SNL: Sigourney Weaver/The Ting Tings

C O L D   O P E N :

HOWARD MEGDAL: A bit meandering, but just fantastic Larry King and Jay Leno impressions by Fred Armisen and Darrell Hammond, respectively. Surprised Letterman was so one-dimensional.

ZOË RICE: I’m actually surprised to hear the praise for the impressions here, which I thought were all pretty weak. I was disappointed with the open this episode. Here’s NBC’s topical comedy program covering an NBC-centric scandal…with no laughs or bite at all. What a wasted opportunity. Darrell Hammond’s Leno was the strongest of the bunch, but still underwhelming. Bill Hader was pretty much a paperweight.

STEVE MURPHY: I have to agree with Howard on this one.  The impressions fell flat for me.  Conan just… sat there.  Letterman was completely pointless… and there wasn’t any content.  They didn’t make any points!  Nothing new, nothing insightful, and nothing funny.  The only jokes seemed to be about Larry King’s age… and that’s not really what this was supposed to be about.  My high hopes when this sketch started crashed and burned.  Weak start.

M O N O L O G U E :

HOWARD MEGDAL: Pretty much a waste of time- liked the NBC Memo at the end though, and I even learned something!

ZOË RICE: Sigourney Weaver looked gorgeous and elegant, unlike her hilarious 1986 self. Who knew her father was president of NBC? The monologue was rather an odd mish-mash, but Weaver is likeable enough that it doesn’t much matter.

STEVE MURPHY: It always amazes me when solid actors can’t do their thing live.  Weaver looked nervous, awkward and unsettled, and her lack of jokes really didn’t help very much.  It was essentially two pictures of her and a memo.  Plus a joke about peeing.

G R A D Y   W I L S O N :

HOWARD MEGDAL: Go away! I hate this character. Have to say though, Sigourney Weaver amused. So it really might be a Kenan thing.
You know, I was thinking about Kenan this week- how we criticize SNL for not having enough African-American cast members, but we also think Kenan is terrible. Is it possible they keep him on so rational people, who believe both of these things, won’t voice them for the inherent contradiction they seem to provide?

ZOË RICE: Which is the sexual position that makes Grady Wilson die a horrible, permanent TV death? I want that one. Here Kenan takes Sigourney down with him, but I did enjoy the knowing look during her “Brandy snifter.”

STEVE MURPHY: I hate you Kenan Thompson.  Who writes this?  Who thinks it’s a good idea to do this Grady Wilson sketch again and again and again?  I wish there was some kind of live tracking system on SNL like on election night where we could twist a dial to show how much we’re enjoying the show.  That way they’d know everyone hates Grady Wilson (and pretty much any other Kenan character besides the host of What Up With That).

E S P N   C L A S S I C :

HOWARD MEGDAL: This skit is growing on me-I really enjoy, and clearly they do as well, Wiig in those absurd 80s outfits. The douche gags have gone from implied to extremely over-the-top, but Sudeikis is like a tiebreaker on behalf off any comic idea or line.

ZOË RICE: Will Forte was great here, with a particular giggle for his douche-dart mix-ups. Sigourney made me inwardly chuckle as the Wolf-Bear. I thought it was a funny sketch, if not an amazing one.

STEVE MURPHY: I think this sketch needs to be retired.  It’s getting less funny every time.  The best part of this sketch was the “… douche” after every Summer’s Eve slogan.  But not even the slogans were funny tonight.  Time to let this one die.

D I G I T A L   S H O R T :   LASER CATS 5

HOWARD MEGDAL: Always down for Laser Cats, but this one left me cold.

ZOË RICE: Love Laser Cats! And this is James Cameron Laser Cats! Part spoof, part homage. First of all, I love that they show it to Lorne Michaels on VHS. I loved Cameron’s “Game changer” with Laser Bats. The silly Cameron-type dialogue, the kittens (kittens!), the “Avatar machine” prop, the Na’vi shout out, the Titanic string quartet. Fun stuff.

