Category Archives: Bad Humor

2010/01/14 · 3:41 pm

Something Funny Happened on the Way to Five Thursday’s Ago

(This a post I intended to compose a month ago, but then the holidays hit, and then the Thursday night comedies went on winter vacation so there was no real rush to write this.  But with the comedy block returning tonight, save for The Office, this seemed like the right time to finally record these thoughts).

One month ago, on December 10, before the Jaypocalypse, NBC’s Thursday night comedies aired their Christmas themed episodes.  And something funny happened:  The Office, well, wasn’t.  At least it was very clearly the weak link in what was otherwise a very strong night of comedy.  30 Rock continued to be the joke-for-joke best show on television, Parks and Rec extended what has been a breakout second season, and Community turned in what might have been its best episode yet.  And The Office?  By far it’s weakest Christmas episode to date.  Sure, it had a lot of live up to – Christmas Party, Benihana Christmas – but it didn’t even equal last season’s Moroccan Christmas, which itself was rather a disappointment. And against the other comedies that night, it just didn’t measure up.  Something seemed off.

Now, I’m not out on the ledge yet.  But it’s certainly concerning.

Keep reading: Do they know it’s Christmas time at all? Plus Anthony Michael Hall and Julianne Moore!

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2009/12/08 · 6:52 pm

Way to Ruin Christmas, ‘SNL’

So maybe now we know why SNL seemed particularly Kristen Wiig-light this past weekend.

She must have been working on new Gilly material, as the Washington Post reports that Wiig, as Gilly, will host a “brand-new”* two-hour Christmas** special entitled “SNL Presents: A Very Gilly Christmas.”  Which basically translates to “SNL Presents: A Series of Repetitive Bits Sandwiched Between the Same Christmas Sketches We Have Been Showing for Twenty Years.”

We really have no problem with replaying the Christmas classics, but hosted by Gilly?  In Seth’s Meyer’s own words, really?!?! I had begun to think the tide was turning against Gilly (and somewhat against Wiig as well, which is unfair, because one should not confuse the character for the performer), but apparently she’s as popular as ever (or at least NBC and/or SNL thinks so).  It’s just hard to imagine what kind of “new sketches” they’ll develop for the special.  As the article notes, “A Gilly sketch is a very structured thing. It’s always set in a classroom where an uncertain teacher (Will Forte) questions his students (Kenan Thompson, Bobby Moynihan) on the source of some trouble making;” this passage is just intended to describe the sketch to the uninitiated, but it’s also achingly true.  It’s just a carbon copy structure with all the same set pieces, just rinse, wash and repeat.  Of course, there will be some  Christmas themed Gilly-antics, but don’t expect her to improve upon her already limited vocabulary (but maybe expect someone to get impaled by a Christmas tree?).

Well, at least with this special there’s no danger of the host coming out as the Love Guru.

Set your DVRs for Dec 17 at 8pm.  Regardless of what I said here, I will.

More: Bonus video! And footnotes!

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Filed under Bad Humor, Saturday Night Live, Yankee Swap

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2009/11/16 · 3:15 pm

January Jones Was the Worst Host Ever On the Worst Episode of ‘SNL’ Ever

Or so it would seem.

The reaction to last week’s Taylor Swift SNL was overwhelmingly positive, with most critics/bloggers declaring it the best episode of the (mediocre) season.  While I think it was one of the stronger episodes of the season, I’m not quite sure it was the best (I’d probably have to hand that distinction to the Gerard Butler outing, in which Butler was more polished and comfortable than Swift), but certainly it’s possible to make the argument for its season supremacy.  But boy, how quickly things change.  After the buzzed about Swift edition SNL returned  this weekend with Mad Men‘s January Jones as host, and if the blogosphere is to believed it was the worst episode in the history of Saturday Night Live, featuring the most ill-prepared host in 35 years of the show.  Well, yes, it was bad, but we’re hyperbolizing just a little bit.  If anything, saying that the new episode was that bad gives too much credit to other dreadful performances from this season (basically all but Butler and Swift), and certainly episodes from past seasons (ahem, Michael Phelps).  So to get all riled up about a single terrible episode of SNL is about as useless as getting giddy about an excellent episode of SNL, because, no matter what, the show is coming back next week, sometimes it’s going to be inconceivably bad, sometimes surprisingly brilliant, and mostly very average.  That’s why teachers invented the bell curve, to bring the extremes back down to earth.  So, by all means, complain about the episode, as it was lazy, sloppy and just generally unfunny.  But, remember, they have and will do worse.

With that, it’s not worth doing a rundown of the highlights, as there weren’t that many, but a few thoughts:

More: Running out the clock, Jones vs. Hamm, Slate vs. Watkins, and cotton balls made out of clouds…

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2009/11/12 · 5:02 pm

Out of Curiosity: ‘The Love Guru’

So a couple months back I was adding some items to the Netflix queue and on a lark I decided to include The Love Guru, just out of sheer curiosity.  I never thought it’d actually come though, I assumed we’d keep bumping other more important things up to the top.  But then lo and behold one day the mail arrived and my roommate exclaimed “Guess what came?!”  Immediately I was overcome with a sense of immense guilt.  Yep, The Love Guru.  Still, even then, I was skeptical that I’d ever watch it.

But then I decided to give it a go, just to find how bad it might be.  And at a crisp 87 minutes, at least it’ll be quick and maybe not painless.  And then I thought, why not blog about it?  So here we go.

I watched it so you don’t have to! Read on….

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