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Emma Stone is a red herring. People like to tell themselves that she’s quirky because in most of the movies she’s been in so far, as discussed in her opening monologue, she has consistently played the love interest to nerds. The entertainment media helps to perpetuate this, because when you have a rising star, much like when you commit crimes, it is good to have your stories straight. And so: Emma Stone becomes the off-beat “nerd-magnet” that she plays in movies. But this falsely assumed quirkiness makes her seem more charming and less beautiful than she actually is. People think she isn’t “movie” pretty but is rather more “attainable” pretty, which is already a distinction that makes no sense, because SHE IS IN MOVIES. As soon as you are in movies, you look like you are in movies. And Emma Stone is really pretty. So what are we even talking about here? And as far as her being a quirky person, this is based on her saying words that someone else wrote, so, again, huh? It’s not like anyone really knows what she is like. Did you know that her best friend is Taylor Swift? Cool. I’m sure the two of them love to stay up all night listening to old Steve Martin records and not taking themselves too seriously. It should be pointed out that the fact that Emma Stone is a strikingly beautiful, completely quirk-free 22-year-old movie star is not a problem, it’s just that we, as a nation, need to start facing the facts. Besides, if she were so quirky, don’t you think she would have been better on this weekend’s Saturday Night Live? Because she wasn’t that good!
The first sketch, when Emma Stone played a “poor person” who had just won an extreme home makeover on an HGTV show was one of the few times she even seemed like she was in the show. So maybe she shouldn’t have phoned it in. I mean, the whole point of that sketch was for her to have zero affect, but there’s “zero affect” and there’s “ZERO AFFECT.” Also, Kristen Wiig’s character in that sketch was basically just the excitable aunt she’s been playing for a couple seasons now. The excitable aunt is a great character, I’m just not sure we need two of her? And that gets at something that seems to be happening a lot lately, namely the heavy recycling of certain themes with minor tweaks. Like, My Brother Knows Everything:
Fair enough! But this is, like, the fifth iteration of a nerdy kid (with or without his/her own talk show) in the past four weeks. How many variations on an awkward nerdy kid do we need? How about two. We need two. And that’s it.
The two highlights of the show both came during Weekend Update. First, there was John Mulaney’s new segment, “I Love It”:
I love it! And also Stefon:
“A stuck up kitten who WON’T sign autographs” was the joke of the night.
What I will say about this season of Saturday Night Live is that although it has felt very rocky as the show continues to struggle to put together a cohesive and compelling cast and the writers do their best to power through this nerdy teenager in every sketch phase, they’ve made some pretty weird sketches, which is always nice to see, whether they work or not. Like, that dancing french kids thing? What was THAT? Not for me, necessarily, but a bold move that I can appreciate. And “Sex” Ed Vincent was great:
So there you go. At one point, Emma Stone played a very convincing Lindsay Lohan, probably because of how they are both so homely and quirky. Also: Kings of Leon played. Shrugh. Next week, though: Jon Hamm and Rihanna on a Halloween episode? FINGERS CROSSED!
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I think “biscuit knees” was my personal highlight of the night.
Biscuit knees made me lose it. Also Furkles.
This is what came to mind when I heard Furkles.
“Afterwards, you’ll ask yourself, ‘Did I do that?’”
Hilarious.
I think you’ll have to ask “Did I eat that?”
It’s like they do Stephon just so Bill Hader will break. The entertainment is the challenge.
I thought the “letter” bit between him and Seth Myers was also brilliant. They both started to lose it then.
Also, sneezing and a Russian on a prepaid cell phone. Stefon kills it. Best sketch.
(also THANKS MONSTERS FOR AWESOME SUNDAY NIGHT CHATS)
Upvotes akimbo! Thank you for this.
It’s pretty hard to go past “Gay Dunaway”.
When I heard that Jon Hamm was hosting next week, I got so excited. But now, I’m so scared. Although, this:
So. Yeah. I’ll probably be watching.
first jon hamm’s john ham, then ham and buble’. what hilarious name-pun will the come up with next week?
Rhianhamm? #Terrible #Probably
I’m still rooting for Jon Hamm’s John Ham, an amateur radio for contacting prostitutes.
