ANOTHER New Blog?!?

Here is a link to a brand new blog that I am a coauthor of with classmate Taylor Reed. This is for my big semester project in Digital Journalism. Dr. Stevens wanted us to create whole new blogs just for this big project rather than post them on our existing ones.This makes five blogs that I now am expected to maintain. You can most likely expect another entire website form me that's devoted to this project. I didn't get to choose the topic, but it sounds like it will be interesting to research so I'm not complaining. So long!

Website Changes

I urge you all to revisit my website as I have made some major design changes over there that I think you'll be impressed with. Thanks!

Justin Timberlake (3.9.2013)

Okay, here’s my review. This was probably in the top 5 shows of the season. Definitely the best show of the 2013 half and it was certainly the best show Timberlake hosted as he really strayed from his usual format for his episodes. I liked that they found the right balance of airtime between the cast, featured players and alums making a cameo. Anyway, let’s do this.

Hugo Chavez Funeral - Timberlake doesn't quite do the best Elton John I've ever seen and a "Candle in the Wind" rewrite seems pretty stale, but the lyrics were pretty funny. B+

Monologue - I liked seeing a recreation of the Five Timers monologue rather than another musical number, but I felt it moved at a snail's pace and went on too long. Martin and Simon's deliveries were particularly awkward, but Chevy and Short's appearances were interesting. Hanks and Baldwin felt a little forced, but I did like the Bobby/Taran death match. Seeing Candy Bergen again was a nice touch, even though it was the oddest cameo of the whole night. B-

It’s A Date - I'm glad they did something a little more creative with the “Dick in a Box” singers and put them in a live setting. Their lyrics were pretty funny. I did laugh at their "railing on your butt/smoking crack" lines. I also genuinely enjoyed seeing the Czech brothers again, too. Martin and Aykroyd have still got it, they delivered their lines well. Bill, Bobby and Vanessa all played well off each other in mostly straight roles. I also liked Martin and Aykroyd acknowledging that they'd been in America 37 years. B+

Veganville  - This may have been the lamest "dancing mascot" sketch yet. The songs were weak and the fact that they had to put the final nail in the Harlem Shake coffin didn't help. I realize they must've felt they had to acknowledge it the same way they did with Gangnam Style, but it still felt too forced. Still, Bobby made a better foil than Wiig did. C-

Nuvabling - This has to be the most pointless commercial parody in recent memory. C-

Update was all right. The jokes were good, but Stefon was probably his best outing ever. I especially liked the jazz death, separating parents and Donald Duck bits. Even the way Hader said "selfie" made me laugh. B+

Tales of Sober Caligula - For the first few seconds, I thought this was going to be another historical sketch where Timberlake plays one of his ancestors until the title card came up. Regarding the sketch itself, Timberlake delivered his lines quite well and the premise was executed just fine. Even though they didn't let it go on too long, it still felt like something was missing; maybe it was the timing or pacing. Also, you would think that the role of Caligula might be able to be filled by any host and you might be right but only someone with Timberlake’s appeal to the opposite sex could make this sketch watchable. B-

Maine Justice - I'm surprised they bought this one back. It had its moments, but the one from the Jaime Foxx episode was truly funnier and this should've been a one off sketch. Samberg in a straight role seemed kind of pointless considering he was making a return, but seeing him there did make me think that the Jaime Foxx one was a rewrite and this version was the one they originally attempted at Ferrell's episode from last season. That version was probably this with the explanation from the first one tacked on to the end. Plus, Charlie Day's role seemed kind of tacked on in the first one. I'm not too sure who would've played that in last year's cast. Also, my first thought upon seeing this sketch was that Timberlake’s accent should be accurate because isn’t he from Louisiana? Then, I remembered I was thinking of a certain old flame of his being from Louisiana and one of the signs on stage form his MG performances said “JT and his Tennessee Kids” so he was probably form there. C+

She's Got A Dick – This was incredibly lazy and one of probably two weak points in tonight's show. It would be one thing if they actually made fun of tired romcom tropes (which would be a tired premise in itself) but they went for more tired penis jokes. I did like Nassim being credited as "An Adorable Brunette" and Kenan as "Confused Black Friend". D-

Modet and Chandon - I'm also surprised that they bought back Vanessa and Cecily's ex porn models, but I did like it the first time so who's complaining? I did like Vanessa's cut in half line and Cecily's sinkhole bit. Timberlake had some lame lines, but he delivered them better than Foxx did. B-

The streak of all-star first time hosts continues in April with Melissa McCarthy. Her performances were great last time, but I hope they just give her more substantial material this time. I leave you with two things. Just for fun, here are my ratings of all of Timberlake’s episodes form best to worst.

