SNL Recap November 5, 2011: Charlie Day/Maroon 5

November 6, 2011

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Still phrazy after all these years!

Cold Opening – A Message from the Ghost of Muammar Gaddafi
This is one of those Fred-centric sketches in which the humor is generally derived from Fred’s goofy mannerisms and conversational tone of voice, juxtaposed with the fact  that he is playing an unsavory character.  There weren’t any particular funny lines, but it is amusing to think that the real (ghost of) Gaddafi would talk like that. B-

Charlie Day’s Monologue
I imagine that this monologue was more amusing for fans of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, who would actually recognize how similar this was to Charlie and Danny DeVito’s interactions on Always Sunny.  It would also have helped if one has been a fan of SNL long enough to know that DeVito has hosted himself six times and that it made sense that he would could serve as mentor to Charlie.  Since I met both of these requirements, this worked for me. B

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SNL Recap October 15, 2011: Anna Faris/Drake

October 16, 2011

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Our asses will explode.

Cold Opening – A Message from the Mayor of New York City
As Nicholas Fehn would say, this is real smart stuff.  Bloomberg spinning the Occupy Wall Street protests as evidence of NYC as the greatest city in the world was delightfully twisted, and the references to the earthquake and last winter’s snow were welcome. B+

Anna Faris’s Monologue
This was the absolute epitome of half-assing a monologue … and still managing to wring several laughs out of it.  Anna’s throaty way of talking and big eyes allowed for perfect reactions to those pressing questions.  And although Abby does a great Anna Faris impression, the “Hannah Garis” bit was exceedingly pointless, but thanks to Anna playing along, it wasn’t all bad. B

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SNL Recap October 8, 2011: Ben Stiller/Foster the People

October 11, 2011

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Cold Opening – Mitt Romney Press Conference
The last couple of seasons, SNL has insisted on almost always opening with politicial material, whether or not they writers had anything worthwhile to say.  But with this sketch, they showed that they knew exactly what was going on, and it has been a while since that has been the case.  The fact that the impressions weren’t all that great is forgivable, considering that neither Romney nor Christie have particularly distinct voices.  God help the comedy world if Romney is elected.  There will have to be a lot of sketches like this one if he is, I guess. B+

Ben Stiller’s Monologue
A few good cracks (“the Jewish Willy Wonka” “so, Gene Wilder?”) stuck within an overly broad and unsatisfyingly random premise. C+

Lincoln Financial Group I
They’re on to something.  This reminded me of a video starring my brother. B

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SNL Recap October 1, 2011: Melissa McCarthy/Lady Antebellum

October 2, 2011

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Cold Opening – The Lawrence Welk Show
Lawrence Welk Show sketches have held up remarkably well considering that the only thing different about them is a new person’s reaction to Dooneese.  So the logical next idea was to have another weird sister.  Melissa’s buck teeth (and other beaver-esque qualities) were sort of amusing, but they also made it difficult to understand anything that she was saying.  The most notably unique aspect of this sketch was actually Lawrence himself, who was more animated than usual, as his comments showed a greater awareness of what was going on. B

Melissa McCarthy’s Monologue
This monologue went on forever – not in the sense of, “this is so boring, please kill me now,” but rather, in the What Up With That sense of “I can’t believe this is happening … I can’t believe this is still happening.”  Post-Bridesmaids, the Melissa McCarthy-Kristen Wiig partnership felt quite natural. B

Lil’ Poundcake
The shockingly sensible shock value of the revelation of Lil’ Poundcake as an HPV vaccine was sufficiently shocking.  But then not much else happened. B

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SNL Season Premiere Recap September 24, 2011: Alec Baldwin/Radiohead

September 26, 2011

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SNL returns for Season 37.  No cast changes, with the exception of Nasim Pedrad being promoted to repertory player.  Alec Baldwin hosts for a 16th time, breaking the record for most all-time he had shared with Steve Martin.

Cold Opening – Either the 7th or 8th GOP Debate
With the number of candidates present, this was at its core a showcase of impressions, and as that, it was hit-or-miss.  Jason’s Romney was as bland as Romney, Paul’s Paul was mostly accurate but a bit too Dennis Kucinich-esque, Andy’s Santorum was confused, Kristen’s Bachmann was at her absurd best, and Taran’s Huntsman started speaking English like a Chinese person apparently because they didn’t know what else to do with him.  I haven’t watched any of the GOP debates, but from what I’ve heard, it seemed like SNL painted an accurate picture – in fact, it may have been too accurate.  There were some gags in the sketch – Perry getting confused while tired, Paul getting pushed into a corner due to his ideological purity – that seemed to be based on very specific moments from the actual debates that most viewers probably were not familiar with. So, this sketch was clever … I think. B

Alec Baldwin’s Monologue
No surprise that Steve Martin showed up.  You had to figure he would be there at some point during the night, and the monologue would be the most likely place for that.  At first, this monologue was in danger of being one big shameless plug … for an ice cream flavor.  The steroid angle was indeed a clever way to address the record-breaking.  And Seth Rogen’s cameo was ultimately beside the point. B+

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SNL Season Finale Recap May 21, 2011: Justin Timberlake/Lady GaGa

May 23, 2011

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Alphonse!