Jonhamm Sebastian Bach, the whiskey-drinking womanizing pianist?
will.i.hamm
Guys, it’s going to be “Hamm on Rhi”.
Come on, you could have gotten that one.
I was like, “Why is Baby Friday scared now?” Then I got it. Good job, Internet Sister!
“Sex “Ed Vincent Kartheiser?
this was a terrifying scrolldown.
I thought Emma Stone was cute! I liked her monologue. I even liked the French dancing sketch, but maybe because that song was TIGHT. I don’t really watch SNL every week, so the nerdy kid sketches didn’t even bother me that much. Plus any episode with Stefon is a standout in my book, so there you go.
No, she was, like, a solid host. Dare I say best host so far. When your host is doing better than some of your cast members, it’s time to rethink cast members.
Yes, that song is very good. It is called “ta douleur” and it is by Camille and she is really great. On that whole album all the sound effects are voices.
Ha, I actually downloaded it right after. Any song that can have a beat made out of mouth-fart noises (basically) is awesome and deserves many listens.
All the upvotes for Camille!
Gabe thinks I’m pretty!
I would TOTALLY hit that
Emma Stone was a fine host. It’s just the SNL writers are terrible. I did like the French kids sketch though.
I’m soooo over the Kristing Wiig character – you know, the only one she ever plays. Yes it is funny to see the first several times…but the sketch about the contest winner with Emma was painfully boring.
Stefon made us laugh hard, though! The whole Stefon segment A+!
*Kristen, I mean. Sheesh.
We need Penelope back, that was a good character
Agreed! One of my favorites, not only of Wiig’s but of SNL history.
We need the old SNL back. That was a good show.
RIP pre-2005 SNL.
Here’s a pro-tip for all you Encyclopedia Brown amateur sleuthers out there: if anyone is ever reluctant to tell you their age, just ask them when they think SNL started to go downhill!
Mid 2000s: So young! The world is still bright and wonderful to these people, envy them!
Late 90s Will Ferrell/Cheri Oteri Reign of Terror: Probably mid to late 20s, will have many fond memories of cheerleaders and surprisingly operatic voices.
Early to Mid 90s Meyers/Carvey/Farley/Rock/Wow So Many Stars: Early 30s, fiercely defensive of early Adam Sandler movies.
Mid 80s Young Hollywood Cast: Mid-30s, but people who think this was a funny time have a strange sense of humor.
Early 80s Eddie Murphy Show: Mid to late 30s, very susceptible to re-enacting the “you dropped your ice cream” bit (good party trick!).
Late 70s to Early 80s Disaster Show: This person does not exist, they are lying to you.
Mid 70s Original Cast: So old, don’t even talk to them! Or they really like to stream Netflix Watch Instantly. In either case, don’t still don’t talk.
(no offense meant “areyoucereal”, I think you’re a funny commentator, but this just popped into my head and it’s Monday so I figured I’d share)
I think there’s something to this, actually. VH1′s been playing late 90′s/early 2000′s Ferrell/Tim Meadows/Chris Kattan SNL and, after watching it for the first time in a long time, huge portions of episodes are terrible. A bunch of the skits just completely fall apart or don’t work. I think to some extent we look back at older SNL with Mango-colored glasses.
Is that when Will Ferrel left? Because that’s when the show became completely irrelevant to me.
I think the show has always had about an equal proportion of good to bad sketches in any good episode. Once the best-of collections start coming out for the current cast, I think we’ll start to look back more fondly.
I understand!
I really, really, really don’t want to hate Kristin Wiig. WHY are they trying so hard to make me???
I heard someone (Tim Heidecker?) recently say that you’ll notice that people think the last funny cast from SNL was the one from when they were in high school. Which I thought was astute. Basically, it’s not really for adults any more.
I could watch Emma Stone watch someone watch paint dry and still have the time of my life.
But who will watch the watcher?
The Watchmen
Is It weird that I thought this was the strongest episode of the season by far? I thought this was the strongest episode of the season by far. At the very least there was no cricket-chirping clunker this week, which is more than I can say for the rest of the season.
However, I find it super weird that they did that HGTV sketch again. It was basically the exactly the same as the last time they did it. Great sketch, but not really repeatable.
