Cameron Diaz/Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars November 22, 2014

It’s the Thanksgiving episode of Saturday Night Live, which means it’s time to give thanks for a strong first half of the fortieth season, so far. Last week, it was the third time hosting for host Woody Harrelson with musical guest, Kendrick Lamar. This episode was a strong episode like many of the episodes before it this season. There was a little dip in the ratings from the previous episode, hosted by Chris Rock with musical guest Prince, but it was still one of the stronger episodes of the season, ratings wise.

Some highlights from the last episode include:

-Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, and Josh Hutcherson crashing the monologue of their Hunger Games costar to promote the film.

-A musical short bringing together the “young tarts” and “old farts” of the music world.

-Enough Kim Kardashian jokes to last the rest of the year, courtesy of Colin Jost and Michael Che.

-Several male heavy sketches

For this episode, I had some idea of what to expect from Diaz since I have seen reruns of the past episodes that she has hosted. The past times that she has hosted it’s been decent so I had my expectations that this episode would be decent.

Sketch Rundown:

School House Rock Cold Open:

This had to be one of the funnier political cold opens that I’ve seen this season. I’m surprised they went the “School House Rock” route but I’m thankful for the childhood flashbacks. I did love the idea of the president pushing the bill, played by Kenan, down the stairs three times. Some of my favorite quotes came from the executive order, played by Bobby, which were “I’m an executive order and I pretty much just happen.” and “I didn’t have time to read myself!” I ended up really liking this cold open and this probably was one of my favorite cold opens of the season, so far.

Cameron Diaz Monologue:

I honestly don’t have that much to say about the monologue except that so far, this is probably the weakest monologue of the season. I know the monologue is the last priority but they could’ve put a little more thought into it. I thought the cast members who asked questions were good but there really wasn’t much of a beginning, middle, or an end. Like I said before, this probably has to be one of the weakest monologues of the season and probably my least favorite monologue, so far.

Back Home Ballers:

This was one of my favorite sketches of the night. I thought it was a great sequel to “(Do It On My) Twin Bed” from last season. I thought this was a great way to utilize the ladies of the cast and show that they all have some musical abilities. I expected there would be a sequel to “Twin Bed” but I don’t think I would’ve expected one this soon. That being said, the timing was perfect for the sequel to come during the Thanksgiving episode. Jean from “Twin Bed” also returns, which I didn’t notice at first until I watched this again. I also thought that Leslie’s rap towards the end of the song was awesome. I found this sketch to be very relatable and I now have another song I’ll play endlessly on loop. “Twin Bed” was also nominated for an Emmy in 2014 and unfortunately lost but I’m pretty sure “Back Home Ballers” will take home an Emmy in 2015.

Black Annie:

Along with “Back Home Ballers,” this was one of my other favorite sketches of the night. I expected an Annie sketch this episode since this was the film Diaz was promoting. Vanessa’s version of Annie reminded me a little bit of her character from the “Spotlightz Acting Camp” sketches. I thought Vanessa was just adorable in this sketch. When Jay came out as Jamie Foxx and said the line “My name is Jamie Foxx, I mean, Daddy Warbucks,” I was laughing really hard. When Leslie came out as Annie, she had me laughing so hard that I was in tears. Leslie was also hilarious in this sketch. I loved the reference to the song “Gold Digger” when Jay sang “take my money”. I loved how at the end they started singing “Tomorrow” and then Kenan came out and broke out in a rap. The latter happening after one of my favorite quotes from Leslie “This is not about you orphan bitches. This is about Black Annie!” Again, one of the best sketches of the night and one of my favorite sketches.

Nest-spresso:

I thought this was a weird idea for a commercial parody but I found it somewhat enjoyable. While watching the sketch, Taran’s character reminded me a little bit of Brooks Wheelan (Brooks was a cast member last season best known for his stand-up bits on Weekend Update; I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m the only one that remembers him and misses him on the show). I thought Vanessa’s character’s lack of knowledge of how the product works was pretty funny and a great comedic touch. Overall, I thought this sketch was just okay.

High School Theatre:

To be honest, I thought this was kind of a weird sketch. I did think having Kenan and Vanessa as audience members was a good move, otherwise the sketch probably wouldn’t have been as good. The only thing I learned from this sketch is that Kyle Mooney is a good singer. One of my favorite quotes from this sketch was at the end where it was “the first of seven intermissions”. I thought that the tribute to Mike Nichols at the end of this sketch was sweet, even though this sketch wasn’t one of my favorites.

Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars “Uptown Funk” Performance:

This has to be my favorite musical performance of the season and one of my favorite musical performances on the show ever! I’m so obsessed with this song that I can’t go a day without listening to it. Bruno Mars always puts on a great performance and he and Mark Ronson created this amazing song that will always be played everywhere you go. I was so excited to see this song performed on the show and I would’ve loved to have been in the studio to see this in person. I don’t know why Diaz was wearing a fedora when she introduced the act but despite this, I loved this performance!

