"It's like having a professor up your butt"
Cold Open: Third Presidential Debate
4 Stars
George H. W. Bush assists his son in the debate
Bush and Gore are debating in a town hall format when a question comes from an undecided voter. This voter is Dana as George H. W. Bush who loves his son but is still on the fence. He then asks questions as Jorge H. W. B. (in a fake mustache) and as Barbara Bush (wearing a gray wig and a shawl). Not much else to say about this other than it's always nice to hear Dana scream "Live from New York...". Nobody starts an episode of SNL like Dana Carvey.
Dana Carvey Monologue
Bush and Gore are debating in a town hall format when a question comes from an undecided voter. This voter is Dana as George H. W. Bush who loves his son but is still on the fence. He then asks questions as Jorge H. W. B. (in a fake mustache) and as Barbara Bush (wearing a gray wig and a shawl). Not much else to say about this other than it's always nice to hear Dana scream "Live from New York...". Nobody starts an episode of SNL like Dana Carvey.
Dana Carvey Monologue
3 Stars
Dana shows off some new impressions
Dana does some stand-up that consists of impressions of Al Gore, George W. Bush, Joe Lieberman, Bill Gates and Johnny Cochran. I love Dana but this seemed thrown together and makes him look a little like an old dinosaur as he's doing impressions that are steadily growing in popularity
Magic Mouth
5 Stars
Dana does some stand-up that consists of impressions of Al Gore, George W. Bush, Joe Lieberman, Bill Gates and Johnny Cochran. I love Dana but this seemed thrown together and makes him look a little like an old dinosaur as he's doing impressions that are steadily growing in popularity
Magic Mouth
5 Stars
A device to altar the sounds of flatulance
Will pitches a device that goes up your ass which makes fart noises sound like conversation starters. Now instead of the sound of passing gas your butt will ask the room if anyone saw Charlie Rose last night. Juvenile and crass? You betcha, but also really funny.
The Delicious Dish
Will pitches a device that goes up your ass which makes fart noises sound like conversation starters. Now instead of the sound of passing gas your butt will ask the room if anyone saw Charlie Rose last night. Juvenile and crass? You betcha, but also really funny.
The Delicious Dish
2 Stars
The NPR hosts interview the owner of a local haunted house
It's the 11th edition of The Delicious Dish and I'm gonna go out on a limb and say they should have gotten out while the getting was good. The last two were classics with Schweddy Balls and Danny De Vito cooking meals after the apocalypse. This is a pale comparison. Dana runs a haunted house but he's being terrorized by a local gang. I was not a fan of how the gang was referenced by their skin color. The joke of this guy being tortured by kids is funny enough without calling out the gang for being black and his neighborhood becoming more "urban". I also wasn't really laughing that much so my mind wandered to that subject. Dana's voice is fun though and I did laugh at the fact that his eye patch wasn't part of his pirate costume but rather due to a scratched cornea.
Church Chat
It's the 11th edition of The Delicious Dish and I'm gonna go out on a limb and say they should have gotten out while the getting was good. The last two were classics with Schweddy Balls and Danny De Vito cooking meals after the apocalypse. This is a pale comparison. Dana runs a haunted house but he's being terrorized by a local gang. I was not a fan of how the gang was referenced by their skin color. The joke of this guy being tortured by kids is funny enough without calling out the gang for being black and his neighborhood becoming more "urban". I also wasn't really laughing that much so my mind wandered to that subject. Dana's voice is fun though and I did laugh at the fact that his eye patch wasn't part of his pirate costume but rather due to a scratched cornea.
Church Chat
2 Stars
The Church Lady interviews Hillary Clinton, Anne Heche, and Eminem
The Church Lady is back and she is a little behind the times. It's interesting to think of this character and her place in cultural satire. Some people see this as a send up of the religious right while I'm sure members of that group would agree with her. Dana has always played her with a warmth and genuineness where the joke never seems to be on her. This sketch though...it was hard for me to sympathize with her. Her first guest is Hillary Clinton who she judges for running for New York senator without actually being from New York. Her second guest is Anne Heche and that's where it gets uncomfortable. First off, Chris Kattan is playing Anne (who The Church Lady refers to as Anne He-She), and she is basically mocked for being bisexual. She says that she falls in love with the person and not the gender and would make "sweet dog love" if she fell for a German Shepherd. There's a lot of wrong ways of thinking here. Her last guest is Chris Parnell as Eminem and seeing The Church Lady sing a parody version of The Real Slim Shady is equal parts fun and sad. I like Dana's performance but this seems really out of touch.