1. Justin Timberlake (2013)

2. Justin Timberlake (2003)

3. Justin Timberlake (2006)

4. Justin Timberlake/Lady Gaga (2011)

5. Justin Timberlake/Ciara (2009)

Here are my rankings if this season so far, updated.

1. Justin Timberlake

2. Martin Short/Paul McCartney

3. Seth MacFarlane/Frank Ocean

4. Louis CK/fun.

5. Anne Hathaway/Rhianna

6. Christina Applegate/Passion Pit

7. Christoph Waltz/Alabama Shakes

8. Kevin Hart/Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

9. Bruno Mars

10. Daniel Craig/Muse

11. Jaime Foxx/Ne-Yo

12. Jennifer Lawrence/The Lumineers

13. Joseph Gordon-Levitt/Mumford and Sons

14. Justin Bieber

15. Adam Levine/Kendrick Lamar

16. Jeremy Renner/Maroon 5

Website Changes

I will be making some changes to my website as per a digital journalism class assignment. You can expect them by Thursday. That is all.

Kevin Hart/Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (3.2.2013)

Okay, here’s my review. I have to say this was another real middle of the road show of the season. Nothing was that great, yet nothing stood out as being offensively terrible. This wasn’t quite the worst of the season yet. I would have to agree with my original assessment of Kevin Hart as a host in that he proved to be a competent sketch actor despite being a lame standup. Still, he performed a little better than I expected him to. I would just about equate him with Bruno Mars in terms of this season’s hosts. This was also a great night for the featured players as well since they all got some airtime. I also liked seeing a lot of Hader, Sudekis and Kilam here. Anyway, let’s get right to it.

Sequestration Address - This cold open was certainly forgettable. Still, I like how it utilized pretty much the whole cast even if everyone just had a bunch of lame one-liners. Aidy and Bobby were pretty funny here. Cecily made the most out of the material she was given. The Village People bit was okay even if it felt a little too forced. C-

Montage - Hader is now announcing the whole cast as Pardo and Pardo himself is still announcing next week's host? Gee, I hope Pardo isn't gravely ill or on his deathbed or anything.

Monologue - I wasn't really looking forward to this, but I have to say it was a little better than I expected. As much as I dislike Kevin Hart, I'd rather hear him just tell a straight up story (albeit a pointless one that doesn't really go anywhere) than do his actual act. It doesn't really surprise me to learn that Hart auditioned for SNL, but I refuse to believe his actual audition went the way he described it (aside from his DeNiro "impression"). It does surprise me, however, to learn that he auditioned when "Training Day" came out. That was, like...what, 2001/02? I don't think anybody outside of the standup community knew who he was then, not even the standup community to be honest with you. I don't even think he even found an audience with the BET crowd by then yet. Anyway, he actually delivered with this monologue I'll give him that even if parts of the monologue make it seem like Hart was too smug for his own good and the cast and crew had some difficulty working with him all week. C+

Steve Harvey II - Yeah, nobody's a fan of Kenan as Steve Harvey but with this host I can see why they bought it back. Hell, Hart was in "Think like a Man" which Harvey produced. Still, this was another piece Hart was in that felt meandering and not terribly funny. He did make the most, of it. This started out okay, but started losing direction quickly. It wasn’t nearly as funny as the previous Steve Harvey sketch from the Seth MacFarlane episode. C+

Situation Room VIII - That Pope Wallis sketch felt strangely out of place on SNL. It made no damn sense at first. It seemed like something MAD TV or Family Guy or (ironically enough) The Onion would've come up with on an off night. The premise seemed lame on paper, but Hart played it well. Jason had some good lines like "go popey go" and his comeback to the old "Is the Pope Catholic?" Joke. The horsey ride joke was also a nice touch and again pretty biting for SNL. Thankfully, they kept it short. C+

They sure picked the right episode to rerun that Starbucks commercial, huh?

