We have reached the second to last show of
December and the second to last show of 2014. Last week was host James Franco
and musical guest Nicki Minaj. This episode was a good episode, both in content
and in ratings. I didn’t have high expectations for this episode since I’m not
a huge fan of either Franco or Minaj. I’ll admit that I actually did like this
episode.
Some highlights from the last episode
include:
-Many
jokes and sketches about the events in Ferguson and New York.
-A
sketch parodying the live event Peter
Pan: Live.
-Another
great video short from Mike O’Brien.
-A
cut for time sketch parodying a St. Louis news station after the events in
Ferguson which should have been aired.
This week’s host is Martin Freeman and the
musical guest is Charli XCX. I didn’t know what to expect from Freeman since I
wasn’t familiar with him and I haven’t seen any of The Hobbit movies or the British version of The Office. After watching this episode, I was pleasantly surprised
with his performance on the show and thought he did a great job. I was more
familiar with Charli XCX because of her song “Boom Clap” and because she is
featured on the Iggy Azalea song “Fancy”. I also ended up liking both of her performances
as well.
Sketch
Rundown:
Charlie
Rose Cold Open:
I was surprised they used “Charlie Rose”
as the cold open since many viewers may not be familiar with the show but
Taran’s impression was very good. I thought Bobby and Kyle were great as the
psychologists and had some great quotes. Some of my favorite quotes from the
cold open were “There’s no ‘I’ in torture,” “We invented one man shows,” and
“It sure ducking was!” Overall, I really liked this cold open and felt it was a
pretty strong cold open.
Martin
Freeman Monologue:
As I mentioned before, I didn’t know what
to expect with Martin Freeman’s monologue since I wasn’t familiar with him
before this episode. I loved how he started his monologue by saying “I’m sort
of like a funny George Clooney.” I thought that was a good way to start off his
monologue for people who aren’t familiar with him. I loved how he joked about
all British people knowing each other and this brought out Kate’s impression of
Maggie Smith and Taran’s impression of Alan Rickman, both of which were good
impressions. I loved how Martin Freeman closed out his monologue by saying “My
name is Martin Freeman, unless I embarrass myself, in which my name is Colin
Firth.” I was very impressed with Freeman’s monologue and would consider his
monologue one of my favorites this season.
Sump’n
Claus:
I thought this sketch was great. The song
was catchy and I couldn’t get it out of my head. I thought it was funny how
people like Justin Bieber, Paula Deen, Donald Sterling, and Suge Knight were
“getting’ sump’n.” I loved the inclusion of the back story of Sump’n Claus. At
the end of the sketch, I loved at the end how Sump’n Claus said that Kevin
Bacon was “gettin’ sump’n” leading Sasheer to ask “What’s wrong with Kevin
Bacon?” I loved the response “Nothing. He’s just my homie.” I loved this sketch
and this was one of my favorite sketches of the night.
Wedding
Objections:
I thought this sketch was great and was
perfectly placed in the first half of the show. I thought the pairing of Leslie
and Freeman was hilarious. The line of people with objections forming was also
a great comedic touch as was Freeman’s character’s wife in the congregation.
This sketch was hilarious and full of great quotes, including “You met him five
days ago at a combination Taco Bell/Pizza Hut,” “He just adopted the Wu Tang
Clan,” “The best analogy would be a late stage Jenga tower,” “Jenga!,” “$5000
split among us,” “Daddy needs his chocolate,” “I don’t know these people,” and
“Get in there and SHUT. IT. DOWN.” Leslie breaking after the latter quote was
understandable because Kate was so funny in this sketch. This was one of my
favorite sketches of the night.
The
Office: Middle Earth:
Even though I’ve never seen any of The Hobbit movies or the UK version of The Office, I still found this sketch
hilarious. Everybody was hilarious in this sketch. I especially loved Taran in
this sketch, specifically his movement and his voice. For some reason, the
voice for Taran’s character reminded me of an old behind the scenes video SNL did last season with John Milhiser*
(Remember him? No joke, I’m probably the only person who misses him on the
show. He didn’t get much of a chance to break out since last season’s cast was
huge!). Some of my favorite quotes from this sketch were “That was nasty
tricksies,” “Everybody! They’ve breeched the wall!” and “Thou shall not
pass…gas!” After watching this sketch, I actually want to start watching the UK
version of The Office and The Hobbit movies.
