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Uh. Is it just me, or was that one of the worst episodes of Saturday Night Live in a really long time? (Maybe not THAT long.) And I say that as an Amy Poehler superfan! I’m not sure what happened. There were certainly plenty of celebrity cameos to keep things EXCITING (if not particularly funny?), although that might have been part of the problem. Remember how all of these people (Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch) made an appearance just a few short months ago when Betty White hosted? So this time, rather than provide a thrill, it felt well-worn. Tired even. Not that it isn’t great to have the old gang back together, but it’s certainly not ENOUGH. I don’t know, it just never felt like the show found its footing. It had moments, obviously. It’s hard not to have moments in an hour and a half. But mostly the whole thing felt like that interminable “new Showtime show” sketch where it’s like, I think I get what you are going for, Saturday Night Live, but it’s not really working, and you are WASTING Amy Poehler, sir. (Also, go to bed, Katy Perry.)
But, so, let’s talk about the moments the show did have:
My favorite sketch of the night was the mostly cameo-free classic recurring Maternity Matters sketch with Fred Armisen. No stunts. Just laffs.
The return of Amy Poehler’s and Maya Rudolph’s Bronx Beat was also a treat, at least until Katy Perry showed up and ruined it. Good grief. The only thing worse than her musical performance on the show (see below) was when she was wedged into a sketch with her goggle eyes and her lack of restraint. Restrain yourself!
Perhaps the most “talkable” moment of the night was the appearance of New York’s Governor David Patterson. It was really awkward! And I don’t just mean the standard Saturday Night Live awkwardness that occasionally occurs when a person shows up to confront their own parody. I mean that it was awkward because New York’s Governor David Patterson was just straight up THE MOST AWKWARD, and kind of PAINFUL TO WATCH, and should maybe GET SOME NEW HANDLERS TO HELP HIM WITH SOME OF THE DECISIONS HE MAKES.
Then, of course, there is the Tiny Hats scandal.
For reference:
It is hard to say (it is not hard to say) whether or not someone can “own” the idea of a hat that is humorously small. But the human mind likes to find patterns and make comparisons in this world, and it is disappointing if the show’s most unusual and absurd sketch took its idea from an even more unusual and absurd sketch.
And here is Katy Perry’s performance of “California Gurls,” which is also a joke:
And so there you go. There was also a decent “Really? With Seth and Amy,” but again, they just did this in the spring, so it didn’t feel particularly special? Also Actor II Actor with Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake was cute, although the world is chock full of parodic talk shows at this point.
Anyway, the season is begun. Good luck, Saturday Night Live. I AM definitely looking forward to Brian Cranston and also Jon Hamm hosting. And I am definitely NOT looking forward to anymore nonsensical cocktail party trick Will Smith interviews, thanks.
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I’ll show myself out.
Jiggle-Me Elmo
As long as this continues to be the Katy Perry experience, I will continue to enjoy and recommend the Katy Perry experience.
My friend texted me during the show: “Name someone with a higher hotness to actual talent ratio.”
Any nominations?
Jared Leto.
Take it back! I love the way he leans.
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You Dead.
In my defence, I meant that she is really hot, not that she is really untalented. Although I do think that most of her “talent” comes from having an incredibly sexy body and knowing how to use it. It’s not exactly like she needs to act sexy, she just is. Right?
Wait, let me go get my shovel.
*Digs*
At least you died adorably.
Marilyn Monroe
Blasphemy!
Jessica Simpson.
Topher Grace
Jessica Alba.
Charles Laughton
“Well, if we can’t show off her boobs on Sesame Street, what’s the next best thing? GOT IT! Slutty Elmo shirt!” – Katy Perry’s Producers
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I’d like her more if she weren’t so self-aware re:her cuteness. The whole “mouth open, winking at the camera twenty times” “LOOK HOW CUTE I AM!” schtick makes me want to find a toilet and pull a Don Draper.
Somehow I find it works better for her clone, Zooey Deschanel. I could watch her wink at the camera all day long and not get tired, but for some reason with Katy Perry it’s just annoying.
seriously, the shots right before she performed were fucking miserable and obnoxious at the very least.
The only thing I saw was the little hat sketch…needless to say , i went right back to playing zelda.
Ouch… Harsh closing words for the new cast member!
No! I have no opinion of any of the new cast members and wish them all the best. But we can agree that bit was not very good for reasons that went well beyond the performer.
I blame the performer. Its a bad impression when you have to start most sentences with “As Will Smith I………”. I’m surprised they didn’t have DJ Jazzy Jeff sitting next him to make things a little more clear.
In his defense, the whole point of the sketch was that Will Smith has gotten a bit of a big head, illustrated through his children’s/dog’s accomplishments. Having him say “As Will Smith, I…” plays into that egoism, not his poor impression. I thought it was a serviceable impression, if not spot on.
