Well, at least if Jamie was going to go down, she was going to go down fighting, with all the unbridled passion she showed all season.
Oh, no, not really. More of the same blasé, dead inside, zombie-like enthusiasm. Although, to be fair, it was the most energy she’s shown in some time, actually presenting a dish two weeks in a row!
But first, Marcel drops some knowledge on Dale:
After the jump: Fishing trip! Summer flings! And Jamie kills the mood.
Filed under Analysis, Century 21 Reality, Conspiracy Theory, Local Flavor, The Worst, Top Scallop
When Survivor: Nicaragua began we were unsure if it would be able to capture our attention, lacking the unbelievable drama of the previous season’s Heroes vs. Villains edition, and, more specifically, devoid of the Boston Rob-Russell Hantz showdown that defined that season and should have, at the very least, earned it an Emmy nomination. To our surprise, we were hooked on Nicaragua even though it didn’t offer those familiar personalities (or even offer any truly engaging new personalities, save for Jimmy Johnson (who, to be fair, was not really a new personality)). But when we talk about Nicaragua, then and now, it succeeded despite having anything that approximated the Rob-Russell Clash of the Titans. And when we talk about anything approximating the Rob-Russell Clash of the Titans, what we really mean is specifically another Rob and Russell battle.
Well, hold onto your buffs, because it’s happening again.
Well, we weren’t devastated. Maybe it was because we were still ecstatic from the Jets victory, and that residual giddiness made us a little more lenient, a little looser (the beers couldn’t have hurt either). Whatever it was, we were in a good mood, and Jim Carrey’s return to SNL didn’t ruin it. It wasn’t a landmark episode, or a groundbreaking night, nor did they seem that they were fully back from vacation. But, given our lofty, unrealistic, expectations, it was satisfying. And (unfortunately), that’s enough.
And let’s, for a change, start at the top. We often completely ignore the cold open when reviewing SNL, because it’s usually one of the weakest, least memorable parts of the show, certainly in non-election years. We can’t pinpoint when it started exactly, but perhaps it’s been since the great Bush-Gore battle of 2000 that the cold open has almost felt obligated to be political sketch. Often times that’s made for great, funny television (Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton, Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, occasionally Jason Sudeikis as Joe Biden), but more often than not we’re treated to a mildly amusing address from by Fred Armisen as President Obama. It’s become predictable and somewhat boring. So what a surprise it was for the show to begin and discover Armisen not as Obama but as NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Keep reading! More on Bloomy, Carrey nails Kunis, and a sketch made just for us…
Note: We began this post the day after Lost’s series finale. Unfortunately, do to a series of fortunate events, we became otherwise occupied, and soon a Lost finale review seemed rather dated. But with the end on the year quickly gaining on us, we thought we’d finally finish that piece, perhaps all the wiser for having an extra half-year to let the series’ end sink in.
For most of Lost’s final season (and for the first five) we’ve offered little, if any, commentary, instead leaving the expert analysis to the experts. In fact, besides a couple of links and a few Jimmy Fallon videos we’ve only really spoken in-depth about the season premiere. However, much in the fashion of Lost, we feel compelled to call back to that post and close the circle.
However, before we delve into the finale, the series, and the nature of season finales, I think it’s necessary that we first outline our particular history with Lost. The show premiered during my senior year in college, the four-year period when I probably should have been OD’ing on television, at least on the Mr. Show DVDs, but instead foolishly focused on my studies, only making time for The Simpsons, Survivor, Friends for some reason at beginning and, thankfully, Arrested Development towards the end (talk about growing up). Lost premiered during the fall of my Senior year, but I was far too wrapped up in my penultimate semester, and getting in as much Mario Tennis as possible, to pay it much mind (plus, it seemed like a risky venture to get involved with such an ambitious show that likely wouldn’t make it past its first season). During winter break of that year, I did record a couple of episodes on VHS (the dark ages!), and found it interesting, intriguing and definitely full of potential. But without the benefit of having seen the pilot, and understanding the context of those episodes, I was, in essence, lost. So it wasn’t until the following summer when, on somewhat of a whim, I just went ahead and purchased season 1 on DVD. And that basically changed my life.
Filed under Analysis, Count Bleh, Flashback!, In Memoriam, LOST
Steve Martin was brave enough to visit the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC yesterday, and Lehrer easily proved that it is, IS, possible to conduct an interesting interview about art (or perhaps Martin felt comfortable that the NPR audience is composed of less angry, elderly Jewish Philistines and more of cultured, respectful, art appreciators).