Hmmm, I thought there was a lot of cricket chirping, in like almost every sketch that wasn’t Weekend Update.
I must say, “Rent is Too High” guy was a great sketch. “So this Halloween, vote for Jimmy McMillan.”
also it seems that the digital shorts are, dare i say it, too weird (aka not funny?)? all in all though it seems like samberg is barely a cast member anymore.
and the french kids sketch made me uncomfortable. like i should be getting what this is making fun of but i’m not. oh well.
Gay Dunoway sounds very close to Gabe Delahaye. JUST SAYIN’
New York’s hottest club is Videogum. Club owner Ga(y)be Delahaye has built a fantasy land – This place has everything; monsters, links, gifs, videos of Shiba Inus, and a man named Steve who WON’T give you upvotes.
YES!
Nailed it!
Videogum is the club that dares to answer the question, “MORE!?”
“Is that Mick Jagger in the corner? No, it’s a fat kid on a Slip & Slide.” Gotta love Stefon.
I also loved Keenan’s impersonation of Jimmy McMillan. BREAKFASTLUNCHANDDINNAH
Oh! Also! Can we talk about how freaking adorable John Mulaney is?!
No seriously, I have no joke. I just want to start a discussion about how adorable John Mulaney is. Here I’ll start…
SO adorable!
I wanted to get married to him but then I discovered I was already married to him. We’re gonna go kiss and hug and snuggle under the covers now! Bye!
uhhh YES! also, is it just me or is paul brittain distractingly handsome? i am glad he’s also funny, because it would suck if my boyfriend were just another pretty face.
I think he is, but they keep messing up his attractiveness by covering it up. I’m pretty sure he’s a fox, but they keep dressing him up as Harry Ried or something. I guess my answer is… TBD.
It is not just you!
Close the door.
if by adorable you mean kinda-sorta funny, but not really and VERY nervous
then yes, SO adorable.
Why yes, that’s exactly what I mean! I honestly thought his thing was hit or miss, but I think having prior knowledge of his stand up stuff clouds my judgement. And I think the nerves are endearing! He hid it well.
Adorable and ON POINT—
“In the world of movies, let’s talk about Disney’s Secretariat: I love it! I love to watch any movie that stars an animal because the animal does not know that it is in a movie. As far as that horse knows, there were a bunch of people hanging around him and know they’re all gone. He was probably really confused! There were people standing around him yelling, ‘Go Secretariat! You have to win!’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, my name is Phil, but alright.’ He probably thinks he actually won the race, and that’s cool. I love it!”
And everything he said about Mad Men was amazingly accurate.
Uh, y’know, just an FYI, girls, John Mulaney is my cousin’s best friend, so, let me know, maybe you can bring a friend and we’ll go on a double date? No? …okay, well y’know, just an idea.
#piggybackingondistantrelativesfriends, #desperategum
Can we watch Law and Order? I’m going to woo John with how much Lenny Brisco trivia I know.
I don’t know. He looks kid of like Mark Wahlberg’s brother (not Donnie) who grew up malnourished.
Will the comedy world ever run out of sort of similar kinda skinny medium height white dudes with brown hair?
What IS the answer to “Noooooooow?”
Anyone else think that SexEd bit, while funny, bit a little too hard off of Tim and Eric? I mean sheesh. The mustache and wig and screen wipes? Good episode though. After January Jones, it takes relatively little to impress me for a host. Stone seemed to have a pulse and not be entirely miserable, so good enough for me.
I’d think this too, but Paul Brittain is from Chicago and came up with Sex Ed years ago for his solo show. Plus, he has an affinity for mustaches, which is probably why they hired him after Forte left. Aside from him being awesome, of course.
I must plead ignorance to Paul Brittain’s solo show. Don’t get me wrong, I dug Sex Ed and all, just seemed a little T&E. If that’s the style of humor Mr. Brittain will be bringing to the table, I’m all for it.
I think everyone but super-nerd-me can plead ignorance to his solo show! It’s a little Tim and Eric-y, but like shoogyboom said below, it’s kind of unfair to proclaim anything odd or eccentric in that weird 80s low-budget-music-video way as a Tim and Eric rip-off. His SNL audition was bizarre, so they know who they hired.