Weekend Update:

I thought this Weekend Update was a strong one, even though I thought Che’s Cosby joke was a little too soon. I did like the line he said which was “I know it’s not the same thing but I forgave Kramer.” Of course, I had to look up who he was talking about to understand the joke. I did like and agree with the Ferguson story Che delivered about how calling in the National Guard before the grand jury decision has been made basically tells you what the verdict will be. This story hits close to home for me being from the St. Louis area and seeing all of the violence and riots on the news every day for months. Switching gears, I loved seeing Kate’s Angela Merkel again on Update. I hope Merkel is in the news more often since I love Kate’s impression. This impression always has many great quotes and one-liners. Though at the end of the segment, Jost trying to “German kiss” pretty much scarred me for life. I also thought Taran as Charles Manson and Cecily as Manson’s fiancée was pretty funny. I loved the lines “I just want to kill the world about it!” and “We’re like peanut butter and chaos.” I had a feeling, at the very end of Update, Cecily had to really trust Taran that he wouldn’t hurt her when she ended up on top of the Update desk. I have no doubt in my mind that this was staged and spotted well so nobody would get hurt. Even though I don’t think I can ever get the image of Taran and Cecily, in character, going at it on top of the Update desk out of my mind, I thought this was a strong Update.

Baby Boss:

I’m not a big fan of this sketch or this character, but I liked how they brought this sketch out of an office setting. I feel like this was a great way to give this character more of a back story and make the character a little more rounded. I thought it was funny how they gave Baby Boss a wife and that they were expecting a baby. I thought Kenan and Sasheer were great and had great reactions in this sketch. Even though I thought some parts of this sketch were funny, I thought this sketch was just okay and the character and jokes were becoming a bit redundant.

Dr. Dave and Buggles’ Animal Hour:

I thought this sketch was okay; I didn’t like it as much as the other sketches. I felt like it was trying to be some kind of reboot of “Brian Fellow”. I didn’t like how they pretty much used different variations of the same joke. Although, I was glad they did something with the monkey escaping from the cage. Even though I didn’t really enjoy this sketch, I did think the animals were cute.

Chris Fitzpatrick:

I don’t have a lot to say about this sketch since I’m not a big fan of the “Good Neighbor” sketches, though I did get a couple laughs out of it. I love Kyle Mooney but I’m not a big fan of this character. I also didn’t know what was up with all the car explosions in between shots. I thought this sketch was okay, overall.

Poetry Teacher:

I thought this sketch was okay. I’m not a big fan of this character even though I love Vanessa. I like how Vanessa’s character is now the substitute teacher instead of a poetry teacher visiting students in detention. I feel like that change was made since Mike O’Brien left the cast and went back to being a writer. I did like the poem about Friends, mainly because it’s one of my favorite shows. I don’t necessarily like these sketches and, like I stated earlier, this sketch was just okay.

Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars “Feel Right” Performance feat. Mystikal:

I thought this performance was good, despite not knowing who Mystikal is. I thought this song was catchy but I wish Bruno Mars would’ve performed a second song.

Night Murmurs:

I felt this sketch was the typical sketch saved for the end of the night. I thought this sketch was good but almost felt like a little bit of a spinoff of the “Former Porn Stars” sketches. I did notice how they cut from Cameron to Kate a little too early though a different version was released online. I liked that Kate was in this sketch because I felt like she added more humor into a sketch that wasn’t all that great, though Cecily was great as well. I thought this sketch had its funny moments but it was just okay.

Overall, I thought this was a fairly good episode. There wasn’t really a bad sketch in the episode though there were some weak sketches, which is going to happen. I thought that Diaz’s performance as host was good but she wasn’t one of my favorite hosts.

Some SNL-related news from the past week include SNL alum Bill Hader and his wife, Maggie Carey, welcoming their third child, a daughter named Hayley, on November 15^th. Hayley joins her older sisters, Hannah Kathryn and Harper. Congratulations to the Haders on this wonderful addition to their family. It was announced on November 19^th that current SNL cast member and former Weekend Update anchor Cecily Strong will host the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 25, 2015. Strong is also the fourth woman to host the event. Congratulations to Cecily on this honor. I know I’ll be watching and that she’ll be great.

 This has been my take on SNL hosted by Cameron Diaz and musical guests Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars. I’ll be back soon with a review of SNL hosted by James Franco and musical guest Nicki Minaj. Please spread the word about the blog and subscribe to the blog. Also, follow the blog on Twitter @SNLblogger and on Instagram @snlblogger. I live tweet new episodes on the blog’s Twitter so feel free to join in on the conversation. Feel free to start your own conversations about episodes in the comments section but keep them clean. Also, please feel free to give me constructive criticism about the blog so I can improve the blog in any way.

Thanks for reading!

Lauren

Woody Harrelson/Kendrick Lamar November 15, 2014

SNL is back after having a week off to prepare for this week’s episode hosted by Woody Harrelson with musical guest Kendrick Lamar. On November 1^st, the show was hosted by SNL alum Chris Rock and musical guest Prince. This episode was a good episode and did very well in the ratings, as it is currently the highest rated episode of the season. I would think that one reason for the high ratings would be because of Prince and his eight-minute-long, uninterrupted musical performance which has never been done before in the history of SNL.

