The 2018 VMA’s were just a couple of weeks, which means I’ve had a hankering to rank every Video of the Year winner from most not-the-best to the very best. And so, here is that ranking?
35. Green Day – “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”
34. Katy Perry – “Firework”
33. Britney Spears – “Piece of Me”
32. Eminem – “Without Me”
31. Aerosmith – “Cryin'”
30. Eminem – “The Real Slim Shady”
29. The Smashing Pumpkins – “Tonight, Tonight”
28. Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Bad Blood”
27. Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya, and P!nk ft. Missy Elliott – “Lady Marmalade”
26. Miley Cyrus – “Wrecking Ball”
25. Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris – “We Found Love”
24. Madonna – “Ray of Light”
23. Justin Timberlake – “Mirrors”
22. R.E.M. – “Losing My Religion”
21. Don Henley – “The Boys of Summer”
20. OutKast – “Hey Ya!”
19. Lauryn Hill – “Doo Wop (That Thing)”
18. Panic! at the Disco – “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”
17. The Cars – “You Might Think”
16. Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug – “Havana”
15. Beyonce – “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
14. Kendrick Lamar – “HUMBLE.”
13. Lady Gaga – “Bad Romance”
12. Neil Young – “This Note’s for You”
11. van Halen – “Right Now”
10. Beyonce – “Formation”
9. Rihanna ft. Jay-Z – “Umbrella”
8. TLC – “Waterfalls”
7. INXS – “Need You Tonight/Mediate”
6. Jamiroquai – “Virtual Insanity”
5. Sinead O’Connor – “Nothing Compares 2 U”
4. Dire Straits – “Money for Nothing”
3. Pearl Jam – “Jeremy”
2. Missy Elliott – “Work It”
1. Peter Gabriel – “Sledgehammer”
This post was originally published on News Cult in May 2018.
A lot of websites post their lists of the best SNL sketches of the season. What is unique about this particular list is that it is not the same as any of those other lists. If you love SNL, and you love reading about SNL, chances are this is not the only best sketch list you have read and are going to read, because you just love consuming a full range of opinions about a show that always inspires a full range of opinions. So without further ado, here is a thoughtful, passionate, well-researched ranking of the 10 best sketches of SNL Season 43, with honorable mentions of 20-11 as well. (Please note: dress rehearsal cuts that were posted online were considered alongside sketches that made it to air, in consideration of how much online viewing plays a part in this current SNL era.)
20. Family Dinner
19. The Dolphin Who Learned to Speak
18. New Wife
17. Fighter Pilots
16. Dying Mrs. Gomez
15. Ad Council Awards Dinner
14. James Madison High School Graduation
13. Black Jeopardy!
12. Office Break Room
11. The Last Fry
10. Za
A lawyer’s (James Franco) argument rests upon his insistence that nicknames are based on pronunciation, not spelling, and he has never been more convinced of anything in the world. The writing on this one is actually paper-thin, but Franco propels it to classic territory with his ferocious delivery of “lasagna: za, pizza: suh.”
This review was originally published on News Cult in May 2018.
Network: ABC
Showrunners: DeAnn Heline and Eileen Heisler
Main Cast: Patricia Heaton, Neil Flynn, Charlie McDermott, Eden Sher, Atticus Shaffer
Notable Guest Stars: Daniela Bobadilla, Casey Burke, Jen Ray, Beau Wirick, Brock Ciarlelli, Alphonso McAuley, Sean O’Bryan, Pat Finn, Jackson White, Paul Hipp, Lisa Rinna, Gregory Harrison, French Stewart, Marsha Mason, Brian Doyle-Murray, John Cullum, Norm Macdonald, Corbin Bleu, Brooke Shields, Dave Foley, Jack McBrayer, Katlin Mastandrea
Episode Running Time: 22 Minutes
The Middle is my favorite comfort food show of the past ten years, and possibly of all time. That term may imply lack of ambition, but it nonetheless takes serious skill to be consistently satisfying in the way The Middle has been for nearly a decade. It may not be a treatise on the human condition in the way that a Lost or a Mad Men is, and it may not tackle social issues head-on the way that other sitcoms like black-ish or One Day at a Time do, but it is not as if it ignores any of that. It recognizes the bigger world all around it, but it is focused on drawing meaning from its one particular family and its one particular community. Life goes on all the over the place, while the townfolk of Orson carry on in their own particular pocket. Ergo, the appropriate snugness of the show’s title.
