"Prepare to have your minds blown squarely out your ass"
Before I get into this season, I want to give a little backstory as to my relationship with it. I was in college during this season and was only a casual watcher of SNL. After Norm got fired, I really did check out from the show. I would tune in if I happened to be up late watching TV on a Saturday night but my die hard fanboy days were long behind me. I was of the opinion that the show sucked. But I would say that without ever really watching it. I would watch a random episode, see Jimmy Fallon laughing and think the show had gone downhill. I got back into the show around season 35, so I missed a good 10 years of episodes. This is a season I specifically remember not enjoying when I would tune in. I remember the first time I saw Kenan Thompson in a dress, that was the first time I really thought the show had lost its relevance. That's why I chose this one to review. I'm interested to see if it's good or bad but also I have no real nostalgia for this at all. While watching season 20, I would see a Chris Farley sketch that stunk but it would still fill me with warm feelings of watching the show as a child. I won't have that here, I have no idea who Jeff Richards or Finesse Mitchell are or what they brought to the show so I can really come into this blind.
Cold Open: Californians For Schwarzenegger
2 Stars
Arnold lays out his 5 step plan for California
Remember how absurd it was when Arnold Schwarzenegger was running for governor? I mean, he was a celebrity with no experience in government. What a ridiculous notion. How dumb would it be to elect someone like that? Darrell Hammond, in a lot of makeup, lays out his plans to fix the big issues in California. The joke is that all his plans are extremely vague and he just talks in circles. For example, his plan to fix the economy is to keep jobs in California while creating new jobs. Straight to the camera political monologues are never super fun for me. I started losing interest fast in this but on second watch I caught some decent gags.
Opening Credits
This is the only season we got this specific opening montage and it's one of my favorites. We get a first person perspective as we run around the city meeting the cast. While waiting for the subway we see Rachel Dratch digging through her purse then we grab a seat on the train next to Jimmy Fallon. As we head into a building we almost bump into Tina Fey, share a bowl of soup with Will Forte, get our hand kissed by Darrell Hammond and are pointed to the bathroom by Seth Meyers. Outside, Chris Parnell steals our taxi but we grab another one as Amy Poehler exits hers. We give a tip to our driver, Jeff Richards and then go into the kitchen where Maya Rudolph seems to be confused as to who we are. That's okay though because Horatio Sanz offers us a shot. Then we turn around to see our featured players, Fred Armisen is dancing, we get into a limo with Finesse Mitchell and stick our head out the roof with Kenan Thompson.
Jack Black Monologue
Remember how absurd it was when Arnold Schwarzenegger was running for governor? I mean, he was a celebrity with no experience in government. What a ridiculous notion. How dumb would it be to elect someone like that? Darrell Hammond, in a lot of makeup, lays out his plans to fix the big issues in California. The joke is that all his plans are extremely vague and he just talks in circles. For example, his plan to fix the economy is to keep jobs in California while creating new jobs. Straight to the camera political monologues are never super fun for me. I started losing interest fast in this but on second watch I caught some decent gags.
Opening Credits
Jack Black Monologue
4 Stars
Jack sings a song about how he's still a normal guy
Jack is blown away that he's hosting the season premiere. Apparently he went from being a superstar to a megastar and didn't notice. He's not letting it go to his head though and he's gonna sing a song to prove it. He jumps off the stage and does some scatting, along the way he makes sure the audience avoids eye contact, gets some botox, pushes Will Ferrell out of the way and squeezes a water bottle into Tina's face. He also turns away his Tenacious D band mate Kyle Gass from the stage. He ends by bringing Horatio on stage with him to do some scatting which Horatio is not that good at. So he brings out Will to give it a try. JB has a style all his own and watching him do his thing was a great way to kick off the show.
Huggies Thong
Jack is blown away that he's hosting the season premiere. Apparently he went from being a superstar to a megastar and didn't notice. He's not letting it go to his head though and he's gonna sing a song to prove it. He jumps off the stage and does some scatting, along the way he makes sure the audience avoids eye contact, gets some botox, pushes Will Ferrell out of the way and squeezes a water bottle into Tina's face. He also turns away his Tenacious D band mate Kyle Gass from the stage. He ends by bringing Horatio on stage with him to do some scatting which Horatio is not that good at. So he brings out Will to give it a try. JB has a style all his own and watching him do his thing was a great way to kick off the show.
