VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 10/4/14

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Each week, I check out VH1′s Top 20 countdown, and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.

Original Version
1. Meghan Trainor – “All About That Bass”
2. Taylor Swift – “Shake It Off”
3. Maroon 5 – “Maps”
4. Iggy Azalea ft. Rita Ora – “Black Widow”
5. Charli XCX – “Boom Clap”
6. Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne – “Rather Be”
7. Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj – “Bang Bang”
8. Coldplay – “A Sky Full of Stars”
9. Ed Sheeran – “Don’t
10. Echosmith – “Cool Kids”
11. Kiesza – “Hideaway”
12. Katy Perry – “This Is How We Do”
13. Tove Lo – “Habits”
14. Train – “Angel in Blue Jeans”
15. Sam Smith – “Stay With Me”
16. Jason Derulo – “Trumpets”
17. Calvin Harris ft. John Newman – “Blame”
18. The Script – “Superheroes”
19. Sia – “Chandelier”
20. Nick Jonas – “Jealous”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Chandelier
2. Bang Bang
3. Black Widow
4. Blame
5. Shake It Off
6. Stay With Me
7. Hideaway
8. Rather Be
9. Cool Kids
10. Boom Clap
11. Don’t
12. Habits
13. This Is How We Do
14. All About That Bass
15. Jealous
16. Maps
17. A Sky Full of Stars
18. Trumpets
19. Angel in Blue Jeans
20. Superheroes

SNL Recap October 4, 2014: Sarah Silverman/Maroon 5

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SNL: Sarah Silverman, Maroon 5 (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)

This review was originally posted on Starpulse in October 2014.

It has been 20 years since Sarah Silverman was an “SNL” featured player for a single season.  In the past year, she had a stand-up special on HBO and guest starred on a few episodes of “Masters of Sex.”  This is all to say, she does not have any major projects at the moment, nor does she have that strong a connection to “SNL,” so there was no obvious reason for her to be hosting at this time.  The episode she hosted ended up having a similar vibe, insofar as most of the sketches did not have an immediate reason for existing.  That is not necessarily a bad thing, and it points to the show’s willingness so far in Season 40 to avoid relying on recurring material.  Ultimately, this episode was not cohesive enough to have any truly classic moments, but it was quietly encouraging, if you allow yourself to view the show with a generous spirit.  Let’s take a closer look at each of the sketches:

60 Minutes – There is a certain concept in improv and sketch comedy known as “game.”  It is the unusual thing about the scene that is built upon and explored as the scene progresses.  In this interview with the president courtesy of Steve Kroft, the game appeared to be ISIS members tweeting a series of tweets that inexplicably combined plans of jihad with more secular sentiments, such as an emoji of a ghost with an eyepatch or the hashtag #TheVoiceIsBack.  But that gag lasted only about a minute, while the rest of the sketch was a bunch of less fully-formed ideas. C+

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The Middle 6.2: “The Loneliest Locker”

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Frankie and Mike tried to make extra money for Sue to go to college, Sue put on a play, Axl pilfered household supplies, and Brick found some old toys. Here’s my full review: http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2014/10/02/the_middle_season_6_episode_2_review_s

New Girl 4.3: “Julie Berkman’s Older Sister”

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“Julie Berkman’s Older Sister” featured guest appearances from Rob Reiner and Kaitlin Olson.  But THE BEST guest star of the episode was Kurt Braunholer.  Check out my full review here: http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2014/10/01/new_girl_season_4_episode_3_review_tra

SNL Season 39 (2013-2014) Recap

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Saturday Night Live Season 40 has already begun, but let’s not forget about the best of last season.  The full breakdown of my SNL Season 39 recap can be found at the following links:
http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2014/09/20/best_saturday_night_live_cast_members_
http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2014/09/21/the_10_best_best_saturday_night_live_s
http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2014/09/21/every_snl_good_neighbor_comedy_skit_sh
http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2014/09/22/the_best_saturday_night_live_episodes_
http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2014/09/23/the_best_saturday_night_live_guests_of
http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2014/09/24/the_best_saturday_night_live_weekend_u
http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2014/09/26/the_best_of_saturday_night_live_season

