"The lovers, the douchebag and me"
Cold Open: Hardball
Cold Open: Hardball
2 Stars
Chris Matthews interviews Karl Rove, Ann Coulter and Gary Coleman
Out of everything SNL does, these political talk show parodies probably age the worst. Not only are all the impressions dated but the references are for the most part so topical that they barely hold up a week later much less 15 years. Darrell plays Chris Matthews and he first talks to George W. Bush's adviser Karl Rove, played by Jeff, about a White House leak that exposed a CIA agent. His plan is find the leak by dressing like Sherlock Holmes. Then he talks to Ann Coulter, played by Amy, who is outraged that the Bush White House is being treated as untruthful. Finally he talks to Gary Coleman, played by Kenan, about his unsuccessful campaign for governor of California. He sits behind a giant desk and drinks from an over-sized coffee mug to display his short stature. The sketch finally ends with Karl saying that he was the source of the leak but there's nothing anybody can do about it and to further show his power he shuts down the show leaving Darrell no choice but to look at the camera and say the sign on.
Justin Timberlake Monologue
Out of everything SNL does, these political talk show parodies probably age the worst. Not only are all the impressions dated but the references are for the most part so topical that they barely hold up a week later much less 15 years. Darrell plays Chris Matthews and he first talks to George W. Bush's adviser Karl Rove, played by Jeff, about a White House leak that exposed a CIA agent. His plan is find the leak by dressing like Sherlock Holmes. Then he talks to Ann Coulter, played by Amy, who is outraged that the Bush White House is being treated as untruthful. Finally he talks to Gary Coleman, played by Kenan, about his unsuccessful campaign for governor of California. He sits behind a giant desk and drinks from an over-sized coffee mug to display his short stature. The sketch finally ends with Karl saying that he was the source of the leak but there's nothing anybody can do about it and to further show his power he shuts down the show leaving Darrell no choice but to look at the camera and say the sign on.
Justin Timberlake Monologue
4 Stars
Justin sings a song to a lucky audience member
Justin is happy to be hosting the show since he's been watching since he was a little kid. His mom would let him stay up late to see Molly Shannon and Chris Kattan. Get it? Because he's young. Then he says he's gonna sing a song to a member of the audience. He pulls out a random seat number and the camera passes by a sea of young girls to an excited Steve Higgins. His teenage daughter was supposed to come to the show but they only could get one ticket. Justin gives him a rose and sings a song to him, Steve eventually starts singing along. Justin grows tired of this and says he's just gonna sing a song for everyone. Steve tries to get Justin to sign his breasts to no avail and Justin sings Rock Your Body, which is a pretty good tune. When a singer is hosting I would almost always want them to do what they're good at so this was welcome. Justin sings and then beat-boxes into the throw to the commercial.
Punk'd Barely Legal
Justin is happy to be hosting the show since he's been watching since he was a little kid. His mom would let him stay up late to see Molly Shannon and Chris Kattan. Get it? Because he's young. Then he says he's gonna sing a song to a member of the audience. He pulls out a random seat number and the camera passes by a sea of young girls to an excited Steve Higgins. His teenage daughter was supposed to come to the show but they only could get one ticket. Justin gives him a rose and sings a song to him, Steve eventually starts singing along. Justin grows tired of this and says he's just gonna sing a song for everyone. Steve tries to get Justin to sign his breasts to no avail and Justin sings Rock Your Body, which is a pretty good tune. When a singer is hosting I would almost always want them to do what they're good at so this was welcome. Justin sings and then beat-boxes into the throw to the commercial.
Punk'd Barely Legal
4 Stars
Ashton Kutcher shows us some pranks too hot for TV
Justin is playing Ashton Kutcher showing us some clips for a new DVD of the pranks from Punk'd that couldn't be shown on TV. We see Fred Durst about to get mugged and then telling his assailants that he will tough their wieners before Ashton breaks it up. He tells Christina Aguilera that he switched out her birth control pills and now she's pregnant. Then he puts a guy dressed as a vampire in 50 Cent's bathroom to scare him. Things backfire when 50 shoots the vampire dead. Justin has incredible energy in both the live and pre-taped segments of this and instantly comes off as likable. I've never been fully on board the JT as best SNL host train but I gotta admit, he's good at what he does.
