Andy Samberg/St. Vincent (5.17.2014)

Okay, here’s my review. The only real difference between this episode and the previous two were how consistent the performers were. Samberg bought some much needed goofy and fun energy that he’s so well known for back to his old stomping grounds but unfortunately, he couldn’t have done without better writing and less reliance on gratuitous cameos and old recurring features. Most of the newer cast was shoved onto the back burner in favor of Samberg’s old cast mates stopping by, but I guess that was to be expected. Anyway, let’s get on with the show.

Message From Jay-Z and Solange - This cold open was decent. I've seen more clever takes on the Solange incident, but this was good for current SNL standards. Jay does a great Hova and Sasheer turned in a fine performance here. Kenan as the bodyguard was funny at first, but got kinda old. Still, I did like the brief laughing/coughing bit and I liked Jay’s slam at Beyonces’ “sexually aggressive” music. The spider audio and footage of Bobby as the security guard were the true highlights of this. Maya's cameo was inevitable, but it could've been worse. Still, I think they could've shortened it just a tad. Hell, it almost seemed like they saw this board, read the posts from some of Maya's true haters and wrote her part just to piss us/them/you guys off. Oh well, I didn't mind it that much. C+

Monologue -This was surprisingly fun. The "6 live sketches" line was a joke he repeated last year that I saw coming a mile away, but I liked his other self-deprecating Golden Globes bits. The Timberlake photo was also a nice touch. Seth's cameo felt unnecessary, but he and "Sambags" are best buds after all. The impression off was quite fun and I loved the rapid fire energy of it. I especially laughed at the Teller/Bin Laden impressions. His Seth Meyers impression was terribly inaccurate and his Zooey Deschanel sounded more like Kermit the Frog, but the rest were good. Bill's cameo was great, too. Short's cameo was nice but felt a little tacked on. B+

Camp Wicwabe - This bit was cute, but felt like it ran a little too long. Kate, Aidy and Cecily turned in fine performances. I did like the brief Simpsons/assbutt reference. Kyles brief appearance was okay. Samberg was the true highlight of this. I laughed at his line about his only pube and the condom thing. Since nothing else stood out to me about this, I guess the most generous way I can assess this sketch is that in an era when SNL is constantly being criticized for being juvenile, it's nice to see something that's at least endearingly juvenile on purpose. Also, what exactly was the point to this sketch being set in 1990? C+

Digital Short: When Will The Bass Drop? - This was nice in that it was something that we weren't totally all expecting. I did like how they poked fun at the annoying dubstep/EDM craze that's sweeping the nation and all the brief Zucker-esque sight gags were fun. Even though it started to give me flashbacks to "Everyone's A Critic" in '08 (especially the Indiana Jones reference) but anything with that many headsplosions is automatically a guilty pleasure of mine. C+

Confident Hunchback - This seemed tailor made for Samberg. Still, I think he underperformed it somewhat. He had some good lines though and the ladies played well off him. C-

Update went out on a relative high note compared to most of the rest of this season. The jokes were nothing to write home about. I did like Cecily's Long Island sleeves joke but Jost's delivery of his Worried Feet/birthing twins jokes probably did theabsolute least to help his image. I'm glad they let Kyle bring back Bruce Chandling after it got cut last week. It is kind of an odd coincidence that this character has now appeared in both the premiere AND finale of this season which were BOTH hosted by former cast members. I liked how increasingly bizarre and then dark his jokes got. I'm also glad they bought back "Get In The Cage" because I've always liked Samberg's Nic Cage. Andy had several great lines (and great hair/makeup work as well) here including Never On Demand/tebagging the Magna Carta and his jabs at Colin. Rudd played off him well and I loved the puns Andy made on his name. C+

Vogelchecks VI - I really don't think we needed to see this again. At least this time the kissing wasn't as gratuitous as the applause. The kissing was actually just silly and funny even if most of it was based around rather tired and predictable gags. The Micheal Sam angle being worked into this was also a little lame and forced, but it led to some decent lines and exchanges between Wiig, Hader, Rudd and Armisen. Speaking of Hader, it was nice to see him again but I wish it was in a different sketch than this. I know how much he likes doing these, so I guess I'll give him a pass on this one. Fred breaking character was pretty irritating. Thankfully, they kept this from going on too long. D+