Most Valuable Cast Members
1. Aidy Bryant
2. Kate McKinnon
Rookies of the Year:
1. Kyle Mooney
2. Beck Bennett

Best Sketches
1. We Did Stop (the Government)
2. Super Champions with Kyle
3. The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders
4. Hip Hop Classics: Before They Were Stars
5. Guess That Phrase
6. (Do It on My) Twin Bed
7. Ice Cream
8. Blue River Dog Food
9. Josie
T10. (TIE) Flirty/dancing/A Very Smoky 420/Chris Fitzpatrick for President

Best 10-to-1 Sketches
1. Super Champions
2. Tourists
3. Herman & Sons Sperm
4. Halloween Candy

Best Host
1. Drake
2. Louis C.K.
3. Charlize Theron

Best Monologue
1. Anna Kendrick
2. Louis C.K.
3. Andy Samberg

Best Musical Guests
1. The Black Keys
2. Sam Smith
3. St. Vincent

Best Commercial Parody
The Bird Bible

Best Weekend Update Segment
1. Jebediah Atkinson
2. Olya Povlatsky
3. Drunk Uncle and Drunker Uncle

Every Good Neighbor Short Ranked
1. Wing
2. Super Champions with Kyle
3. Ice Cream
4. Flirty
5. Dancing
6. A Very Smoky 420
7. Chris Fitzpatrick
8. Tourists
9. Miley Sex Tape
10. Inside SoCal
11. Sigma
12. Will Smith Concert
13. i know

Best Episode
1. Miley Cyrus (10/5/13)
2. Jonah Hill/Bastille (1/25/14)
3. Drake (1/18/14)
4. Melissa McCarthy/Imagine Dragons (2/1/14)
5. Louis C.K./Sam Smith (3/29/14)

Best Dress Rehearsal Cuts That Were Posted Online
1. Wing
2. Viper

Best Quote
“If someone was like, ‘Hey, come live in this house, there’s only nine of us,’ I would say, ‘You got it dude!'” – Olya Pavlotsky (Kate McKinnon), on Weekend Update

Fuse Top 20 Countdown – 9/30/14

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Each week, I check out FUSE’s Top 20 countdown, and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.

Original Version
1. Taylor Swift – “Shake It Off”
2. Meghan Trainor – “All About That Bass”
3. Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj – “Bang Bang”
4. Iggy Azalea ft. Rita Ora – “Black Widow”
5. Tove Lo – “Habits”
6. Nicki Minaj – “Anaconda”
7. Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne – “Rather Be”
8. Maroon 5 – “Maps”
9. Sia – “Chandelier”
10. Ariana Grande – “Break Free”
11. Echosmith – “Cool Kids”
12. Sam Smith – “Stay With Me”
13. Ed Sheeran – “Don’t”
14. Jason Derulo – “Trumpets”
15. Katy Perry – “This Is How We Do”
16. Magic! – “Rude”
17. 5 Seconds of Summer – “Amnesia”
18. Enrique Iglesias ft. Gente de Zona, Descemer Bueno, and Sean Paul – “Bailando”
19. Calvin Harris ft. John Newman – “Blame”
20. Chris Brown ft. Usher and Rick Ross – “New Flame”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Chandelier
2. Break Free
3. Bang Bang
4. Black Widow
5. Blame
6. Shake It Off
7. Stay With Me
8. Rather Be
9. Cool Kids
10. Don’t
11. Habits
12. This Is How We Do
13. Anaconda
14. Rude
15. Maps
16. All About That Bass
17. Trumpets
18. Bailando
19. New Flame
20. Amnesia

What Won TV? – September 21-September 27, 2014

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In this feature, I look back at each day of the past week and determine what shows “won TV” for the night. That is, I consider every episode of television I watched that aired on a particular day and declare which was the best.

