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

"River Sisters" Sketch Controversy

So if you watched the most recent episode of Saturday Night Live, you may have seen a sketch that aired after Weekend Update about a group of Tina Turner impersonators performing on a river boat. SNL is now coming under fire with claims from a comedy troupe from the Groundlings, a popular theatre and comedy school in Los Angeles, that the show ripped off their sketch. I stated in my last post that the “River Sisters” sketch was a favorite of mine and I still stand by my opinion despite the plagiarism allegations. While writing this post, however, I’m trying to keep my SNL bias out of this post and focus on the similarities and differences between the two sketches. I’ve read just about every article that talks about the controversy and I’ve also watched both sketches a number of times. I’ve come to the conclusion that the only thing people are concerned about is that the concept of both sketches are similar, the costumes are very similar and the same song is used in both sketches. The jokes are different and the length of the sketches are different. The only thing I would accuse these sketches of doing is causing “Proud Mary” to be stuck in my head all day. SNL’s focused more on the production while The Groundlings focused, I think, more on the voices of the characters more than anything.

I did notice that some of the facts were different throughout all the articles. For example, the time period when the comedy troupe performed the sketch in question. Some articles said this sketch was performed over the summer while other articles said this sketch was performed in September. Something else I thought was sketchy (pun intended) was that the comediennes and their teacher at The Groundlings posted about the sketch one to two days after the episode aired. Regardless of whether or not they watched the episode in real time, this makes them look like they want their fifteen minutes of fame. Ian Gary, a teacher at The Groundlings, has stated in several interviews that he likes SNL but states that they’re always stealing jokes and sketches from other comedians. Gary also states that this “isn't an attack on SNL.” I think if you’re going to make a big deal out of the show allegedly ripping off a sketch done by a couple of your students, you pretty much are attacking the show. Though most of the articles I’ve read have pointed the finger at SNL, I want to know why both groups wanted to do this kind of sketch in the first place. I do want to hear SNL’s side of the story and how the idea for this sketch was pitched.

Overall, I think this controversy was blown a little out of proportion. I think that everyone’s making a big deal over nothing. Sketch ideas are going to be recycled over and over again and this group at The Groundlings wasn’t the first group to do this kind of sketch. This kind of sketch has probably been performed by other comedians at other theatres like iO, UCB, and Second City. SNL also did a sketch like this about twenty years ago when Jan Hooks and Nora Dunn played their characters, jazz singers the Sweeney Sisters. Regarding the sketch in question, SNL did not copy the sketch word for word. The two sketches were similar and there’s no denying that fact. If SNL did completely rip off the sketch word for word, then that would be a different story. In my opinion, I think this was pure coincidence and I don’t think anybody at SNL would deliberately steal material from another comedian.

I’ve included links to both sketches. What do you think of the controversy? Is SNL guilty of plagiarism? Not guilty? You can be the judge of that.

SNL:

http://telly.com/1OVN1DB

The Groundlings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kITXNxLSAOg#t=174

Thanks for reading!

Lauren

Sarah Silverman/Maroon 5 October 4, 2014

Hey readers and fellow SNL fans!

We’re one episode into the new season and it’s off to a decent start. Last week, the season started off with first time host Chris Pratt and first time musical guest Ariana Grande. Some memorable moments from last week include:

·         1) The return of Cecily Strong’s popular Weekend Update character “The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party.”

·         2) The NFL scandals being a popular target with both a sketch and the cold open.

·         3) Pete Davidson and Michael Che making their SNL debuts.

This week, SNL included first time host and former cast member and writer Sarah Silverman and fifth time musical guest Maroon 5. I knew this episode would be funny but I didn’t know what to expect since I’m not familiar with Sarah Silverman’s comedic work. Needless to say, I was impressed with what I saw Saturday night.

Show Rundown

60 Minutes Cold Open:

The cold open this week was pretty good as it seemed to accurately portray the current situation with President Obama. I had a feeling the cold open would either be about ISIS, Ebola, or the White House security breech. It was a good cold open but I don’t think it was a very strong cold open.

Sarah Silverman Monologue:

As I mentioned before I know who Sarah Silverman is but I’m not familiar with her brand of comedy. That being said, I thought her monologue was funny. I loved how she was a little self-deprecating when talking about some of her jokes being censored. I think she definitely “kept it real” when she sat on the lap of an audience member. I thought when Silverman did the Q & A with old footage of when she was on the show was a nice touch. It was almost as if she was trying to pay tribute to what she used to do as a writer and featured player by asking fake questions to the host. Overall, Sarah Silverman had a great monologue.

The Fault in Our Stars Trailer:

Like every other person, I’ve read The Fault in Our Stars and loved the book. I’m working on seeing the movie. I thought this parody trailer was one of the funniest pre-taped segments I’ve seen on the show so far. I think having Sarah’s character be diagnosed with Ebola was a great comedic touch and was a little unexpected. Taran Killam’s performance as an Augustus Waters kind of character was amazing. His dramatic performance was so beautiful it almost had me in tears. Also, the part in the trailer where he was dressed in the haz-mat suit and mask when he and Sarah Silverman’s character were about to have sex was one of the funniest moments of the trailer. Since I love the storyline of The Fault in Our Stars, this had to be one of my favorite sketches of the night.