Hunting
2 Stars
The Church Lady is back and she is a little behind the times. It's interesting to think of this character and her place in cultural satire. Some people see this as a send up of the religious right while I'm sure members of that group would agree with her. Dana has always played her with a warmth and genuineness where the joke never seems to be on her. This sketch though...it was hard for me to sympathize with her. Her first guest is Hillary Clinton who she judges for running for New York senator without actually being from New York. Her second guest is Anne Heche and that's where it gets uncomfortable. First off, Chris Kattan is playing Anne (who The Church Lady refers to as Anne He-She), and she is basically mocked for being bisexual. She says that she falls in love with the person and not the gender and would make "sweet dog love" if she fell for a German Shepherd. There's a lot of wrong ways of thinking here. Her last guest is Chris Parnell as Eminem and seeing The Church Lady sing a parody version of The Real Slim Shady is equal parts fun and sad. I like Dana's performance but this seems really out of touch.
Hunting
2 Stars
Papa Bush takes George W. hunting
We already saw Dana's George Bush in the cold open, why do we also need this? They should have done what they did in Season 22 and have Dana come back in the next episode to do this. Bush Sr. is trying to give advice to his son but W only wants to focus on shooting stuff. It's so apparent that we're heading toward an Of Mice And Men parody but it just peters out at the end. This felt like a big old waste of time.
Baha Men
We already saw Dana's George Bush in the cold open, why do we also need this? They should have done what they did in Season 22 and have Dana come back in the next episode to do this. Bush Sr. is trying to give advice to his son but W only wants to focus on shooting stuff. It's so apparent that we're heading toward an Of Mice And Men parody but it just peters out at the end. This felt like a big old waste of time.
Baha Men
Um.... We get no intro to this, just a little snippet of Baha Men singing Who Let The Dogs Out which was an inescapable song of this time period.
Weekend Update
Weekend Update
Good news is that Tina's hair is under control this week. Bad news is that her and Jimmy are still delivering awkwardly timed bad jokes. The oldest living bacteria was found and it's now married to Anna Nicole Smith, they finally arrested the guy who let the dogs out.
Speaking of Anna Nicole Smith, she's here with a commentary. Her old, rich husband just died and she's using a portion of the money to turn The Ohio State University into The Anna Nicole Smith University where she teaches other buxom coeds how to change diapers and perform oral sex on flaccid penises.
We get a remote piece from Adam McKay who interviews people on the streets disguised as one of them. He puts on some "Average Joe" clothes and rides around in a van trying to get people to talk to him. An attempt to coax some children into his van gets him beat up.
Speaking of Anna Nicole Smith, she's here with a commentary. Her old, rich husband just died and she's using a portion of the money to turn The Ohio State University into The Anna Nicole Smith University where she teaches other buxom coeds how to change diapers and perform oral sex on flaccid penises.
And we end on this lame bit. If there's one thing less funny that Jimmy Fallon on SNL, it's Robert De Niro on SNL. Last week Jimmy did an impression of De Niro and now he's here to exact his revenge. Didn't we do this exact same gag with The Joe Pesci show a few seasons ago?
The Wallflowers
"Sleepwalker"
The last time The Wallflowers were on SNL was back in Season 22 in an episode hosted by Chris Rock with special guest Dana Carvey. Coincidence? Yeah, probably.
VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards
VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards
1 Star
Ugh...an awards show parody
Oh no. Has there ever been an awards show parody on SNL that has been fun at all? The joke is that awards shows are long, pointless and boring so to parody that you make a sketch that is long, pointless and boring. We also get cutaways to real celebrities in the audience (what is this, Season 20?). Jerry shows up as Cuba Gooding, Jr. (I guess they're both black), Molly is Giselle Bundchen (I suppose), Maya does Macy Gray (actually pretty good), Kattan is Dylan McDermott (huh?), Tracy comes out as Samuel L. Jackson (funny for the wrong reasons), and Jimmy is Sting. Then Dana comes out as Rudy from Survivor and calls the audience a bunch of queers.
