Best Episode of the Season: Parks and Recreation

June 24, 2010

jmunney Best Episodes of the 2009-2010 Season, Best Episodes of the Season, Parks and Recreation, Television Leave a comment

“Practice Date”

“What if he shows up with another woman? What if one of my sleeves catches on fire and it spreads rapidly. What if instead of tic tacs I accidentally pop a couple of Ambien and I have to keep punching my leg to stay awake?”
“Those are all insane hypotheticals and I promise you they won’t happen.”
“They have happened. All of these have happened to me.”

Less awkward and more endearing than Michael Scott and Liz Lemon, but just as hilarious, Leslie Knope has suddenly become the most likable lead character on NBC Thursday nights.  She is so upfront about her strangeness that you will either laugh or gasp nonstop, whichever one happens first.  “Practice Date” was an opportunity for Amy Poehler to run completely free and crazy with her performance.  It was one of those episodes whose hilarity is best explained by listing quotes, so here are some more:

“Do you have like a first-date outfit I could borrow? Like, I don’t know, a pair of cargo pants?”
“Yeah I wouldn’t go with the cargo pant.”
“What about like a sexy hat?”
“I don’t even know what that is.”
“Helping already.”

“What if I get drunk and talk about Darfur too much? Or not enough? What if I don’t bring up Darfur enough?”

“Another time I went to a really boring movie with a guy and while I was asleep he tried to pull out one of my teeth. I literally woke up with his hand in my mouth. We went out a couple times after that but then he got weird.”

“Let’s begin our conversation.”
“What’s on the note cards?”
“They’re possible topics of conversation.”
“Whales. Parades. Electricity. And the rest are blank.”
“Yeah, well I couldn’t think of anything else.”

“Is she practice laughing?”

“You’re 20 minutes late. I almost left.”
“Well, I was, dropping my niece off.”
“What’s your niece’s name?”
“Torple. What? I don’t know. That’s not a name. I don’t have a niece. My niece’s name is Stephanie?”

Next up: The Office

Best Episode of the Season: Community

June 22, 2010

jmunney Best Episodes of the 2009-2010 Season, Best Episodes of the Season, Community, Television Leave a comment

“The Science of Illusion”

The brilliance of Community is its uncanny ability to weave in every possible cliché pop culture reference and then build the entire show around those references.  The characters of Community, exemplified primarily by Danny Pudi’s Abed, are so steeped in these references that they are essentially reality for them.  This is the ultimate sitcom about sitcoms.  It was no surprise then in terms of what happened during Annie and Shirley’s stints as campus security guards.  As egged on by Abed, neither one of them would allow the other to be the badass in the classic buddy cop scenario.  Thus “The Science of Illusion” reached the pinnacle of the idea of life as clichéd storytelling, particularly when Abed asked someone to hold his spot when he took a bathroom break during Annie and Shirley’s show.  A moment of comic triumph worthy of Jack Donaghy’s therapy session with Tracy on 30 Rock occurred with Abed’s performance as a southern-fried police chief (“Agitating my sciatica”).  Let’s not forget that Chevy Chase is also on this show, and his ridiculousness is suitably hilarious without necessarily having anything to do with all the pop culture references, except perhaps in the sense that Pierce is aware of all the references, but not in any way in which he can keep it straight.  “The Science of Illusion” included the best Pierce-centric storyline of the season, when he donned a wizard suit after reaching a new level in his “Buddhist” church.  If you already watch Community, then you know I don’t need to say anymore.  If you don’t watch Community, then I don’t know how that description couldn’t be enough to convince you to start watching it.