Huggies Thong
4 Stars
Tired of that big bulky diaper?
Rachel is jealous of Maya's baby but she hasn't heard of Huggies Thong. Are they as absorbent as regular Huggies? No. In fact they cause a bigger mess than if there was no diaper at all but who cares when your baby looks this good. It ends with Sisqo's 'Thong Song' with baby butts shaking in thongs. Quick and funny.
Queer Eye For The Straight Gal
Rachel is jealous of Maya's baby but she hasn't heard of Huggies Thong. Are they as absorbent as regular Huggies? No. In fact they cause a bigger mess than if there was no diaper at all but who cares when your baby looks this good. It ends with Sisqo's 'Thong Song' with baby butts shaking in thongs. Quick and funny.
Queer Eye For The Straight Gal
2 Stars
5 lesbians make over a straight girl
It's a female version of Queer Eye For The Straight Guy. Maya, Rachel, Amy, JB and Paula Pell all play stereotypical lesbians making over Tina. They get her to throw away her bra, give her a collection of flannels and advise her to let her "garden" grow out. Reviews of the show call it "untelegenic and weirdly humorless" and "not as fun as the one with the guys". This was a fine concept but didn't really have much after the initial gag that they are all playing butch lesbians. Also Paula has no lines in this sketch. Her inclusion was a little weird. I'm sure Kenan would have jumped to play that part.
The Wade Robson Project
It's a female version of Queer Eye For The Straight Guy. Maya, Rachel, Amy, JB and Paula Pell all play stereotypical lesbians making over Tina. They get her to throw away her bra, give her a collection of flannels and advise her to let her "garden" grow out. Reviews of the show call it "untelegenic and weirdly humorless" and "not as fun as the one with the guys". This was a fine concept but didn't really have much after the initial gag that they are all playing butch lesbians. Also Paula has no lines in this sketch. Her inclusion was a little weird. I'm sure Kenan would have jumped to play that part.
The Wade Robson Project
1 Star
Some random people compete at a dance contest
Like I said, I took some time off from SNL so I thought this was a Seth Meyers character he was bringing back. I had no idea that this was a spoof of a real show on MTV where dancers competed for money. Seth plays Robson and is joined by Finesse as his co-host, Boogie. The only smile I got from this was their awkward banter when Seth would awkwardly call him his boy or his nizzle and almost the N-word only to have Finesse shout him down. The sketch is just to show off goofy dance moves. Maya comes out and does a silly dance, Amy does one where she mimes birthing a baby and then Jack shows off his surprising athleticism by doing a tiger roll, a prisyadka and a double donkey kick. Seth says that they're all terrible and they dance the sketch away.
Cooking Class
Like I said, I took some time off from SNL so I thought this was a Seth Meyers character he was bringing back. I had no idea that this was a spoof of a real show on MTV where dancers competed for money. Seth plays Robson and is joined by Finesse as his co-host, Boogie. The only smile I got from this was their awkward banter when Seth would awkwardly call him his boy or his nizzle and almost the N-word only to have Finesse shout him down. The sketch is just to show off goofy dance moves. Maya comes out and does a silly dance, Amy does one where she mimes birthing a baby and then Jack shows off his surprising athleticism by doing a tiger roll, a prisyadka and a double donkey kick. Seth says that they're all terrible and they dance the sketch away.
Cooking Class
2 Stars
A collection of oddballs take a cooking class at the learning annex
Before Jack starts his cooking class he reads a list of places he's been fired from because he refuses to wear a hairnet. He says his mane is impossible to tame. The class introduces themselves, Fred has a goofy voice and says he's always been able to cook in the bedroom and wants to learn how to do it in a kitchen, Rachel is a hypochondriac who can't eat dairy as it gives her watery stools, Horatio is a man child who lives in his grandma's basement and Chris is here because he's tired of his wife's cooking and is obviously having marital problems. As Jack starts the lesson he leans over a pot of sauce, dipping his long locks in. The class take turns saying goofy things until they finally taste the sauce and all pull hairs out of their mouths. Jack insists that it didn't come from him but wants to know if anyone found his band-aid. This had some laughs and I liked all the characters but it seemed painfully unfocused. Like Rachel, Fred, Horatio and Chris all had characters that they couldn't fit into another sketch so they all came together to make something completely uneven.