Waking Up W/Kimye III - I don't totally think we needed to see this return either, but at least this one sort of made up for the last one from the Fallon show being such a disaster. It was fun seeing Taran's Bruce Jenner again. Samberg's character was the true highlight of this. Nassim's leave/Veera Wang one liners made me chuckle. Jay still performs this well and I did like the odd ramble about his wedding costume despite how he oddly broke away from his usual delivery with it. C+

Digital Short: Hugs - Two Digital Shorts?!? Didn't see THAT one coming! Anyway, I don't know if I liked this better than the first one but I liked seeing another classic Lonely Island rap number with Jorm and Kiv and the premise for this was just silly enough to work. The Pharell and Maya-as-Oprah cameos felt a little tacked on (especially since Pharell was just on the show last month) but I remembered this was a track they worked on for the Wack Album about a year ago so this was probably just done for sheer convenience and timeliness. B-

Legolas From “The Hobbit” Tries To Order At Taco Bell – This was decent. It was very short so there wasn’t much to say about it except Andy performed well, Jay played great off him, Bobby as Gimli was a nice addition and it was just silly enough to make me giggle. C+

Blizzard Man V – I liked seeing this return as I liked the first few they did around 06-08, but it seemed like Andy really wasn’t giving this one his all. The 2 Chainz cameo felt a little unnecessary. Was he the only rapper they could get? I know they need a cameo from a current rapper for these, but I would’ve liked to have seen someone different. I did like the “ratchet dames” line, but the ending seemed really lazy. I do appreciate how Kenan simply said he “dropped out the game” rather than cheaply referencing the last sketch/episode this character appeared in. Overall, it was one of the better sketches of the night even if it left me wanting a bit more but I suppose that’s been par for the course this whole season. C+

Watches – I think the former porn stars are definitely played out at this point. This is their sixth appearance over the course of two seasons. I did like the “Cleo-mydia” and Donald Sterling lines. Wiigs cameo was unnecessarily gratuitous (man, I feel like I’ve over used those words in every review I’ve ever written now) but she and Samberg were really the only remotely interesting parts to this. Literally nothing else about this stood out to me. D+

Well, that was that. This season got just the sendoff it about deserved. Now, for my final updated rankings of the entire season…

1. Kerry Washington/Eminem

2. Miley Cyrus

3. Lady Gaga

4. Andrew Garfield/Coldplay

5. Seth Rogen/Ed Sheeran

6. Louis C.K./Sam Smith

7. Anna Kendrick/Pharrell

8. Bruce Willis/Katy Perry

9. Tina Fey/Arcade Fire

10. Paul Rudd/One Direction

11. Drake

12. Lena Dunham/The National

13. Andy Samberg/St. Vincent

14. Jim Parsons/Beck

15. Josh Hutcherson/HAIM

16. Jimmy Fallon/Justin Timberlake

17. Melissa McCarthy/Imagine Dragons

18. Charlize Theron/Black Keys

19. John Goodman/Kings of Leon

20. Edward Norton/Janelle Monae

Now for my official year in review…

Good: Fey/Fire, Washington/Eminem

Surprisingly Good: Cyrus, Gaga, Drake, Dunham/National

Bad: Norton/Monae, McCarthy/Dragons,

Meh: Willis/Perry, Hutcherson/HAIM, Rudd/1D, Hill/Bastille, LCK/Smith, Kendrick/Pharell, Rogen/Sheeran, Garfield/Coldplay, Theron/Keys, Samberg/Vincent

Just Disappointing: Goodman/Leon, Fallon/Timberlake

Maybe I’ll see you again in the fall…or maybe not. Who knows? We’ll see.

Goodnight, Stooge, and have a pleasant tomorrow.

Charlize Theron/Black Keys (5.10.2014)

You may be wondering what took me so long to write this review. Well, there was a stomach flu going around and my sister had it when I helped her move out of her dorm so while I did watch the show…I was far too ill to do a live review. Plus, in the middle of all this I had to move and take a few more classes to fulfill my last remaining credit hours before I graduate this year. I’m all better now and I’ve found some time in my surprisingly busy schedule to type this up, so here goes.

