Saturday Night Live January 16th, 2010

Saturday Night Live
January 16th 2009
Host: Sigourney Weaver
Musical Guest: The Ting Tings

Cold Open: Larry King Live.
Not much insight or commentary on the Late Night controversy, but several good impressions! I can’t remember if Daryl Hammond ever did Jay Leno when he was a cast member on the show, but he came back for this. The best part was Jason Sudeikis, who was brilliantly deranged as Dave Letterman. I wonder if he told him he’d be doing it when he was on his show earlier in the week. Bill Hader was surprisingly serious as Conan, but he got the look down perfect. Another good bit was Larry King explaining how to access his blog on the internet.

Monologue.
Confident, classy and surprisingly funny. The idea of Sigourney Weaver being scared of everything shouldn’t have worked, but something about her delivery sold it for me.
“Are you an alien? You have to tell me if you are.” I also had no idea about her parents.

ESPN Classic: Women’s Darts
The way Jason Sudeikis says “Summer’s Eve” just isn’t as funny as “Tampax” or “Vagisil.” I guess that’s why he had to add the qualifier “douche,” but still not funny enough to warrant a third incarnation of the sketch.

Digital Short: Laser Cats 5
A fun homage to a bunch of James Cameron movies, and obviously a nice SNL touch to have the real director do a cameo. I appreciated the callouts to Ash and Bishop from the Alien films, and the fact that there was a character named Admiral Spaceship. But the Unobtanium reference at the end almost killed it.

Disco Booty Junction.
I love the way it opened with Kenan Thompson talking to someone off camera about his dressing room. But I didn’t care for the way it segued into a short song a la the Deep House Dish sketches before it devolved into an inane debate about the guests’ names: Amber and Cream. But the ending was pretty good as Kenan asked why he had to show up to work again if the show was cancelled.

Musical Guest: The Ting Tings.
I like the song (after first hearing it in a Puppetbenders web video), but the performance was underwhelming. And the outfit looked a little second-hand Lady Gaga.

Weekend Update.
Abby Elliot’s impression reminds me of someone else’s impression/commentary of Diane Keaton—but I can’t remember whose!
Seth’s Best line: “I can’t go back to being in a sketch every 3 weeks!”

Avatar Sex.
I guess they couldn’t resist playing into the growing nerd interest in Navi sex.
The fake legs were a nice touch. And it was interesting to see how they adapted the CGI characters into live action costumes and make up. A nice testament to the production values of the show’s crew.

Riley.
This was the introduction to a horrible character that I hope they never bring back. It almost makes Gilly seem like a good idea.
I’m guessing Fred Armisen was supposed to be channeling Harvey Fierstein? Cartman from South Park? I’m sure someone thought it was funny every time he said “bitch” but I thought it was flat and totally forced. I expect more from Fred Armisen.

Sigourney Weaver reads her online comments.
This was ADORABLE and endearing. My favorite sketch of the night. I wonder if they modeled the set off her real apartment and she told them to put up the Lolita poster.

Musical Guest: The Ting Tings.
Overall, I like their sound but wish their songs weren’t AS repetitive as they are. Just a tad more variation would go a long way. Was the cowbell SNL pandering?

Fire and Rice.
Something about this performance evoked Jan Hooks—in a good way.