So I guess you’re Paul Brittain?
I miss Will Forte.
I think it’s unfair that anything kitschy, low-budget and vaguely ’70s/’80s automatically gets called a “Tim & Eric rip-off.”
Stefon = the best
“Attainable pretty”?
Easy for you to say, Mr. Bigshot TV Blogger.
I actually really loved the “Jeunes de Paris” sketch. I laughed out loud. Twice, even! It was very absurd, certainly, but I seriously lost it when they all started dancing for no reason.
I really like not knowing what to expect from a sketch! Keeps me on my laughter toes.
It’s almost Charlie Brown-ish!
I thought the dancing was sort of funny, but didn’t really get the sketch. Was it parodying an actual French television show or something?
I think it was just playing on the stereotypical North American view of French culture and film as being snobbish, obtuse and inaccessible. In any case, the sketch was delightfully goofy and I adored it to pieces.
Thank you, Funtastik. (P.S. I’ve been away for a couple days. Work!)
I followed melsanie’s link to the song and it’s playing while I take turns watching each person in this gif. It’s magnetic.
Apparently I missed this, since I watched on Hulu? Sadface,
Same here. It’s on YouTube for now, get it while you still can!
The song is awesome too! Playing it on repeat. http://itssaturdaynightlive.tumblr.com/post/1393989960/camille-ta-douleur-i-e-les-jeunes-de-paris-song
It reminded me of that scene from ‘Band of Outsiders.’ A movie i didn’t like. I only rented it because I wanted to see the Quintin Tarantino connection. The teenage dancing scene was the only thing i liked.
I thought Emma was a good host. If anything it’s the writer’s problem and not hers. She seemed like she fit right in.
Kristen Wiig needs to go. I can’t stand her anymore. Her characters are all the same and try way too hard yet she gets so much screen time.
The “Sex” Ed sketch was one of the best sketches so far this season. And Stefon is just the best. “His knees look like biscuits and he’s ready to party.”
Kristen Wiig is pretty, but she’s not funny. at. all.
No matter how I respond to this, you just won’t get it will you? Good luck in life. I mean this sincerely.
I think she is funny in Bored to Death and other things. She is funnier when she is playing kind-of-off as opposed to fucking-hysterical.
The only things I enjoyed about snl this weekend were weekend update and the Jason Sudeikis commercials.
I wish the Spanks commercial had focused more in the Spanks for Cats and less on the spanks for babies but overall a solid commercial. And the open fly jeans got a laugh out of me.
Taran Killam’s Michael Cera impersonation = SPOT ON.
100% agree. I think i re-wound about 3 or 4 times before moving on. Also agree with everyone who loves John Mulhaney. I don’t even watch Mad Men and I loved that bit.
Infinity Swirl
I’m never the contrarian here, but i thought Emma Stone was technically one of the best hosts I’ve seen. True: she is not funny, the sketches from this week were painfully unfunny, etc. But given better material she could have worked out just fine. She was comfortable and didn’t always have to gaze at the cards. I think we all agree of Gabe’s assessment of Emma Stone as non-quirky, and so we can only conclude that the writers left her hanging.
This week’s episode was the first kinda good one in a while! But I hate Emma Stone! And I don’t know why!
Can I say that Paul Brittain is hot? He’s hot. I would definitely like to take “Sex” Ed Vincent’s advice and touch his member perpendicularly with my own.
Also, I’m very over Kristen Wiig’s excited character.
You guys, I watched the digital short 4 times. “Hey everybody, I broke my arm!”
I loved that! Also, I wish Ke$ha would break all her arms and legs and everything and die.
More “Sex” Ed, less everything else on SNL, please.
Also, biscuit knees.
John Mulaney is adorable!
Easily the strongest episode of this new season,and the first one that made me want to see any more of the new cast mates.Needed more Fred Armisen though.
I guess Stefon caught the live 30 rock…I’m breaking!!!
Also:
The “I love it” segment was the worst.
Bland but not dry, boring and awkward…
To say that segment was the “worst” in an episode that featured yet another non-starter with Fred Armisen’s Obama (because….because!) as an opener seems hyperbolic at best.