Saturday Night Live
November 14th, 2009
Host: January Jones
Musical Guest: Black Eyed Peas
Cold Open.
It’s kind of cool that Jason Sudeikis’ Joe Biden is more of a character than a straight-up impersonation. But it still only mildly amuses me.
Monologue.
Nice and short!
Kathie Lee and Hoda Kotb.
Jenny Slate stepped in as Hoda, but didn’t add too much to the straight-woman role.
I was surprised to find out that that song Everyone Has a Story was not made up for this sketch! I think the real version is even funnier!
Rear Window.
One joke: Pretty girl farting. Jason Sudeikis’ Jimmy Stewart was pretty good, but it made me think of Dana Carvey. Bobby Moynihan was decent as Hitchcock.
WIIX/Michelle Dison
“I like it!” Kristen Wiig at her absolute best. Rare example of a one-joke character managing to milk a surprising amount of material. I laughed through the whole thing. When January Jones walked away, freaked out, I was disappointed there wasn’t a twist ending. But then the bee gag made up for it.
Crown Instructional Films: Dinner Party
Really nice use of color. And the bit got better as it went along.
Best line: “Cats are girls, and dogs are boys.”
Black Eyed Peas.
Probably the definition of “guilty pleasure.” The song is getting overplayed, but I’m not exactly tired of it just yet. Still a bit too catchy!
Weekend Update.
Nice of Daryl Hammond to stop by his own show!
My heart dies a little every time the Bon Jovi opposite band comes back.
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.
An okay sketch that would have seemed clever 10-15 years earlier.
Digital Short.
Lot of bathroom humor in this episode. The visual ending made the sketch worthwhile.
First Date.
A simple, but very enjoyable sketch.
Third song by Black Eyed Peas.
Some of the lyrics are cheesy, but I love the beats on this one.
Closing thoughts.
January Jones was a solid host, but it seemed like she played a naive wife or girlfriend in every other sketch. There seemed to be no sight of Kenan Thompson, just his voice singing a song on Weekend Update.
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5 comments:
January Jones was a solid host? What show were you watching? She was nervous, halting, broke up over nothing, and even asked which camera to look at as her wildlife guide scene opened up. The writers gave her crap to work with though - literally...fart jokes ad nauseum. Awful episode.
Maybe it is just me, but it seemed like the beginning was a little hectic. As if the time required to learn the material was not sufficient for the actors. All of the actors did a professional job with what they had to work with. Also, I believe there were more commercial-back to SNL for five seconds-commercial breaks than usual. I would like to see the actors become less reliant on the teleprompter because it will result in a better skit. To be more spontaneous if they have that liberty. Like John Belushi was at his best. SNL usually ends with the host on center stage saying goodbye. Not this time. Makes me think that this weeks' show was not as polished as they and I would like for it to be. Go SNL!
You are extraordinarily charitable in your reviews. I've been watching SNL since about 1980 and this was probably the worst overall episode I've ever seen. The "Rear Window" sketch was without a doubt the single un-funniest sketch I've ever seen them attempt.
I've pretty much given up on SNL at this point. I think it's beyond saving.
I totally agree that January Jones did seem nervous, but she got better as she went. And yes there was way too much focus on farts and bathroom humor. But I feel like SNL resorts to this stuff every few years (think early Chris Farley). It goes in cycles. And for all this weeks faults there was still some bigger laughs than in the past two episodes for me.
For me, this was the weakest episode of the season. Aside from the standout Dinner Party film, January Jones was consistently awkward, and the sketches, as a whole, were groaners. Around the time of the Rear Window bit, I turned to the boyfriend and said, "It's gonna be one of those nights." And indeed, it was. Where's Bear City when we need it?!
By the way, Darrell Hammond officially retired from SNL at the end of last season. Whenever we see him now, it's just a guest appearance.
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