Sunday – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Monday – Jeopardy!
Tuesday – New Girl
Wednesday – The Goldbergs (though the Gay Marriage Advice sketch from Key & Peele was the best scene of the night)
Thursday – Parenthood (though toes plopping out of Bob Odenkirk’s stomach deserves special mention)
Friday – Jeopardy!, playing for the tie
Saturday – Saturday Night Live, both vintage and new

SNL Season 40 Premiere Recap September 27, 2014: Chris Pratt/Ariana Grande

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SNL: Ariana Grande, Chris Pratt (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)

This review was originally posted on Starpulse in September 2014.

To kick off its milestone 40th season, “SNL” entrusted the premiere to first-time guests Chris Pratt and Ariana Grande.  Pratt proved to be the perfect utility player host, comfortably slotting into all his roles without overshadowing the cast.  His trademark goofy energy could have been put to greater use, but this was an episode of “SNL” that wanted to try out new material and cover some of the most pressing news stories.  New cast members Michael Che and Pete Davidson looked perfectly comfortable as they made auspicious debuts.  Overall, this was an episode that was not entirely focused but was overall more interesting and more experimental than “SNL” usually allows itself to be.  Let’s take a closer look at each of the sketches:

State of the Union with Candy Crowley – This is one of those typical “SNL” cold openings: a news talk show parody that allows multiple stories to be covered with minimal connective tissue.  At least in this case, the various stories were all under the same umbrella of “NFL in Crisis.”  While Roger Goodell and former Baltimore Ravens Ray Lewis and Shannon Sharpe all had their funny moments, this sketch did not make much of a point beyond “Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson are not the only NFL players who have had legal troubles.” Lewis’s hook of constantly changing the subject to kids going to school made up for the fact that this was yet another non-impression from Kenan Thompson, while Sharpe continued to be one of Jay Pharoah’s best impressions, with a particularly Eddie Murphy-esque laugh. B-

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VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 9/27/14

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Each week, I check out VH1′s Top 20 countdown, and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.

Original Version
1. Meghan Trainor – “All About That Bass”
2. Maroon 5 – “Maps”
3. Charli XCX – “Boom Clap”
4. Taylor Swift – “Shake It Off”
5. Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne – “Rather Be”
6. Kiesza – “Hideaway”
7. Iggy Azalea ft. Rita Ora – “Black Widow”
8. Ed Sheeran – “Don’t”
9. Coldplay – “A Sky Full of Stars”
10. Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj – “Bang Bang”
11. Sam Smith – “Stay With Me”
12. Echosmith – “Cool Kids”
13. Sia – “Chandelier”
14. Katy Perry – “This Is How We Do”
15. Demi Lovato ft. Cher Lloyd – “Really Don’t Care”
16. Train – “Angel in Blue Jeans”
17. Tove Lo – “Habits”
18. American Authors – “Believer”
19. The Script – “Superheroes”
20. Jason Derulo – “Trumpets”

Jmunney’s Revision
1. Chandelier
2. Bang Bang
3. Black Widow
4. Shake It Off
5. Stay With Me
6. Hideaway
7. Rather Be
8. Cool Kids
9. Boom Clap
10. Don’t
11. Habits
12. This Is How We Do
13. Really Don’t Care
14. Maps
15. A Sky Full of Stars
16. Trumpets
17. All About That Bass
18. Angel in Blue Jeans
19. Superheroes
20. Believer

Jeffrey Malone Announces New Writing Gig

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Dear Readers,

After 4+ years of writing on this blog, I have been hired as a contributing writer at Starpulse.com, where I have been tasked with TV episode reviews and general blogging entertainment.  Some of the features that I have been covering here will be migrating to Starpulse.  I will still be maintaining this blog to get the word out on all my professional writing and to cover any topics that I do not get to on Starpulse, or other future ventures.

The shows I am covering for the 2014-15 season are Bob’s Burgers, The Middle, Mulaney, New Girl, and Saturday Night Live.  Here are my reviews of the first two episodes of this season’s New Girl:

http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2014/09/17/new_girl_season_4_episode_1_sex_fist

http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2014/09/24/new_girl_season_4_episode_2_winston_to

and my review of the season 6 premiere of The Middle:

http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2014/09/25/the_middle_season_6_premiere_review_ye

Thank you for reading as I enter this new stage of my writing journey.

With fondness,

Jeffrey “jmunney” Malone

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