Some highlights from the last episode include:

-Chris Rock’s controversial jokes in his monologue that mentioned the Boston Marathon bombings and 9/11

-Prince’s eight-minute-long, uninterrupted performance

-A sketch about the show Shark Tank involving the terror group, ISIS, which was met with a lot of criticism and controversy

-An ad parody called “Swiftamine” which shows that anybody can like Taylor Swift’s music

-A sketch about a married couple, played by Chris Rock and Leslie Jones, fighting on their anniversary that was painful to watch during the live show. The sketch also included a line flub and blocking flub by Jones, which shows that anything can happen on live TV. This sketch was rumored to be written by writers that Rock had brought with him.

For this week’s episode, I didn’t know what to expect since I’m not familiar with Woody Harrelson or a lot of his work. Okay, I know he’s in The Hunger Games movies but I still wouldn’t have recognized him. I also wouldn’t have known that he was the actor who played Haymitch. The last time Harrelson hosted the show was on May 16, 1992, which was the season 17 finale and Victoria Jackson’s last episode. This episode also aired less than three years before I was born, which does show my age. Actually, both time he hosted prior to this episode were before my time. Regardless, I kept an open mind and was pleased with his performance for his third time hosting SNL.

Sketch Rundown:

A Drink at the White House Cold Open:

This had to be one of the funnier political cold opens. The impressions were good and the jokes were on point. One of my favorite parts of the cold open was the prank phone call to Hillary Clinton with the joint scream at the end. Another one of my favorite moments from the cold open was President Obama with a Presidential Medal of Freedom on his head. I thought Sasheer’s brief cameo as Michelle Obama was very well placed towards the end of the cold open. Overall, I liked this cold open.

Woody Harrelson Monologue:

I’m not very familiar with the work of Woody Harrelson so I didn’t know what to expect in regards to the monologue. I did like how Harrelson tied Taylor Swift’s most recent album, “1989”, and the first time he hosted, which was in 1989. Harrelson broke out his guitar and sang a parody of Swift’s song “Blank Space”, with the help of his Hunger Games costars Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, and Jennifer Lawrence. I loved how Jennifer made fun of herself because she can’t sing and how Josh and Liam also made fun of her singing. Jennifer’s line flub was also pretty funny and actually worked well. Overall, this was a pretty strong monologue, despite Harrelson looking like he was stoned during the monologue.

The Dudleys:

I thought this sketch was just okay, though definitely portrayed the typical family sitcom. One of my favorite quotes was regarding pot roast being served for dinner: “I used my favorite recipe: takeout.” The paper mail complaints were a great comedic touch since paper mail is hardly used these days. The comment “These aren’t my Dudleys. PS, repeal Obamacare” was so random yet it was so funny. I didn’t expect to see Uzo Aduba from “Orange is the New Black” to make a cameo but it was a fun surprise. It would have been a great impression for Leslie or Sasheer and it would have given them more screen time. The tagline for the sketch was that they heard us loud and clear but it begs the question, did they really hear us “loud and clear”?

Match’d:

I felt this was a very random game show sketch and this definitely wouldn’t be considered one of my favorite sketches of the night. The opening line of the sketch “You’re watching MTV. You’re DVR must be empty.” was a great way to open the sketch, despite this being kind of a weak sketch. I don’t watch MTV hardly, if ever, and I didn’t think they made these types of game shows anymore, unless it was a throwback to when MTV had these types of shows on the air. Despite thinking it was a weak sketch, there were some high note in the sketch. I liked the plot twist of the host, played by Woody Harrelson, being the father of the contestant, played by Cecily Strong. I loved how it made the contestants, respectively played by Beck Bennett, Kyle Mooney, and Taran Killam, act nervous about their previous responses to the questions and made them think about how they were going to answer the next questions. Another high note from the sketch was finding out at the end that the moment alone was recorded. Like I said previously, this wasn’t one of my favorite sketches as it was just an okay sketch.

A New Day:

This sketch was just okay and I didn’t get a lot of the material in this sketch, maybe because I don’t smoke marijuana. One of my favorite quotes from this sketch was Woody Harrelson’s character shouting “Free…at last!” This line was funny and very random. I thought it was funny how Pete’s character went from talking about making social change on marijuana laws to his excitement about “Rugrats” coming on TV. This sketch was funny but it wasn’t one of my favorite sketches.

Football Halftime Speech:

I thought this sketch was a very good and very funny sketch. I thought this sketch was the perfect way to satirize concussions and other brain and bodily injuries brought on by contact sports. This was satirized perfectly by Kenan’s character. Some of my favorite quotes from this sketch include “Back of the head…put your princess to bed!” and “If the pupils dilate…you did great!” I also loved the heavily padded, oversized football helmets at the end of the sketch. This had to be one of my favorite sketches of the night.

Young Tarts & Old Farts:

This sketch was my absolute favorite sketch of the night and one of my favorite sketches ever! The impressions were great and on point. This sketch was very similar to the “Michael Bublé's Christmas Duets” sketch from season 37. One of my favorite quotes from this sketch includes this one said by Kenan’s Lionel Richie to Cecily’s Ariana Grande: “Let’s try that again. I don’t think they heard you in China.” Another one of my favorite quotes was from Sasheer’s Diana Ross in regards to Kyle’s Macklemore: “I don’t need him to educate me about gay people. I invented gay people.” I loved how they were able to include Kendrick Lamar, this episode’s musical guest, in the sketch. Some of the impressions that I loved included Cecily’s Ariana Grande, Aidy Bryant’s Meghan Trainor, Taran’s Sam Smith, and Woody’s James Taylor, and the little girl who played Blue Ivy Carter. She was so adorable! I also loved how Vanessa’s Miley Cyrus impression was brought back. I loved the joke that she was the “old fart” in this sketch to Kate’s Lorde, who was the “young tart”. I loved this sketch and I would love to see more of these types of sketches.

