Thoughts on last night's "Saturday Night Live" coming up just as soon as I ask my doctor about my tolerance for cartoonish sound effects...I know everyone's going to want to talk about Justin Timberlake's surprise appearance on Weekend Update and then his work in the sketch depicted above(*), but I want to start off by singing the praises of this week's Digital Short. Perhaps to an even more extreme degree than "SNL" itself, the Shorts can be very hit-or-miss, and "Everyone's a Critic" started off seeming like it would be one of the misses, relying on a pixellated male nudity gag that wasn't enough to justify the length. But then they unveiled the painting at the art auction, and... well, like Adam at Throwing Things, I can't remember the last time I laughed so uncontrollably at something(**). Just the perfect amount of over-the-top (if such a thing is possible), and the random "Raiders of the Lost Ark" homage in the middle gave the entire thing a great Zucker Brothers (circa "Airplane!") feel.
(*)I'm still trying to figure out NBC's strategy for which sketches to post online. You would think the Beyonce/Timberlake sketch would be a natural to go viral, but it's not up there, while lamer sketches like the kissing family are. Is it a music rights clearance issue? Or will it just randomly turn up online days and days later, like Giraffes! and Night School Musical from the Ben Affleck show?
(**) Actually, that's not true. I'd put the second half of "Everyone's a Critic" slightly behind the safe-sex riff from last night's Ricky Gervais HBO concert special, but in fairness, I first heard that one way back in July.
But, anyway, JT. I think we've already established that Timberlake's in the elite hosting pantheon with Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, Christopher Walken and, if they ever do it again, Tom Hanks and John Goodman. So while it's a disappointment that he won't be pulling double duty for the Thanksgiving show, the idea of having him condense his entire appearance into a stream-of-consciousness monologue -- which sounded almost exactly like how you would expect the hypothetical episode to go, and allowed Timberlake to introduce a Michael McDonald impression -- was hilarious, and one of several extremely meta moments of the episode.
We also got Paul Rudd(***) doing a monologue about how disappointing it is to be hosting the show after the election, and even the cold opening with Joe Biden promising that he can be as gaffe-prone as Sarah Palin felt like the show's way of promising that they could be funny even without Tina Fey's Palin impression(****).
(***) Rudd was a disappointment as host, I thought, considering how funny and versatile he is in his movies. They primarily used him as the straight man in other people's sketches (like the scared straight bit with Kenan), and didn't even let him be one of the dancers in the Beyonce sketch, even though he showed in the otherwise forgettable (and straight-to-video) "I Could Never Be Your Woman" that he's a wonderful funny dancer.
(****) It also felt like an excuse to once again duck the show's problem with making Obama funny. How long can they hold off on bringing Fred Armisen out as Obama again?
I'm sure everyone who works on the show is bracing him or herself for the inevitable post-election round of "Saturday Night Dead" stories. Devoting so much airtime to various sketches commenting about the predictable nature of the show could have been their attempt to pre-empt those criticisms -- or, at least, to soften the blow by joking about it in advance. But a better -- albeit harder -- approach would have been to come back with a kick-butt episode that made it clear it wasn't just Fey carrying the show this season. Instead, we got a few highlights and a lot of dead air. Even the franchise's best seasons offer up episodes like that now and again; this one was just very poorly-timed.
What did everybody else think?
57 comments:
Obviously, I was a bigger fan of this one than you were. Thanks to TiVo, I ff'd past the Scared Straight thing that didn't seem to be going anywhere. I enjoyed the Kissing Family more than you did -- yes, it was clear where it was going, but they ramped it up appropriately.
What I found most interesting was how much of the episode was centered on gay themes or otherwise traded off of audience reaction to male physicality. I wonder if it was planned in the wake of Prop 8, or that's just how the cuts got made after dress.
I wouldn't be surprised if the show just ducks the Armisen/Obama problem completely. It seems to me that SNL has tended to have presidential sketches (outside of campaign season) primarily when they have had a cast member who really scored with their impersonation. Think back to how minor a presence Ronald Reagan was on the show, or at the way Bush II became less prominent after Will Ferrell left SNL. I don't think Armisen is very good as Obama, but they can live with him 3 times a year.
