“Last time you saw me, I got pubes”
Cold Open: Wayne's World
4 Stars
Wow, Phil Hartman’s voice welcoming us to Cable 10 in Aurora, Illinois. That brings me back. And there’s Wayne and Garth, that also takes me back. It’s been close to 20 years since we’ve seen the boys and it’s a fun slice of nostalgia. They do their Oscar picks and tickled by the film Winter’s Bone. Watching this makes me wonder how much a part Wayne and Garth played in my own love of the Oscars. I would always get excited when they would do this, my two passions coming together.
Dana Carvey Monologue
Dana sings about the 86-93 years of the show being the best and he’s joined by Jon Lovitz. We also get a reference to Ching Change, the nostalgia train keeps on a-rollin’.
Rerun of i-sleep PRO
Church Chat
Phil’s voice again welcomes us to Church Chat. I mean, we’ll eventually hit a point of diminishing returns but for now I’m still enjoying my member berries. Church Lady welcomes The Kardashians, Snooki, and Justin Bieber to her show. Fun bit with Bill performing an exorcism on Snooki. I could have done without the Biebs but it was fun to see Church Lady get all hot and bothered over him.
Celebrity Teen Crisis Center
Bill as Alan Alda, Dana as Mickey Rooney, Fred as Ice-T, Abby as Anna Faris, and Jay as Eddie Murphy all give bad advice to teens over the phone. A flimsy excuse to hang some impressions on but it’s fun to see Dana’s Mickey again. I also enjoyed the obviously John Mulaney inspired Ice-T segment. Not sure what the hell happened at the end. Jay mumbles something about Yo Gabba Gabba and we just cut to a title card. I think Jay flubbed the final punchline, but it wasn’t that strong anyway.
The Roommate
OMG! Justin Bieber’s back! Weird that he shows up in a pre-record as well as a live sketch when he’s not the musical guest and as far as I know has no personal or professional relation to Dana. I don’t think he has a relationship with Andy either as they don’t appear in the same shot at all during this short. So this has the feel of something thrown together last minute. I’d like to think the joke was on Bieber as he would have no idea what Andy’s role in this would be until he saw it. I also had no idea this was a parody of an actual trailer that was out at the time so that probably ruined my enjoyment more than anything.
Linkin Park
"Waiting For The End"
Weekend Update
James Franco takes time off from hosting the Oscars, going to college, starring in movies and soap operas, and directing films and documentaries to come on Update and talk about all the jobs he has.
A few jokes later we find James is now manning the cue cards and after Update he stops by to clean up the desk. Not a bad bit. I appreciate the callbacks.
I didn’t so much appreciate Angela Dixon the disco meteorologist. Is that the same wig from that terrible Jaime Pressley sketch?
Live With Regis & Kelly
Dana’s Regis teams with Nasim as Kelly Ripa to talk about his retirement. Then it turns into a Kristen as Kathie Lee sketch when she comes out and starts singing a song. After Wayne’s World, Church Chat, and Mickey Rooney this is the only one that feels too late. Like if he dusted off Robin Leach or George Bush. Regis can stay in 86-93. I’ve also already been burnt out by 10 years of Darrell Hammond’s Regis and going on 2 years of Kristen’s Kathie Lee.
Pageant Preview
Look what we got here. Dana's doing something new. It's an effeminate southern gentlemen joined by Kenan doing the same type of voice and it's pretty awful. They host a beauty pageant for kids. We see Vanessa, Abby, Kristen, and Nasim strut their stuff and then Andy gets the only laugh of the sketch as a boy who is only legally allowed in the pageant for one more year before he has to find other ways to express himself. Weird ending with all of these contestants being disqualified for their checks bouncing. My problem with this wasn't so much the gay voices (although that was part of it) but there's no exaggeration. I've seen Toddlers And Tiaras, this is what child pageants are like. In my opinion they're weird and creepy but this sketch just does it without any twist or point of view.
