Saturday Night Live

Gallifrey Girl wrote:

Eris Rising wrote:Prince's musical performance to consist of a single, uninterrupted, 8-hour jam.

Hee, 8 minutes, not 8 hours!

I was watching New Girl on Netflix, and there was an episode all about Prince. It was very strange.

I thought the Jim Carrey musical opening was terrible.  The haunted graveyard was hilarious! And the Lincoln car ad spoofs were good, particularly the payoff with the Allstate commercial.

Not a big fan of Jim Carrey, but he was doing spectacular at not looking like he was reading cue cards.

Sorry, I think that I was just expecting it to seem like 8 hours. I like Prince, but I don't like self-indulgence, and I realize that that may be an inherently self-contradictory statement.

Gallifrey Girl, Carrey used to do sketch comedy on In Living Color, so he knows the ropes for sure! I'd have been disappointed if he were relying heavily on cue cards.

I'm wondering if it might be time for an '85-'86 style housecleaning. Even if it means letting go of cast members I love, this show has lost its way. I was really hoping that this season would be one where they'd get it together after last year's formlessness, but no dice. Some brutality may be in order.

If SNL seems a bit off this season, it may be because they're airing another Tonkerbell sketch despite the mixed reaction to the first one, and leaving gems like this back at dress rehearsal. The show hasn't been that edgy in a very long time, but they seem well on the way to neutering it entirely. It's too bad, because with the right material, this is a talented cast.

I gotta say that I love Tonkerbell and was glad to see her return. My sisters and I spent all of Sunday beating "Yeah, I got a new boyfriend. And yeah, he IS the bat from Ferngully" into the ground.

My God.

Last night's episode was good. I mean, really good. Even Jost and Che seemed more "on" than usual, and Che's delivery of Cheney's reaction to the torture report was shocking, dark, and funny as hell. So much quality stuff. Hell, the cold open, which has been consistently dreadful this season, was topical and funny, and Moynihan and Mooney have excellent chemistry with each other. Jones and Freeman as the worst possible couple! Middle-Earth Office! Sump'n Claus!

Bobby Moynihan could probably just stare at the camera, and I would die laughing. He is flawless. I agree that he and Kyle Mooney have good chemistry.

Colin Jost has definitely grown on me. I love when Leslie flirts with him and calls him a glass of almond milk, or whatever, and he looks so bashful.

Of course, it's all on the internet, here.

Jost is adorable and definitely has grown into the role of anchor. I loooove Leslie Jones' flirtation with him. She is just dead-on hilarious.

whatthedeuce wrote:Jost is adorable and definitely has grown into the role of anchor. I loooove Leslie Jones' flirtation with him. She is just dead-on hilarious.

Jones is definitely Rookie Of The Year for me. Check out the sketch cut at dress that I linked a bit upthread, and note how much she does with so few words when the camera is on her.

I just found out Leslie Jones is 47! She is funny in Chris Rock's new movie, Top Five. (Michael Che, Jay Pharaoh, and Tracy Morgan have small parts in it too.)

They've rebounded well after a slow start and last season's glut of white guys. With the exception of Eddie Murphy redifing comedy this is the strongest black representation on the show by far and not just because of the numbers. It's also the best female representation since Proehler left.

One of the white guys who got lost in the shuffle who I don't think should have been kept was Mike O'Brien. It's nice he gets the occasional film, but I'd rather he got a chance to do something off beat once a week.

Although seeing cut sketches like the Ferguson one and This one from Martin Freeman makes me wonder about Lorne's taste and fortitude. Considering Word Association was probably the most important sketch in show history you'd think you could talk Lorne into going out on a limb every once in a while.

The Dude wrote:They've rebounded well after a slow start and last season's glut of white guys. With the exception of Eddie Murphy redifing comedy this is the strongest black representation on the show by far and not just because of the numbers. It's also the best female representation since Proehler left.

One of the white guys who got lost in the shuffle who I don't think should have been kept was Mike O'Brien. It's nice he gets the occasional film, but I'd rather he got a chance to do something off beat once a week.

Although seeing cut sketches like the Ferguson one and This one from Martin Freeman makes me wonder about Lorne's taste and fortitude. Considering Word Association was probably the most important sketch in show history you'd think you could talk Lorne into going out on a limb every once in a while.

Word Association helped put the show on the map, but let's face it: That was forty years and a ton of funny but decidedly non-edgy "Wayne's World" and "Spartan Cheerleaders" sketches ago.