I think I read somewhere that Jay Pharaoh is supposed to be great at impressions, and audibly it was pretty spot on. However, I feel like if he sticks with it, he may end up suffering from the same problem as Frank Caliendo. Impressions like that seem to work in stand-up, but in a live television show, it’s disappointing when they person doesn’t really even remotely look like who they are impersonating.
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I miss Jenny Slate.
I miss her Hota Kotb
how did they keep abbie elliott but ditch jenny slate?
Well, Abby Elliot IS the daughter and granddaughter of people who have been on SNL. It’s in the blood?
Well, I do wish her success wherever she lands. Not trying to be mean to her, just Gabe. Love you Jenny!
Thanks for not mentioning the Boogerman digital short. I would like to pretend that never happened.
Oh I disagree about the Boogerman! Peter Sarsgaard was born the Boogerman and will DIE the Boogerman!
I thought I might have just been seeing Peter Sarsgaard where there was no Peter Saarsgard, but someone else confirmed it! Thanks for that.
That was the best part of that video.
I loved the dream sequence in the monologue and the Showtime parody, simply because it marked the return of Amber with one leg, who might be my favorite Amy Poehler SNL character ever. Actually, the moment I realized Amy Poehler was a genius was when she first did that character on the show. (Sorry, I didn’t watch UCB previously.) I also didn’t think the cold open was that bad considering it was about Christine O’Donnell, which I think is a dead horse that continues to be beaten, but at least it was less than five minutes long!
“I can do the worm, I’ve served jail time, I got mad skin tags and I’m rocking one leg, bro!”
The ground zero mosque bit was the best sketch of the night. But I’m glad you mentioned the Maternity Matters sketch. go James Anderson!
I was disappointed (but not really surprised) that Jenny Slate was not invited to return.
How is Jenny Slate gone but Abby Elliott is now a full cast member? Are the producers and I watching the same Abby Elliott?
That did seem weird. They hardly used her at all last season. I think they like to keep impressionists though and she does do quite a few impressions.
Well, one of those women is currently Fred Armisen’s rebound fuck after losing Peggy Olsen to Scientology. Guess which one.
Is Scientology really the reason they got a divorce? If so, I’m going to have to take down all my Elisabeth Moss posters, Sidney Dalton-style (never forget). (Just kidding, I only have one Elisabeth Moss poster, and Jon Hamm and Christina Hendricks are also in it.)
OOOH I love a good Conspiracy Theory
ugh i did not know that. this makes me very upset.
Nasim Pedrad should have been made a full cast member before Abby Elliott! Nepotism!!
I wish I could upvote this a million times. I’ve never been able to figure out how that woman is still on the show. I honestly can’t remember EVER laughing at anything she’s said or done.
Nepotism?
Chris Elliott is her dad?
At the risk of contributing to Steve’s meme: “She’s Pretty”
But she was in last night’s episode of Bored To Death, so maybe things will turn out okay for her.
Watching Jason Schwartzman running through the city in S&M leather gear scratched a funny bone I didn’t even know I had.
The tiny hats made me laugh hard (I did not know of their possible source material), and so did Actor II Actor. And so did Katy Perry’s performances, although I still don’t understand the correlation between California and Candyland.
What about that moment at the end when everyone was hugging each other and no one was hugging David Patterson? And he was forced to wave to the audience as Timberlake and Samberg spooned each other in the background.
California and Candyland, you say?
The game only takes place on the world’ most famous street.
“Ha..giant hat. Its funny because its bigger than a normal size hat”
-Burt Reynolds
“I don’t get it.”- a giant
Batteredgnome and I went out for pints last night and he revealed a TRUTH BOMBSHELL on me about his enjoyment of Saturday Night Live.
Unfortunately he swore me to secrecy and I cannot reveal the *horrible secret* laid upon me.
…
…
(The secret is he’s never liked it very much. DAMN I WAS DOING SO WELL)
It’s all true…
Hope you had some Guinness for me.
I passed on watching this and decided to sleep instead. I’m on a schedule, dammit!
The part about the Showtime sketch that won me over were Amy Poehler’s talking heads about how complicated and layered Amber was, as a character. Also the list of alternate titles – I’m easy to please, I guess.
WHAT. I was giggling a little throughout the whole thing which is better than what I can say for most episodes of this show. No mention of the Mosque at Ground Zero? BOO. DO YOU LIKE ANYTHING ANYMORE?
Are We Reading the Same Blog?
Will. I. Am. a dog.
I don’t know, Tim and Eric. I think everyone can agree tiny things are funny and will always be funny. I once spent thirty minutes looking at baby clothes (jail) and just laffing laffing because tiny things are very funny and YOU DON’T OWN TINY THINGS, OK?
Also I liked this episode, but maybe it’s because I heard from so many people (i.e. my mom and my only friend) that it wasn’t funny so my expectations were very low.