Cold Opening – Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s Prison Cell
As I see it, the humor in a sketch like this isn’t so much the dissonance of a convict displaying the knowledge of a sophisticated topic like the world economy.  It is more about the fact that when a topic like the economy is discussed, it is usually rather dry, so it is funny when it is expressed with some attitude, or some form of personality.  That is essentially what Kenan does with Jean K. Jean.  In this sketch he did it less shticky, with a dash of Lorenzo McIntosh thrown in. B

Justin Timberlake’s Monologue
Justin does all the things he says he is not going to do.  I am so pretend-confused. B-

Liquorville
If I remember correctly, when Will Forte was the upstaged spokesman in the (Fill in the Blank)-ville sketches, he and Justin’s mascot character always got along by the end.  So it was a change of pace that Kristen’s spokeswoman remained at odds with him.  As always, the musical selections were generally energetic and inspired.  Pulling J-Kwon’s “Tipsy” out of the vault?  Hoo boy, gotta love that. B

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Addendum to SNL Recap May 14, 2011: Ed Helms/Paul Simon

May 23, 2011

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In last week’s recap, I mentioned that I didn’t really know who Ann-Margret is, but I have since come to realize that I actually am somewhat familiar with her work, as I have seen Bye Bye Birdie, in which she played one of the lead roles, Kim McAfee.  It has been several years since I have seen Birdie, so I hope my readers can forgive my oversight.  Does this rediscovered knowledge change my assessment of the Ann-Margret sketch?  Hardly.

SNL Recap May 14, 2011: Ed Helms/Paul Simon

May 15, 2011

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Cold Opening – The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer
I am pretty sure that Obama has not been constantly bragging about the bin Laden kill, at least not to this degree nor in this manner.  And that was why this sketch was so funny: because it was not true.  Actually, it was based on a certain nugget of truth: Obama is a smooth talker, and those verbal skills could mean he has a knack for standup comedy bubbling underneath the surface.  Fred’s delivery of the “kill bin Laden” catchphrase sounded similar to Kenan’s refrain of “Beeeef Jelly” as David “Beef Jelly” Winfield.” B+

Ed Helms’ Monologue
This is something you just about never see: a monologue that is focused around an essentially original idea.  A childhood love of baton twirling is in no way a major aspect of Ed Helms’ public persona, nor is it the opposite of his persona either.  But it proved to be a funny, well-thought out, well-executed idea.  The success of this monologue resided in the details: the influence of “Rascal T. Peppercorn,” Ed’s revelation of his knack for comedy coming from his brother and his brother’s friends’ laughing while simultaneously beating him, and that outfit. B+

A Message from the Corn Syrup Producers of America
Again, this was to be too smug to be over the top, or maybe it just wasn’t funny enough to overcome that dissonance.  But I did laugh a few times. Original Grade: B-

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SNL Recap May 7, 2011: Tina Fey/Ellie Goulding

May 9, 2011

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Cold Opening – Osama bin Laden’s Video Will
Essentially mandatory.  I laughed a few times, though this was more a collection of parts instead of a significant whole. B-

Tina Fey’s Monologue
Falling back on the singing monologue format yet again?  Out of 20 monologues this year, this makes 9 (10 if you count Zach Galifianakis).  Anyway, Tina plied her usual off-putting, yet sexy style, and Maya plied her usual wildly pitchy, overly dramatic style, and the most memorable – and disturbing – moment came with Kristen and Kenan as the singing, big-headed babies. B-

GOP 2012 Undeclared Candidates’ Debate
If Tina was going to reprise Palin, it was nice that she did so in a sketch that wasn’t entirely hers.  Of course for this sketch to succeed, Darrell Hammond had to return as Trump (and when Romney was introduced, I thought, “There’s someone Darrell Hammond would probably be playing if he were still on”), and Jimmy McMillan was just an added treat.  All in all, when it comes to crazy in the GOP, Sarah Palin is still around, but she has been outshone, several times over. B+

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SNL Recap April 9, 2011: Helen Mirren/Foo Fighters

April 11, 2011

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Cold Opening – A Message from the President of the United States
There were several jokes that worked in this opening, even if it wasn’t clear how accurate the jibes were.  (Is Dale Humphries really trapped in a loveless marriage?   Perhaps, perhaps not.  Either way, I laughed).   But then it was so short.   It was as if everyone was so pleased that a positive percentage of the jokes worked that they didn’t want to ruin it by taking a chance on having any more jokes at all. B

Helen Mirren’s Monologue
This wasn’t exactly funny, but it did perfectly capture Dame Helen’s uncanny ability to remain classy while showing off her unbelievably-sexy-for-her-age side. B

Mort Mort Feingold: Accountant for the Stars
The impressions were nothing to write home about, and the jokes were second-rate versions of those from the first Mort Mort sketch. C+

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