Kendrick Lamar “I” Performance:

I’m not a big Kendrick Lamar fan but I ended up liking this song more than I thought I would. The song was really upbeat and catchy as I found myself dancing along to this song. I thought this performance was the better of Lamar’s two performances of the night.

Weekend Update:

Going into Weekend Update, I figured there were going to be a lot of Kim Kardashian jokes due to her infamous magazine cover and photos. I loved Colin’s transition to “getting back to real news.” I also loved his “Who wore it best?” joke. I loved Leslie Jones’ segment; it was funny, as always. I loved the quotes “I feel like I have to talk to HR first.” and “crazy chimney bitch”. Woody Harrelson’s segment with Taran’s Matthew McConaughey was good and I really love Taran’s McConaughey impression. I love how Taran’s McConaughey is always calling Jost “CoJo” and I loved the quote “can’t go on and on till the break of dawn”. I thought this week’s Update was strong with only a few jokes falling flat, in my opinion.

Old New York:

I thought this sketch was the typical sketch saved to appear directly after Update. I felt the sketch was dragging, especially with using what felt like the same crack jokes over and over again. I’d have to say my favorite part of the sketch was Woody’s character fake arresting the rest of the guys with a “Vote for Nader” button. This wasn’t my favorite sketch of the night.

Campfire Song:                                                  

I thought this sketch had a good start before they started singing the song about apples. After the song was introduced, I felt the sketch dragged on and that the sketch was going on forever. I thought the joke of the other people really knowing the song was funny but just okay. Overall, I thought this sketch was just okay and it wasn’t one of my favorite sketches. The one thing I hated about this sketch is that I can’t get that song out of my head.

Kendrick Lamar “Pay For It” Performance:

I thought this performance was just okay. The song was good but I still liked the first performance better than this performance.

Last Call:

I usually don’t like this sketch but out of all of the “Last Call” sketches I thought this was the best one out of all of them that have aired. I thought the use of the saran wrap was hilarious and I’m not sure if anybody noticed the sound effect delay but regardless, it was still funny. There were a lot of great quotes from this sketch, which included “I’m meeting a friend here tonight, Mr. Al K. Hall.” and “As long as you don’t mind taking a detour through STDetroit.” I really loved Kenan’s bartender character as he had some great reactions and quotes, such as “Moonlight come and me wanna go home.” and “Well, I gotta kill us all, I guess.” the latter as he doused the place with gasoline. I thought this was a great way to end the show.

Overall, I thought this was a good episode. I did feel that it was a little guy heavy as the female cast members were hardly in a majority of the sketches. I think a lot of that had to do with sketches being cut after the table read and after the dress rehearsal.

This has been my take on SNL hosted by Woody Harrelson and musical guest Kendrick Lamar. I’ll be back soon with a review of SNL hosted by Cameron Diaz and musical guests Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars. Please spread the word about the blog and subscribe to the blog. Also, follow the blog on Twitter @SNLblogger and on Instagram @snlblogger. I live tweet new episodes on the blog’s Twitter so feel free to join in on the conversation. Feel free to start your own conversations about episodes in the comments section but keep them clean. Also, please feel free to give me constructive criticism about the blog so I can improve the blog in any way.

Thanks for reading!

Lauren

Chris Rock/Prince November 1, 2014

Last week, there was a weirdly funny Halloween episode hosted by Jim Carrey with musical guest Iggy Azalea. To get in the Halloween spirit, as well as to celebrate the fortieth season of SNL, the anchors of Today dressed up as some iconic SNL characters. Willie Geist and Tamron Hall were the Spartan Cheerleaders, Natalie Morales was Mary Katherine Gallagher, Lester Holt and Al Roker were the Blues Brothers, Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb were Wayne and Garth from Wayne’s World; Savannah Guthrie, Jenna Bush Hager, and former anchor Meredith Vieira parodied the “Mom Jeans” commercial, and Matt Lauer was Pat along with a special guest appearance from Julia Sweeney dressed as her iconic character. The costumes were complete with a cold open featuring Kenan Thompson as Al Roker, a full SNL intro featuring the anchors, and the anchors acting out the iconic sketches dressed as their respective characters.

Some highlights from last week’s SNL episode include:

            -Jim Carrey dressed as a devil and Elvis hybrid called “Helvis”

            -Cast members did their best impressions of past Jim Carrey characters

            -A predictable yet fun cameo from Jeff Daniels

            -Kate and Jim dancing around the studio to Sia’s “Chandelier” both dressed as the dancer from the music video

For this week’s episode, I wasn’t expecting a lot from Chris Rock. I’m familiar with his style of comedy but not enough to know what he would do while hosting. That being said, I did expect for countless articles about specific sketches and Rock’s monologue causing a little bit of controversy.

Sketch Rundown:

Kelly File Cold Open:

Out of all the cold opens that have aired so far, this had to be one of the stronger cold opens. Cecily’s impression of Megyn Kelly was a great impression. One of the opening lines about how “Blacula was in fact white” was a great opener. Bobby’s Chris Christie was also a great impression with great jokes and one liners. Kate’s impression of Kaci Hickox was also really funny with a lot of great jokes and one liners.