Listen below:
See? That was informative and entertaining. No one had to lower their level of discourse, and listeners were not lulled to sleep. It can be done!
We guess this means that it’s time for our long-delayed thoughts on Martin’s recent appearance at the 92nd St. Y.
Read on: Our first-hand account of The Nightmare on 92nd St.
Filed under Analysis, Literarally, Marconi & Cheese
Which isn’t to say that it was all bad. It wasn’t. It was a definite improvement over the previous three shows.
But that isn’t to say it was good either. Very hit and miss, both between sketches and within sketches. But for this show, at this point, average is above average, and we’ll take anything positive to close out SNL in 2010.
And what was positive, you ask? Well you really can’t beat this, putting together our two probably favorite characters of the year, Gov. David Paterson and Stefon:
Vodpod videos no longer available.
It’s been five days and yet we still have a bad taste in our mouth after last week’s ‘SNL’ hosted by Paul McCartney with a special appearance by Paul Rudd. We understand that Paul McCartney is special, even the British monarchy has acknowledged that. There are stars, and there are mega-stars, and then there are supernovas. McCartney is the latter. However, we still believe that ‘SNL’ shouldn’t have been so much about him, and his presence struck us a somewhat selfish booking, designed to provide more pleasure for the cast and crew than the audience at home. This sentiment was only driven home when Paul Rudd remarked on ‘Live! With Regis and Kelly’ that (no surprise) after the show McCartney stuck around to play an impromptu private concert. Rudd was obviously still in awe of the moment, noting that he’s “a massive Beatles fan, like everyone.” But we’re not massive Beatles fans, and even if we were, we wonder if we’d be interested in McCartney’s other works, like the songs he played for his first two ‘SNL’ sets. So that got us thinking, do people really care about hearing Paul McCartney play anything but Beatles songs? Do they just tolerate McCartney in hopes that he’ll break out the Beatles catalog? Or do they genuinely enjoy the cuts from Wings and his solo stuff? So to get more clarity on this question, we turned to our guest blogger-in-residence and Beatles aficionado Kieran Walsh, in our latest Kieran’s Korner:
Wow. Lead me into a minefield, why don’t you?
It’s not an easy question. It’s not an easy answer. Gosh… Well, let’s do this.
Filed under Analysis, Kieran's Korner, Saturday Night Live, Tyranasaurus Sex
In last week‘s Survivor: Nicaragua recap we pointed out that we felt Brenda and Sash were not really in control, and could very well find themselves on the outside looking in. We also meant to add that, despite appearing to call the shots, Brenda is not Parvati, the cunning siren (and arguably best player in Survivor history) who probably seems like the best comparison for Brenda. Unfortunately for Brenda, there are critical, significant differences between the two. Brenda might feel like she has everyone under her thumb, but she lacks both the charm and, more importantly, the ruthlessness of Parvati (and while Brenda has seemed more than physically capable, we’d argue that she doesn’t possess Parvati’s considerable strength). Yes, Brenda had a seemingly strong alliance, with two of her closest allies, Sash and NaOnka, possessing immunity idols, but those two people are clearly intent on keeping those idols for themselves, while Parvati managed to acquire idols without even trying. Brenda went to Tribal Council with an idol in Sash’s pocket, while Parvati basically went with a bucket overflowing with her own. (And speaking of Sash, we probably should have also been pointed out that he’s no Russell Hantz, lacking his killer instinct, his courage, and, most notably, his deviousness).
Filed under Analysis, Century 21 Reality, Tribal Council
Two weeks back we talked in-depth about Jon Hamm’s third hosting appearance on Saturday Night Live and how in the third go-round we often see a distinct sense of adventure, how the host is now comfortable with the cast, the cast is at ease with the host, they’re all on the same page and are willing to try something that might be hit or miss, but is often still entertaining in the attempt. We also mentioned that this past weekend would be Scarlett Johansson’s third hosting turn, so it’d be interesting to see if she took the same kind of leap as Hamm, or if she settled into a more predictable role, functional, competent but not exceptionally ambitious or outrageous, more along the lines of Drew Barrymore’s SNL resume. Well, it certainly wasn’t the former, but not so much the latter either. We’re kind of confused actually. Cause, really, more than anything, it seemed like a showcase for Johansson’s hair, her sense of style, her brassy broad persona and her variations on NY-NJ accents.
Filed under Analysis, Makes You Think, Saturday Night Live, Yasmine Bleeth
Jumped The Snark 