Okay, here’s my review. This show was possibly the most inconsistent of this whole season and casts’ airtime and the host’s performance are perhaps the greatest evidence of this. While Charlize seemed to be committed to a sketch when needed, she also seemed to be phoning it in at other times. Still, there were plenty of bright spots and pleasant surprises. Nothing stood out as tremendously bad. What was good was good and what was bad was just mostly due to its derivative nature. So, let’s get right to it.

Mother’s Day Message from Michelle and Hillary – This was a decent cold open premise wise, but something small was lacking in execution. Shasheer did a fine Michelle and kudos to the show for making good use of her here. Vanessa’s Hillary wasn’t totally baseless, but it seemed to get worse as it progressed. It sounded more like a cross between Miley and Tina’s Palin. There weren’t a lot of laughs here and Vanessas’ voice got more grating as she shouted her lines even louder as the sketch progressed. I agree that Kate would’ve been a better choice. Still, I did like the jabs at Michelle making several guest appearances and the obesity lines. That’s the best thing I can say about this open. D+

Monologue – I vomited right from the obligatory “14 years to come back” joke and didn’t stop until the current cast came out for their big musical number. Coincidence? Anyway, there wasn’t much to this premise wise but I do admire Charlize for committing to lame singing and being embarrassed at being so multi-talented in other areas. I also liked Beck’s brief “I don’t care” line and anytime SNL acknowledges its own past (no matter how recent or irrelevant) is always nice. D+

Come Do A Game Show w/your Mom, It’ll be Fun! Yes, it Will! – This reminded me too much of the Lifetime game show from Anna Farris’ second episode, but this had some better writing and performances to it. Kate, Bobby and Kyle’s performances really saved this. Aidy and Charlize didn’t add all that much. Good that they found a suitable role for Brooks here, too. There were plenty of good lines here too and thankfully they knew how to keep it from getting old and stale (mostly thanks to Kate’s considerable talents). Possibly the second best live segment of the night. B-

Girlfriends Talk Show VI – This was probably the weakest of all these sketches…and THAT’S saying something. Aidy had decent lines here as always, but this time not even she could do as much to save this. She’s also starting to play her character as too much of a wet blanket at this point. Cecily’s character has gotten to be almost useless at this point but this sketch’s bizarre ramble about her “boyfriend” was her best yet. Charlize’s performance was quite strange. She showed commitment to the role of an over-the-top drama teacher, but not nearly enough. At times, she put enough into her performance and at toehr times she didn’t. Still, it’s kind of a sketch trope we’ve seen countless times already so it’s not like we would’ve been missing much either way. Also, is it just me or does Charlize closely resemble Taylor Swift no matter what kind of wig they put her in?  

Dragon Babies – I think it’s safe to say this is the best performance of Mike O’Brien and Cecily Strong’s SNL careers so far. Also, kudos to whoever produced the computer animation on this one. I’d like to know more about how they pulled this off. Taran, Noel and Nassim all played straight off them well. I also liked the gun firing gag. This was quite an ambitious premise, but it worked. Good to see that Mike and Cecily seem to have patched things up. B-

Heshy II – I’m honestly surprised they bought this back, but at least I don’t remember totally hating it the first time. Honestly, this version wasn’t any better but it did bring out a rather sweetly endearing quality to Nassim’s character.  Charlize barely added anything, but Vanessa’s intro/outro lines were pretty funny. C+

Update is showing visible signs of improvement in terms of writing at least. The jokes are getting a little better despite Colin and Cecily’s jokes not really adding anything to them. “Breaking Nudes” was pretty dumb, but the sheer silliness and spontaneity of it made me giggle. Barbara Walters proved to be a good sport, but something did seem a little off about her. Both she and Cecily could’ve been more open to tougher jabs and a little less brown nosing. I did like the brief impression montage and the Kardashian/president camera switching. Drunk Uncle was pretty much the same, but it was fun this time around. I did like the e-cig and selfie slams but having him call Jost “Seth” was pointlessly predictable. C-