Chris Rock Monologue:

Overall, I thought the monologue was funny, even though at first I felt a little uneasy about some of the jokes. Knowing that it was Chris Rock hosting, I knew some things he said would cause some controversy. That being said, I wasn’t surprised he pushed the envelope a little during his monologue. Rock did have a lot of great jokes in his monologue. Some of the memorable quotes included “no sacred days because we commercialize everything”, “these Toyotas are practically free at last, free at last”, “Madea’s Got a Dream”, and “no bling on Jesus”.

Vlog:

I thought this sketch was good but it wasn’t necessarily my favorite sketch. Chris Rock, though, was great in this sketch. Jay and Kyle were great in this sketch, too, along with Sasheer. This sketch was pretty relatable along the lines of trying to show one of my parents how to use something like YouTube.

GoProbe:

I thought this short was hilarious. The old-time footage of “your grandpa’s colonoscopy” was a great comedic touch. A parody like this does beg the question, is there anything a GoPro can’t do?

How’s He Doing?:

Out of all the times they’ve done this sketch, this one had to be my favorite. Since there are more African American cast members this season, this is a great way to use them in a sketch and to show off their talent. This sketch always has some great jokes and I can always get a laugh out of them.

Prince Performance:

I thought it was really cool to witness history with Prince’s uninterrupted, eight-minute-long performance. When Prince was transitioning from his first song to his second song, I didn’t notice at first that his guitar was unplugged. Overall, I’m not a huge fan of Prince but his set was good.

Weekend Update:

This week’s Weekend Update started off strong but some jokes fell flat on both parts. One of my favorite parts of Update was seeing Pete Davidson again. I’m really starting to like his segments on Update. One of my favorite jokes of the night was the last joke that was said by Colin Jost. The joke was about some kind of a dance ban in St. George, Utah and the joke was that Kevin Bacon was on it, in regards to the popular movie, Footloose. I wasn’t a fan of the very end of the Katt Williams and Suge Knight segment at the end. Overall, Weekend Update was good but it wasn’t my favorite.

Shark Tank:

I thought this sketch was a great sketch to show after Update. SNL took a really big risk with joking about ISIS but they really made the joke work. I thought this Shark Tank sketch was better than the Shark Tank sketch when Kevin Hart hosted back in season 38. I thought Homeland Security coming out at the end was funny. I watch Shark Tank a lot and the impressions of the investors were very on point. This was definitely one of my favorite sketches of the night.

Swiftamine:

As a huge fan of Taylor Swift, I absolutely loved this ad parody. This was definitely one of the best parodies I’ve seen in a long time. Leslie Jones was absolutely hilarious, as usual, especially at the end when she was dressed in a tutu. This ad parody shows that it is impossible to not love Taylor Swift.

The Couple:

Normally, I don’t like saying that I absolutely hate a sketch. This sketch, however, was so painful to watch. This is a sketch that was probably executed better during rehearsals. I don’t think anything could have saved this sketch. I did feel really bad for Leslie with the blocking flub. Even though the dress rehearsal version was released online instead of the live version, this sketch was still the weakest sketch of the night.

Bank Robbery:

If you read the blog regularly, then you would notice that I always say that the Good Neighbor shorts are not my favorite sketches. This one, however, I actually liked. This short made me wonder if all bank robberies would end this way. This sketch was funny and definitely took the comedic turn I wasn’t expecting. The little musical number at the end was a great touch. This sketch was one of the better sketches after Weekend Update as well as one of the better sketches during the entire show.

Women in the Workplace:

Honestly, I didn’t think this sketch would be a reoccurring sketch. This was the typical sketch to save for the end of the show. Although I love Kate and Cecily, this sketch was just okay. The only memorable line from this sketch was when Kate said to “put this diversity truck in reversity”.

Overall, this episode started out strong but fell flat halfway through the show. To me, it seemed like everyone was having an off week. Whether or not it had anything to do with all the controversy surrounding Michael Che and his comments about the catcalling video, I have no idea. Luckily, they have a week off before the next episode with host Woody Harrelson and musical guest Kendrick Lamar.

This has been my take on SNL hosted by Chris Rock and musical guest Prince. I’ll be back soon with a review of SNL hosted by Woody Harrelson and musical guest Kendrick Lamar. Please spread the word about the blog and subscribe to the blog. Also, follow the blog on Twitter @SNLblogger and on Instagram @snlblogger. I live tweet new episodes on the blog’s Twitter so feel free to join in on the conversation. Feel free to start your own conversations about episodes in the comments section but keep them clean. Also, please feel free to give me constructive criticism about the blog so I can improve the blog in any way.

Thanks for reading!

Lauren

Jim Carrey/Iggy Azalea October 25, 2014

Another week and another anticipated episode of Saturday Night Live. This most recent episode, with host Jim Carrey and musical guest Iggy Azalea, was anticipated episode due to the fact that this was Carrey’s third time hosting. After several appearances on Weekend Update and in sketches, writer Leslie Jones was also upgraded to a featured player the Monday before the episode. Two weeks ago, SNL alum Bill Hader made his hosting debut along with first time musical guest, Hozier. Some highlights from this episode include:

-         - The return of several of Hader’s beloved characters, such as Herb Welch and, of course, Stefon.

