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Saturday Night Live “Sarah Silverman/Maroon 5” Live Blog and Review (40×02)

4 Oct

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60 MINUTES: Political openings haven’t been the show’s strong suit, and this sketch isn’t changing anything. It avoids really tackling the issues it’s looking at and instead decides to structure everything around lampooning social media, and it doesn’t work very well. GRADE: C

MONOLOGUE: The sequence with Silverman and the audience member is pretty funny, and it’s a good incorporation of the audience into the monologue. Although the rest of the monologue goes on for a bit too long to really deliver the laughs, it delivers nicely for Silverman as a comedian. GRADE: B

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Saturday Night Live “Chris Pratt/Ariana Grande” Live Blog and Review (40×01)

27 Sep

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We’re back! As always, check periodically for updates.

STATE OF THE UNION: This is a fine start to the season–predictable, of course–especially considering we’ve had a plethora of bland political cold opens before this. Kenan Thompson’s descriptions of the school bus (“it’s yellow”) are definitely the best parts of the sketch, and Jay Pharaoh’s physical comedy makes for some laughs as well. I was expecting Beck Bennett=Roger Goodell, though. GRADE: B-

RIP, Don Pardo.

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Saturday Night Live “Andy Samberg/St. Vincent” Live Blog/Review (39×21)

17 May

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SOLANGE AND JAY-Z COLD OPEN: Well, it’s time to kick off the season 39 finale of SNL, and it’s a perfectly average way to do so. I did get some kicks out of the whole spider dialogue over the video, but aside from that, the only really bright spot is Maya Rudolph showing up as Beyonce. GRADE: B-

MONOLOGUE: Hey, it’s Seth Meyers! It’s Bill Hader! It’s Martin Short. This is an entertaining monologue, just based on the guests alone, and the energy is pretty good tonight. It isn’t a hilarious monologue, but it’s fun to watch. GRADE: B+

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Saturday Night Live “Seth Rogen/Ed Sheeran” Live Blog/Review (39×18)

12 Apr

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COACHELLA: Well, at least Nasim Pedrad’s doing something! The sketch seems like a half-developed idea that goes absolutely nowhere, and while the actors do their best to make a mediocre script entertaining, the jokes don’t land. GRADE: C

MONOLOGUE: The monologue isn’t particularly funny, but hey, there are a bunch of guests: James Franco, Zooey Deschanel, and Taylor Swift (who shows up whenever a man shows emotion). Rogen himself has this general likability around him, and the entire sequence is fun to watch unfold. GRADE: B-

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Saturday Night Live “Anna Kendrick/Pharrell Williams” Live Blog/Review (39×17)

5 Apr

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GENERAL MOTORS IGNITION SWITCH RECALL: There really isn’t much to this sketch, but Kate McKinnon does her best to make it entertaining. The premise seems half-baked, though, and the laughs are sparse. GRADE: C+

MONOLOGUE: Man, I love Anna Kendrick so much. I usually am not fond of musical monologues, but her energy and excitement is off the charts. The whole segment is exciting, visually appealing (Anna Kendrick is the focal point, of course), and catchy. This should be a good show…I hope. GRADE: A-

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Saturday Night Live “Louis CK/Sam Smith” Live Blog/Review (39×16)

29 Mar

louis-ck-explains-his-initials-in-saturday-night-live-promos.jpg HEALTHCARE.GOV: Sigh. This topic is past the point of being funny, but the show’s able to milk some entertainment from it, most notably from Kate McKinnon’s Justin Bieber. However, the sketch never truly gels, instead coming off as shaky and unfinished. I wonder how a “Between Two Ferns” parody would’ve turned out. Can you even parody that? GRADE: C+

MONOLOGUE: I love Louis CK, and I’m so happy that we get a stand-up routine from his monologue. There’s excellent stuff in here about God/religion and gender issues, and this just proves what a great talent he is. Man, I am so excited for Louie this May. GRADE: A Continue reading →

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Saturday Night Live “Lena Dunham/The National” Live Blog/Review (39×15)

8 Mar

140304_2754027_SNL_Promo__Lena_DunhamA MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT OBAMA: The premise behind this sketch is fairly average, but when you bring out Liam Neeson and have him repeat his “Taken” monologue, the entertainment level will still be ratcheted up a bit. The macho-man Obama stuff falls a bit flat, but overall, this is better than your normal political cold open. GRADE: B

MONOLOGUE: I could do without addressing the nudity on Girls again, as I’m past tired of that discussion (also, uh oh, does that mean more Internet trolling tomorrow?). However, I’m a sucker for double entendres, and Kate McKinnon in particular is great as Dunham’s grandmother. GRADE: B-

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Saturday Night Live “Jim Parsons/Beck” Live Blog/Review (39×14)

1 Mar

26-jim-parsons-snlELLEN COLD OPEN: Well, we’re back after an extended hiatus, and we’re treated to a lazy, meandering cold open that features Parsons doing an awful Johnny Weir impression and myriad lame jokes; at least Kate McKinnon is mildly entertaining. Not a very good way to kick off the night. GRADE: C

MONOLOGUE: “I’m not that guy. I’m not that guy.” Uh, cool? Understandably, Parsons goes off about Sheldon Cooper, but he doesn’t really bring anything to the table that suggests he isn’t. You can tell he’s a bit nervous, though, and the whole thing is very shaky. GRADE: C-

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Saturday Night Live “Melissa McCarthy/Imagine Dragons” Live Blog/Review (39×13)

1 Feb

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SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOW: Wait, is this supposed to be funny? I don’t get it, and the song itself doesn’t do much for me either. The sketch just doesn’t seem to ever fully come together, and it’s way too long; Michael Strahan is certainly entertaining, though. GRADE: C-

MONOLOGUE: My favorite part of this monologue is the pre-taped footage of McCarthy being a douche to everyone after her last show; as for the rest of it, hey, it’s fairly entertaining. Thompson with a ninja star in his head is hilarious, and the segment as a whole is, thankfully, different than all our other monologues. GRADE: B-

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Saturday Night Live “Jonah Hill/Bastille” Live Blog/Review (39×12)

25 Jan

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HETEROSEXUAL FIGURE SKATING: ROAD TO SOCHI--Okay? I have mixed feelings on this; on the one hand, the premise isn’t particularly great, but on the other, the visual of Pharoah, Moynihan, and the rest trying to skate is good from some hilarious moments. GRADE: C+

MONOLOGUE: Hey, Jonah Hill. He comes out and everyone starts asking questions about DiCaprio, and there’s Leo himself! I wasn’t sure he would show up–thank you, Jonah Hill–but he does, and the interplay is fantastic here. The Titanic moment is great, and I’m hoping Leo can come back sometime with an Oscar to his name. GRADE: B+

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