Tag Archive
SNL: Ashton Kutcher/Them Crooked Vultures
HOWARD MEGDAL: This one leaves me unimpressed. Pretty scattershot, and Gibbs wouldn’t appear on that panel, plus that isn’t remotely like Robert Gibbs. This one is overdone. Look, they show that Fox News is unbalanced. I already knew that. Even the Glenn Beck, by virtue of being material-free, wastes a good effort from Jason Sudeikis.
STEVE MURPHY: Not their worst… but not funny, either. Although I did enjoy looking at Abby Elliot.
ZOË RICE: The best thing about this open was Attractive Blonde Lady, which made me chuckle. Unfortunately the overall affect was slow, with a couple decent moments but not enough.
SNL: Jon Hamm/Michael Bublé
ZOË RICE: I had been looking forward to what SNL would do with the State of the Union! Every time I see Biden and Pelosi behind the President, I immediately think of Sudeikis and Wiig, and here yet again they’re just funny there in the background, gesticulating. I thought it was a solid open, with good use of senator reaction shots to enhance the laughs. Of course the healthcare bit at the end was kind of depressing, but the Martha Coakley jokes and the gags about how the Bushes left the White House were chucklers.
STEVE MURPHY: I agree with Zoe, this was a “chuckler.” A couple little jokes, a couple funny reaction shots… but nothing got knocked out of the park in this sketch. I was ready for it to end long before it did.
HOWARD MEGDAL: Awfully scattershot. When Al Franken wrote SNL political sketches, they had clear targets and an underlying understanding of political realities. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to shake my fist at some children on my front lawn.
SNL: Sigourney Weaver/The Ting Tings
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: 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.
SNL: Charles Barkley/Alicia Keys
ZOË RICE: I expected little from Charles Barkley’s monologue, and so it surpassed my slim expectations. I give him a B; it picked up with “Pretty, in a kinda Jewish way” but of course then took a dip again with Kenan Thompson (although I like “Well, some of it’s great. And some of it we’re gonna do anyway.”) And it’s true, SNL, where are the black hosts? And also more talented black sketch comics?
STEVE MURPHY: I also loved the “pretty, in a kinda Jewish way” joke, but the rest of this suffered from Barkley’s signature speech impediment. It’s like he’s trying to talk with a mouthful of marbles. But agreed, they need some more diversity in this cast. Let’s get rid of Kenan and replace him with someone funny. Wait, did that make sense? Regardless, let’s replace Kenan.
HOWARD MEGDAL: It was really amusing at the end when Kenan Thompson did that voice that sounds like Kenan Thompson.
SNL: James Franco/Muse
ZOË RICE: SNL rarely opens with this type of recurring sketch–the Lawrence Welk show, with those 4 singing sisters–and the host, James Franco appeared in it, another rarity. I get the sense this skit might not have been the original opener, but I don’t care. I loved it. I laughed heartily. Eunice is so friggin’ funny. With those little mutant hands and all their hilarious antics! James Franco held his own and made me psyched for the rest of the show.
HOWARD MEGDAL: I have to say, I do enjoy this skit. Obviously, skewering Lawrence Welk isn’t particularly timely, and it does play oddly as the opener- but I’m glad for it, and James Franco announced his presence with authority.
STEVE MURPHY: I think the only reason this was so jarring is because the cold open is usually political and usually sucks. Overall this one was a success for me. I don’t understand why this needs sketch even needs a Lawrence Welk reference, really. I’m with Howard, the Lawrence Welk Show isn’t topical enough to lampoon. Luckily James Franco was fantastic, and Kristen Wiig was intensely creepy as usual as the mutant fourth sister (even if her lines weren’t as funny as usual). Franco’s gonna be a great host, I can feel it!
SNL: Taylor Lautner/Bon Jovi
ZOË RICE: A trio of cheating senators bemoan–where’s our outrage? Where’s our media blitz? Why just Tiger Woods? Not a bad open to the program, but not a great one either. There’s something mediocre this week in the SNL Kool-Aid for me, and it starts with this sketch. I give it an “Eh.”
STEVE MURPHY: The disagreement about Tiger’s ethnicity was the best part of this one. “Is it because we’re white men and Tiger Woods is… well, I guess… black-Asian-Polynesian-Cherokee?” A generally good idea, not too badly done. I’m lukewarm so far. Fingers crossed.
HOWARD MEGDAL: I don’t know, guys- has there really been a scarcity of coverage of Sanford/Edwards/Ensign?!?
SNL: Blake Lively / Rihanna
STEVE MURPHY: Muppets? Where the hell did this joke even come from? Are the Muppets somehow a timely reference? I can’t tell if Blake Lively is terrible or if this idea is just the worst thing ever. The Muppets were funny a couple weeks ago in that driving sketch, but this was a horrific second appearance for what could have been a great recurring set of characters. Shouldn’t the monologue have something at least tangentially related to the host? I will say that Blake Lively’s breasts performed very well.
HOWARD MEGDAL: She made Megan Fox look like a pilgrim! But right on- monologue was totally aimless.
SNL: Joseph Gordon-Levitt / Dave Matthews Band
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C O L D O P E N :
ZOË RICE: Lesson learned here: sarcasm through a translator will pretty much always be funny. And I continue to look forward to Fred Armisen’s Obama.
STEVE MURPHY: Hilarious! The new girl really made…
SNL: January Jones/Black Eyed Peas
STEVE MURPHY: A lukewarm way to start the show. Joe Biden doesn’t have the level of public exposure these days that I think was needed to pull this one off. Plus… I mean the jokes really weren’t the kind a person laughs at.
HOWARD MEGDAL: I am all for topical humor, but is the idea that Joe Biden says what’s on his mind particularly topical?
SNL Week in Review: Taylor Swift
STEVE MURPHY: I love impressions of musicians, and some of these were damn good. Taylor Swift did a really accurate Shakira, in that it was horrid, Armisen’s Randy Newman impression was great, and Bill Hader did a hilarious (but too brief!) Eddie Vedder. Others fell a little short (Kenan), but overall this was enjoyable.
ZOË RICE: A strong end to the night. Fred Armisen’s Randy Newman was spot-on and made me laugh immediately. And I think Taylor Swift’s Shakira was one of her best acting bits of the night. Steve was definitely more impressed by her acting chops than I was. I say let the kid stick with musical humor and playing a teenager. And also she seems very nice.
HOWARD MEGDAL: I think it’s more that I expected nothing from her, and she handled comedy pretty well with a week to rehearse. I think she could go that route if she wants to. Liked Shakira in particular.