SPOILER WARNING: This essay discusses in depth the endings of an episode of Community, a 35-year-old movie, and a classic piece of sketch comedy. If you are reading this, you are probably already familiar with Community’s twist. The Shining works perfectly fine even if you know the ending. But if you have not seen the Key & Peele bit yet, do yourself a favor and watch it before reading.
When I took on this assignment, I thought I was going to be able to cover a whole survey of Shining homages. But then I realized that besides Chang’s misadventures in “Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality,” the only other one I am really familiar with is the Key & Peele sketch “Continental Breakfast.” So I looked up some more to make sure that my suspicion of their proliferance was correct. There’s a 2014 IKEA commercial in which a Danny bikes around a store. The Simpsons did it (“Treehouse of Horror V”). So of course Family Guy also did it. There are plenty of directions one can take with a Shining parody: hammy Jack Nicholson impressions, creepy little kid acting, Shelly Duvall’s big eyes, etc. Focusing on a comparison between Community and Key & Peele is instructive because the crux of both homages is the ending and what they say about the nature of reality.
SNL: The Weeknd, Amy Schumer, Kate McKinnon (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in October 2015.
“Saturday Night Live” in 2015 continues its search for an identity, as the second episode of Season 41 is the latest in a long line of recent outings with almost no recurring segments. This state of affairs would seem to allow someone with such a well-developed comedic style like Amy Schumer to come in and bend the episode to her will. But it does not always work out that way. Besides, while Amy has an identifiable voice, she does not have much in the way of recurring characters, generally preferring to play variations of herself. She gets to do to that to a certain extent in her “SNL” hosting debut, but “SNL” is still “SNL,” so everyone has to play characters, for better or for worse.
Fox and Friends – This “political” gabfest is one of “SNL’s” few current reliable go-to opening sketches. This edition does not say anything too unique about Jason Chaffetz’ bid for Speaker of the House or Congress’ attempts to defund Planned Parenthood. But it does not have to when Bobby Moynihan’s Brian Kilmeade is delivering plenty of malapropisms, like wondering why they don’t let every House member speak or identifying Newt Gingrich as “the man who stole Christmas.” His interpretation of the Pizza Rat footage as the purported Planned Parenthood video is one for the ages. B
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 – Rick and Morty
Monday – Whose Line is it Anyway?
Tuesday – The Grinder‘s second episode was good, but what if it weren’t?
Wednesday – Arrow is making me nervous.
Thursday – Billy on the Street
Friday – Jeopardy!
Saturday – Doctor Who
Each week, I check out VH1′s The 20 (formerly Top 20 countdown), and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.
Original Version
1. R. City ft. Adam Levine – “Locked Away”
2. Demi Lovato – “Cool for the Summer”
3. Ed Sheeran – “Photograph”
4. The Weeknd – “The Hills”
5. Selena Gomez – “Good for You”
6. Justin Bieber – “What Do You Mean?”
7. Taylor Swift – “Wildest Dreams”
8. One Direction – “Drag Me Down”
9. Major Lazer & DJ Snake ft. MØ – “Lean On”
10. Elle King – “Ex’s & Oh’s”
11. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee & Grandmaster Caz – “Downtown”
12. Shawn Mendes – “Stitches”
13. X Ambassadors – “Renegades”
14. Hailee Steinfeld – “Love Myself”
15. Fall Out Boy – “Uma Thurman”
16. Nick Jonas – “Levels”
17. Ellie Goulding – “On My Mind”
18. Charlie Puth ft. Meghan Trainor – “Marvin Gaye”
19. Hozier – “Someone New”
20. Calvin Harris and Disciples – “How Deep Is Your Love”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Lean On
2. The Hills
3. Downtown
4. Ex’s & Oh’s
5. Renegades
6. Good for You
7. Cool for the Summer
8. Levels
9. On My Mind
10. What Do You Mean?
11. Love Myself
12. Someone New
13. How Deep Is Your Love
14. Wildest Dreams
15. Uma Thurman
16. Drag Me Down
17. Stitches
18. Marvin Gaye
19. Locked Away
20. Photograph
SNL: Taran Killam, Miley Cyrus (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in October 2015.
We are currently living in the Postmodern Miley Cyrus Age. A couple years ago we were in the Modern Era, with the public coming to grips over her burgeoning sexuality and appetite for controversy. Currently, her rebellion is accepted as a given, with her self-awareness tacitly acknowledged by most camps. Her rebellious streak remains, so now she is mostly rebelling against her own sensibilities. In this fashion she hosts the Season 41 premiere of “Saturday Night Live,” her third time. The new year is starting off relatively quietly, at one of its least transitional moments of the past few years. Miley proves to be something of a perfect fit, as her restlessness is the yin to the yang of the show’s peacefulness.
A Message from Donald and Melania Trump – A Donald Trump impression debuting in October 2015 is following in the wake of a whole summer’s worth of Trump-targeting comedy, as well as a generation’s worth of Trump-edy. So it goes without saying that Taran Killam’s impression has a lot to live up to. Unfortunately, in his inaugural appearance, he serves as little more than a mouthpiece for a predictable, though thorough, takedown. The zings about how he tries to pass himself off as loving women, how he is hardly a social Republican, and how his economic plan makes no sense are all there, and you’ve seen them all before if you’ve been paying attention. C
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 – Whose Line is it Anyway?
Tuesday – The Muppets
Wednesday – You’re the Worst
Thursday – Review, taking the best TV season of 2015 off the edge
Friday – Matt Jackson’s latest cakewalk on Jeopardy!
Saturday – Saturday Night Live
Each week, I check out VH1′s The 20 (formerly Top 20 countdown), and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.
Original Version
1. Demi Lovato – “Cool for the Summer”
2. R. City ft. Adam Levine – “Locked Away”
3. Selena Gomez – “Good for You”
4. Ed Sheeran – “Photograph”
5. Major Lazer & DJ Snake ft. MØ – “Lean On”
6. One Direction – “Drag Me Down”
7. Justin Bieber – “What Do You Mean?”
8. Taylor Swift – “Wildest Dreams”
9. Elle King – “Ex’s & Oh’s”
10. The Weeknd – “The Hills”
11. Fall Out Boy – “Uma Thurman”
12. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee & Grandmaster Caz – “Downtown”
13. Charlie Puth ft. Meghan Trainor – “Marvin Gaye”
14. X Ambassadors – “Renegades”
15. The Weeknd – “Can’t Feel My Face”
16. Hailee Steinfeld – “Love Myself”
17. OMI – “Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)”
18. Nick Jonas – “Levels”
19. Ellie Goulding – “On My Mind”
20. Hozier – “Someone New”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Lean On
2. Can’t Feel My Face
3. The Hills
4. Downtown
5. Ex’s & Oh’s
6. Renegades
7. Good for You
8. Cool for the Summer
9. Levels
10. On My Mind
11. What Do You Mean?
12. Love Myself
13. Someone New
14. Wildest Dreams
15. Uma Thurman
16. Drag Me Down
17. Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)
18. Marvin Gaye
19. Locked Away
20. Photograph
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