The new (i.e. post Amy Poehler) show is going to take a lot of getting used to. No knock on Bill Hader and Will Forte, but they've both been around for so long, it's hard to imagine them now being able to carry SNL.
It seems to me that SNL has tended to have presidential sketches (outside of campaign season) primarily when they have had a cast member who really scored with their impersonation. Think back to how minor a presence Ronald Reagan was on the show, or at the way Bush II became less prominent after Will Ferrell left SNL.
This is a good point, though they still did a fair amount of Dubya (with three different actors in the role) after Ferrell left, and if they didn't do Reagan that often in the '80s (which I'm not sure on), then it was possibly because everyone was doing Reagan at the time. (Like JFK and Nixon, it was the kind of impression that everybody thought they could do.) And even there, one of the show's greatest political sketches ever was Ronald Reagan, mastermind.
No knock on Bill Hader and Will Forte, but they've both been around for so long, it's hard to imagine them now being able to carry SNL.
Hader joined at the same time as Andy Samberg. (Forte came in around the same time as Armisen, I think.)
This episode really hit some stuff out of the park for me. The digital short got so bizzarre I knew you'd have a comment. I couldn't get it together when all the mayhem at the auction broke out. The kissing one you disliked KILLED me. It just cracked me up that they were even able to keep straight faces after making out with each other for five minutes. And I kept thinking of 40-year old virgin with paul rudd going... "you wanna know how I know you're gay?"
Anyway, the JT Weekend update was extremely awesome, and as usual he was great in the sketch after that. Nice that they were able to work something out since we're going to be denied the Thanksgiving treat.
The one thing I definitely agree on here is that Rudd was misused at points. The tone of the show was very much his humor, but they didn't use him to the maximum. He was very funny and did a great job, but there was something missing. Maybe it's because my expectations were too high. No clue.
That aside, I thought they did a really good job in spite of the various things working against them. They got so much out of the election that everything feels a bit like a letdown. And Amy is sorely missed. They just need to try to keep the momentum they had and go with it. The only thing I'm actually worried about is Update. I love Seth Meyers, but he can't do it by himself. I mean, he *can* and most of the jokes and delivery were funny last night, but I prefer the back and forth and given that, for whatever reason, viewers are split on Meyers, they probably need to pair him up with someone. With who, I have no idea.
Still, yeah, Timberlake was the highlight of the show.
@adam: I suspect it was a conscious decision. Usually people post reports from dress online, so it remains to be seen what actually happened there, but I'm going to just assume that most of what was cut also had similar themes.
The writers clearly don't know what to do with Obama. The biggest jokes you can make about him right now are mainly just jokes about the way other people (media or the public) respond to him. Which can be funny, but it can just as easily be accomplished in sketches where people are watching TV or sitting around a table talking -- it's kind of a waste of an actual Obama sketch if the joke isn't on him.
This is why they're trying to establish the Biden "trainwreck" gag. Because until Obama gives them a decent pitch to hit, their political sketches will rely on over-the-top depictions of people around Obama (like Biden, and perhaps Rahm Emanuel if they decide he's not too obscure to goof on).
Or maybe they're just keeping Armisen's Obama impression on ice in the hopes that they'll stumble onto a new actor/comedian to come in and do it better (in which case, it will play better if they give us time to forget about Armisen so we're ready for a new guy).
I also felt that there was a very gay-centric theme to this week. I think half of that had to do with Paul Rudd being completely comfortable in that role of joking about homosexuality.
When will SNL finally get rid of Keenan Thompson. I mean, they got rid of Finese Mitchell pretty quick, right? My only guess is that Keenan is great friends with a lot of the cast members and they're all rooting for him to stay. I wish they wouldn't.
(random side note: I'm rewatching Season 4 of The Wire and am thoroughly enjoing your recaps...can't wait for your Season 2 rewatch blog!)
This post was obviously a cry for help from Alan regarding his asterisk addiction.
Obama could be hilarious if the left wing SNL staff would care to make fun of the guy. The elections over. Now they can openly rip on him for all his faults. It's ok now.