Yankee Super-Heroes
Before Jack starts his cooking class he reads a list of places he's been fired from because he refuses to wear a hairnet. He says his mane is impossible to tame. The class introduces themselves, Fred has a goofy voice and says he's always been able to cook in the bedroom and wants to learn how to do it in a kitchen, Rachel is a hypochondriac who can't eat dairy as it gives her watery stools, Horatio is a man child who lives in his grandma's basement and Chris is here because he's tired of his wife's cooking and is obviously having marital problems. As Jack starts the lesson he leans over a pot of sauce, dipping his long locks in. The class take turns saying goofy things until they finally taste the sauce and all pull hairs out of their mouths. Jack insists that it didn't come from him but wants to know if anyone found his band-aid. This had some laughs and I liked all the characters but it seemed painfully unfocused. Like Rachel, Fred, Horatio and Chris all had characters that they couldn't fit into another sketch so they all came together to make something completely uneven.
Yankee Super-Heroes
3 Stars
The New York Yankees fight space aliens with their powers
The Yankees are getting crushed by The Tampa Bay Devil Rays because the team is straightening out the Libya situation. They return in a plane just in time to score 45 straight points in the bottom of the 9th. Later they get word that aliens are planning to invade Earth so they storm the planet. Derek Jeter dispatches one alien with his brain liquefying sonic shriek he acquired by making out with Mariah Carey. When things start to look grim, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner makes a phone call and signs one of the opposing aliens who quickly turns on his other aliens. Crisis over, they return home where George makes the alien a member of the team but forces him to remove all his facial hair. It ends with the alien eating the opposing pitcher and throwing the baseball out of the stadium. Steinbrenner calls him a good kid but not classy. Not a bad TV Funhouse, but they have been much better.
John Mayer
The Yankees are getting crushed by The Tampa Bay Devil Rays because the team is straightening out the Libya situation. They return in a plane just in time to score 45 straight points in the bottom of the 9th. Later they get word that aliens are planning to invade Earth so they storm the planet. Derek Jeter dispatches one alien with his brain liquefying sonic shriek he acquired by making out with Mariah Carey. When things start to look grim, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner makes a phone call and signs one of the opposing aliens who quickly turns on his other aliens. Crisis over, they return home where George makes the alien a member of the team but forces him to remove all his facial hair. It ends with the alien eating the opposing pitcher and throwing the baseball out of the stadium. Steinbrenner calls him a good kid but not classy. Not a bad TV Funhouse, but they have been much better.
John Mayer
"Bigger Than My Body"
Jack Black introduces John Mayer by the wrong name, making his last name sound like Oscar Mayer. He then gives a look to someone off camera as he notices his gaffe. This was a lively performance of a song I always liked.
Weekend Update
"He died doing what he loved, heroin."
While the Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon era is certainly a step up from Colin Quinn, I still never really liked them together. They were missing an ownership of their jokes. They both come off as mouthpieces for gags that were written by other writers. Everyone who came before them, Colin, Norm, Kevin and Dennis felt like they were bringing their own voice to the desk. Speaking of Dennis Miller, we get a lame photo joke that were his forte when Tina shows a picture of Laura Bush and the French Prime Minister and says that the two got engaged. Having two of them did allow them chances to play together as they do here after a story about a man marrying his ex-wife's identical twin sister and they do a brief soap opera bit. My favorite joke came from Tina when she said that Colin Farrell smokes 280 fags a week, clarifying that in England "fag" is a slang term for gay dude. My least favorite joke came from Jimmy who gave voice to America Online Latino by saying in a Spanish accent, "You got mail, Papi".
Jeff Richards makes his first appearance of the season as Rush Limbaugh talking about his recent firing from ESPN over racist comments and his legal troubles for ordering 5,000 painkillers. He assures us that he does not take Oxycontin for pain but to trip his balls off. He also laments his poor timing as he could face jail time and he just pissed off a bunch of black guys. It's all right though because he can't feel a thing, which he demonstrates by banging a hammer on his hand.
Finesse Mitchell comes out with a review of the new Denzel Washington movie, Out Of Time. Just kidding, that was just a weak set-up for him to go into a bit that was obviously lifted from his stand-up act. He hasn't seen the film because in his neighborhood, people act all crazy at the movie theater. He tells a story about seeing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon behind a young woman named Starkisha, who did loud cheers before the movie, passed around birthday cake and got upset when she found out that the film had subtitles. This wasn't bad but it was shoe horned in so awkwardly. He's supposed to give a review of a film but instead tells a story about a movie he saw 4 years ago. He couldn't have updated it? Couldn't Starkisha have interrupted his screening of Out Of Time? I'm used to people doing their bits on Weekend Update and pretending they are playing correspondents but you can set it up and integrate it a little better.