Joan Rivers in Heaven:

This sketch was one I felt was unexpected but was bound to happen eventually. It was really daring because it felt almost too soon since Joan Rivers passed away. I thought Sarah Silverman did a great impression of Rivers and I felt Silverman really captured her personality. After watching the sketch a few times, I think Silverman was a little nervous about impersonating Rivers since Rivers was one of her greatest mentors. I think this sketch could’ve gone a lot worse if a person who didn’t know Rivers were to play her. This sketch, along with the picture shown at the end of the sketch, made for a great tribute to one of the greatest legends in comedy. Also, Adam Levine playing Freddie Mercury was a great addition to the sketch.

Whites Commercial:

I felt like this pre-taped bit accurately portrayed the white dominance that goes on today. Mike O’Brien makes his first appearance since going back to the writer’s room after last season, which was an awesome surprise. This short wasn’t my favorite but it wasn’t terrible either.

Forgotten TV Gems:

I feel this sketch accurately portrayed what soap operas would be like if the women weren’t always backstabbing and bitchslapping everybody left and right. It was funny but it was a weird kind of funny. Also, Kenan’s performance as Reese De’What was probably one of my favorite parts of the sketch. 

Maroon 5 “Animals” Performance:

I’m a big Maroon 5 fan but I’m not a big fan of this song since it basically promotes stalking. Regardless, it was a good performance. I figured they would play this song since “Animals” is one of their newer singles and the music video for this song was recently released.

Weekend Update:

I thought this week’s installment of Weekend Update was better than last week’s, thought nothing can top the return of “The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party” last week. Michael Che seemed to be a little more comfortable at the desk despite a few line flubs, which can happen to anyone. Colin Jost’s performance was better than last week, though there’s always room for improvement. Although I’m loving Michael Che, it’s still tough for me to get used to not seeing Cecily at the desk but I can’t wait to see if she brings new characters to the Update desk. Kenan always does a great impression of the Reverend Al Sharpton though one line in particular made me think of one of his past characters. When Kenan as Al Sharpton asked Colin if his name was Kevin or Colin, it reminded me of Colin’s Update debut when Kenan appeared as Charles Barkley, along with Jay Pharoh’s Shaquille O’Neal, and asked about the pronunciation of Colin’s name. Though I said that I liked this Update better, I still think I’ve never face-palmed myself as much as I did this week. This has to do with Colin Jost asking Michael Che what he could and couldn’t say. I agree with Che that Jost completely ruined the word “cray-cray” for everyone. This proves that Michael Che can say just about anything and Colin Jost can say almost anything and ruin it for everybody. The last guests at the desk for the night were Kate McKinnon and Sarah Silverman as the feminist girl group “Garage and Her,” respectively, and their song that proves just about anything can be a woman. These characters seemed like the opposite version of Fred Armisen and Kristen Wiig’s group, “Garth and Kat,” and we were able to see Kate’s musical abilities expanded with these characters. If this were a real group, I would buy their CDs and go to their shows.

River Cruise:

This easily had to be one of my favorite sketches of the night. In my opinion, sketches like these prove that the women of SNL can do anything and everything. This sketch also proves that there should be more musical sketches and it’s a great way to combine music and comedy. I mean, what song other than “Proud Mary” would be perfect for the girls wearing Tina Turner-style wigs and dresses? Sarah, Sasheer, Cecily, and Kenan all did a great job with this sketch.

Stuck in Traffic:

Along with the River Cruise sketch, this sketch was another one of my favorite sketches of the night. The sketch included the second Adam Levine cameo of the night. The sketch also included this advice: if you travel, don’t cheat on your boyfriend because he might be in the back of your brother’s car with an engagement ring and your parents, which is the most awkward situation when you’re stuck in a traffic jam. This sketch also proves that pizza can make anything better and Adam Levine can do nothing wrong.

Poem:

Like I stated last week, the “Good Neighbor” shorts aren't exactly my favorite. While watching this short, you almost feel bad for Kyle’s character when he’s shoved around and hit by a car while inside a trash can. Again, these shorts aren’t my favorite and this short was just okay.

Maroon 5 “Maps” Performance:

Out of both performances, “Maps” had to be my favorite performance of the night. I thought Maroon 5 would’ve performed this song first since “Maps” has had a lot of radio play and they would’ve chose a newer song during the second half of the show. Regarding the song, I like how Maroon 5 performs this song live by starting off slow and then going full tempo until the end of the song. It’s almost as if they are trying to distance themselves from playing the exact recording live. I loved this performance by Maroon 5 and I would love to see them on the show again.

Vitamix:

I felt that this sketch was the type of sketch that was saved for the end of the show. I think if they were trying to make an infomercial out of the sketch, it should’ve been done as a pre-taped bit.

Overall, I thought this episode was a lot better than last week. This episode proves that Sarah Silverman should host more often and it’s surprising that this was her first time hosting. Also, I was able to hear Darrell Hammond better during the opening. I think nerves might have gotten to him last week since he wasn’t impersonating Don Pardo and he was doing the opening as himself. One thing about this episode that surprise me but also didn’t surprise me was not seeing Pete Davidson in a single sketch. I know that new cast members aren’t featured in a majority of the sketches but I’m thinking he was most likely in a sketch that got cut for time at dress rehearsal.

This has been my take on SNL hosted by Sarah Silverman with musical guest Maroon 5. I’ll be back next week with a review of what will probably become my favorite episode of the season. Next week’s episode will be hosted by SNL alum Bill Hader with musical guest Hozier. Please subscribe to the blog and tell everyone you know about the blog. Also, follow the blog on Twitter @SNLblogger and on Instagram @snlblogger. Also, feel free to leave comments in the comments section and try to keep them clean. Again, please feel free to leave me some constructive criticism so I can make the blog more enjoyable.

Thanks for reading!

Lauren