Press Conference
Justin is playing Ashton Kutcher showing us some clips for a new DVD of the pranks from Punk'd that couldn't be shown on TV. We see Fred Durst about to get mugged and then telling his assailants that he will tough their wieners before Ashton breaks it up. He tells Christina Aguilera that he switched out her birth control pills and now she's pregnant. Then he puts a guy dressed as a vampire in 50 Cent's bathroom to scare him. Things backfire when 50 shoots the vampire dead. Justin has incredible energy in both the live and pre-taped segments of this and instantly comes off as likable. I've never been fully on board the JT as best SNL host train but I gotta admit, he's good at what he does.
Press Conference
2 Stars
Arnold Schwarzenegger resigns as governor moments after being elected
I'm guessing this was planned as a cold open but for whatever reason got pushed back. Darrell brings out his Schwarzenegger impression to talk directly to the camera from behind a podium. He has just been elected governor of California but instantly regrets it and wants to resign. He admits to having no idea what he's doing and being in over his head. His ideas would triple the deficit, his policies don't make sense and he has asked the lieutenant governor to take over. If the lieutenant governor refuses he is demanding an immediate recall election to elect a new lieutenant governor. Not terrible but it's a political straight to camera piece that fits better in the cold open slot.
A Message From Nick Lachey And Jessica Simpson
I'm guessing this was planned as a cold open but for whatever reason got pushed back. Darrell brings out his Schwarzenegger impression to talk directly to the camera from behind a podium. He has just been elected governor of California but instantly regrets it and wants to resign. He admits to having no idea what he's doing and being in over his head. His ideas would triple the deficit, his policies don't make sense and he has asked the lieutenant governor to take over. If the lieutenant governor refuses he is demanding an immediate recall election to elect a new lieutenant governor. Not terrible but it's a political straight to camera piece that fits better in the cold open slot.
A Message From Nick Lachey And Jessica Simpson
2 Stars
Nick and Jessica want to stop the attackers who say Jessica is dumb
Jimmy is playing Nick Lachey sitting on a couch with his new wife Jessica Simpson, played by Justin in a dress. They are addressing the negative comments about Jessica's intelligence, based on their reality TV show on MTV. Nick levels with us and says he only married her because she wouldn't let them have sex until they did, so he did, it was awesome but now he has to live with a dum dum.
"So what if I thought Chicken Of The Sea was chicken or buffalo wings were made out of buffaloes. So what if I never learned to read or write. My feelings are hurt when you say I'm not edumacated."
Then she tells Nick that she has to drop the kids off at the pool, by which she means poop in the toilet. Justin is fun here but this felt like a teen star making fun of another teen star and it was the 2nd straight to camera piece in a row.
Benny's Vs. Omeletville
Jimmy is playing Nick Lachey sitting on a couch with his new wife Jessica Simpson, played by Justin in a dress. They are addressing the negative comments about Jessica's intelligence, based on their reality TV show on MTV. Nick levels with us and says he only married her because she wouldn't let them have sex until they did, so he did, it was awesome but now he has to live with a dum dum.
"So what if I thought Chicken Of The Sea was chicken or buffalo wings were made out of buffaloes. So what if I never learned to read or write. My feelings are hurt when you say I'm not edumacated."
Then she tells Nick that she has to drop the kids off at the pool, by which she means poop in the toilet. Justin is fun here but this felt like a teen star making fun of another teen star and it was the 2nd straight to camera piece in a row.
Benny's Vs. Omeletville
3 Stars
Competing dancing mascots vie for customers
I don't get this nor do I understand its appeal. It's not a bad sketch but it is not something I needed to see 6 times or even twice. Chris is dressed as bacon and eggs promoting a breakfast restaurant but is overshadowed by Justin dressed as a giant omelet. Justin sings breakfast themed songs set to pop songs by artists like The Baha Men ("Who cooks the eggs good"), ZZ Top ("We got eggs, we know how to cook them") and John Cougar Mellencamp ("Little ditty about jack and cheese eggs") all ended with a "bring it on into Omeletville". Eventually the two join forces and they sing together. This is an all right sketch that I never understood how it got so popular.