Next up: Parks and Recreation

Best Episode of the Season: Modern Family

June 21, 2010

jmunney Best Episodes of the 2009-2010 Season, Best Episodes of the Season, Modern Family, Television Leave a comment

“Moon Landing”

Jay and Cameron play racquetball at the gym and experience the titular occurrence; meanwhile, Mitchell spends the day with Gloria and Manny to help Gloria with a driving-related legal matter.  These storylines were perfectly hilarious and both had their moments, but this episode rose to unforgettable status with the convergence of all the goings-on of the Dunphy family.  Claire has been spending the day with Valerie, an old friend from work (Minnie Driver, in a whatever guest appearance).  Claire takes careerist Valerie to her house to make her jealous of family life, only to find the following: Phil, wearing a fake mustache, stuck in a port-a-potty (a plumber working at the neighbor’s house had to shut off the pipes, Dylan parked right in front of the potty while Phil was using it, and as for the mustache, he was ostensibly trying to up his swagger while selling homes, but really he had it on for no reason at all); Haley throwing things out her window while fighting with Dylan, only to be passionately making out with him a few minutes later; Luke shirtless and smelling of alcohol, and Alex swatting at a rat with a broom (Luke and Alex were recycling the alcohol containers from their neighbors’ party from last night and Luke had spilled some from a not quite empty bottle onto himself, and as for the rat, well, there just happened to be a rat in the house that day).  “Moon Landing” demonstrated that Modern Family is in the hands of sitcom veterans who simply know how to make television comedy work.

Next up: Community

Best Episode of the Season: V

June 20, 2010

jmunney Best Episodes of the 2009-2010 Season, Best Episodes of the Season, Television Leave a comment

“Hearts and Minds”

The beginning of “Hearts and Minds” confused me.  It made me feel like I had missed an episode or two, when I knew that I had not.  It turned out that it was one of those episodes that starts in media res and then flashes back to show how we got to this point of disequilibrium.  Gimmicky?  Sure, but it is a gimmick that often works.  After a boring middle of the season, V finally started realizing its potential with this episode.  Plot-wise, things were finally moving forward: the Visitors and the Fifth Column were both making serious strikes at each other.  Acting-wise, the cast was given more conflicts to chew on, as characters were becoming privy to more information.  Laura Vandervoort especially demonstrated development as Lisa, as she became more in touch with her human side and had to deal with a mother who would break her own daughter’s legs to get what she wants.  Tension built as the promise of a tête-à-tête of Erica versus Anna (the constantly smirking Elizabeth Mitchell and the always chilling Morena Baccarin) was unfolding.

Next up: Modern Family

Best Episode of the Season: Gossip Girl

June 19, 2010

jmunney Best Episodes of the 2009-2010 Season, Best Episodes of the Season, Gossip Girl, Television Leave a comment

“Last Tango, Then Paris”

Just like so many shows before it, Gossip Girl struggled once most of its main characters headed to college.  The problem was not so much that the writers could not figure out college-centric storylines but that the fact of going to different schools made it so that the Constance Billard grads were necessarily apart too often.  The truth is that some of these Upper East Siders do not go well together, and a great deal of the fun of GG comes from the offbeat groupings.  The main reasons for watching GG are Leighton Meester and Ed Westwick – anyone who disagrees is watching for the wrong reasons – but I must say I have really started to appreciate Penn Badgley, mainly thanks to the several odd couple moments between Dan and Blair this season.  In the finale, everyone imploded into one another.  Dan punched Chuck in a scene that Blair also appeared in, and while I generally prefer the awkwardly funny, yet sweet Dan-Blair moments, I was happy to see Dan take action.  The Chuck-Jenny hookup left me in shock, and I am still too much in shock to say whether or not I liked it, but at least it brought the crazy.  I was happy to see GG go for broke in a season that otherwise featured too much Vanessa.  And, of course, any episode is automatically improved by appearances from Margaret Colin and Wallace Shawn as Eleanor and Cyrus.

Next up: V

Best Episode of the Season: Dollhouse

June 18, 2010

jmunney Best Episodes of the 2009-2010 Season, Best Episodes of the Season, Television Leave a comment

“The Left Hand”

