Sorry that I forgot to review two new episodes, not including this one I am doing now. I wasn't aware that SNL did Thursday Weekend Updates until last month, so it should be interesting to watch and review. I have never seen one of these before so I have nothing to compare it to. So there won't be any ratings, just a review.
Thursday Night Weekend Update
SNL starts off by mocking Obama's ability to talk himself up, and they are mocking political rallies in general. It is refreshing that TV shows like SNL have the authority to make light of serious situations such as the 2012 US Presidential election. Just throwing that out there...
So this SNL Thursday program is basically a Weekend Update that lasts for around fifteen minutes. I have decided to take my Weekend Update Rip List to the next level, hopefully it will suffice.
Mega Weekend Update Rip List:
NFL Replacement Referees, The United Nations, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, President Ahmadinejad, Kanye West, Forbes Magazine, J.K. Rowling, Barack Obama, David Blaine, Domino's Pizza, and Ritz Crackers, phew.
Weekend Update ends with an additional mockery of the NFL replacement refs. If anyone reading this saw the blown call during the Packers vs Seahawks game, additional mockery wasn't just acceptable, but necessary.
Overall, I liked the idea of an extended Weekend Update. Seth Myers did a great job along with the supporting cast.
Feel free to comment your thoughts, and thanks for reading.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
SNL Hosted by Musical Guest Bruno Mars
I can only remember one SNL episode that the musical guest was also the host. I loved it. Then again, it was Mick Jagger, and Mick Jagger is Mick Jagger; and being Mick Jagger is a good thing. We'll see how Bruno did.
SNL starts very wisely by making fun of the second Presidential Debate that was held in Hempstead, New York. I saw the debate for myself, and I was hoping SNL would spoof the debate because the actual debate was hilarious, especially involving Candy, the moderator. SNL covers everything to make fun of including the candidates, Candy, and the seemingly undecided voters who asked the candidates questions. Also, Tom Hanks was a special guest in this skit! That's right, Tom Hanks!
Bruno Mars kicks off his monologue by admitting that he has never acted or done comedy. He then sings a made up song asking to himself what he is doing hosting SNL. He has obviously been preparing for at least a week like every host, but it was a kind gesture being honest.
SNL's first skit worth mentioning features the Pandora Internet Radio Headquarters. The headquarters is about to lose signal on the Green Day radio and relies on an intern played by Bruno Mars to sing like Green Day. What's really funny about this skit is that he can sound like Green Day while making fun of them at the same time. Everything seems fine at Pandora until the Aerosmith vocals break down. The "intern" sings it perfectly. Right after, Katy Perry's station broke down mid-Firework so he has to fill in again. Then Bieber's station is next to go during his song 'Boyfriend' I'm guessing. Pandora then lost one of my favorite artists, Louis Armstrong's station during 'What a Wonderful World'. Unfortunately the intern butchered it. Michael Jackson's radio becomes broken which the intern again fills in. Once Pandora became fully operational, sadly the intern died. SNL was very smart in this episode to utilize Bruno's skill set.
Later, Bruno starts off his musical performance with his new song, 'Locked Out of Heaven'. It had a nice beat, but he sure said, "Aw yeah yeah" for about half of the song.
Weekend Update Rip List:
Obama, Romney, rural Americans, Honey Boo Boo, Kirstin Gillibrand, Wendy Long, Florida, The Winter Olympics.
I had to stop the Rip List short because my all time favorite character, Stefon, played by Bill Hader, was on Weekend Update. I just wanted to throw that out there because he is hilarious. So that's enough for
Weekend Update.
Bruno Mars later sings his next new song 'Young Girls'. I don't know whether he wrote this song, or whether the lyrics were from his heart. If so, then I enjoyed it very much. It seemed like he opened up his life to the world and I respected him for it. It was a brilliant song.
I wasn't expecting much from Bruno Mars, but he did a fantastic job. SNL played to his strengths, and the end result was very successful.
Positives: Political satire, great skits, Stefon on Weekend Update, Tom Hanks,
Negatives: Weak monologue
Overall Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Feel free to comment your thoughts, and thanks for reading.
SNL starts very wisely by making fun of the second Presidential Debate that was held in Hempstead, New York. I saw the debate for myself, and I was hoping SNL would spoof the debate because the actual debate was hilarious, especially involving Candy, the moderator. SNL covers everything to make fun of including the candidates, Candy, and the seemingly undecided voters who asked the candidates questions. Also, Tom Hanks was a special guest in this skit! That's right, Tom Hanks!
Bruno Mars kicks off his monologue by admitting that he has never acted or done comedy. He then sings a made up song asking to himself what he is doing hosting SNL. He has obviously been preparing for at least a week like every host, but it was a kind gesture being honest.
SNL's first skit worth mentioning features the Pandora Internet Radio Headquarters. The headquarters is about to lose signal on the Green Day radio and relies on an intern played by Bruno Mars to sing like Green Day. What's really funny about this skit is that he can sound like Green Day while making fun of them at the same time. Everything seems fine at Pandora until the Aerosmith vocals break down. The "intern" sings it perfectly. Right after, Katy Perry's station broke down mid-Firework so he has to fill in again. Then Bieber's station is next to go during his song 'Boyfriend' I'm guessing. Pandora then lost one of my favorite artists, Louis Armstrong's station during 'What a Wonderful World'. Unfortunately the intern butchered it. Michael Jackson's radio becomes broken which the intern again fills in. Once Pandora became fully operational, sadly the intern died. SNL was very smart in this episode to utilize Bruno's skill set.
Later, Bruno starts off his musical performance with his new song, 'Locked Out of Heaven'. It had a nice beat, but he sure said, "Aw yeah yeah" for about half of the song.
