Similar, and just as good:
Vodpod videos no longer available.Thank you, VHS copy of “SNL Goes Commercial” that my brother taped on off TV in 1991.
Tag Archives: Saturday Night Live
Nostalgia Corner: Any Time I Hear The Words “Several Options” I Think Of This Sketch
Filed under Good Humor, Nostalgia Corner, Saturday Night Live
In Memoriam: Will Forte (Sort Of)
Well, it’s the end of a weird, absurdist, hit-and-miss era, as Will Forte and SNL announced their amicable separation today, after 8 years of professional bliss and uneven comedy.
As for Will and this blog, it’s no secret that our relationship has not been so smooth. We’ve often voiced our objection to some of the more outrageous, off the wall sketches that seemed to spring forth from the Forte womb, most often found in the 12:50am dead zone, or sometimes only in dress rehearsal (see: skeevy stalker Hamilton, the bizarre Falconer, and the lyrical stylings of Jackie Snad and Clancy Bachlerat, which literally consist of just random words thrown together in random orders). In many cases we’d rather see Jason Sudeikis elevate a simple premise or a lame idea to something spectacular, rather than a Forte sketch that was just too far out there.
But, to his credit, Forte willingly flew too close to the sun. Sure, he got burned a time or two (certainly in our eyes), but we have to respect his ambition. And beyond the odd sketches and one-note “Weekend Update” characters, we have to begrudgingly admit that his MacGruber was often brilliant, and even more impressive, it never got old. And while Forte’s George W Bush never managed to escape the shadow of the definitive Will Ferrell version, he really never had a shot, but he still soldiered on and made it work in its own way. We can certainly salute him for that.
So, Will Forte, we’re going to miss you challenging us. The show is going to be a little more dull without you (if that’s even possible. Riiiiight???). We didn’t always like what you did, but we (usually) respected it.
In honor of Forte’s departure we’re going to leave you with what we consider his grand opus, a sketch from another planet; strange, baffling, completely dead in the water and with the impression that it was made on a dare, but, yet, oddly compelling. Will Forte, for better or worse, this is your legacy:
Vodpod videos no longer available.(on another note, can you believe it’s already been a whole year since that whole uproar over the firing of Michaela Watkins and subsequent hiring of Jenny Slate and Nasim Pedrad? Time sure flies when you’re occasionally offered sharp and/or funny sketch comedy).
Filed under Bad Humor, Good Humor, In Memoriam, Saturday Night Live
More Jumped The Snark Nostalgia: Best ‘SNL’ of the 00s
With the Saturday Night Live retrospective In the 2000s: Time and Again airing last Thursday, we thought it would be a great time to revisit our list of the best SNL sketches of the 00s from earlier in the year. If you saw the show, you might recognize some of our selections.
(Belated) Top 10 SNL of the Decade
And here’s a clip that didn’t make the broadcast, a behind the scenes look at the Sarah Palin rap. I will never, ever, get tired of seeing Jason Sukeikis as Todd Palin.
Vodpod videos no longer available.And, for kicks, here’s one of our favorite sketches of the new decade. Been meaning to work this one in for a while, and this seems like a good excuse.
Vodpod videos no longer available.For the record my dad loves Burn Notice.
Filed under Good Humor, Is That Still On?, Saturday Night Live
‘SNL’: Say Fey Kid
(Title allusion here)
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you probably know that Tina Fey has a new movie out. Between her appearances on Oprah, Live!, and Late Night (leaving behind a wake of Jamie Foxx-Oprah rumors and charades losses), she’s been pounding the pavement drumming up excitement for Date Night. The last stop on the promotional tour was coming home to host SNL. However, in a way, it has seemed like her talk show visits have also been to build enthusiasm for her return to studio 8H. The means were also the end. And with tween phenomenon Justin Bieber rounding out the card as musical guest, this SNL, the first in a month, was shaping up to be a special instance of a white-hot host meets a white-hot musical act.
Did the show live up to expectations? I’d have to say no, especially after getting off to a slow start with a census-centered cold opening that probably wouldn’t have been funny three weeks ago when it was still relevant. And there weren’t any real knock out, “holy water cooler” sketches later in the show. But there was a sense of excitement with Fey and Bieber in the house, and what may have lacking in humor was made up for with a bit of electricity.