DirecTV
I don't get this nor do I understand its appeal. It's not a bad sketch but it is not something I needed to see 6 times or even twice. Chris is dressed as bacon and eggs promoting a breakfast restaurant but is overshadowed by Justin dressed as a giant omelet. Justin sings breakfast themed songs set to pop songs by artists like The Baha Men ("Who cooks the eggs good"), ZZ Top ("We got eggs, we know how to cook them") and John Cougar Mellencamp ("Little ditty about jack and cheese eggs") all ended with a "bring it on into Omeletville". Eventually the two join forces and they sing together. This is an all right sketch that I never understood how it got so popular.
DirecTV
3 Stars
Gary Busey is a fan of DirecTV
Gary Busey starts reading a fan letter to DirecTV but quickly goes off script. He thanks DirecTV for their sheer volume of booby channels. Now he only has to leave his house to go to the emergency room. He routinely finds himself running from room to room with his pants around his ankles and putting two TVs together to see four boobies at once. He also says he can smell colors and his farts smell like butterscotch. It's your typical Gary Busey says crazy things sketch but it's short and sweet.
Birthday Dinner
Gary Busey starts reading a fan letter to DirecTV but quickly goes off script. He thanks DirecTV for their sheer volume of booby channels. Now he only has to leave his house to go to the emergency room. He routinely finds himself running from room to room with his pants around his ankles and putting two TVs together to see four boobies at once. He also says he can smell colors and his farts smell like butterscotch. It's your typical Gary Busey says crazy things sketch but it's short and sweet.
Birthday Dinner
2 Stars
Denise takes Pat out for a surprise birthday dinner
Speaking of a sketch I never saw the popularity and appeal of, it's Pat and Denise, the two young Boston lovers who always like to record their adventures. Denise is surprising Pat with reservations at a fancy restaurant but her little brother has tagged along and he likes to set things on fire. They are very uncouth and it ends with Seth yelling at them.
"You clearly do not know the proper way to eat out!"
"Tell me you got that!"
This is the 11th appearance of these characters and I don't like to look ahead in my season recaps but I'm very glad I only have to see one more of these.
Justin Timberlake
Speaking of a sketch I never saw the popularity and appeal of, it's Pat and Denise, the two young Boston lovers who always like to record their adventures. Denise is surprising Pat with reservations at a fancy restaurant but her little brother has tagged along and he likes to set things on fire. They are very uncouth and it ends with Seth yelling at them.
"You clearly do not know the proper way to eat out!"
"Tell me you got that!"
This is the 11th appearance of these characters and I don't like to look ahead in my season recaps but I'm very glad I only have to see one more of these.
Justin Timberlake
'Senorita'
Justin sits at a piano while the camera zooms in and out and pans around. This song has a horn section and a chorus, there's a lot of sounds coming together here that I like. Can't really argue about this at all. At one point, JT tries to get the crowd involved by having them clap their hands but the camera never cuts to the audience so I have no idea if they responded or not.
Weekend Update
Weekend Update
No desk pieces this week just a collection of rapid fire jokes. I didn't crack much of a smile through this and it's not that the jokes were too topical, I just didn't find them that funny. Tina goes on a rant at one point aimed at Kobe Bryant's lawyer. Apparently the lawyer said the name of Kobe's accusers which warranted unwanted attention to her. Tina repeats the lawyer's name multiple times including her place of work and where you can find info about her on the internet. Jimmy has a joke about salmon spawning which has the punchline "salmon porn" and Rush Limbaugh is addicted to pain killers and hoagies.