This post was obviously a cry for help from Alan regarding his asterisk addiction.
That, or my Joe Posnanski homage addiction.
Alan -- I agree the Beyonce dancers sketch must not have been posted online because of musical clearance issues. I just watched the Timberlake Weekend Update bit on Hulu, and it cuts off right before he does a mini-performance of SexyBack.
Good episode. Very uneven, but enough funny stuff to make it worth my while.
For paul rudd dancing fans, there's also this:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=209424&title=Paul-Rudd
You're welcome.
I missed the cold open, caught the monologue, the kissing family, the digital short and scared straight, or a few minutes of it and decided that SNL had returned to its lackluster form so I turned it off. If they want an actual audience, perhaps they need to have the funny sketches first. The digital short was funny but derivative, and once it aired, I thought it would be downhill from there. I didn't even bother with Weekend Update, because Seth Meyers just doesn't do it for me. Stewart and Colbert have spoiled me.
If they want an actual audience, perhaps they need to have the funny sketches first.
I kept wondering why they didn't put JT/Beyonce first (or, at least, pre-Update), and the best I can come up with is that they didn't want to ruin the surprise of his Update appearance. And I don't think the surprise there outweighed putting weaker material at the front of the show.
I was disappointed in SNL for not using the two new female castmates. Chris Elliott's daughter was in two sketches, but only had a couple of lines. I don't believe I saw the other woman.
I agree Keenan needs to go. However, SNL would be completely white. Ugh.
I'm fairly sure your RR Mastermind is the sketch I've been thinking and if so (I'll check in a moment) - thank you!! (can't wait to show my brother - I don't think he's seen it)
I just popped in to see whether I should watch the SNL on my DVR from last night or just dump it
(actually I also popped in to see if you have dropped Life on Mars from your rotation? have you?)
So after announcing Abbie Elliott and Michaela Watkins(*), did they actually do anything? I saw Elliott clapping the clapboard in the Beyonce's male dancers scene, but I don't remember seeing Watkins. I guess they were scrambling to replace Poehler.
(*) Who Don Pardo mistakenly called Michaela Watson...
that was the one. Thank you!
Wow, I think you're being a little hard on Paul Rudd. Maybe it's because he just tends to fit in with all those guys so much, or that his style of delivery is the very matter-of-fact quasi-prick. I thought he was very funny. It was the first time I had laughed out loud consistently while watching this show in weeks.
Oh and once again, Jason Sudeikis sucks as Joe Biden. Makes me cringe.
That must suck to have your name screwed up on your very first episode and then not even get to do anything. Though I wasn't really expecting either of them to do anything this week, so they might as well have not been there. Otoh, since Casey's been getting so much to do lately, I expected to see a *little* bit more of her and she was barely around.
I like Michaela from the couple of other things I've seen her in. I caught up with Abby Elliott via her youtube page last week before she pulled it down. Based on that little bit they both seem okay enough but I have no idea how well these people are going to fit on the show. It seems like they could have waited a bit longer before casting newbies if they aren't going to be using them yet. We have four years of the Obamas and they *will* eventually figure out what to do with them, so why not branch out and maybe find a good black actress to add to the cast?
I'm still finding it a little odd, btw, that Elliott would join the show where her dad, evidently, had a really crappy time. I know that there have been a lot of changes since then and his brief time was a total mess, but he's pretty much the only person out there who supports Janeane Garofalo's version of events that year, so it seems like he'd encourage his daughter to seek work elsewhere. Otoh, I'd have a hard time turning SNL down, so what do I know?
From what I saw, they didn't give Paul Rudd a chance to shine as much as they did for Jon Hamm. (or based on this blog, Justin Timberlake). I think Rudd could have pulled it off though, he just didn't have the material for it. He was funny in the Samberg skit, the only one that gave him a real role pre-Update.
@bitsy: I'm not really sure what you're talking about wrt being hard on Rudd. I didn't think Alan or anyone else was being hard on Rudd, people are criticising the show's use of him. It's clear people think he's funny and talented. I definitely do. He's a guy who, if I hadn't fallen back into the habit of watching the show weekly, would make me definitely tune in. He's great. And he was funny. It just seems that they could have used him better in a couple of places.
