Saturday, March 13, 2010

Saturday Night Live 13th, 2009

Saturday Night Live
March 13th, 2009
Host: Jude Law
Musical Guest: Pearl Jam

Opening: Tickle Party
“NO!” Yes!

Monologue.
I love Hamlet, but this recap seemed pointless.

Commercial Parody: Ford Hybrid.
Well filmed!

Game Show Parody.
I hate to admit it, but the concept behind this Kristen Wiig character (albeit stupid) kinda makes me laugh.

Commercial Parody: Another Security System commercial.
Not hilarious, but it worked well enough.

Parody of Vicky Christina Barcelona?
One joke, mildly executed. Second sketch about potential abuse against women.

Digital Short: Another Andy Samberg music video.
Had no idea who the other singer was. A notch below the “Threw it on the Ground” song.

Weekend Update.
Jerry Seinfield is a perfect fit for the “Really?!” segments.

Twilight Zone Parody.
Is this the first time SNL has riffed on the episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"? Seems like everyone else already has. I do always like when the bands show up in sketches.

Hamlet Audition.
Just an excuse for celebrity impressions, but Andy Samberg’s Nick Cage STILL makes me smile.

Kicksplit Underground Music Festival.
This was the same exact sketch as last time, right? Seems a bit long for a total commercial repeat. Did they really not have any other ideas for new sketches?

Pearl Jam.
It’s been a while since I’ve listened to Pearl Jam and was mostly disappointed by these newer songs. I remember liking the song they played on Conan last year, though.


Court Stenographer, Round Two.
Sorry, Fred Armisen. I still hate this character.

Ravish.
I’ll never understand why they choose to break out a new character/sketch in the last ten minutes of the show. Not hilarious, but more interesting than a lot of the other things they’ve tried out this year. I enjoyed the “Jay Leno Walking” segment and the violin-playing sister.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Saturday Night Live March 7th, 2010

Saturday Night Live
March 6th, 2009
Host: Zach Galifianakis
Musical Guest: Vampire Weekend

Opening.
Intentionally giving fodder to Conservatives?

Monologue.
I haven’t seen his stand up routine in a while so I’m not sure if it was new material or not.

Vogelcheck Family Funeral.
You think they spend a lot of time practicing these sketches? I hope they washed that dog’s mouth! I loved how the audience had such a strong reaction to Fred Armisen the minute he started walking over toward the casket. And the corpse kissing back definitely cracked me up. But I was disappointed James Franco didn’t do a cameo since he was in the last one.

Bidet Crazy.
Not really enough material to warrant an entire sketch. I fear that means it will become a reoccurring sketch.

Zack on the set.
Kinda fun. Kid with beard was a good climax.

Kathie Lee and Hoda Kotb.
One of the meaner parodies on SNL. Makes me worry that the real Hoda is equally abused by the real Kathie Lee (considering most of what I’ve seen in the previous sketches has turned out to be too close for comfort).

Vampire Weekend.
I always think this band sounds interesting when I first hear them. But I find I tire of them fairly quickly. But this song was short enough to go down easy.

Weekend Update.
Kenan’s hairstyle and impression didn’t really come across as Mo’nique.
A lot of set up for another annoying Will Forte nonsense song. I’m fair enough to admit that this was actually one of his more tolerable ones. Points for the Miss Piggy reference.

What Up With That?
I really wish they could find a way to change these up a bit more beyond just loading up random guests and background dancers. They can never get back the initial surprise factor and energy of the original. But this one seemed better than last time, mostly because grown-up Baby Jessica in the well was brilliant.

The Situation Room.
Kind of an obvious commentary on the overuse of social media on CNN…but well played. Well played.

Vampire Weekend.
Another okay song.

Pageant Song.
Did the makeup artists cover Zach’s beard? Did he shave between sketches?