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 – Silicon Valley at its sharpest (but Mr. Pickles wins Scene of the Week for its dinner with a cannibal)
Monday – American Dad!
Tuesday – The Grinder
Wednesday – The MiddleThursday – Inside Amy Schumer gets the edge for taking the nanny sketch as far as it can stretch.
Friday – VICE
Saturday – SNL, esp. Dead Bopz
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 – Better Call Saul, with Clea DuVall stopping by to ensure that Season 2 ended on a high.
Tuesday – The Grinder cannot stop grinding.
Wednesday – Broad City
Thursday – Orphan Black
Friday – VICE
Saturday – SNL remembering Prince
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in April 2016.
This episode marks Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ third time returning to “SNL” as host, but in a way it feels like her first. She never hosted while “Seinfeld” was on the air, and this is the first to coincide with her run on “Veep.” Her last two times were during the age of the decidedly less heralded “New Adventures of Old Christine.” This is all to say, she has never more been one of the undisputed reigning queens of comedy. The writing had better not fail her.
Democratic Presidential Debate – The time in between Democratic primary debates is long enough such that Larry David’s cameo appearances can be spaced out enough to not feel like overkill. By multiple accounts, this round was more contentious than most, which this parody makes sure to confirm. But overall, there is not really an overriding theme to this sketch. The most prominent moment is JLD’s appearance as Elaine Benes, which allows Larry’s Bernie to go full George Costanza (“you break em up!”). This bit becomes increasingly untethered from reality, but “Seinfeld”-inspired bits still hold up so well. Vanessa’s Rachel Green, meanwhile, while clever, is so irrelevant to everything else. 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 – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Monday – Better Call Saul
Tuesday – The Grinder
Wednesday – black-ish
Thursday – Margaret the “hopelessly stereotypical” librarian on Jeopardy!
Friday – A Tournament of Champions-level brawl on Jeopardy! (Honorable Mention: Childrens Hospital‘s revelatory series finale)
Saturday – SNL, with Kate McKinnon and JLD as aliens
SNL: Margo Price, Russell Crowe, Kenan Thompson (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in April 2016.
It has been a while since Russell Crowe has been making headlines for throwing phones at people, so his personal life does not provide much fodder for his “SNL” debut. Instead, he has to rely on how well he can fit into the show’s routine, which he seems pretty confident about after seeing his “Nice Guys” co-star Ryan Gosling pull it off. It is hard to say how hosts who do not have much live performing experience will do, but Russell can follow the precedent of Alec Baldwin, Christopher Walken, and Jon Hamm, who repurpose their intensity from drama to comedy. In this episode, he ultimately does know how to deploy his acting chops as needed, but he could be utilized more frequently.
A Message from Hillary Clinton – Hillary’s recent stretch of primary losses allows Kate McKinnon’s impression to be even more desperate than usual, though it is worth questioning the soundness of this premise. With her delegate lead remaining quite high, do these losses matter all that much? That is the nature of a comedy show covering each bump in the election cycle instead of just the overarching narrative. Besides, this skid is enough fodder to ramp up Hillary’s freakouts, and the upcoming New York primary provides enough culture (New York “Meats,” “tumblr parties”) that she can use to struggle to connect with voters. 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 – Bob’s Burgers
Monday – One of the best NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships of all time
Tuesday – The People vs. OJ Simpson, nailing the finale
Wednesday – The best episode of Broad City is the only thing that could beat Honorable Mention Diddy on The Chris Gethard Show
Thursday – Archer
Friday – The Adult Swim Golf Classic
Saturday – SNL Vintage for the Nirvana and Daily Affirmation and new SNL for the Match Finders and Mike O’Brien as Oprah Winfrey
Begin transmission.
(That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for-) My pants!
Boys and girls! I think you’ll find That my pants Will blow your mind.
Look at my pants With the eyes in your face. My legs are covered In outer space.
Space pants! Space pants! I Am wearing Space pants.
Space pants! Space pants! My pants are Space pants.
Do you see my pants? No wait! You missed them. My pants are a tour Of the solar system.
When I say “space,” you say: “pants.” Space! (What?) When I say “space pants,” you say: “are intergalactic space pants.” Space pants! (Are intergalactic space pants.)
Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!
Hey! You there in front! Stop talking During my song. It’s very rude.
Now joining me on stage for my grand finale Is my extremely close friend Gwen Stefani.
Ladies and gentlemen, I’m happy to report My friend Gwen Stefani Is wearing space shorts.
People on Earth. Hear what I say. My shorts are from a galaxy Far, far away.
Asteroids, comets, Meteors. My shorts boldly go Where no shorts have gone before.
Space shorts! Space pants. Space pants! Space shorts.
Space pants! Space pants. Space pants! Space pants!
SNL: Gwen Stefani, Peter Dinklage, Kate McKinnon (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in April 2016.
When Peter Dinklage is in a comedy setting, the two most obvious sources of humor are “Game of Thrones” parodies and cracks about his height. There are already plenty of examples of the former, and there is always the risk of being hacky or insulting with the latter. So in his “SNL” debut, the Westeros jokes are rare and have a whiff of exhaustion, while his size is basically only utilized for one visual gag. As for the rest of the episode, he is uniformly competent, but – with a few exceptions – he deserves more memorable roles.
CNN At This Hour – A modern habit of “SNL’s” political material is the variety of its news show parodies. Where 90’s “SNL” featured plenty of “Nightline” sketches, and “Hardball” dominated the early 2000’s, the 2010’s seem intent on taking on every CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News program. It is hard to understand why. “At This Hour” has hardly broken into the zeitgeist, nor is there anything about it that makes it especially fit to elucidate Donald Trump’s foibles. As for this sketch’s actual hook, it points out Trump’s misogyny and tendency to attract violence, but it does not do anything surprising with those qualities. 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 – The Carmichael Show
Monday – Better Call Saul
Tuesday – The People vs. OJ Simpson Wednesday – Quit your job, so that you can watch The Chris Gethard Show full time.
Thursday – Archer
Friday – Childrens Hospital
Saturday – SPACE PANTS!
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 – Jane the Virgin
Tuesday – The People vs OJ Simpson (also, Martin vs. Seinfeld)
Wednesday – The Goldbergs
Thursday – Baskets, wrapping up an undefeated Season 1
Friday – Childrens Hospital
Saturday – The Meet the Press sketch from the Vintage SNL with John McCain
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