For the last week we’ve been taking a look at NBC’s Thursday night comedies, but with Kristen Wiig’s sendoff on ‘SNL’ this past weekend we decided to add her departure to the conversation.
It’s not worth going into detail about how the season finale of SNL – and the season as a whole – was middling. The Mick Jagger-hosted episode was a hit-or-miss mixed bag which typifies nearly every episode and every season. As we’ve learned from several seasons of recaps and now over a decade-and-a-half of religious viewing, that’s the show. It will never be too far up or too far down, so just try to enjoy it. What is worth discussing, as all of the internet has been doing for the past two days, is the exit of Kristen Wiig after seven stellar seasons, leaving behind a body of work that positions her as arguably the strongest female cast member of all-time.
Not that Jane Lynch was sub-par in her first (of hopefully many) outing as host of SNL, quite the contrary, but it’s that, once again, the material failed to live up to the vast talents of the host. It’s confusing, bewildering and frustrating that they keep wasting their resources. Perhaps, as we felt with the Zach Galifianakis show last season, the writing staff is actually less motivated by a talented host; they rely on the host to elevate the material, so what they deliver is second-rate. It’s just a theory, and probably misguided and misinformed, but you also can’t ignore the body of evidence, because, while this week’s show was better than last week, it wasn’t a great improvement. We saw plenty of Jane Lynch (and plenty of wigs), but nothing truly memorable.
EW reports that the lady ghosts of Saturday Night Live past will reunite on November 1 for “The Women of SNL,” a two-hour prime time tribute to such greats as Siobhan Fallon and Melanie Hutsell. But wait, didn’t they already do this in May? And then again two weeks ago? Well, I guess SNL has shown time and time again that it’s never heard the term “too much of a good thing,” nor the phrase “You brought back Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch and Maya Rudolph for the Betty White episode last season and then again in this season’s premiere. Don’t you think that’s enough?” But we also know the show has no reservations about repeating itself.
Let’s hope the show, which will be comprised of old sketches as well as new material, will include some of these classics, and nothing with Gilly or Penelope or anything else terrible.
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Nora Dunn, Ana Gasteyer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Laraine Newman, Cheri Oteri, and Molly Shannon are also slated to return. However, no word yet on Ellen Cleghorne.
But all kidding aside, where’s Jan Hooks on that Murderer’s Row-esqe lineup? She was the best lady on there in the late 80s/early 90s and we’d love to see her go up against the youngins, sort of like when Rocky fought Mason “The Line” Dixon. And her appearances on 30 Rock weren’t enough to quench our Hooks-thirst, nor they did truly demonstrate her versatility.
Very delayed but very exciting Muppet news: while most of our Muppet Monday posts have focused on the recent rise of Muppet visibility in Disneyland and on TV, as well as a few classic clips, we finally have some Muppet movie news!
Vulture reports that Flight of the Conchords co-creator James Bobin has been offered to direct a new Muppet movie in the works for Walt Disney Pictures. However, there might be a snag, as Bobin has apparently also been asked to helm Bridesmaids, a Kristen Wiig penned (and we’re assuming starring) comedy produced by Jumped The Snark legend Judd Apatow. But really, do you think Bobin should attach himself to a movie described as “two women battling to plan their friend’s wedding party?” I think the Casey Wilson-penned Bride Wars kinda covered this ground, and between that and 27 Dresses, I’m not sure that the discerning comedy masses are clamoring for another slapstick/rom-com wedding flick (although, if it’s more like Baby Mama, then maybe I’ll revise that statement). Plus, would you choose to work with a bunch of petulant divas* over the seasoned professionals that are the Muppets?
But maybe you’re thinking to yourself that Bobin should choose Bridesmaids for the chance to become part of the Judd Apatow fraternity and secure on a place on my chart. Okay, fair. However, this Muppet movie will be based on the script penned by Jason Segel and his Forgetting Sarah Marshall director Nicholas Stoller. Both men have several ties to Apatow, so Bobin can join team Apatow either way, and if this movie is produced it’s definitely going on the chart. So, James Bobin, if the main factor in deciding which movie to direct is earning a spot on the Judd Apatow chart, then I can assure you that if you take the reins to the Muppet movie you’ll get your due. Plus, you have about an equal chance of working with Paul Rudd on either movie (actually, with this in mind, the odds might actually be a little better with the Muppets)
And with that out of the way, you can make a measured, smart decision.
1. As was the impetus for the list in the first place, it’s relevant, as it was uploaded in anticipation of President Obama’s State of the Union Address this past Wednesday night. Now I don’t have much to say about the address, as I only saw about the last 20 minutes of it, and it was closed-captioned at a bar, but I feel pretty confident that on tonight’s SNL they will lead with a parody, mining jokes from Joe Biden’s seal clapping and Nancy Pelosi’s emphatic, frenetic applause. Sorta like this:
2. In my recent list of the Top 10 SNL Sketches of the 00s, I decided to only include one political sketch, so the comedy.com list rather fills that void (and saves me from doing more work). If I were to add one more in, it would probably be a debate, but in terms of personal preference I have a real affinity for this Obama commercial:
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3. This is something to whet your appetite for tonight’s new episode, featuring the return of, you guessed it, a beardless Jon Hamm! First hosting last decade, in October of 2008, Hamm proved that he’s more than just a handsome face, just as skilled at comedy as he is staring into the nothingness, drinking whiskey and smoking a cigarette, and looking dashing doing it. I’ve already included many of the sketches from his last go-round, so here’s one from later in the show that I have yet to employ:
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4. On Sunday night NBC goes back to the well and serves up another SNL compilation special, this time, in honor of the Super Bowl and in lieu of a game, it’s SNL Sports All-Stars. Like the Christmas special, a show made up old sports-themed sketches is nothing new. However, also like the Christmas special, Sports All-stars will be “hosted” by characters who originated in the last two seasons and are already over-exposed. In the Christmas special it was Gilly, whom I’ve already wrote many words about hating, and whom I thought might actually ruin Christmas. This time around it’s ladies’ sports commentators, Pete Twinkle and Greg Stink (Jason Sudeikis and Will Forte respectively), with Twinkle always finding a way to plug the latest feminine hygiene sponsor and Stink being generally clueless, unprepared and often a bit creepy. When these characters first debuted in Ladies’ Billiards last October, I thought it was a success, an unorthodox sketch that Sudeikis and Forte made it work. The kind of sketch that comes late in the show for a reason. So I was alarmed when the sketch turned up again so quickly, this time in the form of a Bowling final, and again two weeks ago in the Sigourney Weaver episode in the guise of a darts competition. It was a fun sketch to start, but now they’re stretching it thin, showing it three times in half a season, and it’s only a matter of time before they exhaust these characters. However, I will say that Twinkle and Stink are a much better choice to host a compilation show, and I’m actually interested/excited to see how they might expand these characters. Can’t be any worse than Gilly.
And here’s one of my favorite sports sketches, an all-time classic that I assume will be included in the special:
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And don’t forget: Jon Hamm tonight. There’s a 50% chance it’s going to be funny!
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.
Jumped The Snark 