STEVE MURPHY: Terrrrific.  So much good stuff in here I can barely quote it.  The Titanic string quartet at the end was absolutely perfect.  Also enjoyed, “Ripley!” “Believe it or not.”  Really terrific.  Laser bats?  Game changer.  I like that they don’t do this so often it gets old, despite it being the fifth incarnation.

D I S C O   B O O T Y   J U N C T I O N :

HOWARD MEGDAL: Highlight was probably open to disco-Bill Hader’s face, though Weaver/Wiig were also amusing, and Kenan was just ordinary enough not to screw it up.

ZOË RICE: This was just awful. A total fast-forwarder. Does Kenan only have ideas for sketches where he’s a TV host? Boo.

STEVE MURPHY: At first this seemed like a ripoff of Deep House Dish… but with disco.  Which wouldn’t count as a new sketch.  But then there was a huge, crazy twist: there was only one band making terrible music in an annoying musical genre, not three.  The only other way this was different from Deep House Dish was they eliminated the only funny character, Andy Samberg as T-Shane.  This was dead on arrival except for Bill Hader at the very, very beginning.  It would have worked a lot better if they’d stuck to the Deep House Dish format of three different musical acts doing funny disco songs, instead of trying to make the humor about Kenan, who just isn’t funny, ever.

T H E   T I N G   T I N G S   1 :   THAT’S NOT MY NAME

HOWARD MEGDAL: Significantly worse than the fake music on Disco Booty Junction. Also, the last skit had to be making fun of this song, right?

ZOË RICE: I did find it kind of funny that this song was about the wrong name after a sketch about trying to figure out names. I have never heard of the Ting Tings, I admit. The chick seems to aspire to be a Debbie Harry or early B-52s type in a weird outfit jerking around on stage. Something just doesn’t seem SNL-worthy here. I didn’t hate it, but I’m not rushing to download.

STEVE MURPHY: I liked the Ting Tings’ album… in 2008 when it came out.  What the hell are they doing on SNL in 2010 doing the same songs?  Regardless, this is not a band that works for me live; the studio cut of this song is a lot better.  And I get that there’s technically only two of them… but if your song has music in it, at least have a person on stage pushing a button to make it happen.  There’s clearly a keyboard in this song.  But there’s only a drummer on stage.  So who’s playing the music?

W E E K E N D   U P D A T E :

HOWARD MEGDAL: Loved Seth’s Conan monologue. Meanwhile, Larry the Goose might have been the sharpest writing/execution of the season. Just fantastic. Pretty good Streep, too- liked both the impression and that they just gave her awards, since she’s Meryl Streep and she deserves them! That Red Cross joke at the end totally bombed, though. Seriously, “Call Now” is a punchline? Lame.

ZOË RICE: I really enjoyed Seth tonight. Finally some justice was done to the Conan/Leno dealie, but my favorite part was Seth’s personal take, “I can’t go back to being in a sketch once every three weeks.” Larry the Goose was great, I agree with Howard. I am apparently easily pleased by goose puns. And when he just started honking I totally broke up. Meryl Streep I thought was just okay. I’m finding that I don’t like Abby Elliott’s impressions overall. She was a bit Meryl-y, for sure, but also a bit too Abby Elliotty still. The awards, though, gave me a tickle. (And really, Jennifer Love Hewitt?)

STEVE MURPHY: The Conan/Leno monologue was a little confusing, to be honest.  That’s two non-amazing bits on this topic for me (though I liked that one line, too, Zoe).  Larry the Goose was ok, but really awesome at the very end with the poem, written primarily in goose.  Abby Elliot does a really excellent Meryl Streep impression.  In fact, I’d really like to get drunk with Meryl Streep and Abby Elliot as Meryl Streep.  I just have a feeling that would be crazy fun.  I guess what I’m saying is I want a threesome with two Meryl Streeps.

A V A T A R :

HOWARD MEGDAL: Eh. Didn’t see it, but I’m pretty sure I get the joke-he’s getting sodomized, so it is funny, right?