I agree with Adam: the thing that struck me most about this episode was the way the premise of every other sketch involved some kind of gay-panic scenario, from the kissing family to the Rudd/Samberg digital short to the leotard-clad male Beyoncé dancers. It seemed lazy to me--it's so easy to get a huge reaction from an audience simply by showing two guys kissing that I was disappointed a hip group of comedy writers like the SNL staff would have gone there without putting more of a spin on the idea.
And where's the love for Rudd and Wiig's hilariously pointless open-mic song? That's the sketch that had me on the floor--two verses devoted to reading off the tracking number from a misdelivered package to the tune of "Ode to Billy Joe"? Comedy gold!
Speaking of Chris Elliot's daughter (who I haven't seen yet), I was going thru season 1 of HIMYM and the pretty girl dancing in the 4(?)th ep (Okay, Awesome) turns out to be Greg Evigan's daughter (at least according to imdb. she was so pretty, I had to look her up), while the thieving "volunteer" working in the thanksgiving ep is the actress who was stuck in the CAT scan on Scrubs for an entire episode (with JD babysitting her). I swear her hand gestures looked familiar!
As for SNL, I *still* miss the '85 cast - and i'm probably of the age that should be missing the '75 (?) cast - but I didn't watch when i was a teenager.
Last year, I thought MADtv was funnier than SNL. This year, it doesn't really seems so (although the switchboard girl from Mad Men - apparently she only works on shows with "Mad" in the title - is still on the show).
Speaking of "The Office" (which you were doing just a few days ago), I saw "Changeling" yesterday, and Amy Ryan ("Holly") had a small but key part (no spoilers to follow). I knew she looked familiar but couldn't place the name; it was such an un-Holly performance that I didn't recognize her until the credits. I've never seen "The Wire" or "Gone Baby Gone" so "The Office" has been my only exposure to her.
Word verification: Ressoths, which if I'm not mistaken was one of Cthulhu's buddies.
If someone could point me in the right direction, please: In addition to 32x09, what were Justin Timberlake's other SNL appearances? (The ones worth checking out, I guess, in case they weren't all stellar.)
Well, I didn't see it mentioned here, may have missed it, but I did like the road trip sketch. Good choice of song, funny round of gags for each guy.
And it almost felt like they were using it to kiss off any more uses for the Palin family now that the election is over.
T, Timberlake has hosted a few times and also made appearances on other people's episodes. Hulu only has a handful of his stuff up, including both the censored and uncensored versions of the legendary "(Bleep) in a Box." You can check them all out here.
Elliott and Watkins are both in that really stupid "Everyone's A Critic" digital short. The fact that Alan liked it makes me want to reassess all my priorities in life. Hit or miss? It didn't even come close. This is proof that without the election, SNL is still a show run by mostly guys who will laugh at two dudes kissing or a guy getting shot in the face or 3 effeminate dancers.
Thanks so much, Alan!
Re: not using the two new cast members. The announcement was made to the public literally just a few hours after they told both of them that they were joining the show. I don't know about Ms. Elliot, but Michaela got the call from Lorne Michaels at 10 PM West Coast time on Tuesday, and flew to NYC at 6 AM Wed morning. Since they both missed the table read, and most of the writing sessions and rehearsals, there were no plans to use them in anything for this episode.
I'm sure that will change, as Ms. Watkins is a most hilarious person. (totally biased, as she is a good friend).
Eires32 -
Just a quick question, since you know Michaela Watkins - I was watching The Soup this week, and at the end Joel congratulated Ms Watkins for becoming a new SNL cast member. Looking at Wikipedia and IMDb, I can't see any obvious connection between Ms Watkins and The Soup, so I was just curious whether you had any ideas what the link is. Just curious.
Agreed that Paul Rudd didn't really get any "showcase" skits like Hamm did. I did enjoy a lot of this episode though, including the kissing family, the open mic (loved the shots that cut to the host), thought the road trip skit was great. And, best of all, observed that Rudd seemed not to rely on cue cards.