Bikini Beach Party – This was probably the best live sketch of the night (and probably in the top five for the whole season). Sure, it seemed a little one note in spots and would’ve felt right at home during ’94-’95, but it felt quite ambitious in terms of this season (especially props/staging wise). Current SNL is seriously lacking in this flavor of darker humor. I did like how they threw in some jabs at ‘50s/’60s beach movie tropes for a nice balance and a joke about Taran’s character being 26 while all the girls were 13. Kenan’s cameo was okay but we could’ve done without it. Thankfully, they kept this from running on too long. Charlize introducing the Black Keys covered in whale blood was also a nice touch. This sketch is definitely better appreciated when you’re not prone to vomiting like a Scottish Soccer Hooligan. B+

Whiskers R’ We – I feel like this is the one sketch all night that definitely ran on too long, but Kate was okay in it. I did like the sociopath/jaguar/bald eagle eating lines toward the end. Charlize’s voice was okay, but the joke about her being a Smithers-esque closeted lesbian was too predictable and got kinda old. Incidentally, “Bandit” happens to be the name of my sister’s cat. C+

Good Neighbor: Tourists – One thing I liked about this was how the humor didn’t come as much from Good Neighbor mimicking the genuine documentary feel as much as it came from the cast messing with unsuspecting people on the street. The best characters in this were Kyle, Beck, Jay and Bobby. Kate’s accent was really well done as was the makeup on Charlize. Overall, while maybe not their most memorable short but it was a very different style outing for Good Neighbor. It reminded me more of a remote segment Fred Armisen would do around 02-04. B+

Now, for my updated rankings of the season…

1. Kerry Washington/Eminem

2. Miley Cyrus

3. Lady Gaga

4. Andrew Garfield/Coldplay

5. Seth Rogen/Ed Sheeran

6. Louis C.K./Sam Smith

7. Anna Kendrick/Pharrell

8. Bruce Willis/Katy Perry

9. Tina Fey/Arcade Fire

10. Paul Rudd/One Direction

11. Drake

12. Lena Dunham/The National

13. Jim Parsons/Beck

14. Josh Hutcherson/HAIM

15. Jimmy Fallon/Justin Timberlake

16. Melissa McCarthy/Imagine Dragons

17. Charlize Theron/Black Keys

18. John Goodman/Kings of Leon

19. Edward Norton/Janelle Monae

Well, this episode certainly wasn’t as memorable as Charlize’s previous outing from 2000 (certainly not for HER performances anyway) but still managed to find a few small saving graces here and there. Andy Samberg returns soon to host the finale. I’m actually looking forward to bringing some kind of energy that the current writing is lacking. See you then!

Andrew Garfield/Coldplay (5.3.2014)

Okay, here’s my review. I didn’t exactly know what to expect from this show or host, but while it was pretty inconsistent it proved to have a few enjoyable moments here and there. Andrew Garfield proved to be a very capable host, if not a rather forgettable one. It’s not too great that the new featured players have gotten less airtime than in the previous weeks, but at least they’re using Beck and Kyle a lot. Anyway, let’s get to it.

Clipper Press Conference - This cold open was nothing special. They probably could've come up with better ways to address the Sterling scandal. Taran's "random high fives" line was pretty good. I can't say much for Bobby's impression or even the makeup job they did on him. He was okay, but it may have been a mistake to center the whole piece on him. Still, Jay, Sasheer and Kenan all did great in this. C+

Monologue - This was also pretty forgettable. Andrew is doing fine. He doesn't appear too nervous right off the bat. Emma Stones’ cameo was certainly NOT unexpected, but she, Andrew and Aidy played well off each other and came off likable. Also, does Aziz Ansari know Andrew Garfield has been raiding his wardrobe? C+

Stanx – This was pretty juvenile, but there were at least some attempts at creativity here. Beck was the best thing about it. I did like the visual of him rising in his chair. The explosion gag was totally expected, but it was executed well as was the "thanks, stanx" line. D+