Right
Side of the Bed:
This sketch wasn’t one of my favorites.
One thing I noticed in this sketch was the great chemistry between Taran and
Cecily. I mean, the sketch started off good but the joke was becoming redundant
despite putting Aidy in the middle of the sketch. However, I did love Kate
impression of Keith Urban and thought it was one of the best parts of the
sketch. Overall, I thought this sketch was just okay though it did have some
high points.
Church:
I thought this sketch was great and it was
completely relatable. I really wish that churches would advertise their
Christmas masses and services like this. I’m pretty sure the attendance would
increase. I loved the part where it went “Hear all forty-four verses of ‘O Come
All Ye Faithful’! We’re not skipping the Latin verses this mass!” I loved
Leslie’s line “Hey, is this song still about Jesus?” This sketch was really
funny and I absolutely loved it.
Charli
XCX “Boom Clap” Performance:
This is the only Charli XCX song that I
know and like and I figured she would perform this song. I thought this
performance was good despite not being able to understand her during parts of
the song.
Weekend
Update:
For this week’s Weekend Update, I thought it had a strong and decent start. I
thought it was cool to see Sasheer do a bit on Weekend Update. I think it’s safe to say everyone knows Sasheer
needs some more screen time and she’s a little bit underused. I loved her line
“They do have a KKK member that got punched in the face.” This bit proves that
Sasheer should be on Update more
often. I loved Colin’s punch line “I’m going 200 feet from Disney World!” I
thought it was great that Cecily has another Update character, especially since I miss her at the desk. When I
saw the character’s name, I thought it was funny how both of Cecily’s Update characters have really long
names. There’s “The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation with at a
Party” and now there’s “The One-Dimensional Female Character from a Male-Driven
Comedy.” Playing this type of character really shows Cecily’s impressive range
on the show. I loved the joke Colin had that showed his yearbook photo during
the punch line. I actually laughed really hard when his yearbook photo came up
on the screen and I do feel really bad about it though. I know I have some
yearbook photos I’m not especially proud of. I thought it was great they
brought back “Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy” since I love that character. As much
as I love the character, I didn’t necessarily like the interaction between
Jacob and Michael Che. I think it would’ve been better if Colin would’ve
interviewed Jacob and they would’ve given one of the other guests to Che. Overall,
I really enjoyed this Update and I
think the chemistry between Jost and Che is getting better and better from the
first episode.
Assembly
Line:
I thought this was the typical sketch
saved for after Update. This is the
kind of sketch, I feel, was funnier during the table read. I didn’t really get
the sketch until the end when the blue light came on, which was the joke of the
sketch. It felt like the sketch was trying to be like a more modern version of “Who’s
on First?” This sketch was okay as it wasn’t really my favorite sketch.
Christmas
Concert:
This was another sketch where I felt it
was just okay. Kenan’s character in the sketch kind of reminded me of “What’s Up
With That?” Also, the way Kenan said “red boots” reminded me of Maya Rudolph
and how it sounded like the way she would say the phrase. To me, the best part
of the sketch was Taran’s character. I loved the facial expressions he made and
how he was doing high kicks in the red boots. I thought Taran’s dancing was the
highlight of the night. This sketch was another sketch that wasn’t a favorite
of mine.
Charli
XCX “Break the Rules” Performance:
I thought this was a good performance even
though I wasn’t as familiar with this song. I think I might have heard it once
on an award show as a medley with “Boom Clap”. Again, I liked the performance
and the song was very catchy.
Waterbed
Warehouse:
I usually don’t like the sketches at the
end of the night but it depends on the sketch. I really did end up liking this
sketch. Aidy’s character was the best part of the sketch. I loved the huge cut
out of Aidy’s face as well as her face on the bed sheets. I thought her
character as the mascot of the store was great. I liked this sketch so much
that it made me think about wanting to buy a waterbed. I thought this sketch
was really funny and a great way to close out the show.
Overall, I thought this was a strong
episode. Like I said before, I was really impressed with Martin Freeman’s performance
for this episode. Freeman is one of the hosts from this season that I wouldn’t
mind seeing host again in the future.
This has been my take on SNL hosted by
Martin Freeman with musical guest Charli XCX. I’ll be back soon with a review
of the Christmas episode of SNL hosted by Amy Adams with musical guest One
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Thanks for reading!
Lauren
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