Filed under Analysis, Good Humor, Saturday Night Live
Jude Law is One of Our Finest Actors, and a Look Back on the Last Three Weeks in ‘SNL’
Jude Law maybe one our finest actors. But that doesn’t mean he’s funny.
However, I won’t pin this past weekend’s thoroughly average installment on Law. He made Sean Penn good on his word, and proved to be an extremely talented thespian, seamlessly transitioning from Shakespearean actor to Russian ballet dancer to Spanish serial killer to Jude Law to American lawyer. If the reminders that Law recently appeared on Broadway as Hamlet weren’t evidence enough, the way Law breezily donned new accents showed that he’s indeed meant for the stage. However, acting talent alone doesn’t result a funny show, and outside of a couple bright spots, this one sorta just sat there without much life.
Read on: The perfect host formula, killing time, and Smash Mouth!
Filed under Analysis, Saturday Night Live
“Presidential Reunion”; Or Will Funny or Die Kill ‘SNL’?
By now you’ve all seen this Funny or Die sketch (because it was uploaded almost a week ago, which this day in age classifies it as old) that brings together the all time team of SNL presidential imitators. It’s great, right? Totally awesome (especially Chevy, doing what Chevy does best).
Vodpod videos no longer available.However, what concerns me is what this video, and videos of its ilk, means to SNL. Why I am so concerned about a show that has basically been skating by since 1993, if not earlier, and has never really faced any real competition, I don’t know (and no, MADtv doesn’t count). But the more I see the Funny or Die videos featuring both SNL and non-SNL talent I wonder how long the show will be able to compete (especially now that Funny or Die has its own show on HBO, although the one episode I saw was rather underwhelming). And this Presidential Reunion, directed by Hollywood heavyweight Ron Howard, really caused me pause.
Filed under Analysis, Good Humor, Saturday Night Live, Virulent
‘SNL’: Hamm & Cheese and A Bublé Disposition
PUNS!!!
In yesterday’s SNL appetizer post I surmised that last night’s show had a 50% chance of being funny. However, immediately after making this less than bold proclamation I realized that I should have at least given the odds at 51%, and more accurately probably around 75%. With SNL returning after a week off, having proven they perform best with a little rest, and under the capable reigns of Jon Hamm, the odds were certainly in their favor.
And had I thought it through yesterday and gone with the 75% estimation I would have been right, as about 3/4 of the show was (surprisingly or unsurprisingly, I’ll let you decide) solid. From the moment Hamm stepped out onto the stage for his monologue you knew you were in good hands (sorta like the way I feel during the opening credits of any Quentin Tarantino movie). Obviously the easy thing to do here would be to compare Hamm’s hosting performance to that of his Mad Men co-star, Ms. January Jones. Of course, that’s entirely unfair, because Jones was clearly over-matched and out of her element, and Hamm has already demonstrated his hosting prowess. There’s really no reason to compare a Picasso to a Bazooka Joe comic. We already know which is going to come out on top (well, I guess in that scenario it depends on the criterion, if we’re talking about which is the superior work of art or which serves as a better gum wrapper. But I digress). However, we’ll indulge that comparison briefly, because, like Jones’, Hamm’s monologue employed some Mad Men parody, and to far better results than the “Mad Mennies” bit in Jones’ monologue. As Hamm’s big break has been his role as the mysterious, stoic Don Draper, he showed some clips from his earlier “roles,” but in each of these Hamm maintains the personality of the debonair Draper. The first clip, a Saved by the Bell parody titled “Late for Class,” was the best (if only for the spot-on opening credits. Oh, the early 90s!), but the second, Hamm on QVC giving Kristen Wiig the same tough love treatment that Don gives Betty Draper, and the last, Hamm as Draper doing Def Comedy Jam, were nearly as good. By the time Hamm said “stick around, we’ll be right back,” he didn’t need to. We were sold.
Filed under Analysis, Good Humor, Saturday Night Live, Saved by the Bell
Monday Friday Nostalgia Corner: Hanx For the Memories
I wasn’t able to post to Nostalgia Corner last Friday because my day was just NUTS (okay, so my mom was visiting and I spent my scant free time writing about The Office clip show)! So here’s a belated but still relevant edition.
