May 11, 2015
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Florence + the Machine, Mother's Day, Reese Witherspoon, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 40, SNL, SNL Season 40, What Kind of Man
SNL: Reese Witherspoon, Florence Welch, Taran Killam (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in May 2015.
Reese Witherspoon’s first “SNL” hosting stint was also the first show to air after 9/11. While she did have a few memorable performances then, that appearance was mostly marked by nerves. Freed from any overwhelming existential uncertainty about the place of comedy, Reese was able to demonstrate that she is a natural next to the “SNL” cast, happy to play along in roles that took advantage of her sunny personality. This episode also continued the tradition of dedicating the Mother’s Day weekend show to the holiday, taking that trend about as far as it could possibly go.
Southern Republican Leadership Conference – The conventional wisdom says that Jeb Bush is going to be the next Republican presidential nomination, even though he has not even announced his candidacy. But the conventional wisdom does not always work out. 24 years ago, “SNL” built an entire sketch around the received intelligence that all the Democrats were just fighting to be the one to lose to George Bush. So good call making the joke that all these Republicans are going to lose to the latest Bush the punchline instead of the premise. As for the actual meat of this opening, it was more fun than funny, but still a nice change of pace. It effectively hid the fact that this cast does not really have any impressions of these candidates ready and did it all in a Jock Jams-style scene that was randomly stuck in the 90’s. Perhaps that was the joke, insofar as the GOP is the party of being stuck in the past. B-
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May 10, 2015
jmunney
Television, What Won TV?
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 – RuPaul’s Drag Race
Tuesday – John Hawkes, Jeff Goldblum, Chris Gethard, et al, Inside Amy Schumer
Wednesday – The Goldbergs
Thursday – Louie‘s got a weird thing in his head.
Friday – Childrens Hospital
Saturday – SNL … where’s Cecily Strong’s cocaine?!
May 9, 2015
jmunney
Music, Television, VH1 Top 20 Countdown, VH1's The 20
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. Ellie Goulding – “Love Me Like You Do”
2. Jason Derulo – “Want to Want Me”
3. Nick Jonas – “Chains”
4. Walk the Moon – “Shut Up and Dance”
5. Maroon 5 – “Sugar”
6. Zedd ft. Selena Gomez – “I Want You to Know”
7. Tove Lo – “Talking Body”
8. Taylor Swift – “Style”
9. Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth – “See You Again”
10. Meghan Trainor – “Dear Future Husband”
11. Echosmith = “Bright”
12. Tori Kelly – “Nobody Love”
13. George Ezra – “Budapest”
14. Fifth Harmony ft. Kid Ink – “Worth It”
15. Sam Smith – “Lay Me Down”
16. Ryn Weaver – “Octahate”
17. Flo Rida ft. Sage the Gemini and Lookas – “G.D.F.R.”
18. Andy Grammer – “Honey, I’m Good.”
19. Nate Ruess – “Nothing Without Love”
20. Young Rising Suns – “High”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Style
2. Talking Body
3. I Want You to Know
4. Nobody Love
5. Want to Want Me
6. See You Again
7. Chains
8. Lay Me Down
9. Octahate
10. Shut Up and Dance
11. G.D.F.R.
12. Love Me Like You Do
13. Nothing Without Love
14. Budapest
15. High
16. Worth It
17. Sugar
18. Dear Future Husband
19. Honey, I’m Good.
20. Bright
May 6, 2015
jmunney
Community, Community Episode Reviews, Television
Community, Community 609, Community Season 6, Grifting 101
Community, “Grifting 101” (CREDIT: Yahoo! Screen)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in May 2015.
“Grifting 101” is the first fully themed episode of “Community” Season 6. The typical Greendale shenanigans have been present this year, but not quite in a way that has overwhelmed everything for a half hour. The pop cultural references have also been there, of course. Just last week, “Intro to Recycled Cinema” took inspiration from “Star Wars” and its schlocky knockoffs, but it was not a full-on pastiche. Greendale was making a space movie, but it had not become a space movie. “Grifting 101” actually was a con man story that purposely mimicked the genre’s tropes. The elements lifted from “The Sting” – the hand-drawn chapter title shots and the ragtime version of the theme song – ensured that this is still a show that can be ambitious in this fashion.
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May 4, 2015
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Black Widow, Blazer, Random, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 40, Scarlett Johansson, SNL, SNL Season 40, Wiz Khalifa
SNL: Wiz Khalifa, Scarlett Johansson, Cecily Strong (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in May 2015.
In the time between her last and this (her fourth) hosting stint, Scarlett Johansson has had quite the career bump, carving out a niche of otherworldly, occasionally robotic, often kickass heroines. Still, she has never been that strong a fit for the demands of “SNL.” With this episode, she was more confident than ever, though not especially accomplished. But the cast and the concepts were better-than-average, with some routine-busting sketches providing the highlights.
Mayweather/Pacquiao Fight – The biggest match in decades has revealed the surprising number of people who are legitimate boxing fans. “SNL” cleverly latched onto that widespread fanaticism with this sketch that playfully conceded the show’s relevance on this particular night. Normally, admitting your own shortcomings is inadvisable, but that was overridden by such a strong commitment to the second-rate aesthetic. The narration acknowledging the obvious artifice here made the sketch fluid in a way unusual for “SNL.” B
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May 4, 2015
jmunney
Television, What Won TV?
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 – Mad Men
Monday – RuPaul’s Drag Race
Tuesday – Community
Wednesday – Arrow
Thursday – Louie
Friday – Comedy Bang! Bang!/Childrens Hospital
Saturday – SNL was the best show on Saturday, and everyone was like, “Umm, okay.”
May 2, 2015
jmunney
Music, Television, VH1 Top 20 Countdown, VH1's The 20
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. Ellie Goulding – “Love Me Like You Do”
2. Nick Jonas – “Chains”
3. Maroon 5 – “Sugar”
4. Jason Derulo – “Want to Want Me”
5. Zedd ft. Selena Gomez – “I Want You to Know”
6. Walk the Moon – “Shut Up and Dance”
7. Taylor Swift – “Style”
8. Tove Lo – “Talking Body”
9. Tori Kelly – “Nobody Love”
10. Sam Smith – “Lay Me Down”
11. Echosmith – “Bright”
12. Meghan Trainor – “Dear Future Husband”
13. George Ezra – “Budapest”
14. Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth – “See You Again”
15. Fifth Harmony ft. Kid Ink – “Worth It”
16. Calvin Harris ft. Ellie Goulding – “Outside”
17. Andy Grammer – “Honey, I’m Good.”
18. Nate Ruess – “Nothing Without Love”
19. Ryn Weaver – “Octahate”
20. Young Rising Suns – “High”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Style
2. Outside
3. Talking Body
4. I Want You to Know
5. Nobody Love
6. Want to Want Me
7. Chains
8. See You Again
9. Lay Me Down
10. Shut Up and Dance
11 Love Me Like You Do
12. Nothing Without Love
13. Budapest
14. High
15. Octahate
16. Worth It
17. Sugar
18. Dear Future Husband
19. Honey, I’m Good.
20. Bright
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