Pet Chicken Shop
Oh no. Has there ever been an awards show parody on SNL that has been fun at all? The joke is that awards shows are long, pointless and boring so to parody that you make a sketch that is long, pointless and boring. We also get cutaways to real celebrities in the audience (what is this, Season 20?). Jerry shows up as Cuba Gooding, Jr. (I guess they're both black), Molly is Giselle Bundchen (I suppose), Maya does Macy Gray (actually pretty good), Kattan is Dylan McDermott (huh?), Tracy comes out as Samuel L. Jackson (funny for the wrong reasons), and Jimmy is Sting. Then Dana comes out as Rudy from Survivor and calls the audience a bunch of queers.
Pet Chicken Shop
1 Star
Ching Change gets his Broadway show
What. The. Fuck. Holy shit. Why? Who gave this the green light? Again, why? For those not familiar with Season 12, this is the 8th appearance of Ching Change, Dana's horribly offensive Chinese character who works in a chicken shop and dreams of being on Broadway. Quite possibly the biggest black eye (yellow eye?) in SNL history. If you were to ask me what classic Dana character should be brought back, my first thought would be Ching Change, a character he called out as offensive in his 1996 monologue. So they know this is offensive. Is there any commentary on how this is stale and politically incorrect? Nope. Just Dana singing to chickens in an Asian accent. I don't want to sound like the PC police but so far this episode has had racial insensitivity and homophobia, now we get Ching Change.
The Wallflowers end the show with "Hand Me Down". Gotta give them props, Ching Change is a tough act to follow.
FINAL ANALYSIS
"Chicken make a lousy house pet"
Average
2.5 Stars
MVP
Ana Gasteyer
Third Presidential Debate, Magic Mouth, Delicious Dish, Church Chat, VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards (VO)
Third Presidential Debate, Magic Mouth, Delicious Dish, Church Chat, VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards (VO)
Best Sketch
Magic Mouth
Worst Sketch
Pet Chicken Shop
How I Would Have Lorne Michaels-ed It
You can have the cold open or Hunting, not both. We just saw Dana and Will as Bush in the debate, we don't need a lame sketch after. I liked the debate better so we'll go with that. Next, and this should go without saying, don't do Ching Change. Dude, it's the year 2000. You should know better. During my Season 12 recaps I gave Dana the benefit of the doubt to start, but you yourself called it out as racist. Why did we need closure on Ching Change? How about Grumpy Old Man or Derek Stevens? Hell, I'll take Lyle, The Effeminate Heterosexual over Ching Change.
Host Analysis
When it comes to SNL cast members, Dana Carvey is one of the best. This episode though...so much of this felt out of touch. Not just Ching Change, which again if I give it the benefit of the doubt, maybe is trying to go for some kind of shock value, but we also got the black gangs in Delicious Dish, the gay panic in Church Chat, calling everyone 'queers' in VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards, and his monologue which felt at times like he was a guy who graduated and then came back to the frat party way too late.
Final Thoughts
Host Analysis
When it comes to SNL cast members, Dana Carvey is one of the best. This episode though...so much of this felt out of touch. Not just Ching Change, which again if I give it the benefit of the doubt, maybe is trying to go for some kind of shock value, but we also got the black gangs in Delicious Dish, the gay panic in Church Chat, calling everyone 'queers' in VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards, and his monologue which felt at times like he was a guy who graduated and then came back to the frat party way too late.
Final Thoughts
I didn't care for this one much at all. My favorite sketch was the commercial parody at the beginning. Not gonna lie, I had high hopes for this one. Dana is one of my personal favorites, even though he tends to overshadow the cast when he hosts. This was a dud. The sketches were lame or repetitive or both. Weekend Update wasn't much fun. The Wallflowers are a decent band but neither of their songs had me too excited. Plus you got Baha Men in there for some weird reason. And, did I mention this episode ends with Ching Change?
Up Next
My dream girl Charlize Theron hosts. I just covered her second outing from Season 39, so let's see her humble beginnings. Before Monster and an Academy Award, she was mainly just used as a token hot lady, which is how I assume she will be used on SNL. Gotta figure Chris Kattan
Plus we had Jimmy in blackface as Chris Rock in a earlier episode and this was the early 2000's
ReplyDelete