Barnes and Noble - I can't believe they recurred Bobby and Cecily's McDonald's characters from the Hathaway episode (even though I didn't hate it the first time) but this was funnier than the first one because of the other casts small quirks that Bobby and Cecily were making fun of (especially Jay, Kenan, Hader and Sudekis). I also like the fact that Taran played the exact same character as last time as well as the conjoined twin gag with Vanessa and Kate. Hart was all right in it too, but he picked an odd time to crack up, though. B-

Normally, I don't pay attention to the musical guests or comment on them, but I made sure to pay special attention to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis this week because they are apparently coming to CU next month and I am entertaining the thought of going to see them. My roommate just got back from seeing them in Vail and told me he would highly recommend them. This would make the third time in apparently less than a year since "Thrift Shop" came out that they've been to Colorado (they were at Red Rocks last month) and since a bunch of my friends saw them already, I guess I can't get away with NOT seeing them, can I? I thought their SNL performance would give me a sense of what to expect and I have to say their live shows look quite interesting. They seem to put a lot of energy into it and I like that in a live performance regardless of being a fan. Also, I find it odd that I and everyone I know refer to him as “Mack-el-more” and Hart kept calling him “Mack-leh-more”. I’m guessing Hart is in the wrong on this one.

Update had some pretty forgettable jokes aside from Seth's "wicked porker" line, but he sounds like he had to have been sick this week. He sounded quite hoarse and lacking his usual shrill energy. Pharroh did a fine Rodman and I immediately understood why Hart couldn't have played him. Bobby did a good Kim Jong Un and really channeled Chris Farley with his facial expressions. As much as I hate white people doing fake Asian accents, Bobby made up with it by having some great lines here and he really committed to the bit. I'm sure some people are going to attack him as the devil for being racist or some bullshit but fuck them. I don’t really think they needed to bring back the “Tigger” gag from the Bernie Mac episode. Also, I noticed Hader and Moynihan have both called the musical guest “Mack-leh-more” now so I guess I’ve been saying it wrong now. I did like Bobby’s gag about his hair, though. As much as I'm sure we all think "Really?" Needs to be put to sleep, Kevin Hart did fine with this as well even though he seemed out of place even when his bit was about racism. Still, his screaming "Goddammit, Kevin" while trying to read the cue card was his best moment for me even though they censored it for the hulu version. C+

Walking Dead – It seems inevitable that SNL would parody this show in some form since everyone seems to be talking about it lately. With Hart as the host, it seemed inevitable that this would be similar in tone to Key and Peele’s zombie apocalypse sketch but there were some subtle differences that kept it from being a total rip off. Thankfully, they knew when to end it before the running gag got too stale. I did like the “Thriller” and diabetes gags, too. Also, I now Nassim playing pubescent boys is a tired SNL trope now, but I liked her lines as 12-year-old Carl about how all the killing he’s done hasn’t screwed him up one bit. I’m also glad Hader is finally playing the guy from the “Boondock Saints” who stars on “Walking Dead” as I noticed the resemblance a few years ago (when one of my roommates was really getting into hat movie and made me watch it with him on St. Patrick’s Day) and always thought Hader should play him on SNL at some point. C+

Shark Tank – Is this a real show that they’re also parodying? If so, this is literally the first I’ve heard of it. Hader as Mark Cuban and Kenan as the CEO of FUBU made me think so and whoever Kate was playing just reminded me of Miley Cyrus with that haircut and voice. Hart was pretty funny in this. Even though he kind of stumbled over some lines and seemed glued to the cue cards, I’m sure the former was on purpose as it was supposed to be the character he was playing. I did like his gag with the number chart, though as well as Tim’s gag with the opposite of a vest. B-

Dove Chocolate Ad - That Dove recording sketch was the first thing that felt terribly lacking and went on too long even though Hart tried to make the absolute most of it. He actually made me laugh for the first time here even though they kind of beat one gag into the ground here. Still, I do like that he can say "goddamn" twice in the same show and have the second time at least appear to be totally intentional. It still does kind of suck that it had to get bleeped twice as well. Also, Vanessa’s odd delivery of her lines really bugged me with the occasional “eh” at the end. C+

Z Shirt - This commercial seemed like it had a thin premise, but it also seemed like something Robinson may have written himself. It just seemed like his style. If it is, I'm glad he finally got some of his own brand of comedy we've been hearing so much about on SNL. He and Hart really played off each other we'll and really bought something fresh to SNL. B-

Funeral - I also liked how this only served to continue as a short wraparound in the funeral sketch. It's funny because I didn't actually expect it. It wasn't as funny as the Closet Organizer bar sketch from the Jon Hamm 09-10 episode, but I still liked it. B-

360 News - This felt like a sketch that could've been done with any host, but Hart really added some energy to it and again, Robinson played well off him. It didn't go on too long, they knew exactly when to end it. The comments from all the camera people were funny, too. B+

Well, that sure was something. I'll just say that Kevin Hart didn't blow me away or anything, but he did exceed my expectations as a host. Let's hope Timberlake can do the same next week by not doing the exact same sketches he's done four times already.

