saturday night live

Started by sphinx, March 09, 2003, 05:38:36 PM

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meatwad

halfway through the episode, and already two things about amy pohler being hot (alec baldwin and gandolfini)

Sleuth

WU:  Amy fills Jimmy's squirrel-y shoes, but she's funny.  Still, it doesn't feel different enough.
I like to hug dogs

cine

Just watched the show. Yeah, Downer was lame, but I think it could still be funny. It was hilarious the first time because Dratch couldn't stop laughing at the jokes. So we'll see how that goes.

I like Rob Riggle, even though he only really did a line or two in the escalator sketch and the wedding sketch. He'll always remember his first televised sketch was for Boner Juice.

Poehler was a real surprise for WU. I still wish there was a guy because I like that energy between the two. The Monster reference was still good/funny.

Not too much really funny material, but it was still good nonetheless. Funniest stuff of the show was Alec Baldwin, Bill Clinton, and while the cold opening was too long, the Bush jokes were great.

Also, interesting to note in the first sketch, when September 11 was first uttered from Bush, it got a big laugh. If you listen closely, it's really just Bush saying "September 11" that inspired a big laugh.

Ravi

Three "bits in WU was too many.  They should have used the time to let Poehler do more.

Good episode overall, though I thought the last Debbie Downer sketch where everyone was cracking up was hilarious because it was the opposite of the point of the sketch.

This was the first time I saw Will Forte as GWB.  Has he done it before?  He's terrific.  He nailed those little "ums" and "ehs" that Bush does.  Kerry's "one position" on the war was hilarious.

Boner juice.

cine

Quote from: RaviThis was the first time I saw Will Forte as GWB.  Has he done it before?  He's terrific.
He's done it quite a few times before, yeah. They settled with Forte after Parnell and Hammond tried it out. Both of them were good but Forte brings up the stupidity in him the most.

Ravi

I came across this while browsing The Digital Bits.



:-D

ono

Yeah, good news, but I taped the Walken thing when it aired earlier this year.  Can't bring myself to buy those DVDs.  Something like that always seems overpriced for what it gives you.
Quote from: RaviThis was the first time I saw Will Forte as GWB.  Has he done it before?  He's terrific.  He nailed those little "ums" and "ehs" that Bush does.  Kerry's "one position" on the war was hilarious.
As Cinephile said, he has done it before (last season opposite Hammond's Dick Cheney, preparing to go before the 9/11 commission).  It may have been one of the last episodes of the season.  Lohan hosting, I think.

Some more random comments on the episode: decent overall, though there were spots I would fast forward over in a heartbeat.  Cinephile's right, the Baldwin cameo was great.  The Gandolfini one was good, too.  One of the things that really made this episode for me, though, was the "Hollywood actor" bit on Weekend Update.  The more I watch the escalator (note Affleck said elevator) sketch, the more funny it becomes.

The little short film portraying the Bushes at Camp David was stupid and out of place.  Last season it was young male pattern baldness, and now this.  I hope it doesn't become a trend.

I don't know about Rob Riggle -- perhaps that's because his eyebrows are scary (and not in a pleasant Peter Gallagher way).  He'll have his work cut out for him to prove himself.  Finesse Mitchell and Kenan Thompson are two of the finest additions to SNL in years, and I thought they had been promoted to main cast members.  Maybe later in the season.

Last year, Finesse and Kenan seemed to just jump right in to all the sketches and make their marks: case in point, the sketch last year with Affleck, Meyers, and Fallon, at the Irish pub.  The flashbacks, cut to Finesse and Kenan sitting in for Fallon and Meyers, toasting, yet in their own language.  One of the funniest moments in recent memory, yet it can't be described.  Kenan, especially, has that charm about him.  And from the first episode last year (in Wade Robson's Dance Project), to stuff later on as Starkeisha (birthday at Japanese restaurant), Finesse has been great.

cine

Oh and I should point out that the Carville sketch was easily the best of the show. So good, in fact, that I'll be remembering it at the end of the season. Non-stop memorable lines. I loved it.

ono

Agreed.  Definitely.  It's surprising how good Affleck's impression of him was, too.

cine

So SNL was good again this week. Again, not a lot of truly hilarious comedy like last year, but still good quality stuff. Interesting the direction they're taking this season. First episode's commercial was boner juice. This episode promoting things for pubic hair and racial tension. The debate sketches are kinda corny but still fun to watch. I really, really thought they were going to make a joke out of Charlie teleprompter at the end of the 2nd debate. Wow, did that ever look ridiculous. No visual gag about that at all. Oh well.

Memorable sketches: Prince Show.. Armisen and the tantrums. Never gets old for me. The X-Presidents. Ronald Reagan Jr and stem cells galore. And the best sketch of the night was the tribute to Rodney Dangerfield. Reminiscent of Horatio's Mr. Rogers sketch, this was classy stuff.

Rob Riggle showed more range this week, especially in the basketball coach sketch. Something brilliant has got to come out of this guy. For a guy his age, Lorne must see something special in him. I'm sure we'll see it soon enough.