Paul Rudd is awesome and was vastly underused....I do not understand why. If I were him, I would have been pissed that Justin Timberlake came in and stole some major spotlight. Also, last night, waaay too much Hader. Amysa? Does Garofalo talk about her experience in that monster sized SNL book? I've never gotten all the way through that.
Alan, here's a link to the Beyoncé dancing sketch, courtesy of Daily Motion. Freaking brilliant stuff:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7f5zf_justin-timberlake-beyonce-parodie-s_music
Ginny: Yeah, it's in the "Live From New York" book. It took me forever to get through, but it's totally worth reading. It's a good one to keep around and just read an era at a time when you can. Garofalo airs all of her gripes there. Chris Elliott's the only person who really takes her side all that much. It seems like he was just as much on the outside as she was. Given the way he didn't really fit in either, I'm assuming that the problems weren't all in her head, but I can also believe that it was just a matter of them simply not gelling with the majority. The only person in the book that really sort of rubs me the wrong way when talking about her is Fred Wolf who, I guess, took her behaviour and her statements very personally.
I wish they'd update it.
Two words: Holy tuck!
Matthew,
Too bad IMDB doesn't have any information on non-profit theatre in Los Angeles:)
Joel and Micky (and I) are all friends from the 99-seat theatre world in LA, in particular one company where they worked together twice - "Grendel" in 2001 and "Sperm" in 2004.
http://www.circlextheatre.org/
Probably more information than you needed, but I like spreading the news that Joel has some serious acting chops. And Michaela.
a pixellated male nudity gag that wasn't enough to justify the length
Hi-yo!
No one mentioned my favorite bit from last night... Bobby Moynihan's Snagglepuss character on Update. It was funny, hilarious even.
There was a lot of gay humor in the show. I think part of it was the writers sending a big "F U" to the people in the states that voted against gay rights.
Timberlake was great on Update and the Beyonce sketch was great.
Rudd was solid, though underused. Based on the types of movies he makes, and the people with whom he works, I bet he was totally cool about sharing the spotlight with JT and the other cast members.
Eires32 -
Thanks for that explanation. I remember hearing that Joel McHale has a major role in the new Soderbergh film, so hopefully everyone else will discover his acting talent soon enough.
@amysa: I think Seth Meyers can and should handle Update as solo anchor. Together, he and Amy Poehler were insufferable; Seth came off as smug, Amy was self-congratulatory and giggly and belaboured the punchlines. Solo, Seth's handling things like a pro. He might not get into that Dennis Miller/Norm McDonald top echelon, but he'll fit solidly into the second rank of anchors.
As for Timberlake, I think he might have just qualified himself for early entry into the Five-Timer's club. After his jaw-dropping solo performance, he earns credit in my books for hosting a bonus episode, albeit the shortest one ever as well as a show within a show.
Tom Shales' LIVE FROM NEW YORK is essential reading for anyone who cares about the show; the only things missing, IIRC, are interviews from Eddie Murphy and Dennis Miller.
If nothing else, read it for the story of how Damon Wayans got himself fired.
Not that there's anything wrong with gay humor, but every skit was the same. A reaction to Prop 8 not passing perhaps?
Jason Sudeikis and Paul Rudd attended the same high school. Just thought that was interesting.
All I could think of with the "Everybody's a Critic" digital short was that new Vegas ad campaign in which everything goes surreally chaotic in ordinary places -- a courtroom, a hair salon, a post office.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1769432/courtroom_new_las_vegas_commercial/
"Everybody's A Critic" reminded me of "Mr. Show" where every sketch would meld into the next one. When it switched from the auction to the film interview, I thought we were looking at a neat seque into one of SNL's basic talk show sketches. Until they brought out the picture and the blood started flowing. Oh, well.
@peter lynn: You could be right about Seth, I just feel like something's missing with him just sitting there by himself. Like I said, he *can* do it (I'm a big fan of his), I'm just not quite feeling it yet. Maybe I've gotten used to the teams since they switched back to that format. I just think he works better with a partner. As for he and Amy, I see the smug, but I never found them insufferable. Their "really?" segment was one of my favorites.
Agreed on Timberlake. He's a natural and he gets better every time.