Then we cut to a clip from the Emmys where Wanda Sykes talks to Bill Cosby in the audience. I remember seeing this at the time. Wanda was doing some improv comedy from the audience and tried to engage a very uninterested Cosby. Kenan and Maya basically re-enact what really happened only exaggerating some Bill Cosby nonsense words and ending it with a punch to the face from the Cos. Obviously Kenan wanted to do his Cosby impression and had a halfway decent excuse to do so. It cuts back awkwardly to Tina who just gives a "Huh, all right". My thoughts exactly.
Cat's In The Cradle
1 Star
A singer gets a visit from his father and his step mom, Shelley Long
This I did not get at all. I went to the SNL archives to see if any of these characters were recurring and maybe I was just unfamiliar with them, but no, this is just a nonsensical sketch. Jack is on stage with a guitar and wants to dedicate a song to his father who is in the audience with his new wife. Horatio plays the dad and his new wife is Shelley Long, played by Amy. We find out later that they met while competing on $25,000 Pyramid. Jack sings Cat's In The Cradle which Horatio takes offense to as it makes him sound like a deadbeat dad. Then the two argue about a few things, notably that Horatio killed Jack's cat which he claims was humane as the cat had Lou Gehrig's disease. We also get two separate stories that end in Horatio throwing up in a top hat, one he justifies as part of his Halloween costume of Abraham Drinkin' and the other he justifies by being drunk. They eventually reconcile, singing the theme song to Cheers which Shelley makes sure everyone knows she was on. This confused me more than it delighted me.
John Mayer returns to sing Clarity and Jack pronounces his name right this time, really emphasizing it by shouting, "Once again, John MAYER!". This is a slower jam and was nice, glad it was the second song of the night.
Wine Tasting
This I did not get at all. I went to the SNL archives to see if any of these characters were recurring and maybe I was just unfamiliar with them, but no, this is just a nonsensical sketch. Jack is on stage with a guitar and wants to dedicate a song to his father who is in the audience with his new wife. Horatio plays the dad and his new wife is Shelley Long, played by Amy. We find out later that they met while competing on $25,000 Pyramid. Jack sings Cat's In The Cradle which Horatio takes offense to as it makes him sound like a deadbeat dad. Then the two argue about a few things, notably that Horatio killed Jack's cat which he claims was humane as the cat had Lou Gehrig's disease. We also get two separate stories that end in Horatio throwing up in a top hat, one he justifies as part of his Halloween costume of Abraham Drinkin' and the other he justifies by being drunk. They eventually reconcile, singing the theme song to Cheers which Shelley makes sure everyone knows she was on. This confused me more than it delighted me.
John Mayer returns to sing Clarity and Jack pronounces his name right this time, really emphasizing it by shouting, "Once again, John MAYER!". This is a slower jam and was nice, glad it was the second song of the night.
Wine Tasting
2 Stars
A wine critic samples some of a vineyard's finest
So I guess we're just turning into The Carol Burnett Show this week. Jack is a famous wine critic who has come to a vineyard to taste the wine. The first glass has a heavenly nose, firm bouquet and opulent color but when he tastes it he immediately spits it out into Seth's face. Then in true SNL fashion, we repeat this bit over and over with varying results. After 7 spit takes, he decides to take 6 tiny sips in a row which all result in their own individual spit take. Horatio eventually takes a sip too and spits in Seth's face. Finally Seth grabs "the special bottle". Jack takes a sip and is enraptured. The wine tastes as if it's been aged for 30 years, when Seth tells him that it's only been aging for 30 days Jack does a happy spit take right in his face. Lather, rinse, repeat with a weak punchline. Had it's moments though so I gotta give it a little credit.
Telemarketers
So I guess we're just turning into The Carol Burnett Show this week. Jack is a famous wine critic who has come to a vineyard to taste the wine. The first glass has a heavenly nose, firm bouquet and opulent color but when he tastes it he immediately spits it out into Seth's face. Then in true SNL fashion, we repeat this bit over and over with varying results. After 7 spit takes, he decides to take 6 tiny sips in a row which all result in their own individual spit take. Horatio eventually takes a sip too and spits in Seth's face. Finally Seth grabs "the special bottle". Jack takes a sip and is enraptured. The wine tastes as if it's been aged for 30 years, when Seth tells him that it's only been aging for 30 days Jack does a happy spit take right in his face. Lather, rinse, repeat with a weak punchline. Had it's moments though so I gotta give it a little credit.