This final season has been the most comfort food-style of The Middle’s run ‒ more than we needed to sustain ourselves, but not so much as to become overstuffed. It could have ended a few years ago and gone out on the highest of high notes. The Season 6 finale was the most valedictory, with a triumphant high school graduation for Sue, the series’ heart and soul. But life continues to go on with its usual rhythms after our big celebrations, and so it goes for the Heck family. With Axl now out of school and Sue a few years into college, their foibles are perhaps less structured than they used to be (Brick’s misadventures have always been unmoored), so even into Season 9, The Middle rarely suffered diminishing returns or shamelessly repeated itself. It did not have to bring out the big spectacles to satisfy us, it just had to keep on being itself, and so that is what it did.
That is not to say that Season 9 was not completely devoid of a few celebrations. When The Middle finds something worth celebrating, it tends to make for some of the best episodes, even if the festivities may look a little silly to outsiders, or even a few insiders. Take for example the 200th episode, aptly titled “The 200th,” which aptly finds everyone in Orson putting together some festivities after finally being named one of the 200 Friendliest Places to Live … in Indiana. Everyone takes it all a bit too seriously, except for the notoriously unsentimental Mike, but he ultimately comes around in one of his rare but always welcome displays of emotion. He delivers a speech that could be a summary of the whole series, about how Orson is a town where people look out for each other, just like how this show has always looked out for its audience.
A major throughline for this season has been each of the Heck children’s romantic relationships. Axl remains happily coupled with Lexie, even though it has been never clear to me exactly where the attraction arose between them in the first place. (I always thought Devin Levin was a much more compatible match.) But now that they are officially together, it is clear that they like and respect each other, and they do in fat work well together, as she has plenty of patience to deal with his lesser qualities. The most fraught relationship is of course that between Sue and Sean, who keep getting crossed up in mixed signals, some that strain credulity a bit much. But ultimately, ridiculous plot twists can be forgiven if the couple itself is worth rooting for, and this is a fine pairing. A mix of neighbor/brother’s best friend/globetrotting doctor is an ideal mix for Sue’s strains of devotion to home and silver-lining-focused ambition. Interestingly enough, Brick has been in the longest active relationship of all of his siblings, and we can only hope that as he continues to mature, he unforgettably realizes what a rare breed he has found in Cindy and does not break up with her again for no good reason.
This is all tied up with how Frankie and Mike have to deal with an imminent empty nest, which they never expected would come so soon. For how could Axl ever give up the amenities of his parents looking after him, how would Sue ever want to move away from home, and Brick, well, can you imagine Brick on his own? So sure, there will not be a complete empty nest anytime soon, but miracle of miracles, Axl has actually gained some life skills the past few years. While the Heck kids have already reached most of the clearly demarcated life checkpoints in previous seasons, new jobs and new homes are perpetually looming, less-than-predictable possibilities in young adulthood. And so a road trip out to Denver to send Axl off on a new journey thousands of miles away proves to be the perfectly bittersweet series finale setup. But if this show wants to remain forever comforting, the ending cannot be too sad. And so we are treated to a flash-forward that assures us that everyone remains close to Orson in the not-too-distant future. It’s almost a little too perfect, but come on, it’s family, and sometimes your family lets you be a little perfect.
Best Episodes: “The 200th,” “Great Heckspecktations,” “Split Decision,” “A Heck of a Ride”
How Does It Compare to Previous Seasons? This is not the best season (that is probably Season 6, capped off by Sue’s high school graduation), nor is it the biggest, but appropriately enough for a show that has always consistently and rewardingly tracked its characters’ maturation, it is the most mature.
The Middle is Recommended If You Like: Roseanne but want something a little sweeter, Fresh Off the Boat, The Goldbergs, Speechless
Where to Watch: Streaming options are unfortunately a little limited. The last five episodes are currently available on Hulu, while individual episodes and seasons are available for purchase on Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, and YouTube. And DVD’s still exist!
This review was originally posted on News Cult in May 2018.
Network: FOX
Showrunners: Brett Baer, Dave Finkel, Liz Meriwether
Main Cast: Zooey Deschanel, Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, Lamorne Morris, Hannah Simone, Nasim Pedrad, Danielle Rockoff, Rhiannon Rockoff
Notable Guest Stars: Damon Wayans, Jr., Brian Huskey, Rob Reiner, Dermot Mulroney, Gillian Vigman, JB Smoove, Sarah Baker, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ralph Ahn, Robert Smigel
Episode Running Time: 22 Minutes
This review contains spoilers, but this isn’t really a spoil-able type of show.