By the time that “The Left Hand” aired, it had already been announced that the second season of Dollhouse would be the show’s last.  The development of the Sen. Daniel Perrin storyline made it seem like the Dollhouse Corporation was on the cusp of being exposed and that the show was in fact ready to end.  But then all the twists and turns and cross-twists and turns of this episode suggested that Dollhouse was actually prepared to last for a while if it had the chance, thus proving Joss Whedon’s mastery at hedging his bets.  His past TV experiences certainly conditioned him to be thus adept, having created one show that was cancelled and picked up by another network (Buffy) and another that lasted only one season and then became a movie (Firefly).
After the fast and furious revelations of the previous hour (Perrin is a doll, his wife is his handler), the highlights of “The Left Hand” were the Topher-centric moments.  Imprinting Viktor as Topher to give Topher support from himself was a stroke of genius and when he discovered that fellow Dollhouse scientist Bennett Halverson was actually a woman, I was thrilled that our beloved Topher had found a love interest.  As for guest star Summer Glau as Halverson, my hopes were not high.  I had seen her on The Sarah Connor Chronicles and thought that she was fascinatingly cute but pretty boring as an actress.  But her scenes with Fran Kranz as Topher were nothing short of delightful.

Next up: Gossip Girl

Best Episode of the Season: American Dad!

June 17, 2010

jmunney American Dad!, Best Episodes of the 2009-2010 Season, Best Episodes of the Season, Television 1 Comment

“Rapture’s Delight”

Stan and Francine have sex in the church closet during Christmas Day Mass, causing them to be left behind during the Rapture.  When Francine realizes that Stan cares more about ascending into heaven than being with her, she leaves him for Jesus, who has appeared for his second coming.  Fast-forward seven years to the real meat of this episode – the post-apocalyptic, Mad Max-esque future brought on by the war between Jesus and the Antichrist.
While watching this episode, it was one of those times in which I was getting some work done while watching TV, so for a good portion, I was not paying complete attention.  But about halfway through the post-apocalyptic part, I said to myself, “What the hell is going on right now on American Dad!, the wackiest and most unbridled show on television?”  At that moment, I surrendered and put down my work.  Where had this portrayal of the Anti-Christ (as voiced by Andy Samberg) sprung from?  The ways in which he is the opposite of Jesus are conveyed via shtick (“Condemn them, Mother, for they know exactly what they do!”)  An elaborate and absurd battle provides the climax, highlighted by a trap built by the Anti-Christ falling apart (“You were a carpenter!  I’m not handy at all!”).  Ultimately, and unsurprisingly, the most immortally memorable moment comes from Roger, when he drops his meatball in the pool.

Next up: Dollhouse

Best Episode of the Season: Desperate Housewives

June 15, 2010

jmunney Best Episodes of the 2009-2010 Season, Best Episodes of the Season, Desperate Housewives, Television Leave a comment

“I Guess This is Goodbye”

In a season rife with a pair of mysteries we were not sure we wanted (the Fairview Strangler and the Bolens on the run), we were happy to at least have satisfying resolutions to them, making the season finale Desperate’s most thrilling and most explosive hour of the year, as per usual.  The Fairview Strangler ended with Eddie delivering Lynette’s baby and Lynette in turn convincing Eddie to turn himself in to the police.  Josh Zuckerman put Eddie’s internal struggle all over his face, and Felicity Huffman had one of her best mom moments of the series.  Scott Wolf-lookalike John Barrowman was impressive as Patrick Logan, and watching Angie blow him up was the funnest moment of the season, and one of the few times when Drea De Matteo was given something interesting to do.  And though it was sad to know that he was on his way out, Kyle MacLachlan finally had the opportunity to remind us why we have loved him as Orson Hodge so much, with his speech to Bree in which he explained why he loved her and why he cannot love her anymore.

Next up: American Dad!

Best Episode of the Season: Smallville

June 5, 2010

jmunney Best Episodes of the 2009-2010 Season, Best Episodes of the Season, Television Leave a comment

“Warrior”

The major criticism of Smallville during its first season was its “Freak-of-the-Week” structure.  Clark would face a new meteor rock-infected villain each episode, and they would amount to little more than one-off’s.  Things could not be more different nine seasons in.  Smallville has gotten so deep into its Kryptonian and Kandorian mythology (a mythology that I am pretty sure differs notably from the comics mythology).  So now it is actually nice when we have a one-off tale such as “Warrior,” in which a boy discovers an enchanted comic book that turns him into “Warrior Angel,” a superhero destined to turn evil.  Highlights of the episode include Chloe lightening up for the day and playing Microsoft’s Wii-like Project Natal with the boy, Lois dressed as Wonder Woman at a comic book convention, and the return of the charming Serinda Swan as Zatanna.  There was nary a geek-out moment to be found, but still plenty of fun.

Next up: Desperate Housewives

SNL Season 35 (2009-2010) Recap

June 4, 2010

jmunney Saturday Night Live, SNL Season Recaps, Television Leave a comment

The “Arizona Evenings” sketch in the SNL season finale worried me.  It featured script supervisor “Starfish,” as played by Kristen Wiig, in perhaps her worst performance on SNL ever.  I am a K-Wiig fan and would argue that she is the best female cast member in the show’s history, but the Internet chatter on SNL tends to have a good deal of Kristen Wiig fatigue.  It is true that she appears in a lot of sketches and a lot more often than the three other female cast members (who are all featured players), but I believe that the criticism goes too far.  But when I saw Starfish, I was reminded of the infamous 1994-95 season, when cast members with otherwise successful runs on the show (Farley, Sandler, Spade) turned in their most obnoxious performances ever.  I feared that the same was happening with Kristen.
The crisis that SNL currently faces is actually not the same as the one it faced fifteen years ago, nor is this one anywhere near as perilous.  My brother was talking the other day about how he believes the current SNL writers’ room is like the TGS writers’ room on 30 Rock, in which everyone just sits around and says random things that they think are funny.  Whereas, on seasons past, the writers would have a comedic idea they really want to flesh out and birth a sketch from that idea.  I think he is on to something here, and looking over my picks of the best for the last season, I believe SNL remains at its best when it maintains that “idea” mentality.  So, for my 2009-2010 SNL recap, let’s start it off with an idea man.

(I would embed the videos, but this recap is long, and videos would make for even more scrolling.  So no embedding.  But I am providing the links.)

Most Valuable Cast Member
Kenan Thompson
Kenan’s tenure on SNL has been marked by a lot of sketches that would be absolutely terrible if anyone else were in his roles.  Sometimes those sketches are barely watchable (Ruff, Rugged, and Roker) and sometimes they are inexplicably brilliant (Scared Straight).  This season, his performances tended toward the latter, and there were even some occasions when he had ideas that were brilliant by any standard and would have been so with any performer (“What Up With That?”), though he was clearly the best suited to play them.  His star power cooled off in the second half of the season, but his first half renditions as DeAndre Cole, “Reba McEntire,” Bill Cosby, Charles Barkley, and Maya Angelou were strong enough for the entire season.

Runners-Up:
The current group of not ready for primetime players is akin to the late 80’s cast of Carvey, Hartman, Lovitz, Jan Hooks, Nora Dunn, Victoria Jackson, etc., which was truly an ensemble group where no one star really stood out.  Even Kenan did not really emerge as a star this year; he basically just had the most strong performances.  Nevertheless, a few honorable mentions are worth noting: Will Forte, for his steady stream of MacGruber brilliance and offering of further evidence that he is one of the strangest cast members of all time, and Bill Hader, for deftly fulfilling the roles of reliable supporting player and secret comedic weapon.

Best Sketch
What Up With That? (with guests Al Gore, Mindy Kaling, and Lindsey Buckingham)
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/what-up-with-that/1178425/
The first time I saw “What Up With That?”, I could not believe that something like this could go on for seven minutes on network television.  But I was absolutely thrilled that it was allowed.  The second rendition perfected the formula, with a famous cameo in the speaking guest role, and the best performance by that night’s host of any WUWT? (Joseph Gordon-Levitt as “our friend from another dimension,” Klaus Future).  Kenan’s face when he said, “It’s gonna be audacious” was priceless and sealed the deal in making this the best sketch of the year.

Runners-Up:
Digital Short: Two Worlds Collide
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/digital-short-two-worlds-collide-ft-reba-mcentire/1178383/
It took too long before Kenan had a promiment role in a digital short, but when it finally did happen, he and Andy Samberg gave birth to a beautiful comedy baby.  The casting of Kenan as Reba McEntire would have been enough for me, but making Reba and Andy lovers took it to another level.  Then the revelation of Reba as a man kind of but not really pretending to be Reba twisted it all up into a ball of nonstop laughter.  So why Reba?  Why not Reba!

The Potato Chip Thief
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/potato-chip/1182388/
Joining the grand tradition of “What were the writers smoking?” sketches (such as the census interview with Christopher Walken, the job interview with Steve Buscemi, and the Dr. Poop sketch) was this monstrosity that must have come from the twisted mind of Will Forte.  The difference is that those past sketches had straight characters to ground the proceedings, while the Potato Chip Thief was a total embrace of the weird.  I could barely believe what was unfolding before my eyes, and my hats go off to Forte, Jason Sudeikis, and Blake Lively for throwing themselves completely into every aspect of this sketch: the ridiculous accents, a short-sleeved dress shirt (!), the Col. Sanders-esque get-up, “you have no right!”, “that is between you and your god!”, “Blacklisted!”, “be a man for the first time in your life!”, “you don’t take people’s potato chips,” the chip spit, “my undry dreams,” the unmentioned until the end “hemorrhoid donut,” “because they’re hungry, Janelda, because they’re hungry.”

There were several notable sketches from all over the place competing for the top spot, and some had trouble matching the top contenders because they were, well, too short, which led me to the creation of my newest category:

Best Short Sketch
Zipco Closet Organizer
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/closet-organizer/1197957/
If the mark of a great SNL sketch is its ability to lead to an unrelenting fit of laughter, then the Closet Organizer commercial would win easily.  The hilarity kept getting amped up, and I could barely catch my breath.  I was in such a silly mood by the end of it that I wondered if the following sketch deserved as much laughter as I gave it.

Runners-Up:
MacGruber (“He has a black employee now!”)
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/macgruber/1191643/
It is incredible how well the MacGruber sketches work over and over again with the exact same format.  (Maybe because they each last about a minute…)  The Charles Barkley-featuring version turned out to be the best of all time, as MacGruber became a racist.  What sets MacGruber apart from any other racist joke is the idiosyncrasy of his racism (“Jazz me over that fly shoelace, you dig?”).

Kickspit Underground Rock Festival
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/underground-festival/1182329/
Supposedly the infomercial (for the Insane Clown Posse-led “Gathering of the Juggalos”) that this sketch parodied is just as ridiculous as SNL’s version, if not more so.  But the original was stretched out over fifteen minutes.  SNL took the tactic of stuffing as much as possible into about two minutes, and the lineup for the festival looked promising.

Best Host
Jon Hamm
Jon Hamm’s comfort on the 30 Rock stage shone through on January 30.  After only two appearances, he is one of the best recurring hosts that SNL has at its disposal.  If things continue at this pace, he could be the definitive host of the teen decade.

Runners-Up:
Zach Galifianakis
After the one-two punch of “Zach Drops by the Set” and the fourth hour of today in the middle of the March 6 show (which featured a creepy Zach Galifianakis sticking his face against the window), I thought that Zach’s face would just be plastered on the screen for the rest of the show.  And I would have been happy if it was.  One more thing: the bidet.

Betty White
During the windup to Betty White’s appearance, the Golden Girl kept stressing how afraid she was to do the show.  Well, she either got over that fear completely, or she was just leading us on.  Either way, she tackled every role she was given with a confidence that can only come with 60+ years in the industry.

Best Monologue
Zach Galifianakis
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/zach-monologue/1207090/
Most of this year’s monologues were either an afterthought (Charles Barkley attempting three different monologue formats), terribly misguided (Gabourey Sidibe singing about herself to the tune of “The Shoop Shoop Song”?), or a terribly misguided afterthought (Taylor Lautner defending Taylor Swift’s honor against a cardboard cutout of Kanye West?).  The best monologue this year took the SNL monologue back to its roots, when it was usually a stand-up routine.  And the stand-up stylings of Zach Galifianakis are totally appropriate for the SNL stage, in a 21st century kind of way.