-          -A beautiful tribute to deceased former cast member, Jan Hooks.

-          -Former cast member Kristen Wiig made several appearances throughout the episode

-          -Hozier’s great musical debut on the show.

I didn’t have many expectations for this episode. I knew this would be a funny episode even though I’m not the biggest fan of Jim Carrey. This was definitely one of the stronger episodes of the season both in sketches and in the ratings.

                                                                                                                         

Show Rundown:

Ebola Czar Cold Open:

With Ebola constantly in the news, I wasn’t surprised this was the topic for the cold open. One thing I loved about the monologue was the jokes about past scandals during Obama’s presidency. Some of the quotes said during the monologue, both said by Taran Killam as the Ebola czar, included that “everything will be 100% cool as hell” and “Latinos in red states have immunity”. A few other memorable quotes came from Kenan Thompson as the Reverend Al Sharpton which were “Ebola Caesar” and “all of New York is contaminated all the time”. I thought this was a good cold open but it wasn’t a strong cold open.

Jim Carrey Monologue:

When Carrey first stepped onto the stage in his costume, I definitely thought it was strange despite this being the Halloween episode and that it’s Jim Carrey. Carrey states in his monologue that he likes Halloween because it’s “the one day a year I actually blend in”. His hybrid costume “Helvis” was a bit strange and I figured a musical number would be coming up. I loved the involvement of the band with their howling and the addition of the devil choir, as well as the “Helvis” marquis. Bobby and his facial expressions were also a great comedic touch to the number. My favorite line would have to be the last line of the monologue, “Helvis has left the building”. The musical number was very catchy and I still can’t get the song out of my head.

Lincoln Commercial 1:

When I first saw this ad parody, I thought it was an actual commercial due to the production quality and that Jim Carrey does a very convincing Matthew McConaughey. Out of the three commercial parodies, I thought this wasn’t the strongest one although it was pretty funny.

Carrey Family Reunion:

This sketch was one of the best sketches of the night. I loved how the cast poked fun at a lot of Jim Carrey’s past characters. Even though I haven’t seen a lot of Jim Carrey’s movies, the impressions were still hilarious. The Jeff Daniels cameo was expected because of the sequel to Dumb and Dumber but it was still a fun cameo. Pete Davidson jumping in at the end of the sketch as The Riddler was also very funny. This sketch was weird but a funny kind of weird.

Lincoln Commercial 2:

I thought this was better than the first commercial. The kids in the back seat were a great touch, especially with the line, “Whose kids are these?”

Graveyard Song:

This sketch was also a really strong sketch. Taran Killam and Jim Carrey as Paul and Phil was great, even though the joke might have dragged on a little too long. Bobby and Kenan definitely made the sketch when yelling at Paul and Phil. One of my favorite lines of the sketch was toward the end when Pete handed Phil a beer and Phil said that the “beer went right through me”. This sketch was one of my favorite sketches of the night.

Lincoln Commercial 3:

Out of all the commercials, this had to be my favorite one. I loved how it started out as an Allstate parody. Kenan getting hit and dragged by the car was a good transition into the Lincoln ad.

Iggy Azalea “Fancy/Black Widow” Performance:

I was pretty excited that Iggy Azalea was the musical guest since I like her music. I wasn’t surprised she would perform “Fancy” but I wasn’t expecting the medley of “Fancy” and “Black Widow”. Also seeing Rita Ora perform “Black Widow” along with Iggy wasn’t much of a surprise since her vocals are featured heavily in the song. I thought this was a good performance overall.

Weekend Update:

I thought this week’s Update was good but not as strong as the previous episode. I felt like some of the jokes on both parts fell flat. Jost seemed to do better this week even though he had a little bit of a flyaway hair problem that drove me a little crazy. I loved Vanessa Bayer’s romantic comedy character. The character was funny and Vanessa looked really pretty as this character, as she is beautiful without the costume, too. I loved the bit between Michael Che and Vanessa turning Update into a rom-com for a couple minutes. I loved getting to see Drunk Uncle again as he is one of my favorite Weekend Update characters. To see Drunk Uncle roll from Che to Jost was expected because of the character’s personality. I also love how this character is full of a ton of one-liners, like other Weekend Update characters.

Secret Billionaire:

This sketch seemed to be the typical sketch to show after Weekend Update. It was pretty weak and a little weird but with a few good jokes here and there. The best part about this sketch was the puppy in a suit.

Ghost Chasers:

I thought this sketch was awesome. It was so funny and perfect for the Halloween episode. No kidding, if this were real life I know I would be Leslie Jones’ character. This short was so funny with the right amount of creepy, especially with the dolls.

Zombie Apocalypse:

I thought this sketch was also weak with a few good jokes here and there. I felt like this was a mediocre parody of “The Walking Dead”. I did feel bad for Pete Davidson’s zombie character for being hit with a bat all the time, even if it was a prop and he wore a ton of padding.

