In case you’re asking, there is no Butts, New York. Hamm’s realisation that his campaign ads were getting dirtier was pretty funny. I also liked the oh wait at the end. ***

 

Coldplay “Yellow”

Thoughts- As much as I love Yellow, I think it sucks that Coldplay made this their third song. If they were going to perform another song on SNL, why not do a song on the current album? Or if they were going to do a “classic” song on SNL, why not do one they hadn’t already performed before? Clocks, Talk- they have some options here! And since they played Lovers in Japan only for it to get cut off by the credits, why not do Lovers in Japan as the third song, and let Yellow get cut off? I guess they wanted the song to be a tribute to Obama, but Coldplay, you’re so agonising! ***

 

The Bottom Line- The avg. skit was 3.11 making this a fantastic show and easily the best of the season. It’s also the first ***+ show since Alec Baldwin/Christina Aguilera. SNL rebounded from the letdown Brolin show in great fashion. While Hamm was an obscure host, he showed that great actors usually do quite well on SNL, because he was fantastic. They really put a lot of faith into him, and we saw why. Despite frustrating me, Coldplay was a great musical guest, and the lineup as a whole made a great team.

 

Thumbs Up

 

[ZGangsta 0]

Jon Hamm was a great host and they should really have him back sometime. Mad Men is a pretty good show too, worth checking out.

 

Yeah the Brolin episode was pretty terrible, which was a shame because I thought Josh Brolin showed some chops despite the crappy material. I think he could do a really good show if the writers bring it.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

I would have preferred a straight Mad Men skit, as opposed to including the 2 A-Holes. I wasn't feeling the SNL-players-as-Mad-Men-characters in this skit, save for Casey Wilson as Joan Holloway. Needed way more of her. I thought the "Picking Up Women" was the better of the 2 Mad Men sketches.

[Grungy Punk 0]

I was a big fan & follower of SNL all throughout the 90's until around '04. I don't like any of the new cast members in the past 4 years except Darrell Hammond who has been around since like '96 and is pretty much the only old school cast member still on there.

 

I wish SNL would do what they did in '96 and get all new cast members but keep Darrell Hammond.

[bob_barron 0]

I don't like any of the new cast members in the past 4 years except Darrell Hammond who has been around since like '96 and is pretty much the only old school cast member still on there.

 

I haven't been high on Andy. Aside from the digital shorts, he really doesn't contribute anything, and the digital shorts haven't been that good lately.

Bill's awesome- he's versatile, and I think he's the best impressionist on the show.

Kristen is overrated, and I think too many of her characters are cringe inducing, but I like her.

I love Casey, but that's mainly because of her huge tits.

 

We'll have to wait and see with the other two.

 

Darrell started in September 1995. The fact that he's on the show is sad, and makes me question why Lorne doesn't just get rid of him. The guy's been stale since the beginning of the decade, except for the 2002-2003 season, which should've been his last.

 

I wish SNL would do what they did in '96 and get all new cast members but keep Darrell Hammond.

 

This has actually been a great season, the last time SNL might have needed an overhaul was after 04-05. And Darrell should be the first to go, not last.

[Grungy Punk 0]

Andy acts like Adam Sandler. Jimmy Fallon is the one who brought Andy in. I use to watch the Keenan & Kel show when I was younger but I just think Keenan sucks on SNL. I can't believe he is on SNL. I can't believe Seth is a head writer on SNL. I think that is another huge problem that SNL has.

[bob_barron 0]

Guys, Kenan is one 'e'. Kenan can play certain roles well on SNL. He's not a great castmember, but he has enough worthy characters to make him a solid cast member.

 

Seth's great- I'm probably Seth's biggest fan, I've loved him since his commentary on the John Goodman SNL. I think making him head writer was one of the best moves SNL has made, and I think the show has rebounded from Tina's last few seasons. And I'm really excited to see what he has to offer solo on WU. It's been a dream of mine since 2001.

[Grungy Punk 0]

The only reason why Kenan is good for certain skits is because he is one of the very few black people that is a part of the cast. Kel would've been better on SNL. He is what made the Kenan & Kel show sort of funny. They don't even have an Asian & a Hispanic on SNL. Mad TV does. You need different races as a part of the cast to make the skits work.

[bob_barron 0]

And MadTV got cancelled! Given that they just hired two new people, I don't see why they couldn't at least get another black person

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Jeff Montgomery becoming a regular character and being in a skit for the Tim McGraw episode was great.

[Grungy Punk 0]

And MadTV got cancelled! Given that they just hired two new people, I don't see why they couldn't at least get another black person

 

Mad TV got cancelled? where did you hear this? I know they have been having new episodes this season. Mad TV has a black woman and two black guys on the show.

 

[bob_barron 0]

It was posted in the CTDWAT thread. I wasn't too high on the Tim McGraw show.

 

My goal is to review Affleck and Rudd next week, and if I have some time, try and catch up on McGraw. SNL's just been overloading with shows, it's hard to keep up

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

I've actually forgotten almost all of the McGraw show except for Jeff Montgomery. I like that Andy Samberg bad rapper character too.

[LaParkaMarka 0]

Guys, Kenan is one 'e'. Kenan can play certain roles well on SNL. He's not a great castmember, but he has enough worthy characters to make him a solid cast member.

 

Jean K. Jean kills me...I love that character. Plus he's rare enough that it isn't grating.

[SuperJerk 0]

Casey Wilson? Hot? Really?

 

[bob_barron 0]

Yes, she's very hot.

 

Though Abby Elliot might be supplanting her soon.

[MDH257 0]

I thought Matthew Modine played Lloyd Bentsen in the Dukakis After Dark skit.

 

Also, Bob thinks Casey Wilson is hot....

While I agree, I figured Bob would make fat jokes about her.

[Chazz 0]

I just noticed this season that Seth doesn't really appear in any sketches anymore. Does this have something to do with him being head writer for the show?

[bob_barron 0]

I just noticed this season that Seth doesn't really appear in any sketches anymore. Does this have something to do with him being head writer for the show?

 

He hasn't appeared in skits since taking over on Update.

 

I thought Matthew Modine played Lloyd Bentsen in the Dukakis After Dark skit.

 

Also, Bob thinks Casey Wilson is hot....

While I agree, I figured Bob would make fat jokes about her.

 

You are correct, that's my bad. Casey might be "fat", but I feel she's the perfect weight. She's awesome