Celebrity Family Feud II – This wasn't quite as good as the first one they did this season, but it still had its merits. Garfields' Timberlake needs some work. He has the voice down close, but the mannerisms are a bit off. Hell, he looks more like Zac Efron in pretty much any wig/hairstyle than he does Timberlake. Does anyone else see the resemblance there? Nassim was terribly miscast as Bruno Mars but thankfully she barely had one line. Noel did fine as Reba and Kyle as Skrillex was serviceable. Seeing Kate's Shakira and Aidy's Adele again was nice (although I hope Aidy's impression wasn't based entirely on that laugh). Jay's Drake and Taran's Russell Crowe were the real highlights of this and were very funny. I did also like the "fiddlin' wit' ya giblets" line. Overall, it was an admirable effort. B-

Oliver Twist – This sketch seemed like a really simple, unambitious premise but the performances from Bobby, and Kate really saved it. Cecily also did a fine job here despite how strong the sketch started and then trailed off after her appearance. Her voice was a little distracting, but it wasn’t annoying or overly grating. The ending fell a little flat, though. C+

The Beygency - This was one of the better filmed pieces this season, but it ran a little long and could've been edited. I liked it premise-wise a lot. Good to see SNL (or some comedy show) finally poke fun at Beyonce's absurdly fast overnight rise in extreme popularity in the past year and a half. Kiefer Sutherland/Mary Lyn Rajskub proved to be a decent unexpected cameos and Kate, Bobby and Taran's parts were great. I liked the kid/mask reveal gag and the single ladies dance (even if I saw it coming miles away). I also liked how it accurately parodied the tropes of dystopian action films. B+

Update was pretty forgettable. Colin isn't quite making any progress and neither is Cecily. Kate's depressed Russian character may be getting close to "run into the ground" territory, but it's still nice to see. The people I'm watching it woth right now were reacting favorably to it before she even came on. I did like the Full House/exports/FML jokes (even if I saw the last one coming a mile away). I also gotta hand it to Cecily for those Clooney/waffle jokes. It was great of them to give Leslie Jones (a black female WRITER) at that but I feel like her commentary (while interesting and quite funny) was kind of all over the place. Taran's Jebediah Atkinson is always welcome. I liked his Rent/Annie/Mice and Men/Cats/Wicked/Lincoln jokes. It felt a little underwritten this time, but Kilam's performance really saved it considerably. C+

Spider-Man 2 Set – This kissing sketch was pretty one note (kind of reminded me of that Peyton Manning 300 sketch from '07) but the strange vibe actually helped this one. Still, I guess we could've done without Chris Martin but then this sketch wouldn't have really had an ending. Oh well, it's not like that would've stopped them. C+

Wedding Toast - I don't quite know what else to make of this except that it seems to be Garfield's strongest performance of the night. Kyle as the DJ was a nice addition. Also, as far as live sketches (especially THIS season) go, this was pretty well written. I did like the increasing reveals of Andrew and Nassim's family and Kenan's line at the very end. I also liked how they actually knew the right spot to end this. B+

I see they repeated Bird Bible. I know I trashed this the first time it aired but I've grown to reevaluate it and appreciate it more upon second and third viewings. B-

My updated rankings…

1. Kerry Washington/Eminem

2. Miley Cyrus

3. Lady Gaga

4. Andrew Garfield/Coldplay

5. Seth Rogen/Ed Sheeran

6. Louis C.K./Sam Smith

7. Anna Kendrick/Pharrell

8. Bruce Willis/Katy Perry

9. Tina Fey/Arcade Fire

10. Paul Rudd/One Direction

11. Drake

12. Lena Dunham/The National

13. Jim Parsons/Beck

14. Josh Hutcherson/HAIM

15. Jimmy Fallon/Justin Timberlake

16. Melissa McCarthy/Imagine Dragons

17. John Goodman/Kings of Leon

18. Edward Norton/Janelle Monae

Well, that was the show. Next week, Charlize Theron returns to host. Her 2000 episode wasn’t all that memorable but I remember her being a pretty fun and energetic host when her episode aired. Maybe some of that was in the writing, but let’s hope it serves her well this time. See ya then!