Random thoughts:
- No Jimmy Fallon cameo.
- Amy's WU joke about Spears was really funny. That's the kind of material that will make people say "Jimmy who?"
- Oh, Kenen Thompson is still on the show. Cool.
- What the hell was Chris Kattan doing there?

Best of Jimmy Fallon is next week and Jude Law hosts Oct 23 with Ashlee Simpson. Let's hope for a Falconer sketch and maybe a Hugh Grant impression by Meyers. Chances are that show will top Affleck and Latifah for sure.

ono

I wasn't expecting much from tonight's episode, so I wasn't disappointed.  Queen Latifah didn't annoy me nearly as much as I thought she could, so that was nice, but the show wasn't all that funny aside from a few select parts.

Again, the cold opening went on too long.  A 10-minute debate that's only half-funny is not the best way to keep people's attention.  It did get great at the end.  "I shoulda just sat down, but I can't help myself."

Short and Curly.  Oh... kay.  Hilarious.  Somewhere there's a tape those guys don't want to get out.  Of course it's nothing new for Forte considering his sex video homage with Armisen last year.  I'm not as big a fan of the Prince Show as Cinephile, but Poehler's Sharon Stone is great as always.  And is it me, or does Maya Rudolph look pregnant?  If you've taped it, look at her when she's standing sideways in that sketch.

So they have not only a presidential debate, but a vice presidential one?  Okay.  Thorough.  It too only got funny at the end with the whole sabre-tooth tiger line and Forte grinningly stupidly like an anchorman.  And, Cheney's daughter is not "straight" with the American people.  Yay, puns.  I'm glad Latifah turned to jazz, 'cause I'm sure if I had to hear her rap I couldn't take it.  Her musical numbers were surprisingly decent.

I like how on WU they're at least acknowledging how much time they're actually giving to the presidential debates.  As for the Martha Stewart thing, I love Rachel Dratch as much as the next guy, but Lorne should have brought back Ana Gasteyer to play Stewart.  There's just no competition, no comparison.  What's Gasteyer doing anyway these days besides raising a baby?  They did it once, they could've done it again.  Still, the sketch was decent.

There were some pretty great jokes on WU, though -  "You lost us at Orwellian" says Fey to Kerry.  Stewart laying eggs, the whole Stewart visit with Latifah's character lurking ominously in the background.  "I thought prison gang initiation entailed killing someone?"  "Yes."  And yeah, Poehler's Spears joke was great.  I love it when Finesse Mitchell gets in front of the camera.  He has such charisma.  Great jokes about the dog saving the guy's life, and Poehler's about depression.  Excellent delivery.

Coach sketch, pretty good.  Kenan Thompson is just so great.  I'm bored by the X-Presidents cartoon.  And Barbara Bush - ew.

Highlight of the night: a simple sketch, two players.  Sanz as St. Peter, welcoming Hammond's Dangerfield to Heaven.  Upon being accepted, Dangerfield asks, "Why all the questions?"  "Just wanted to hear those jokes one more time," says St. Peter.  Excellent.

Pretty cool sketch about Starkeisha as a voter recruiter.  Good recurring character there.  Poehler was great in a "normal" role - "Hi, sweetheart.  Can we buy some weeeeeed?"  But how random was it that Chris Kattan introduced Queen's second song?

Second highlight: the final sketch, which I don't know why they didn't put sooner.  The zings and the snaps.  And when Parnell yelled "will you shut up, Roz?!" Dratch almost lost it.  Great stuff.  More of this, please.  That sketch hasn't failed yet, knock on wood.

picolas

i don't think it's going so well right now.

problems:
- good lead guys are gone, so for some reason they're giving Seth Meyers everything and he's incapable of funny.
- their election stuff gives me a feeling of "hey. i think i'm smarter than i am." Forte's Bush is really taking good advantage of the "uuuhhh, yknow" stuff, but there's no writing to back it up. it falls in on itself with the repetition.
- there's no sense of structure behind anything.. sketches are descending into onelineronelineroneliner territory.

cine


ono

Yes, rebalanced, but that's the first time I've ever heard Seth Meyers referred to as "not funny."  I think I've seen it all (and I'll be okay as long as that expletive is never directed towards any of the SNL ladies).  Random note: they need another woman on the show.  Just to balance things out, because I'm sure one of them will get sick of it soon enough, and I'm almost convinced Maya Rudolph is pregnant anyway.

Who's a good lead guy that's gone?  Seems as if everyone (except Cinephile and me) was dancing in the streets when Fallon left.  Kattan?  Eh, he's okay.  Not great.  I miss Tracy Morgan, though -- just watched his best-of episode earlier tonight.

You may have a point on the whole structure thing, but then again, there's only so much they can do with the time they're given for each sketch.  Most of them are about the one-liners, even when there's an overlying concept involved.

modage

Quote from: ono.and I'm almost convinced Maya Rudolph is pregnant anyway.
ono, you dog!
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.