Saturday Night Live April 11th, 2009

Saturday Night Live
April 11, 2009
Host: Zac Effron
Musical Guest: Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Cold Open.
Joe Biden chews Obama's ear off for mild comic effect. I found it an almost-cute dramatization of the awkward conversations that Obama and Biden probably have. The vice president putting his family photos on the president's desk while he was away was a nice touch. I also liked Obama saying "Relax, Joe. You've already got the job."

Monologue.
"Hey, Tweens!" seems like a condescending way to address your fan base in an attempt to appeal to the older audience. Do tweens refer to themselves as such?

Today.
Kristen Wiig is (expectedly) perfect as the completely out of touch Kathy Lee Gifford. When she mentioned her son Cody, I had flashbacks to Dana Carvey and Jan Hooks as Regis and Kathy Lee. I haven't thought much about Cody since then. I guess he would be Zac Effron's age by now!
Mikhaela Watkins is a decent straight-woman co-host (even if I can't remember the name of who she's playing).

Science Fair: Gilly returns.
The first thing this sketch did was remind me how rarely Bobby Moynihan is on the show these days (not a great sign for a featured player). The second thing this sketch did is remind me that not everything Kristen Wiig does is enjoyable.
Gilly is easily the most disturbing of her characters. It makes me glad that the trend of SNL character-based movies is on a downturn so I don't have to know the fear that would be an hour and a half of Gilly on the big screen. Although in the right hands I guess it COULD be the next POPEYE.

Junk Mail Commercial.
A bit more of a straight up rant than the usual SNL satirical approach, but a noble attempt at relevancy compared to the inane sketch that preceded it.

Kids at the Bar.
Totally hilarious. It had a funny set up, and the images of the kids drinking at the bar is pretty classic.
I wonder if they made up the phrase "Gerbils are the opposite of cougars"?

Musical Guest: Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
I've always been indifferent to this band, despite their critical acclaim. The singer reminds me of a mild PJ Harvey without the passion. But I did like the overall shoegazing sound of the song they played.

Weekend Update.
I assume Devil's Due comics are stoked that their Barrack the Barbarian series got plugged.
Considering the overloading of stereotypes, Bill Hader and Fred Armisen as the Gay Couple from New Jersey are funnier than I would have expected.
I still don't get who exactly is being parodied by Mikhaela Watkins' Angie Tempura, the snarky blogger character. The nasal voice and way of stretching out her "snotty comments" and saying "bitch, please" in an out of breath manner, just makes me scratch my head in confusion. Reminds me of Molly Shannon's "Don't even get me started. Don't EVEN get me started."
As soon as Seth Meyers said the words "Jon Bovi" my heart shrank in my chest. I can't believe how much time they wasted with the opposite of humor. Bitch, pleeeaaase. Slurp.

High School Musical 4
I'm surprised they didn't do this as one of the beginning sketches for the kids.
Mostly cute and predictable exceptnfor Daryl Hammond as an unfrozen, racist Walt Disney. Seems like Daryl just does "surprise cameos" the way he casually walks in at the end of sketches.

Going off to war.
Totally random, but I enjoyed Casey Wilson running next to a moving train with a fish in her mouth.

Gino's Pizza Rolls.
Fred Armisen's performance hit a little too close for home for me. They dragged it out a bit, but still cracked me up. Not bad for the often worn out "let's do that scene over" format

Next week: Hey Rick! It's the Best of Amy Poehler.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
I liked the heavy guitar parts at the end of the song.

Brotherly foot rub.
A solid, well written, stand alone sketch. It evoked some of the best Kids in the Hall awkward sexual scenes. Just imagine Scott Thompson playing the role of Jason Sudeikis (who was really good in this). It seems to be one of SNL's worst traditions to push the original scenes for the end of the night and annoy us with reoccurring one-note characters like Gilly at the start of the show.

CLIP: