What Won TV? – April 2-April 8, 2017

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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 –  Feud: Bette and Joan
Monday – Slam dunking the NCAA Championship on home
Tuesday – New Girl (Please give them the green light for Season 7.)
Wednesday – Archer
Thursday – Riverdale
Friday – RuPaul’s Drag Race
Saturday – So long as Sectional Couches can breathe or eyes can see: Saturday Night Live

What Won TV? – March 5-March 11, 2017

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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 – Milo Murphy’s Law
Tuesday – The Middle teases us right at the end.
Wednesday – Legion
Thursday – Baskets
Friday – VICE
Saturday – Kyle and Beck provide SNL with a sketch for the women.

SNL Review March 11, 2017: Scarlett Johansson/Lorde

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This review was originally posted on News Cult in March 2017.

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

Ace and Jake – The “Day Without a Woman” protest happened earlier this week, and – just as the people demanded – Kyle Mooney and Beck Bennett have written a female-centric sketch in response! The joke here is obvious – the guys fight institutional sexism by passionately listing every example of it but neglect to actually give the women a chance to speak. These two are miracle workers, somehow making thoughtlessness totally adorable.

That canine actor in the Dog Translation sketch is not having that helmet on his head; the fact that he is also a Trump supporter is also kind of funny…The Olive Garden Commercial shoot has it all: fake orgasms, casual racism, and Kenan Thompson sticking his face flat in a bowl of pasta!

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SNL Review March 4, 2017: Octavia Spencer/Father John Misty

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SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- "Octavia Spencer" Episode 1719 -- Pictured: (l-r) Mikey Day, Aidy Bryant, Octavia Spencer, and Kenan Thompson during the "Spencer's Gifts" sketch on March 4, 2017 -- (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC)

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE — “Octavia Spencer” Episode 1719 — Pictured: (l-r) Mikey Day, Aidy Bryant, Octavia Spencer, and Kenan Thompson during the “Spencer’s Gifts” sketch on March 4, 2017 — (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC)

This review was originally posted on News Cult in March 2017.

Love It

Jeff Sessions Gump – Has Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III ever struck you as the sort of fellow you might encounter at a bus stop in the Deep South? During his confirmation hearings for attorney general, he has not really been charming any of us the same way that Forrest Gump did 20 years ago, but this is still somehow one of those connections that seems so obvious in retrospect. He’s a “sneaky little liar” who works with a woman who “ain’t got not legs” – how delightful!

Have you ever thought the names of drugs sounded like inner city children? Better get in on that class-action suit this Merck Hearing is sure to prompt! … Kate McKinnon spends most of the episode hanging around the set in Kellyanne Conway’s now infamous leg-tuck pose.

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What Won TV? – February 26-March 4, 2017

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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.

oscars_envelope_jordan_horowitz

Sunday – An unforgettable Oscars ceremony
Monday – Jane the Virgin
Tuesday – New Girl
Wednesday – Legion
Thursday – Baskets
Friday – Kurt Braunohler: Trust Me
Saturday – Octavia Spencer put poo in the SNL!

What Won TV? – February 12-February 18, 2017

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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.

bobs-burgers_bob-actually

Sunday – Bob’s Burgers
Monday – The Young Pope is not so young anymore.
Tuesday – New Girl
Wednesday – Man Seeking Woman – I think he found her..
Thursday – Baskets
Friday – Jeopardy!
Saturday – SNL Vintage

SNL Review February 11, 2017: Alec Baldwin/Ed Sheeran

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SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- "Alec Baldwin" Episode 1718 -- Pictured: (l-r) Sasheer Zamata and Alex Moffat during the "Russell Stover" sketch on February 10, 2017 -- (Photo by: Caroline De Quesada/NBC)

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE — “Alec Baldwin” Episode 1718 — Pictured: (l-r) Sasheer Zamata and Alex Moffat during the “Russell Stover” sketch on February 10, 2017 — (Photo by: Caroline De Quesada/NBC)

This review was originally posted on News Cult in February 2017.

Love It

Russell Stover Black History Month Heart Shaped Box – Great comedy often arises from the plans of the well-meaning going awry. Offering their black girlfriends a peanut butter-filled George Washington Carver or a Malcolm X fiery with cayenne, the white boyfriends look so eager to please, so intent on getting it right. But it is plain to see that they fail on two levels: romantically and racially. But as insensitive as this particular candy box is, wouldn’t we all want to live in a utopia in which the chocolate version of any historical figure has no unsavory implications?

The pitch meeting for a Cheeto’s ad stretches the social activism of commercials as far as it can go…Jake and Kellyanne are locked in a Fatal Attraction-style tête–à–tête, and may I say, with just a stern look, Beck Bennett is killing his impression of the CNN anchor…Trump takes his case to The People’s Court, which makes me go: hey, remember when Jon Lovitz played the Devil on a People’s Court sketch back in the day? That’s somehow both more and less believable than this…Leslie Wants to Play Trump, and I want to see as many of these dreamy, personal, behind-the-scenes short films as possible.

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What Won TV? – February 5-February 11, 2017

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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.

christopher-walken-bai-bai-bai

Sunday – There was a football game, and the best part was Christopher Walken singing “Bai, Bai, Bai.”
Monday – Jane the Virgin
Tuesday – New Girl
Wednesday – Legion makes my head go boom.
Thursday – Baskets
Friday – Jeopardy!
Saturday – SNL, especially its celebration of Black History Month

SNL Review February 4, 2017: Kristen Stewart/Alessia Cara

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SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- "Kristen Stewart" Episode 1717 -- Pictured: (l-r) Host Kristen Stewart, Vanessa Bayer during the "Totinos" sketch on January 31, 2017 -- (Photo by: Rosalind O'Connor/NBC)

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE — “Kristen Stewart” Episode 1717 — Pictured: (l-r) Host Kristen Stewart, Vanessa Bayer during the “Totinos” sketch on January 31, 2017 — (Photo by: Rosalind O’Connor/NBC)

This review was originally posted on News Cult in February 2017.

Love It

Meet Cute – In this filmed piece, Kristen Stewart and Pete Davidson have the titular encounter at a coffee shop, and the unlikelihood of an immediate development into a relationship is examined, poked, and prodded. It is not really the case that in most cinematic meet-cutes someone fails to give out enough relevant information, but it is true that they are just too fast to truly be meaningful. So we should all relate to Pete’s struggle on a spiritual (not literal) level. Oh, and his confusion over how to spell Manhattan (it’s 2 T’s, not 2 D’s) is a marvelous detail.

When Robert Mugabe earns the big applause, as in the Oval Office Phone Calls cold open, you know you’ve got something … let’s call it “special.”

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What Won TV? – January 29-February 4, 2017

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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.

man_seeking_woman_woof_woof_cowabunga

Sunday – How did we get an Australian Open ending like this in 2017?
Monday – Jane the Virgin
Tuesday – Marvel’s Patton Oswalt’s of S.H.I.E.L.D.?
Wednesday – Woof Woof Cowabunga thanks for the great episode, Man Seeking Woman!
Thursday – Baskets
Friday – Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Saturday – Saturday Night Live

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