Halloween Party:

First of all, it was good to see Kate and Aidy in a sketch again. Second of all, this was hands-down one of the best sketches of the night. Seeing Kate and Jim dance to Sia’s “Chandelier” dressed as the dancer in the music video was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. I loved seeing the entire studio being used and the fourth wall being broken. It was great to see cameos by both Iggy Azalea and Lorne. I was praying that Jim didn’t drop Kate while swinging her around. Aidy’s character in this sketch with her one-liners were a great comedic touch to this sketch.

Iggy Azalea “Beg For It” Performance:

I didn’t expect this song to be performed and I thought this performance was just okay. The other singer in this performance, Mø, was good but had the unfortunate downside of performing with technical difficulties.

Geoff’s Halloween Emporium:

I thought this sketch was funny but also a little weird, especially Jim Carrey’s character. Seeing both Cecily and Vanessa in this sketch looked like their former porn star characters moved to Wisconsin, donned the accent, and got jobs at a Halloween store. This sketch did seem like the kind of sketch that would be shown at the end of the show.

Overall, this episode was one of the strongest of the season both in content and in the ratings. There were several strong sketches throughout the episode and also a lot of good comedy. Since I’m not a big Jim Carrey fan I wasn’t expecting a lot from this episode. Luckily, Carrey was able to prove me wrong. I definitely enjoyed this episode more than I thought I would. In other SNL news, Taran Killam and his wife, actress Cobie Smulders, are expecting their second child! Congratulations to the couple on this wonderful news!

This has been my take on SNL hosted by Jim Carrey and musical guest Iggy Azalea. I’ll be back next week with a review of SNL hosted by former cast member Chris Rock and musical guest Prince. Please spread the word about the blog and subscribe to the blog. Also, follow the blog on Twitter @SNLblogger and on Instagram @snlblogger. I live tweet new episodes on the blog’s Twitter so feel free to join in on the conversation Feel free to start your own conversations about episodes in the comments section but keep them clean. Also, please feel free to give me constructive criticism about the blog so I can improve the blog in any way.

Thanks for reading!

Lauren

Bill Hader/Hozier October 11, 2014

We’ve reached the episode of Saturday Night Live I think everyone had been waiting for. Bill Hader came home to Studio 8H to host SNL with musical guest, Hozier. This episode also marks the 39^th anniversary of the premiere of Saturday Night Live. Last week, former cast member and writer Sarah Silverman came to host with musical guest, Maroon 5. Some highlights of last week included:

-          -A tribute sketch to the late Joan Rivers

-         - A sequel to The Fault in Our Stars about Ebola

-          -Current writer and former cast member Mike O’Brien appears in the “Whites” commercial, his first appearance since leaving the cast over the summer

-          -Cecily Strong, Sasheer Zamata, and Sarah Silverman as the “River Sisters”, which led to controversy with a troupe from The Groundlings claiming SNL stole their sketch

Although I said I enjoyed the episode, which I did enjoy the episode very much, I was really excited for Bill Hader to host because there would be a lot of his characters coming back. Although this episode didn’t do so great with the ratings, this episode was hands-down one of the best of season so far.

Show Rundown:

Kim Jong-Un Cold Open:

Although the topic was expected, this had to be one of the stronger cold opens of the season so far. I love Bobby’s Kim Jong-Un impression and he plays it really well. The tap dancing routine was also a nice touch. Some of my favorite quotes included: “The movie Space Jam is about me! We all know that!” and “I have the same haircut as Brad Pitt in the movie Fury!”

Bill Hader Monologue:

I thought Bill Hader gave a great monologue. He seemed excited to be back in Studio 8H and you could tell throughout the monologue. I loved how Hader joked that he wasn’t supposed to be on SNL because he “grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma like some idiot in a book.” It was nice to see Kristen Wiig in the monologue, even though it was expected due to their movie The Skeleton Twins being recently released. Harvey Fierstein was unexpected and I guess it had something to do with Bill Hader saying his singing voice sounded like Fierstein. Something else I thought was funny about Fierstein’s appearance is the way Kristen and Bill responded to his appearance. It sounded like something out of a Scooby-Doo episode. The song during the monologue was unexpected but I liked how Hader was being self-deprecating and the song went to the tune of the Journey song “Any Way You Want It”. One of the best parts of the monologue had to be when Bill mentioned to Kristen that she could do anything, though Kristen mentioned that she can’t play the saxophone but she can do everything else. Another good part was the mention of #HaderSinging and that it was already trending so Bill had to sing.

Herb Welch:

This has been one of my favorite Bill Hader impressions and I’m so glad they brought back this character. This sketch always seems to have the best one liners and I love seeing Herb Welch essentially hitting everything and everybody with his microphone. The sketch also features Pete Davidson, who was absent last episode due to his segment on Weekend Update being cut at dress, and he seemed like he was very happy to be in the sketch. I was so glad they brought back this character and this was a great sketch.

The Group Hopper Short:

As a fan of Young Adult fiction novels, this short was one of my favorites. I thought it was a good move in using Pete Davidson in this short and it was a perfect blend of the Young Adult novels. I also thought Bill Hader as an Effie Trinket kind of character was hilarious. This trailer showed that the movie is from “the director of Maze Runner, the producer of Divergent, and a casual fan of The Giver” and “adapted from a YA novel written entirely in the comments section of a Hunger Games trailer.” If this was an actual movie, I would totally go see it.