I think I’ll just start updating my best to worst season rankings with every episode now. See ya next week!

1. Martin Short/Paul McCartney
2. Seth MacFarlane/Frank Ocean
3. Louis CK/fun.
4. Anne Hathaway/Rhianna
5. Christina Applegate/Passion Pit
6. Christoph Waltz/Alabama Shakes
7. Kevin Hart/Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
8. Bruno Mars
9. Daniel Craig/Muse
10. Jaime Foxx/Ne-Yo
11. Jennifer Lawrence/The Lumineers
12. Joseph Gordon-Levitt/Mumford and Sons
13. Justin Bieber
14. Adam Levine/Kendrick Lamar
15. Jeremy Renner/Maroon 5

Christoph Waltz/Alabama Shakes (2.17.2013)

Okay, here’s my review. This was a rather middle of the road show in terms of this season. It was one of the strongest shows just in terms of cast performances rather than writing. In terms of writing, I would say this show started out really strong and then quickly ran out of steam. Even the sketches that were good just felt like they established a good premise early on and then just repeated the same jokes over and over again. This show also tried to pack in so much topical humor on events of the past two weeks and succeeded with very little of it. Also, I find it a bit odd that they included two casual throwaway gag references to Colorado in the same show. Still, the cast really hit it out of the park with their performances. Good to see everyone get a lot of airtime as well, but I’m not too crazy about Armisen coming back so strong. Anyway, here it is.

Triumph Cruise - This cold open is a strong candidate for best of the season. Everybody did well with their part and Cecily and Jason did a great job as leads. It was nice to see Cecily and Tim get more airtime at the top of the show and I did like Jay’s second self-reflexive moment in a little over a year. It's also nice to see they can do a topical open without resorting to a lame speech straight to the camera. It's also nice to see they tried to work the LFNY line into the sketch instead of lazily tacking it on to the end. Also, does anyone find it a weird coincidence that the name of the ship is “Triumph” and most of the news story seems to revolve around errant feces? A-

Why was Hader impersonating Don Pardo this week?

Monologue - This was a little disappointing. The only real highlight was Taran as casual Hitler. When Waltz mentioned making "humorous observations" about his homeland, I was expecting him to do some bizarre standup routine but they kind of ruined it by tacking on a musical number (what was with that weird interaction between Fred and Cecily, BTW?) Besides, it was already lacking any direction to begin with. I was expecting more from a song titled "Smile, Damn You, Smile". It should've been a lot darker than it was. C-

What Have You Become? – At first, this seemed like it was going to be great. It's not often these days that you see a real conceptual sketch which a lot of writing went into. Hader and Bryant were especially good in this. Then, after Jay and Kate came in as relatives it started to get a little repetitive. Still, Waltz was great at the end as well. Even though this sketch seemed to be written to just play to Waltz's strengths, I could easily see any host taking his part. Also, it’s obvious that they must have either put the dress rehearsal version online or just fixed the audio gaffe because the hulu/nbc.com version features the audience chanting the title whereas the live version didn’t. B-

Papal Securities - This was a decent fake ad. It was a fresh take on the Pope resigning. It's nice to see SNL stepping up with the topical humor this week. I particularly liked the "No Other Testimonials Available" gag and Waltz as Benedict being placed in various everyday suburban settings. C+

Tippy - I didn't know what to make of this new Nassim character until it also became pretty repetitive. It reminded me of something Cheri Oteri would've done in the mid to late '90s. I wasn’t inclined to look this up at the time I wrote this and I’m still not after others have been kind enough to do it for me. A lot of nbc.com commentors are complaining that this is a ripoff of an old Jim Norton bit but that's a whole different story. It was endearing and quirky enough the first time before Nassim kept moving around the room, but I just can't see them recurring this. C-