Runner-Up:
Betty White
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/betty-white-monologue/1226076/
Leave it to Betty White to be the other host whose monologue was a standup routine.  She demonstrated that she understood the FaceBook phenomenon, enough to be able to crack a few legitimately funny jokes about it.

Best Musical Guest
Lady GaGa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W44YGLM6Y5A
http://www.casttv.com/video/3o9fty/lady-gaga-snl-bad-romance-love-game-pokerface-video
GaGa’s first performance of the night (“Paparazzi”) featured her best song and was perfectly GaGa-theatrical, but the “Love Game”/“Poker Face” medley really showed off what she was capable of, especially with that piano action.

Runners-Up:
The Ting Tings
http://www.hulu.com/watch/121076/saturday-night-live-the-ting-tings-thats-not-my-name
http://www.hulu.com/watch/121075/saturday-night-live-the-ting-tings-shut-up-and-let-me-go
The Ting Tings’ first song, “That’s Not My Name,” showed off the fun and goofiness of the Ting Tings, but it was ultimately unsubstantial.  Then “Shut Up and Let Me Go” really showed them having a hell of a time and seemed to never end.

MGMT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HPxNRpRcOs
http://www.hulu.com/watch/144720/saturday-night-live-mgmt-brian-eno
“Flash Delirium” was a nice enough MGMT performance, nothing to get too excited about.  But then “Brian Eno” came along.  Andrew VanWyngarden kept going on and on about Brian Eno, and on and on, and on and on, and though it only lasted about five minutes, it felt like forever.  One of the strangest forever’s I have ever known, but one I am glad to have known.

Ke$ha
http://www.hulu.com/watch/143257/saturday-night-live-keha-tik-tok
http://www.hulu.com/watch/143266/saturday-night-live-keha-your-love-is-my-drug
Bucking the trend of the second song besting the first, Ke$ha went absolutely insane to kick things off with “Tik Tok”: spaceman costumes, an American flag cape, goofy lights, purposely screwy vocals.  What does it all mean?  Nothing.  And that’s the point.  “Did anyone stop to think maybe we are the aliens?”  Indeed.  As for her second performance, “it’s Saturday night.  Do you want to make out?”

Best Commercial Parody
Zipco Closet Organizer
The overly exuberant voiceover, the harried housewife, the black-and-white footage: it captured the ads for those “As Seen on TV” products perfectly, and then it became … something else.

Runners-Up:
Kickspit Underground Rock Festival
You can tell that the SNL writers know they have come up with a good sketch when they repeat their best jokes a few seconds later in the same sketch as though they have already been established as an audience favorite.  That happened here with “Mrs. Potato Dick” and “Ass Dan.”

Duncan Hines Brownie Husband
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/brownie-husband/1218011/
Tina Fey amplified her unlucky-in-love and compulsive eating Liz Lemon persona to epic proportions with this spot.  “The perfect blend of rich fudge and emotional intimacy” – I can’t put it any better than that.

Best Digital Short
Two Worlds Collide
“I’m Reba!”

Runners-Up:
The Date
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/digital-short-the-date/1161187/
From the minds of Will Forte and the Lonely Island comes this love letter to strange, fragile men who know how to woo someone like Megan Fox.  I was not quite sure what to make of this, but once it got into the fevered nightmares caused by lamb slaughter, I could not say no to that face.

Booty Call
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/digital-short-booty-call/1191669/
The attractive female guests of SNL go for some strange men.  A string of bizarre details that are hardly connected to each other come together to form the picture of a very interesting individual.  Best twist ending of any digital short?

Best Weekend Update Segment
Bill Cosby (Kenan Thompson) discusses his new rap album
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/update-bill-cosby/1182386/
Kenan debuted his Bill Cosby impression on SNL in his first episode.  Why it has not appeared more often is beyond me.  Kenan’s impressions generally are not terribly accurate, but we let it slide because of his uncontrollable charisma.  But his Cosby is spot-on.  I somehow simultaneously believed and failed to believe that the real Cosby would say things like “Kanye Kangaroo,” “suck on my elbow,” and “the twangamazoos.”