The Sharon Osbourne Show
2 Stars
Sharon Osbourne interviews Quentin Tarantino and Michael Bolton
Not sure why this exists other than an excuse for Amy to do an impression of Sharon Osbourne. I know she had a talk show in real life but I think my least favorite SNL sketches are the celebrity talk show sketches. Have a celebrity impression? Have them host a talk show and interview other celebrity impressions. Fred comes out as Quentin Tarantino, who he plays as a coked up weirdo. Sharon's dog poops on him. Justin comes out as Michael Bolton which wasn't working for me until he started singing "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You" and he sounded almost exactly like Bolton. Horatio comes out as Ozzy and acts all messed up and falls down.
The Rainbow Connection
Not sure why this exists other than an excuse for Amy to do an impression of Sharon Osbourne. I know she had a talk show in real life but I think my least favorite SNL sketches are the celebrity talk show sketches. Have a celebrity impression? Have them host a talk show and interview other celebrity impressions. Fred comes out as Quentin Tarantino, who he plays as a coked up weirdo. Sharon's dog poops on him. Justin comes out as Michael Bolton which wasn't working for me until he started singing "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You" and he sounded almost exactly like Bolton. Horatio comes out as Ozzy and acts all messed up and falls down.
The Rainbow Connection
5 Stars
Justin sings a song with Kermit The Frog
When Justin was a kid he was a big fan of both SNL and The Muppet Show and know his childhood dreams are coming together as he gets to sing The Rainbow Connection with Kermit The Frog on SNL. As they sing, Justin accidentally steps on the puppeteer operating Kermit which quickly escalates to an all out brawl between the two. Will plays the puppeteer and uses Kermit as a mediator between the two.
"Bill, can you say to Justin that you're sorry for shoving him?"
"I'm sorry, Justin."
"And Justin, can you say you're sorry to Bill for being a douchebag?"
Then they wrestle some more. This was a lot of fun and kudos to Will for doing a spot on Kermit impression and having pretty impressive puppetry skills.
Carl Weathers For Governor
When Justin was a kid he was a big fan of both SNL and The Muppet Show and know his childhood dreams are coming together as he gets to sing The Rainbow Connection with Kermit The Frog on SNL. As they sing, Justin accidentally steps on the puppeteer operating Kermit which quickly escalates to an all out brawl between the two. Will plays the puppeteer and uses Kermit as a mediator between the two.
"Bill, can you say to Justin that you're sorry for shoving him?"
"I'm sorry, Justin."
"And Justin, can you say you're sorry to Bill for being a douchebag?"
Then they wrestle some more. This was a lot of fun and kudos to Will for doing a spot on Kermit impression and having pretty impressive puppetry skills.
Carl Weathers For Governor
5 Stars
Carl Weathers wants to be a governor too
Now that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura have both been elected governors, it's time for another member of the cast of Predator to join them. Carl Weathers, the black guy from Predator, would like to be elected. He doesn't care which state and while he's never voted he did play the black guy in Predator. You might think Danny Glover was the black guy in Predator but that was Predator 2. I had heard this joke before but seeing as how this was days after Schwarzenegger was elected I have to think that SNL got there first. All of this worked for me.
Backstage
Now that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura have both been elected governors, it's time for another member of the cast of Predator to join them. Carl Weathers, the black guy from Predator, would like to be elected. He doesn't care which state and while he's never voted he did play the black guy in Predator. You might think Danny Glover was the black guy in Predator but that was Predator 2. I had heard this joke before but seeing as how this was days after Schwarzenegger was elected I have to think that SNL got there first. All of this worked for me.
Backstage
3 Stars
Amy has a crush on Justin
Amy is talking to Rachel and Maya backstage. They all think Justin is adorable but Amy doesn't see what's so special about him. Then she goes into his dressing room to talk about an upcoming sketch and is instantly smitten. She gets school girl nervous talking to him and it ends with an awkward hug where she climbs on him. This one's hard to describe since it's purely a performance based piece for Amy. It's cute if kind of forgettable.
Justin Timberlake returns to sing Cry Me A River which is a much better song than I remember. I remember it being a sad ballad about his breakup with Britney Spears but this is pretty funky.
