September 29, 2013
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Arcade Fire, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 39, SNL, SNL Season 39, Tina Fey
They’re all just twerkin’ 9 to 5.
Obama Press Conference
With all the guests that Obama was bringing on to tell their stories, I thought this was going to be one of those every-cast-member-appears sketches, what with the huge cast and all. But it ended up only covering about 60%. There seemed to be a fair amount of applause for Beck Bennett – did people recognize him from the AT&T commercials? Or was that just premature applause for Aaron Paul? I had heard speculation that the cold opening would cover Ted Cruz, or maybe Breaking Bad – what do you know, they were both right! Cecily’s appearance here was the first of several times this episode I was upset we’ll never see her again as a guest on the Update desk, with the complaint of a broken iPhone 5S a rather Girl at a Party-esque problem. B-
Tina Fey’s Monologue
I like a well-crafted pun, delivered with conviction (or a terrible pun delivered with conviction), so Tina’s fake recurring characters were a quick delight. And I also like deconstruction, so Tina explaining that new cast members have to pay their dues as backup dancers to the host was better than just another plain old song and dance monologue. And those outfits made it clear that we are living in a post-Magic Mike world. B+
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May 19, 2013
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Ben Affleck, Kanye West, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 38, SNL, SNL Season 38, Stefon
Cold Opening – Politics Nation
As far as I know, Al Sharpton has had only one recent major verbal gaffe, but that one gaffe has been enough to inspire a steady stream of malapropisms from Kenan Thompson’s Al Sharpton. That graph (or “grapha”) was ridiculous, but it was also kind of meaningful. Also, that Tea Party fellow deserved to be called out that way – the Founding Fathers don’t need people to dress up like them to honor them. B
Ben Affleck’s Monologue
The five-timers bit was essentially clever, but rather disappointing (for Ben’s sake). Ben and Jen really seem to love each other. B-
HBO First Look: Bengo F#*@ Yourself
“Pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd” – this is all so silly. B
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May 12, 2013
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 38, SNL, SNL Season 38, Vampire Weekend
Who the hell this Chinese dude?
Cold Opening – Benghazi Hearing
This may have been the most esoteric SNL sketch ever. Definitely the most esoteric in a good long while. B-
Kristen Wiig’s Monologue
I got the jokes, but I didn’t get the point. B-
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May 5, 2013
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Darrell's House, Of Monsters and Men, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 38, SNL, SNL Season 38, Zach Galifianakis
I can barely hear you. This is an Altoids box.
Cold Opening – Fox & Friends
Fox & Friends are reliably funny, though rarely excellent. But, hey, that’s a winning formula when it comes to SNL cold opens these days. The Fox crew generally needs a reliable “friend” to play the role of straight man, which Fred’s Mike Bloomberg dutifully provided. His retort that you might as well leave your cars unlocked if you’re not going to have background checks was not too laugh-too-loud, but I did like the logic. My favorite correction was “Croquettes are not female crocodiles.” B
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April 14, 2013
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Miguel, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 38, SNL, SNL Season 38, Vince Vaughn
Cold Opening – A Message From the President
Until (or, unless) Jay starts adding some personality to his Obama, these political cold opens are going to remain bland for the foreseeable future, even for sketches that actually have a few funny lines, like this one did. This time didn’t actually focus on Obama, but it didn’t help that the focus was on a couple of senators that most people are probably unfamiliar with. B-
Vince Vaughn’s Monologue
Yeah, this is where it’s at. “Vince Vaughn talks to the audience” doesn’t do this monologue anywhere near justice. It lasted a while, but that was part of the fun of it. It would have been enjoyable if it had dragged on the whole episode. And it kind of did, when he gave Eric his phone back during the goodnights. A-
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April 7, 2013
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Melissa McCarthy, Phoenix, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 38, SNL, SNL Season 38
You know what I’m writing off this year? The next generation.
Cold Opening – Kim Jong-Un
I laughed the most when he said “Wichita State.” Everything about Dennis Rodman screamed that he had just walked out of a time warp. B
Melissa McCarthy’s Monologue
This – THIS – is the sort of the offbeat, but so perfect, concept every monologue should aspire to. B+
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March 10, 2013
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Justin Timberlake, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 38, SNL, SNL Season 38
Now who’s the horse?
Cold Opening – Hugo Chavez Memorial
A sketch about Elton John reworking “Candle in the Wind” for Hugo Chavez? That’s like the definition of inspired. “If a candle could pull out 2 pistols” and “capitalism killed Mars” (with its spoken-word breakdown) were the highlights. B+
Justin Timberlake’s Monologue
The Tom Hanks’ five-timers club monologue was more thrilling than this one, seeing as it followed that original so closely. But considering that the five-timers lounge hasn’t been fully revisited since that first appearance, this was more welcome return than diminishing return. It was particularly nice to see five-timers who don’t stop by that often anymore, like Chevy and Candie Bergen. I also appreciated the historical context, such as the recognition that John Goodman hosted 11 consecutive seasons. And Steve Martin, your arrogance is so delightful. B+
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March 3, 2013
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Kevin Hart, Macklemore, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Ryan Lewis, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 38, SNL, SNL Season 38
Cold Opening – Obama Press Conference
The Village People bit was killer. I would have preferred it if it hadn’t been completely spelled out the gag with Obama reciting the lyrics, but it was still delightfully gonzo. B
Kevin Hart’s Monologue
Kevin Hart didn’t exactly tell any jokes during his monologue. Nor did he say anything that could really be considered objectively funny. But he did make me laugh. B
Steve Harvey
There we go, player, Kenan’s back with his full-on mispronunciating Steve Harvey, what with the “Pho-Bye-iss” and the “equilibrium.” The Dogglegangers were also a delight, especially the King Charles Spaniels of Comedy. B+
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February 17, 2013
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Alabama Shakes, Christoph Waltz, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 38, SNL, SNL Season 38
A piano’s gonna fall on me or something?
Cold Opening – Carnival Cruise Ship
One of those throw-a-bunch-of-stuff-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks sketches. And guess what: enough stuck! I probably enjoyed more than most the voice of Kenan yelling out, “There is no god!” Oscar PistROius? B
Christoph Waltz’s Monologue
I’m a sucker for a good pun, and “Who’s on wurst?” was far from the worst. B
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February 10, 2013
jmunney
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television
Justin Bieber, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 38, SNL, SNL Season 38
Steely Dan has the best fans in the world.
Cold Opening – Super Bowl LXVII
The problem with making fun of an announcing crew as bland as that of CBS’s NFL crew is that the parody is probably going to be somewhat bland itself. Which isn’t to say there were no good gags, it’s just that the whole affair was excessively dry. Is Shannon Sharpe really that thick-headed? J.B. admitting that he’s never seen 2 Broke Girls was clutch. B-
Justin Bieber’s Monologue
Who farts more: Whoopi Goldberg or Blake Shelton? Or Bieber? This was kind of funny. Short, though. B-
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