And the Christmas episode with Amy Adams had a comfortably typical assortment of solid sketches, bizarre yet intriguing sketches (Raccoons!), and stuff that probably should have been cut at dress. Jost and Che still aren't quite doing it for me, but they're slowly figuring out a rapport, and giving Jost a character besides "Seth Meyers with a Norm MacDonald punchline delivery".

I thought this episode was the worst of the season, even though I really like Amy Adams generally, and last week's one with Martin Freeman was the best. Good Serial parody and good to see Mike Myers again. I'm not a fan of most of Kristin Wiig's characters, so was not excited to see her or Fred Armisen.

"What's your business?"

"I make animal skeletons."

"What do you make them out of?"

"Animals." Pause. "You know, at the end of day, when Dunkin' Donuts throws out all of the leftovers? Vet's office is the same."

Solid top half of the episode, uneven second half, which is typical for the show itself. Standouts: Kate McKinnon both in the above-referenced Weekend Update bit and in the Justin Bieber Calvin Klein ads, the James Brown sketch, and a cold open that actually flirted with serious social commentary while staying funny (Dr. King's increasing dismay was well-played by Keenan, and the whole impression fit snugly inside of his limited but well-practiced bag of tricks). The "star meets SNL member doing an impression of star" thing has been done so many times that they really need to bring something spectacular to the gag when they're tempted to make it into a sketch, and despite noble efforts from all involved, I didn't see that in the Hart/Jones/Pharoah sketch. The dragon sketch was similar, and felt like so much dead air after a while despite a few good gags. The final sketch with the rap star giving away his friends' secrets had a good close, but meandered for a while before getting there.

Decent episode. Not the best of the season, but I'm no longer calling for a culling of the cast.

I loved the Bushwick video. Kevin and his 10 bitches and the matching sweaters. The one good thing about Justin Bieber is that because he exists we get to see Kate McKinnon's Justin Bieber.

puddingcup wrote:I loved the Bushwick video. Kevin and his 10 bitches and the matching sweaters. The one good thing about Justin Bieber is that because he exists we get to see Kate McKinnon's Justin Bieber.

Can't believe I forgot that. Solid piece. "You actin' like someone put gluten in your muffin!"

The 40th Anniversary episode is set to air in about two weeks, and one totally unexpected, thought-this-would-never-happen guest will be there. As far as these things go, this is HUGE.

Eddie was a let down and awkward. Could have done with much less Kanye and Miley, but overall it was pretty good.

Strange seeing Bob Oedenkirk there considering he just hit the A-List like a minute ago and he's never sounded that happy about his time there.

Probably the biggest tweek of nostalgia was for GE Smith's weird facial contortions.

I agree it was overall good because it was 40 years and I got to see some of my favorites

Uneven, but considering that Lorne Michaels once said that that was the word that would be inscribed upon his tombstone, I might have actually been disappointed if it had run too smoothly or evenly. I didn't mind this installment of "The Californians" as much as I've minded others, largely due to Betty White saving the thing. Weird missed cue at the end there.

Loved Weekend Update. Curtin picked it up like she never stopped reading the fake news.

Eris Rising wrote: I didn't mind this installment of "The Californians" as much as I've minded others, largely due to Betty White saving the thing. Weird missed cue at the end there.

Really? I thought it was neeeeeeeeeeeeeeever going to eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnd. We made the mistake of watching it live, and I was dying to fast forward. I figured they went with the Californians because it was the only way to get 25 people in a skit, but man, it was painful.

I fell asleep before the end, and basically thought there was some good (Jane/Amy/Tina, celebrity jeopardy, the Sandler/Samberg song), and a lot of WTF. Like, why spend 5 minutes talking about how funny Eddie Murphy is and then ...not show Eddie Murphy be funny? If he didn't want to do something live, show some clips. Though I thought for sure his James Brown was going to end the musical segment. Why was Miley Cyrus singing a Paul Simon song when he was right there? And why Kanye period?

The Eddie Murphy bit was so oddly serious. I agree with everyone's criticisms, but still loved it. I wish they had done more live sketches, though. Was the Bass-O-Matic sketch exactly the same as the original (besides the blender failure)? For a moment I was worried that they were just going to redo classic sketches exactly as before, which would have been bad.

It's uncanny the way the special followed the pattern of so many of the shows - strong start but largely fizzled out bu the last 1/3. Eddie Murphy's appearance was so pointless. I don't mind Miley too much but if Paul Simon wasn't up to performing two numbers - and I think it was perfect that he ended the show with "Still Crazy After All These Years'" - why even have "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" in the show?
I especially loved the audition footage. And the Wayne's World mockery of Lorne Michaels.