New Girl Season 7 is one of the most inessential seasons in television history. That is not a criticism, but rather, a description of an unnecessary, but very satisfying batch of episodes. All television, and all storytelling more generally, is inessential, insofar as we could survive without it. Life would be much less enriching without entertainment, certainly, but it would be possible. But once a story begins to be told, there is a sense of necessity that it must be concluded. And it could easily be argued that by the end of Season 6, New Girl had reached that conclusion, with all of its main characters having achieved major milestones in personal and professional fulfillment. But this show, at its best, has been about so much more (or so much less, but in a good way) than checking off the major storytelling checkpoints.
Nick and Jess are one of my favorite TV couples of all time, and if the last we saw of them was their kiss in the elevator at the end of “Five Stars for Beezus,” I would have rested easy in the belief that they had a long and happy union together. But I am usually hungry to see what happens when the tension of a potential couple turns into the comfort of an actual couple, and New Girl has shown itself to be the type of show uniquely suited for making that pivot interesting. With a three-year time jump to kick off the season, it seemed like we would be heading into a new status quo, but then we discover … Jess and Nick still aren’t married yet? There’s no need to panic; they are still together and happy, they have just been busy with other things, like Nick’s book tour for The Pepperwood Chronicles. But still, you would think they could find some time to put a ring on it. It turns out that much of the delay is attributable to Nick ensuring that his proposal is absolutely perfect. That obsession could have caused major strife in the past, but it is a mark of maturity for both the characters and the show that it is ultimately no big deal.
While Jess and Nick remain the last two residents of the loft, and perhaps a little bit stuck in neutral, the rest of the main crew has decidedly moved ahead to the next stages of their lives. Schmidt and Cece’s toddler Ruth Bader (Danielle and Rhiannon Rockoff) is genuinely adorable but also filled with the sort of moxie and traces of anxiety you would expect in a child whose parents are a mix of blunt and high-strung. Winston and Aly are expecting their first child; his strange propensities, and her incredible ability to accept them, are still intact, just transferred to the minutiae of pending parenthood. For the most part, the unique ways that this whole group communicates with each other remains just as intact. They are sometimes applied in fascinating new ways, as when Schmidt and Jess hash out who has the best approach for Ruth auditioning to a prestigious pre-school. But that sameness also results in hijinks that probably should not be happening anymore, as when Cece and then Nick get locked out of Ruth’s school and get mistaken for creepy lurkers, and it is like: okay, guys, we’re getting a little too old for these shenanigans.
Season 7 is not completely allergic to big final season moments, but it presents them in the uniquely askew New Girl manner. There is a one-year anniversary memorial service for a close friend who died during the time jump, and that close friend is … Furguson, of course. Winston insists that everything be performed in the Jewish manner, because he always saw his cat as Jewish, and while that does sound ridiculous, it also sounds perfectly logical when Lamorne Morris explains it with such certainty. We also, rest assured, do get that last anticipated bit of matrimony, but it all goes delightfully sideways, with a scratched cornea, an impromptu service in a hospital, and Tran’s first ever spoken line of dialogue.
Naturally unnaturally enough, there is still one more episode left to go. “Engram Pattersky” does at first appear to fit into a classic series finale box, i.e., the pack-up-and-move conclusion. It really is time for for Nick and Jess to get out of that rickety old loft and start a new chapter in their lives, even it takes an eviction notice to get them to that realization. The final reveal that the eviction angle is actually Winston’s greatest prank ever is perfectly in line with the show’s ethos, but also a little stunning. Winston never suggests that he was just trying to give his friends the motivation they needed to move forward. And that really is the New Girl way. If you want to find meaning in this young adult life, then you have to do so amidst all the chaos and indirect communication, as you scream and hopefully laugh along the way.
Best Episodes: “The Curse of the Pirate Bride,” “Engram Pattersky”
How Does It Compare to Previous Seasons? This is definitely an epilogue season, but for this show, that means it has never been more sure of its identity than at any other time during its run. It does not reach its most classic heights, but that is perfectly okay.
New Girl is Recommended If You Like: Happy Endings, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, How I Met Your Mother, Parks and Recreation, Friends
Where to Watch: Season 7 is currently available on Hulu, while Seasons 1-6 are on Netflix.
This review was originally published on News Cult in April 2018.