Runners-Up:
Stefon (Bill Hader) discusses NYC hotspots
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/update-stefon/1222373/
Bill Hader completely cracked up in the middle of his first appearance as city correspondent Stefon, and we let it slide, because the audience was cracking up, and the performance required him to breathe heavily, put his hands to his mouth, and generally act nervous.  The comedy of Stefon resembled what is best described as the fever dream of a gay man, and how can you go wrong with that?

Charles Barkley (Kenan Thompson) comments on Communist China’s 60th anniversary
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/update-charles-barkley/1163261/
Charles Barkley provided a series of reasons why he is unqualified to be discussing China but why he has many more entertaining things to say on the subject than just about anyone else.  He also continued the trend of calling Seth “Screech” Meyers by the wrong name.
(Kenan very nearly went for 3-for-3 in this category with his appearance as Maya Angelou responding to rumors of her death.  She referred to Seth as “Dr. Seth Meyers.”)

Best 10 to 1 Sketch
The Potato Chip Thief
The 35th season of SNL may go down as the year of the 10 to 1 sketch (that is, the last sketch of the night, so named because it airs at 10 to 1, or 12:50, or perhaps because it has a 10 to 1 chance of success).  Leading the pack, of course, was the potato chip thief.

Runners-Up:
Doorbells and More
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/new-doorbells/1184648/
Before this concept was ruined by guest appearances from J. Lo and Gabourey Sidibe, Tina Tina Chaneuse was Jenny Slate’s breakout performance.  Tina Tina was very cute and endearing.  It was like, “Aww, look how hard she’s trying to be successful.”  Bonus points to Bobby Moynihan as the incredulous doorbell ringer.

Census Interview
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/census/1226117/
A revisiting of the classic Tim Meadows-Christopher Walken census sketch, this did not quite meet the heights of its forerunner, but that would have been a lofty goal to reach.  Unlike many other great 10 to 1 sketches, it embraced the throwaway nature of the last show of the night and had a feel of “now that everything else is out of the way, let’s have some fun.”

Best Episode
Jon Hamm/Michael Bublé (1/30/10)
Highlights included the Closet Organizer, “Hamm and Bublé,” the bad stenographer, and the reappearance of the Closet Organizer in a later sketch, a gag I believe that SNL has not pulled in over ten years.

Runners-Up:
Charles Barkley/Alicia Keys (1/9/10)
When I saw the Charles Barkley episode, I was satisfied, though it did not strike me as a season high point.  But then I took another look at it, and realized that we had MacGruber, Reel Quotes, the return of Make-a-Wish recipient Danny Hoover, the Booty Call Digital Short, and Scared Straight – really, not a single bad sketch.  Somehow, a Charles Barkley-hosted episode was one of the best of the season.  Really.

Ryan Reynolds/Lady GaGa (10/3/09)
A few sketches that I very much enjoyed the first time around (the Osmonds vs. the Phillips on Family Feud, the “On the Ground” digital short, Barkley on Update, the Norwegian Actors’ Playhouse on International Masterworks), a couple that get better the more I think about them (So You Committed a Crime … And You Think You Can Dance, and International Masterworks, again), and an iconic musical guest.  Not a single misstep, except the dumb appearance from GaGa and Madonna on Deep House Dish.

Notes:
Alec Baldwin tied Steve Martin for most hosting appearances with 15, while John Goodman, who has not hosted since 2001, languishes in third place with 12 … Most surprising host: Blake Lively … Most disappointing host: January Jones … Charles Barkley became the first professional athlete to have hosted more than once, sort of.  Tony Danza, who had a boxing career in the seventies, hosted twice in the eighties, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who got his start as a professional wrestler, has hosted thrice.  I do not count Tony because it was his acting career that made him famous enough to host, and I do not count The Rock because professional wrestling is not really a sport … Most bizarre trend: the underutilization of capable hosts (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Blake Lively, Ryan Phillippe) in supporting roles … And in case you happened to miss it, the Black Eyed Peas performed on SNL this year.

Older Entries Newer Entries