Okay, here’s my review. This show was seriously lacking, but
had some saving graces here and there which kept it from being the absolute
worst of the season. That honor still belongs to Mr. Renner. Assessing Levine
as a host, I have to say he wasn’t as stiff or as out of his element as one
would expect (or as other recent hosts were) but it's kind of hard to critique
his performance since he was just kind of been blending into supporting roles
and then just blatantly played himself in two other sketches where he was
completely stiff and was glued to the cue cards. For all this show's
weaknesses, I still say it was more enjoyable than last week with Jennifer
Lawrence. It was also good to see plenty of Hader, Sudekis, Moynihan, Kilam,
featured players and ZERO Armisen for once. Anyway, let’s get right on with it.
Inauguration Night - This opening felt like it went nowhere,
but Kenan had some good lines and did fine with the MLK impression. C-
Monologue - This was a little more fun than I expected it to
be. Seeing Samberg again midseason was nice. The Cameron Diaz and Jerry
Seinfeld cameos (hell, I honestly would’ve preferred an actual Aguilera
appearance) felt too tacked on, but Seinfeld had some good lines about when to
use your Jewishness. Cameron was actually on to something with her speech
though as I felt Levine didn’t take nearly enough advantage of the
opportunities presented to poke fun at his own image and it might have made him
more likable if he had. Also, the gag of Levine removing his shirt even though
Seinfeld told him not to was kind of ruined since we could clearly hear his
Velcro suit being torn off. I’m surprised they didn’t fix that online. B+
Rosetta Stone - This commercial felt like something I read
about getting cut from dress weeks ago, but it was really funny. Hader and
Kilam we're especially funny in it. I'm sure Hader was purposely channeling
John Mark Karr from 06-07. I also liked Robinson having his identity hidden by
a voice changer and pixilation. C+
Just for fun, I’d like to share verbatim another comment
posted on the nbc.com clip of this sketch.
“Dear SNLI have been a
viewer for several decades. I had to turn off the tv in total disgust last
night after your "Rosetta Stone" skit. It was the most
disgusting and vile skit ever! Shame on you--fire your writers!!!SincerelyTobi
Toenz”
Circle Work – During the commercial, I thought they were
setting up either "Kalle" or that entertainment show sketch Wiig and
Hader used to do. Then, I realized it's reasonably unlikely that they'd give us
two Wiig cameos within five weeks of each other. So, I guess a brand new sketch
is preferable over something recurring that didn't go over the first time. The
least I can say about this sketch is that it was interesting. I liked how
Levine was underplaying it just a bit. For a beyond tired SNL trope, this had
some genuinely funny lines. I chuckled at the "beard/decoy babies"
lines. C+
The Sopranos Diaries - This was another funny premise, even
if it went on too long. Hader, Moynihan and McKinnon were especially funny in
this. I especially laughed at Moynihan beating up Robinson's principal
character a library book as well as all the fake bad reviews. Also, a couple of
people took to Artie Lange’s Twitter to inform him that this sketch was a
ripoff of his old “Casino Man” sketch from MAD TV in which he played Joe Pesci
to David Herman’s Pauly Shore in an “Encino Man” parody. Personally, I see very
little resemblance but here is the sketch for comparison purposes. B-
Firehouse Incident - I still don't quite know what to make
of this fireman sketch. It is a little odd that they'd put two seemingly gay
themed sketches that both prominently feature turned up collars on either side
of a filmed interstitial, but Moynihan and especially Hader made me laugh
hysterically in this even if it went on far too long and Hader pretty much
milked it dry. This kind of performance from Hader is more suited to a walk on
or a brief reaction shot. Also, Nasim's dress was a highlight. Still, this
sketch doesn’t hold up on repeat viewings especially since some commenter on hulu
said Hader’s performance was too reminiscent of an autistic student. That was
kind of a bummer. Also, why did they get a cheap soundalike version of the song
“Scream and Shout” by will.i.am and Britney Spears instead of just the real
song for Hader to dance to? C+
Digital Short: YOLO - I was worried about the possibility of
a Lonely Island Music Video Digital Short based entirely around the beyond
tired and played out "YOLO" catchphrase (especially since everyone
seems to like the stylistically different direction the short films have taken
in their absence) but I will say the surreal silliness of this worked for me. I
also liked the Danny McBride cameo but I'm surprised it didn't get a bigger
audience reaction. Kendrick Lamar's cameo was also a nice touch and I liked his
live performance. I know TLI kind of overdid the whole white boy rap thing, but
it's nice to see them return to their roots with this one. B-
Update is on a bit of a downward slope. Seth's jokes were
middling. Nassim's Huffington commentary was alright, but her last one was
better. Kenan's Ray Lewis was all over the place. C-
Bar Rumble - This sketch felt at first like it was going to
be a decent premise that was executed poorly and then fell apart until Bill and
Jason showed up. Even Kenan as Darius Rucker was funny but Jordan Peele did a
better impression. Taran was also funny as the lead singer of Train. It is a
little disappointing that Levine's first actual part in a sketch was him
playing himself and even more disappointing to see his timing off and him being
glued to the cue cards. Thankfully, they knew just where to end this sketch
before it got dragged out too long. Also, did Adam seriously get his bandmates
to play extras with no lines in this sketch or were they actual extras? No,
that would be pointless. C+
Catfish: The TV Show - I'm glad this didn't revolve around
Manti Te'o. That would've been far too obvious. Instead we got a more or less
pointed satire of the show even if it didn't seem like it required a ton of
effort on the writer's part. Levine was just okay as the host. He seemed to be
pulling off a decent impression even if he was still stuck on the cue cards and
I couldn't help but wonder who else in the cast could've played his role better
(probably Jason or Bill). It was also good to see Aidy get another lead role.
She and Jay were very good here. I also liked the Photoshopped Brian Williams
picture. C+
Janet II – This Moynihan character was another thing I
really thought we would never see again. It was pretty much the same script as
last time, but at least they changed a few minor things about it. Even though
Bobby has stepped up as a performer lately, he still couldn't breathe much life
into this particular character. I did chuckle at the ending when Bobby got
trapped between the wall and fold out bed and Bobby’s snowman joke. I also
liked how Bobby referenced the Tom Brady sketch from the Channing Tatum episode,
but that was another horrible episode that deserves to be forgotten. D+
Biden Bash - This was okay. It was a decent way to end the
show. Even though Jason's Joe Biden is always entertaining, it felt like he was
just coasting on weak material here (which seemed to be a recurring theme
throughout the night). Still, I did chuckle at his channeling "Macho
Man" Randy Savage. C+
Well, that was somewhat disappointing. Justin Beiber will be
hosting in two weeks and what HASN’T been said about that that still needs to
be said? I’m not really looking forward to it. See ya!
No comments:
Post a Comment