I was not that into the digital short (anything gross out gets knocked points immediately in my book), partly because it was just right after the "family making out/guys making out" gags, but also it just seemed derivative. To me it mostly recalled the Monty Python deadliest joke sketch.
I also agree on underusing Rudd, so much of it seemed like retreads or working way too hard to get to the laughs they got.
And I SCREAMED with laughter at JTs mini-show and then the follow-up sketch. "Biscuit dancers" HA!
-EmeraldLiz
I loved the Snagglepuss bit! His reactions timed with the silly sound effects were perfect! Really wish they'd used Paul Rudd more. Also agree with everyone who thought JT was awesome.
If nothing else, read it for the story of how Damon Wayans got himself fired
For those of us without the book, what's the scoop?
The Beyonce Skit!!!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7f5d8_bee-skit-nov-15-2008_school
You're welcome.
Quick SNL review:
First, a disclaimer - I am not a Poehler fan. She became too smug with herself and I never found her characters very amusing. I am one of the few who won't mind her not appearing on the show.
* Weekend update is always going to be hit-or-miss. THis week was hit. Love it when they have multiple punchlines to a joke ("he was unarmed"), snagglepuss was funnier than I expected it to be, and Timberlake hit it out of the park ("bring it on down to turkeyville"). Seth does a fine job, treading a little into Norm McDonald-like presentation territory at times.
*the Beyonce sketch - no brainer perfect AFTER Update. Funny as hell.
*Digital Shorts are always going to be more awesome than the live sketches...even when they miss. Andy is a phenom. (LASER CATS!)
* The four guys singing with the song bit is usually slightly amusing, but the joke there is with the shocking punchlines. Can't see this being made into a movie.
*The kissing sketch was funny because it was so over the top.
*Love Wiig, hate the Target Lady.
*Hate the scared straight sketch
*Love the bad open-mike night song. Usually when SNL goes to singing/dancing sketches, they are usually very funny and well done.
*Beyonce's first song wasn't great. She really messed up by playing Single Ladies after the JT sketch, as it made the actually song/dance that much more of a bad parody.
I would love to see more improv and less reading off of cue cards. I know why the cue cards are there, but let them go just a little bit off script once in a while, as that's where these guys have their background.
Letting the actors improv, regardless of how many of them have a background in it, would be a nightmare. You can't improv in a live show and you just can't let folks with varying degrees of experience in the art, have at it on live tv. This would be bad and for the audience it would be fun for about a minute and then it would just be like watching the fifteenth time Jimmy Fallon broke up on air.
@dez: basically, iirc, Damon sabotaged a sketch live on air. He'd been growing increasingly frustrated with the show and was planning on quitting, but something happened during dress and he just kind of lost it and tanked the whole thing live. His role in the sketch had been cut down to a line or two and instead of doing them as rehearsed, he did it in the style of his "men on..." character from "in living color". I don't remember what the sketch was supposed to be or who he was acting with, but the story goes that Lorne just lost his mind and fired him on the spot.
I'm not sure what is so funny about Justin Timberlake listing how predictable and redundant another episode of him hosting would be. Actually, I guess it's funny because it's true. Never mind.
Paul Rudd should get a consolation episode for the way he was wasted on this one.
"Live from New York" is essential reading. The sketch that Wayans sabotaged was one where "Mr. Monopoly" was a lawyer who kept getting his clients "out of jail free."
Wayans was playing a nothing role as one of the cops bringing in Mr. Monopoly's client when he went into his "Men On" demeanor.
Lorne justifiably fired him, but it seemed that everyone handled it pretty maturely. Wayans knew he had to go and Lorne knew that even though Wayans had committed the show's cardinal sin, there were a lot of reasons why it happened(and, it wasn't exactly "Medieval Barber" that he ruined).
I forget who, but someone remarked at the time that Wayans would go on to big success, which he did.
One of the recurring themes in the book is the group of SNL failures who did very well afterward.
And they did patch things up enough to Damon to come back and "visit" later in the season. I need to read the book again, because my details are so terrible, but it seems that went poorly too, but not because of Damon or Lorne. Dudley Moore found Damon's joke about having a limp in a bit offensive.
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