The Barry Gibb Talk Show
Amy is talking to Rachel and Maya backstage. They all think Justin is adorable but Amy doesn't see what's so special about him. Then she goes into his dressing room to talk about an upcoming sketch and is instantly smitten. She gets school girl nervous talking to him and it ends with an awkward hug where she climbs on him. This one's hard to describe since it's purely a performance based piece for Amy. It's cute if kind of forgettable.
Justin Timberlake returns to sing Cry Me A River which is a much better song than I remember. I remember it being a sad ballad about his breakup with Britney Spears but this is pretty funky.
The Barry Gibb Talk Show
2 Stars
Barry and Robin Gibb host a no nonsense political talk show
Here's another one I just don't get. It's silly enough but I just never understood the joke. Jimmy and Justin sing their own theme song in high voices. The opening of this went on so long that I thought that was going to be the joke. I thought they were gonna end the theme song and say they were out of time. Instead they interview Arianna Huffington, Al Franken and Cruz Bustamante. I think Jimmy just wanted to do a silly voice, maybe? It ends with him yelling and thrashing around. I started to almost feel bad for him as he seemed desperate to get a response. But I guess people like this. It was either popular enough to come back or it was just an inside joke between Justin and Jimmy that I was never part of.
FINAL ANALYSIS
Here's another one I just don't get. It's silly enough but I just never understood the joke. Jimmy and Justin sing their own theme song in high voices. The opening of this went on so long that I thought that was going to be the joke. I thought they were gonna end the theme song and say they were out of time. Instead they interview Arianna Huffington, Al Franken and Cruz Bustamante. I think Jimmy just wanted to do a silly voice, maybe? It ends with him yelling and thrashing around. I started to almost feel bad for him as he seemed desperate to get a response. But I guess people like this. It was either popular enough to come back or it was just an inside joke between Justin and Jimmy that I was never part of.
FINAL ANALYSIS
"Doesn't America deserve better than the star of Predator 2?"
Average
3 Stars
MVP
Jimmy Fallon
Jessica Simpson And Nick Lachey, Birthday Dinner, Weekend Update, Barry Gibb Talk Show
Jessica Simpson And Nick Lachey, Birthday Dinner, Weekend Update, Barry Gibb Talk Show
Best Sketch
The Rainbow Connection
Worst Sketch
Press Conference
How I Would Have Lorne Michaels-ed It
Pick a sketch where Darrell Hammond talks directly to the camera and make that the cold open, don't have two. I would have moved Press Conference to the top spot and if needed for filler, put Hardball after Update. Other than that, the episode had a pretty nice flow. The only other thing I would change would be to have Backstage lead directly into Justin's second song. He's wearing the same outfit so it would have been fun to have him walk through the studio with Amy still clinging to him as he gets to the set to start singing.
Host Analysis
Everybody loves Justin Timberlake on SNL so I can't really complain about him. I was having one of those "SNL isn't as good as it used to be" conversations with my mom once and she said she really only likes the show when Justin is on. So I guess that means there have only been 5 good episodes in 16 years. I definitely thought he did a good job here and since he was also the musical guest, this felt like a Justin Timberlake episode. His presence was felt all over this and the episode benefited from it.
Final Thoughts
A big step up from last episode. Justin was a really good host and an even better musical guest. Not everything here was a success but there was nothing that was completely miserable. Press Conference and The Sharon Osbourne Show weren't good sketches but they had a few things to like in them. I gave Jimmy Fallon the MVP for this episode but that's more because he was all over this episode and less because I liked him. I was never a fan of the Boston teenagers and the Barry Gibb Talk Show still perplexes me. At least he didn't ruin either of them by giggling at himself this week.
Up Next
Oscar winner Halle Berry hosts with musical guest Britney Spears, wonder if there will be reference to Britney and Justin dating.
Oscar winner Halle Berry hosts with musical guest Britney Spears, wonder if there will be reference to Britney and Justin dating.
The Barry Gibb talk show is a guilty pleasure
ReplyDeleteI don’t dislike it, I just don’t get it. It feels like I’m watching two guys joke about something I wasn’t there for.
DeleteThis season looks so 2000's it hurts
Delete