As we all know (and have probably watched) by now Conan O’Brien closed out his tenure as host of the Tonight Show last Friday with guests Will Ferrell, Neil Young and Tom Hanks. Vulture already noted that Hanks, a frequent late night visitor and guest on Conan’s second Tonight Show, also holds the distinction of appearing on David Letterman’s last show as host of Late Night. But I would like to focus less on Hanks’ propensity for appearing on sign-offs, but rather on his relationship with Conan O’Brien. Conan often still seems like the young guy, the gawky, redheaded kid, but the truth his he’s being holding court in late night for 17 years, and he’s actually known Hanks for over 20 years, as O’Brien was a writer on SNL in the late 80s when Hanks was the go-to host (hosting five times in five years, on pace at the time to shatter all hosting records). They even discussed this on the show last Friday, with Hanks revealing that he called Conan and his fellow writers Bob Odenkirk and Robert Smigel the “boiler-room boys.” And the two sketches that Hanks is probably most associated with – “Mr. Short-Term Memory” & the “Girl Watchers” – were written by O’Brien, and Conan even appears in Hanks’ most memorable monologue “The Five Timer’s Club” (although Conan identifies himself as “Sean”). But, for today, we’re going to highlight Hanks’ monologue from his third hosting stint in October of 1988, a bit that includes Conan’s first appearance on SNL (in denim vest!). The ties that bind:
It’s true, Tom Hanks is the nicest guy in Hollywood. Maybe in any wood. And possibly the funniest. Chris Rock once said that if Hanks had “grown up with less education, he’d be the greatest comedian who ever lived,” and I believe it. I think it’s high that time Hanks attached himself to a straight-up comedy and showed these kids how it’s done (Bosom Buddies: The Movie???).
Bonus viewing: Conan lauding Hanks on Inside the Actor’s Studio.
Bonus social networking: follow Hanx on Twitter.
Filed under Buffy & Hildegarde, Nostalgia Corner, Saturday Night Live, Talkies
‘SNL’ & Sigourney Weaver: Old Tricks AKA The Worst ‘SNL’ of the Decade
Well, at least they’re consistent. These days every good SNL episode (see: last week’s Charles Barkley affair) is almost always immediately followed by an underwhelming effort. Despite the buzz they drummed up last week, and the return of Sigourney Weaver (coming back after 23+ years, the longest such stretch between hosting gigs in SNL history), they once again did not disappoint when it comes to disappointing.
Sometimes it’s lazy writing. Sometimes it’s bad writing. Sometimes it’s just bad ideas. This episode had all three.
With all the attention paid last week to the drama in late night television (including on this blog), it was only natural that they would use the fiasco as fodder. Indeed, it was encouraging at first to see Darrell Hammond return to play Jay Leno on a Larry King Live cold open. But where the sketch succeeded in mocking King’s senility and misappropriation of social networking tools, it kind of failed in effectively mocking the late night situation. There was the big chinned, high voice Leno impression we’ve seen everywhere (although, big points on the denim on denim outfit), and Bill Hader turned in a weird, detached, dour Conan O’Brien. I understood that they were showing that O’Brien is the powerless victim in this situation, but they didn’t seem to get a handle on his personality (if he wasn’t going to be the crazy Conan we know, he should have been the sharp, assertive pugilist of his mission statement). It was especially discouraging because Conan honed his chops as a writer on SNL (see: the Lady Watchers). He’s part of the family, so you’d think they could have done him justice. The best impression was probably Jason Sudeikis’ David Letterman, who appeared via satellite. Except, that it was the wrong David Letterman persona for this situation. It was basically Norm MacDonald’s beloved (by us) hyena laughed, self-indulgent, pencil throwing Letterman impression (he of “you got any gum???). And although Sudeikis did it well, throughout the late night debacle we’ve seen the other Letterman, the outraged, seething, vitriolic Dave. Obviously, it’s not as broad of an impression, but it could have worked if they tried. Instead, they took the easy way out. And, come to think of it, Fred Armisen’s Larry King also owes a lot to Norm MacDonald’s own King impression (but I guess this is perhaps a topic for another post; how, after being on the air for 35 years, it’s impossible for previous versions of celebrity impressions on SNL to not to color the imitations of the same personas by new cast members). So, really, this sketch was just a testament to the unheralded work of Norm MacDonald. Although, that all being said, it was definitely one of the strongest opens this season.
Vodpod videos no longer available.Keep reading: More Jaypocalypse jokes, Alien Vs. Laser Cats, and the worst sketch of the decade!
Filed under Analysis, Bad Humor, Good Humor, Saturday Night Live
Jumped The Snark 