Hollywood Game Night:

It’s about time they had a Hollywood Game Night sketch, especially since Kate McKinnon does a scary accurate impression of Jane Lynch. I loved seeing Kristen Wiig’s impression of Kathie Lee Gifford return and everyone else’s impressions seemed to be on point. I thought it was good that they used actual games from the show even though the show does air on NBC. Some even say that this may be the new “Celebrity Jeopardy!” Overall, I hope this sketch is a recurring sketch.

39 Cents Short:

When I first watched this short, I actually thought it was a real PSA since the production quality was so good. I thought it was funny how the villagers wanted more money and how they couldn’t do the math in their heads since Charles Daniels was asking for thirty-nine cents and not a dollar. I thought adding Leslie Jones for this short was good since she added a lot of humor to this short. I loved at the end they told people to send two hundred dollars in cash if anyone ever wanted to see Charles Daniels alive. I thought this short was one of the stronger ones I’ve seen.

Jan Hooks Tribute:

It’s always sad when someone affiliated with the show passes away, especially when they’re so young. If anyone reading hasn’t heard already, former cast member Jan Hooks passed away on October 9, 2014 supposedly of cancer, though no details of that were made official. Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig introduced the sketch “Love is a Dream” from 1988 which costarred fellow deceased cast member Phil Hartman. It was very emotional to watch this sketch with the two former cast members who died way too soon. I wasn’t familiar with Jan Hooks but regardless it was a beautiful tribute.

Hozier “Take Me to Church” Performance:

I had never heard of Hozier before it was announced that he would be the musical guest for this episode. Needless to say, I was very impressed with his performance on the show. This song was so beautiful and Hozier’s vocals were very entrancing. Overall, it was a great performance.

Weekend Update:

One thing I noticed within the first few moments of Update was that Colin did a much better job this week. I was laughing at his jokes and was thinking, “Wait, is Jost actually making me laugh?” I felt that this season Jost is finding his own voice and not trying to come off as a Seth Meyers wannabe. Michael Che was also great and seemed to be more comfortable at the desk. Pete Davidson was back at the desk doing a commentary piece on rap music and gold chains. I’ve been becoming a fan of Pete Davidson since he appeared on SNL and I feel like he’s really proving himself and proving that he belongs on SNL. Stefon, one of my favorite Update characters, made his triumphant return to the desk. I loved his reaction to seeing Colin and Michael at the desk with asking “How long have I been on anesthesia?” Also Stefon saying both “Hmm, one of each” and “Barack, Mitt” to the anchors was absolutely perfect. It was a little weird seeing Stefon without Seth but it was still just as funny. Stefon was able to talk about New New York’s hottest clubs, which included clubs like “Whimsy” and “Jan’s New Backpack”. The way that Bill kept breaking when saying Dan Cortese while talking about all the clubs proves that John Mulaney, the former SNL writer who co-created Stefon with Hader, is an absolute genius.

Puppet Class:

To be honest, I didn’t expect this sketch would become recurring. I did like the sketch and I thought it was funny. I loved how Taran laughed at just about everything his puppet was saying. I also loved the joke about Bobby’s puppet being a hippie without any hair. I felt the jokes in this sketch were very funny and on point.

Inside SoCal:

I’ve stated in previous posts that I’m not a huge fan of the Good Neighbor sketches but I happened to like this one. The first time “Inside SoCal” appeared was last season when Jonah Hill hosted. I liked this one better than the first because I felt more cast members were used in this short. I’m still not a big fan of these sketches but this sketch shows promise that I can actually appreciate these sketches more than I do now.

Hozier “Angel of Small Death & the Codiene Scene” Performance:

After watching both of Hozier’s performances, I have become a fan of him and his music. I fell in love with his voice and his performing style. I also thought it was cool to see Kristen introduce his second performance.

Cat in the Hat:

The “Cat in the Hat” sketch was one of my favorite sketches of the night. This sketch was a strong sketch and wasn’t the typical sketch that would be saved for the end of the show. It certainly was a topic that was unexpected. I loved the plot twist of the Cat and Cecily’s character, Linda, were previously in a relationship and that Aidy’s character was the daughter of the Cat and not Linda’s husband Thing 2 a.k.a. Johnathing. One of my favorite quotes from the sketch was the last line which was “And oh, the places she let me go.” A part of my childhood took a deep and dark left turn after watching this sketch.

Overall, this episode will go down as being one of the best of the season. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard all the way through an episode. There wasn’t really a weak sketch during the episode, which is always a good thing. I loved during the goodnights how Bill was emotional about coming home to SNL. Bill Hader definitely needs to come back and host. This is definitely one of my favorite episodes of the season and of SNL as a whole. To paraphrase the words of Stefon, this episode had everything.

That’s been my take on SNL hosted by beloved former cast member Bill Hader and musical guest Hozier. SNL’s taking a week off but they’ll be back October 25^th with a new episode with host Jim Carrey and musical guest Iggy Azalea. Please spread the word about the blog and subscribe to the blog. Also, follow the blog on Twitter @SNLblogger and on Instagram @snlblogger. I live tweet new episodes on the blog’s Twitter so feel free to join in on the conversation Feel free to start your own conversations about episodes in the comments section but keep them clean. Also, please feel free to give me constructive criticism about the blog so I can improve the blog in any way.

Thanks for reading!

Lauren