….Well, they might own tiny things. I don’t know their lives.
All of the entire seasons of SNL have recently become available on Netflix for instant streaming. So yeah, this conversation seems like a moot point to me…
“You are WASTING Bryan Cranston, sir!” – Gabe next week.
I sort of like that Katy Perry song. It took me about one and a half minutes to start liking it, though. Just enough time for me to get over my knee-jerk disgust of that kind of thing.
SNL has no edge left. I’m bored with it. I probably won’t watch at all this year. i’ll let the grandmas on MSNBC yap about the latest political sketch, and wonder why this grandma show still has indie cred. *shrugs*
I can’t get past the fact that Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey have the exact same mouth in the picture posted above.
You just blew my mind. Separated at birth?!
Christine O’Donnell masturbates constantly and is into dog fighting? Terrible, F. Youtube commenters can do better.
Needs more Jenny Slate.
Agreed. Pretty + funny = Getting Too Close to My Fantasy / Stare In To The Lion’s Eyes / And If You Taste The Candy / You’ll Get To Tha Surprise
This was a truly terrible fucking episode. So few (none?) laughs to be had. And Katy Perry is now the worst. I’m not even all that attracted to her or her boobs any more. That california girls song came on at the gym yesterday and I left the gym in protest. That song is terrible.
They play Katy Perry at my gym all the time too. I think that’s her target demographic. Not the people at the gym, the actual gym.
Headphones!
Were you working out or just ogling women? #enquiringmindswantoknow
“Sir, some guy just left in disgust”
“Did he say why?”
“He was muttering something about Katy Perry”
“Has he paid for his membership in advance?”
“Of course”
“Uhh, ok.”
(back to doing normal things)
-Guys Who Work At Steve’s Gym
“The weird thing is that he was dancing along to Benni Bennasi & Justin Bieber” -Another guy at Steve’s gym
GIFSoup
doh. how do i post a gif again?
just past the gif url right into the comment. I assume gabe formats it and whatnot by hand
*paste. If I could spell, I’d be king of the world
Okay, I’m gonna do it.
This was not a bad episode. Maybe I’m suffering the pangs of withdrawal and any hit will feel like the best hit, but I didn’t think it was all that bad (Katy Perry notwithstanding)! I will say that some sketches lost me – the Maternity Matters sketch being foremost of them – but I had a good time.
I will miss you Jenny Slate, I will forever have a Tina-Tina Chaneuse shaped hole in my heart.
The Mosque thing was maybe the funniest thing I’ve seen all year.
Why hasn’t anyone mentioned the Bosley sketch? I thought it was one of the better sketches of the night:
I thought that one was pretty lame. But I still respek your opinion!
As a Katy Perry fan, I’m intrigued to learn that she’s a musician.
The Constitution would be nothing without New Jersey! NOTHING!!!
it’s weird. for a show that people constantly say sucks, a lot of folks seem to expect each new SNL episode to be good? i dunno, it seems like “snl is terrible” is a bad meme at this point. the show isn’t that funny but it’s not nearly as bad as people make it seem.
SNL episodes are like Weezer albums. They’re not that good, and people know the next one won’t be that good either, but are still disappointed when it inevitably disappoints them (even though you EXPECT to be disappointed). Just enjoy the one or two decent sketches (or songs) in each mediocre episode (or album) and get on with life.
Maybe I’m biased because I watched the premiere at iO in Chicago (where Vanessa Bayer and Paul Brittain just got hired from), complete with free pizza, wings, and sandwiches, but I really liked this week, even though a lot of the sketches were so-so. The Mosque at Ground Zero killed as did the new balding advertisement. Weekend Update was pretty solid too. Katy Perry sucked, but who was surprised by that?
Plus, wait til you guys see what Vanessa and Paul can do. They’re amazing performers.
I’m gonna get downvoted for this. I think Jenny Slate is a very funny girl, but on a sketch comedy show for T.V, she was nothing but plan awkward. I groaned at almost every sketch they put her in. I know she’s your friend Gabe but I couldn’t stand her on SNL. I’m glad she’s gone.
And here some the pretzels.
here *come the pretzels! I wish I could downvote myself for that one!
Is it just me is or is the above rendition of “California Gurls” really really bad. Like, they accidentally turned on her mic when they shouldn’t have bad. Not that the original is any Tina Turner, but oof.
Ya, I feel ya on this one. She bad.
this show has been subpar for years,betty white’s episode even,was all about betty white being there,and taking this fact aside,it was a horrible episode.
Was anyone else offended when the audience laughed at Kristen Wiig’s female baldness? Anyone who laughed at that should get female baldness, imo.
I meant, like, 3 seconds into the sketch when they were still building up to the pubes jokes. She hadn’t said anything funny at all yet but people laughed at her appearance. Maybe I am being too sensitive, but whatevs.