Djesus Uncrossed - This was another great filmed piece. It accurately captured the ultra-violence of Tarantino's films and the ridiculous historical "creative liberties" he's taken with them recently and highlighted them in a sharp satirical context. Taran and Christpoh were particularly good here. This has to be the ballsiest piece SNL has done in decades. I can already see some relatively ignorant people online commenting on SNL's unacceptable blasphemy, saying their corrupting America's youth and how they plan to stage a boycott and filing FCC complaints. Surprisingly, this didn’t take place on hulu or nbc.com, but some looney out there posted  a bible verse in the comments of the cruise cold open. Hell, more people were upset over the Tippy/Jim Norton connection than this. Still, even this suffered from too much repetition. B-

Jamarcus Brothers - This record ad wasn't anything special. It reminded me too much of when Kenan and Maya Rudolph were "T.T and Mario" in the Jason Bateman/ Kelly Clarkson episode from 2005. Still, Waltz was great in it (especially during the final song with him and Kenan) and I liked Cecily's sultry performance. This was a decent night for her. C+

Update was all over the place. Seth's first few jokes before Taran's commentary were good, but the rest were forgettable. Speaking of which, Taran as Marco Rubio was a little disappointing. I felt he played it far too broad and they did the exact type of humor I would expect them to (having Rubio detail what he ate/did just before his speech that gave him drymouth) but he still made the most out of it. Kate's commentary as a Russian woman was also just okay while being rather predictable. It felt way too long and just as unfocused as Kenan's Ray Lewis commentary. Stephen A. Smith was decent, but is another repetitive bit that doesn't really need to be recurred, but it is a decent night for Jay and all the FPs. Thankfully they kept this shorter than the other Update commentaries even if it ended rather abruptly. B-

Regine - They're recurring Fred's drag character from the Daniel Craig episode? Goddammit, WHY?!? As soon as Fred made his entrance, I immediately tuned out and started thinking I was a little hard on Update. What's worse is that Fred was sprawling around and playing this as broad as broad can be, you know causing Hader to break. This very nearly drags this show down past Renner as the worst of the season, but maybe I'm jumping the gun here. F-

FOX and Friends VI - I really don't think they needed to do this again, but Bobby is still funny in this and Vanessa had some funny lines. Hader as Ted Nugent was good, but his impression wasn't. I kept mentally comparing Hader's performance to Nugent's cameo on The Simpsons last year and Hader sounded a bit off. Still, he had good lines and I liked the bit about crazy people's eyes. Fred's part seemed really tacked on and the England Burger King Horse meat is kind of old news by now but I did like Fred's line about American stereotypes. I also liked the "backwards" Obama speech. Also, this sketch might have benefitted from Waltz having some kind of role in it instead of being conspicuously absent. He could’ve easily filled Fred’s role (probably with some difficulty anyway) and even his take on Ted Nugent might have been interesting. C+

Dimitri’s Letter - This sketch was the best sketch of the night by far. It's really the first thing I genuinely laughed at in the entire show. This was more effective at playing to Walt's performance strengths than the game show sketch and the whole cast performed well in it (especially Cecily). B+

I can't say I'm looking forward to Kevin Hart hosting next month, but I guess a performance of "Thrift Shop" on SNL would be interesting to watch. Sure, Hart seems like he would do well in sketches but I find him to be quite overrated and not terribly funny. It's nice to get the occasional stand up monologue when a comedian hosts, but I really don't care for Hart's stand up at all. Still, I will go into this show with an open mind.

Once again, I leave you with my updated my rankings of this season’s episodes form best to worst.

1. Martin Short/Paul McCartney

2. Seth MacFarlane/Frank Ocean

3. Louis CK/fun.

4. Anne Hathaway/Rhianna

5. Christina Applegate/Passion Pit

6. Christoph Waltz/Alabama Shakes

7. Bruno Mars

8. Daniel Craig/Muse

9. Jaime Foxx/Ne-Yo

10. Jennifer Lawrence/The Lumineers

11. Joseph Gordon-Levitt/Mumford and Sons

12. Justin Bieber

13. Adam Levine/Kendrick Lamar

14. Jeremy Renner/Maroon 5

Have a great fortnight!

New Website, Old Blog

In my Digital Journalism class at CU, Professor Stevens had us doing in class exercise in writing HTML code so we could create our own website for his class. Even though this assignment isn't due for another week, I've already finished mine. Also, I found my old blog that I had to do for an assignment in my Contemporary Mass Media class two years ago. I may start updating this again, but I am definitely adding a link to this on the site where there is already a link to my two other blogs! See you tomorrow night or Monday with a review of tonight's SNL with Christoph Waltz and Alabama Shakes