Telemarketers
4 Stars
A group of telemarketers sing their swan song
Congress has passed a No Call Bill so Jack has just finished the last telemarketing call. He says he is just a part of history now like the wide open plains, nickel hotdogs, the majestic buffalo and segregated drinking fountains. Then everyone starts to sing.
"Look at this condo and win a vacation/Interested in some debt consolidation?/I could sell ice cubes to Eskimos when I was in the zone/Subscribe now and get a Sports Illustrated San Diego Chargers football shaped phone"
Then it kicks into a rocking high gear and they all start doing a choreographed dance. Someone throws Jack a guitar and he does some patented JB nonsense scat. It ends with them singing Big Yellow Taxi as we quickly fade out. I get a sense that the sketch was either running long and they preemptively cut to commercial or the show was running short and they just told Jack to scat to fill time. Whatever the case, this was a rocking good time and a fun way to end the show.
FINAL ANALYSIS
Congress has passed a No Call Bill so Jack has just finished the last telemarketing call. He says he is just a part of history now like the wide open plains, nickel hotdogs, the majestic buffalo and segregated drinking fountains. Then everyone starts to sing.
"Look at this condo and win a vacation/Interested in some debt consolidation?/I could sell ice cubes to Eskimos when I was in the zone/Subscribe now and get a Sports Illustrated San Diego Chargers football shaped phone"
Then it kicks into a rocking high gear and they all start doing a choreographed dance. Someone throws Jack a guitar and he does some patented JB nonsense scat. It ends with them singing Big Yellow Taxi as we quickly fade out. I get a sense that the sketch was either running long and they preemptively cut to commercial or the show was running short and they just told Jack to scat to fill time. Whatever the case, this was a rocking good time and a fun way to end the show.
FINAL ANALYSIS
"Shoobity Bop Bop. Shoo Boop Squeeze"
Average
2.5 Stars
MVP
Horatio Sanz
Monologue, Cooking Class, Cat's In The Cradle, Wine Tasting, Telemarketers
Monologue, Cooking Class, Cat's In The Cradle, Wine Tasting, Telemarketers
Best Sketch
Telemarketers
Worst Sketch
The Cat's In The Cradle
How I Would Have Lorne Michaels-ed It
Nothing other than Californians For Schwarzenegger works as a cold open so I guess it's stuck where it is which is a shame just because it felt weak for the opening of a season. Either Hugges Thongs or Queer Eye For The Straight Gal needs to go or move later in the show. After the monologue we have two commercial parodies in a row. The Wade Robson Project should be an after Update sketch, I would have led off with Cooking Class or Wine Tasting. Now that I look at the lineup, sketch placement really hurt this for me. Weak cold open, good monologue, weak lead off sketch and a forgettable middle.
Host Analysis
If it weren't for Jack Black's energy this would have been a big old stinker. He comes in at the end of The Wade Robson Project to give it a boost, played a good comic foil in Wine Tasting and got to rock out for the final sketch. I'm looking over the hosts we're gonna get this season and I can really only see Wine Tasting working with him or maybe Alec Baldwin. I just wish the sketches were a little better so he didn't have to do all the heavy lifting.
Final Thoughts
An uneven episode to be sure but season premieres usually are. You would think that after a summer off the cast and writers would have a couple of gems in their pocket that they've been saving. You'd be wrong, the first episode of the season is always a little shaky. It's like first day of school jitters. You don't get a lot of homework that first week you just sit at your desk and try to figure out how your year is gonna go. This is also a fairly drastic change from the last season I watched (season 23). Now we're back to two musical performances and a bloated Weekend Update. This episode felt less jam packed than the last 20 I watched.
Up Next
SNL favorite Justin Timberlake makes his hosting debut and acts as his own musical guest. See where it all started.
Good review
ReplyDeleteI think that's probably the biggest problem with modern day Weekend Update. The lack of an individual voice. Everyone after Fallon and Fey has always felt like mouthpieces for the writers. Not a huge fan of Che but it does feel like he has his own say at least. Jost less so...
ReplyDeleteJost is so wooden
ReplyDelete