ZOË RICE: Bill Hader’s tiny legs made me laugh, and the Na’vi costumes were perfect. But oy, SNL, when you don’t know how to end a sketch why is it alllllways the anal sex?

STEVE MURPHY: Wow… eggplant sodomy.  Did not see that one coming.  Pretty dead-on Avatar references all the way through, the Jason Sudeikis’ Spellman impression was particularly great.  But wow that just went the wrong way fast.

R I L E Y :

HOWARD MEGDAL: Oh, fantastic. The portion of the SNL writing staff that thinks a really annoying character interacting with normal people equals comedy gold. A normal family deals with a child who talks like a stereotypical, rude homosexual. What will they do? WHAT WILL THEY DO? Make it stop.

ZOË RICE: I was confused. Was Riley supposed to be a take on Charles Nelson Reilly? What was the funny here? I don’t need to see any more of “Inappropriate character who says bitch a lot.” Please don’t recur.

STEVE MURPHY: So… why does he say bitch so much?  And why does he sound like he’s vomiting when he does it?  This sketch was horrid.  And I think we can be certain they will repeat it again and again and again until we want to kill ourselves.  I hate knowing that in advance.  Sorry, Zoe.  Brace yourself for plenty more of this one.

I N T E R N E T   B U Z Z :

HOWARD MEGDAL: You know, the audience there didn’t seem to like this, but I loved it. Loved it. Weaver was absolutely terrific, and so was Sudeikis. This was everything an SNL skit should be- not too long, not over-the-top, really sharp writing, well-acted, and taps into something very amusing in the zeitgeist. Haven’t we all wondered if famous people read the comments about them on the Internet? More like this, less like Riley, please! And Sigourney, if you’re reading- we love you-especially in that scene you have in Working Girl with Harrison Ford in the bedroom. But really, all the time.

ZOË RICE: Hee, I enjoyed when Sigourney wondered, sincerely, Will this bad internet comment hurt the movie? I thought Sigourney’s freak-out over internet chatter was amusing, but I wasn’t blown away by the sketch.

STEVE MURPHY: Yikes.  Old people don’t know about the Internet?  Not funny.  And I mean Sigourney Weaver isn’t even old.  So maybe it’s… famous people don’t know about the Internet?  But then there’s a million celebs with Twitter accounts to directly talk with fans… I don’t get it.  This sketch belonged in 2001, not 2010.  Even my 89 year old grandfather is more Internet savvy than this.  But I did love the subtle “Cylon” reference in one of the YouTube commenters’ names.

T H E   T I N G   T I N G S   2 :   SHUT UP AND LET ME GO

HOWARD MEGDAL: Shut up. Let me go.

ZOË RICE: Are they supposed to be like the reverse White Stripes? She was wearing these black strappy things. So…the Black Straps?

STEVE MURPHY: Wow, another old song… I really don’t get what they’re doing here playing old music.  That’s not what SNL is about.  And again… where’s the bassist?  Where’s the keyboard?  Where is all this music coming from? I do like this song, so, I shouldn’t complain too much I suppose… but his drum solo was almost as horrific as her cowbell solo.

P I A N O :

HOWARD MEGDAL: This one fell flat. Such a shame-Bobby Moynihan finally makes an appearance, and I liked him playing the piano. But the material just didn’t give him anything to work with.

ZOË RICE: I actually thought this was a decent way to end the show. Sigourney showed some physical comedy prowess, and I chuckled at a couple lines. Increasingly I’m accepting mediocre SNL sketches as decent or acceptable. Comparatively, I enjoyed this last sketch enough. But really that means there’s not enough truly impressive writing elsewhere. Losing Kenan would go a long way toward improving this show.

STEVE MURPHY: Unfunny.  But I did like that the show opened and closed with Sigourney-Weaver-pees-herself jokes.  The very very end of this was funny, but that’s about it.  Readers, be glad they didn’t post this online for you to see.  Thanks for another hour and a half of wasted time, SNL!  Maybe we should start reviewing a different show…

Tags: Avatar, Fire Kenan Thompson, Sigourney Weaver, SNL, Ting Tings

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Arts & Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.