Deidra Wurtz: Downsizing Expert
Abby plays a character who will break bad news for you like firing your employees, telling your wife you want a divorce, or informing a Bosnian woman that her village was burned down. Something tells me this was cut from last week's episode. I don't know why I suspect that. Maybe it's the fact that Jesse Eisenberg is clearly visible in one of the establishing shots. This is slightly unfocused and shares a similar premise to a better Mr. Show sketch but I enjoyed Abby's character. It's slightly crappy that this is one of Abby's bigger showcases this season and it's a piece they cut from the show and shoved after Update the following week for time filler.
Linkin Park return with "When They Come For Me" and get an intro from Dana, Mike, and Jon
Sports Bar
Does every episode end with Fred singing a purposefully bad song or does it just feel that way? Fred and Dana sing a weird 80s new wave ballad to a group of dudes who came to watch the Super Bowl. This 'Embrace Me' song got stuck in my head all day. I feel like I normally enjoy these (other than one I remember from the Donald Trump episode) and this one actually had an ending which I want to say is unique. I feel like most of these just fade out after a while but this one had a proper finish with Taran's bartender turning out to enjoy the song after the bar cleared out. This had a nice 10-1 energy.
FINAL ANALYSIS
“Who amongst us hasn’t locked a hooker in a bathroom?”
Average
2.8 Stars
MVP
Abby Elliott
Church Chat, Celebrity Teen Crisis Center, Pageant Preview, Deidra Wurtz: Downsizing Expert
Best Sketch
Wayne’s World
Worst Sketch
Pageant Preview
How I Would Have Lorne Michaels-ed It
The back half could use some love. You loaded the beginning of the show with everything you assumed we wanted, Wayne's World, Church Lady, Mickey Rooney, Jon Lovitz and then there wasn't much worth getting excited for after that. It was actually the moment when Justin Bieber showed up for the second time when things fell apart. Not saying that as a Bieber hater. I have absolutely no opinion on the boy but what the hell is this kid doing here? I doubt there's a huge overlap in the Venn diagram of people who would be excited for a Dana Carvey episode of SNL and Bielebers. Maybe that was the point, something for the kids and something for daddy. Cut The Roommate, Regis, and Pageant Preview in exchange for something else from dress and if you're looking for a Dana relic to bring back I wouldn't have minded a visit from Grumpy Old Man, Casey Kasem, or even though it's not current at all The McLaughlin Group.
Host Analysis
You gotta love Dana Carvey. It was super cute that he brought his sons on stage with him for the Goodnights and took back what he claimed in the monologue calling this the "best cast ever". We got Garth, Church Lady, and Mickey Rooney. Outside of the Pageant Preview (which I don't blame on him) everything he did worked.
Final Thoughts
I mean, I haven’t been enjoying this season that much so it was a nice nostalgia diversion. I haven't hated the show but I find it incredibly average and I'm having a hard time coming up with anything to say about most of the episodes and sketches. So it was fun to see some old chestnuts from the past for a while, then we got to Regis and I was yearning for something new, then we got to Pageant Preview and I wanted to set the clock back to nostalgia. It would have been nice to see Dana interacting with more of the cast. I couldn't really come up with a solid MVP for this episode so picked Abby mostly by default and to be nice. I would have liked to see Dana and Bill in a sketch together or a Dana and Jason combo or Andy or Bobby or Kristen but it was a lot of Dana's Greatest Hits. If someone was checking out the show for the first time in a while because of Dana I don't know if they'd come to the conclusion at the end that this was a strong cast at all. But for what we got it was a pretty fun show with a few stinkers thrown in which has been pretty much the vibe of the season.
Up Next
Russell Brand and Chris Brown. Just in time for the Valentine's Day episode, two people we will love and cherish forever.
Ugh, that shot of Dana with his kids hits a lot different now. Much like the birth announcements for Phil's kids.
ReplyDeleteI literally just learned about this because of this comment
DeleteI had no idea his son had died that's so sad.
DeleteRIP Chester
ReplyDelete