News Cult Entertainment Editor Jeffrey Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then organizes the sketches into the following categories: “Love It” (potentially Best of the Season-worthy), “Keep It” (perfectly adequate), or “Leave It” (in need of a rewrite, to say the least). Then he concludes with assessments of the host and musical guest.
Love It
Hollywood Update – Mulaney finds brilliant inspiration from his very own “Family Flix” (aka “Rocket Dog”), one of the greatest sketches he ever wrote during his SNL tenure. This time around, the objectionable material for supposedly family-friendly entertainment is squarely present both in front of and behind the camera. Simply mentioning the uncomfortable sexual ramifications of a parent-child body switch premise would have been enough to make this sketch a winner, but the disturbing details just keep on coming.
Horn Removal – The second sketch of the night to take obvious and winning inspiration from a previous SNL bit hearkens back to a pre-Mulaney time, namely the Will Ferrell-starring Bad Doctor. This time around, it is the patients who are more the crazy people, although the biggest laughs come from Mulaney’s plastic surgeon calmly explaining to the horned fellow and his fetishistic girlfriend just how idiotic they are.
It always bodes well for the Monologue when you have a stand-up comedian hosting, and I furthermore appreciate that Mulaney delivered jokes I had never heard from him before. Maybe this was material that he had used on stage previously, but it was new to me…I have to give it up to Big Nick’s Greek Diner, or any comedy sketch past or present, that turns into a full-blown Les Miserables homage.
Keep It
Robert Mueller/Michael Cohen Lie Detector – Meet the Parents came out 18 years ago, which was around the time that my SNL fandom was really starting to bloom. So this Mueller investigation homage to the Fockers is like if Steven Spielberg and Drew Barrymore had cameoed in 2000 for an ET-centric parody about the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Anyway, we certainly don’t need Ben Stiller and Robert de Niro to rehash their “you can milk anything with nipples” routine in 2018, but it is a unique enough entryway into the current scandal du jour.
The Drag Brunch is what we can refer to as precision comedy, and the target is hit…Mulaney’s student leader attempts to hide a boner on National School Walkout Day, and we should all know from Big Mouth how masterful he is at humorizing awkward bodily functions…Ah, a parody of Wild Wild Country, that new Netflix documentary series about a cult that a lot of people are obsessing over but that I have not watched (yet?); this isn’t the first time a sketch has revolved around Kenan’s insatiable appetite for booty, nor is it the best, but it is still fairly amusing (and props to the audience for cheering Nasim Pedrad’s cameo without prompting)…Michael and Colin’s most memorable bits this time around involve bringing the Cleveland Browns’ futility into all this and a zinging follow-up about cream soda…I have never subjected myself to Laura Ingraham, so I have no idea how accurate Kate McKinnon’s impression is, but the list of all her disreputable new sponsors is on-point…Kenan’s Lavar Ball routine is a steady, unwavering formula, but damn if I don’t lose it when he claims that his son Lonzo is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes or that he has a long-lost Mexican son named “La Biblioteca.” And “You say ‘tomato,’ I say ‘this tomato costs $500’” might just be the quote of the season…The Real Intros of Reality Hills zeros in on what that genre is all about, doesn’t it?
Leave It
No terrible sketches on John Mulaney’s watch!
John Mulaney
How many former SNL writers who were not also cast members have returned to host? The only other one besides John Mulaney that I can think of is Larry David. Mulaney is certainly well-known enough among comedy nerds to justify booking him as host, but is he famous enough among the general public? The correct answer is: who cares? The episode he is in charge of runs smoothly, and it appears that he had a powerful effect on the writers’ room, what with the plethora of concept-driven sketches. Also, Darrell Hammond twice refers to him (on purpose?) as John “Mulvaney.”
Jack White
On a scale of “absolutely essential” to “playing the hits,” this is hardly a landmark performance from Jack White, but of course his chops are as strong as ever. Are “Over and Over and Over” and “Connected by Love” future classics in his oeuvre? I’m not banking on that legacy, as they do not sound terribly different from his typical garage rock numbers, but maybe after a few more listens, I’ll notice some peculiarities.
Letter Grades
Mueller/Cohen Lie Detector – B-
John Mulaney’s Monologue – B+
Drag Brunch – B
National School Walkout Day – B-
Wild Wild Country – B
Big Nick’s Greek Diner – B+
Jack White performs “Over and Over and Over” – B+
Weekend Update
The Jokes – B-
Laura Ingraham – B-
LaVar Ball – B
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