Weekend Update Rip List:
Obama, Romney, rural Americans, Honey Boo Boo, Kirstin Gillibrand, Wendy Long, Florida, The Winter Olympics.
I had to stop the Rip List short because my all time favorite character, Stefon, played by Bill Hader, was on Weekend Update. I just wanted to throw that out there because he is hilarious. So that's enough for
Weekend Update.
Bruno Mars later sings his next new song 'Young Girls'. I don't know whether he wrote this song, or whether the lyrics were from his heart. If so, then I enjoyed it very much. It seemed like he opened up his life to the world and I respected him for it. It was a brilliant song.
I wasn't expecting much from Bruno Mars, but he did a fantastic job. SNL played to his strengths, and the end result was very successful.
Positives: Political satire, great skits, Stefon on Weekend Update, Tom Hanks,
Negatives: Weak monologue
Overall Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Feel free to comment your thoughts, and thanks for reading.
Friday, September 28, 2012
SNL Hosted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt with Musical Guest Mumford & Sons
Jordan Gordon-Levitt kicked off SNL with a bang after a Magic Mike dance impersonation (that one movie that I will never want to see) that impressed the ladies in the crowd. Basically his monologue was a dance, but a majority of the viewers seemed to like it.
Following the monologue/dance, SNL pokes fun at the undecided voters of the 2012 US Presidential Election. Considering the huge differences between the Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, making fun of undecided voters' intelligence seems like the right thing to do.
Turns out Jordan Gordon-Levitt is the son of the most interesting man in the world. In the next short video, Gordon-Levitt is a disappointment compared to his dad, the most interesting man in the world. He advertises his own beer, Tres Equis, which is one equis better than his dad's beer. At the end of his next commercial, his dad walks in and a classic father-son argument follows.
SNL finally breaks through with a funny skit when Gordon-Levitt plays a hypnotist and calls up Taran Killam from the audience to be hypnotized. The hypnotist thinks he has hypnotized his volunteer, so the volunteer plays along until the hypnotist tells him to reveal his darkest secret. He says he cheated on his wife, and acts heartbroken as his wife walks away. While the hypnotist isn't looking, both the volunteer and his wife signal to the crowd that they're playing along. By the way, I hate describing funny skits because describing the skits isn't the same from watching them. That is why you readers should watch the episodes, and not only marveling at my blogging prowess.
I've never heard Mumford and Sons play before this episode, but I had only heard good things about the band. Mumford and Sons opened with their song "I Will Wait", which gave me my first impression of their band. They have a bluegrass sound which I dig, plus they have a banjo player! When it comes to the banjo, the sound reminds me of my old Kentucky home (not the song, but my town). I know that musicians have a way of expressing themselves when they play, but Mumford and Sons' keyboard player looked like he had ants in his pants and a bad crick in his neck. Nevertheless, I think they are a great band.
I will follow through on my idea to do a Weekend Update Rip List, so here it is.
Weekend Update Rip List: Mitt Romney, Ann Romney, Paul Ryan, Barack Obama, New Jersey DMV, Bashar al-Assad (President of Syria), Fred Durst, Monica Lewinsky, Paris Hilton, Brad Pitt, Stephen A. Smith, New York Jets.
I'm not sure if the skit "The Finer Things" is new or not, but Jay Pharoah and Kenan Thompson play two soft rappers obsessed with fashion. I guess they show how rappers have changed since rapping became popular. "The Finer Things" might become a regular skit, but it is one of those skits that are tough to explain. I do miss other skits like: "The Californians", "The Manuel Ortiz Show", and "What's Up With That".
Mumford and Sons won me over closing with their song "Below My Feet". Apparently they are some sort of Alternative genre, but the effort they put in their songs shows on live television. I enjoyed their music.
Positives: Mumford and Sons, Stephen A. Smith on Weekend Update
Negatives: Monologue
Overall Review: This episode wasn't bad, but it was very mediocre. Most of the skits were easy to overlook, and it was a letdown compared to Seth MacFarlane's performance. 5.8 out of 10.
Feel free to comment your thoughts, and thanks for reading.
Following the monologue/dance, SNL pokes fun at the undecided voters of the 2012 US Presidential Election. Considering the huge differences between the Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, making fun of undecided voters' intelligence seems like the right thing to do.
Turns out Jordan Gordon-Levitt is the son of the most interesting man in the world. In the next short video, Gordon-Levitt is a disappointment compared to his dad, the most interesting man in the world. He advertises his own beer, Tres Equis, which is one equis better than his dad's beer. At the end of his next commercial, his dad walks in and a classic father-son argument follows.
SNL finally breaks through with a funny skit when Gordon-Levitt plays a hypnotist and calls up Taran Killam from the audience to be hypnotized. The hypnotist thinks he has hypnotized his volunteer, so the volunteer plays along until the hypnotist tells him to reveal his darkest secret. He says he cheated on his wife, and acts heartbroken as his wife walks away. While the hypnotist isn't looking, both the volunteer and his wife signal to the crowd that they're playing along. By the way, I hate describing funny skits because describing the skits isn't the same from watching them. That is why you readers should watch the episodes, and not only marveling at my blogging prowess.
I've never heard Mumford and Sons play before this episode, but I had only heard good things about the band. Mumford and Sons opened with their song "I Will Wait", which gave me my first impression of their band. They have a bluegrass sound which I dig, plus they have a banjo player! When it comes to the banjo, the sound reminds me of my old Kentucky home (not the song, but my town). I know that musicians have a way of expressing themselves when they play, but Mumford and Sons' keyboard player looked like he had ants in his pants and a bad crick in his neck. Nevertheless, I think they are a great band.
I will follow through on my idea to do a Weekend Update Rip List, so here it is.
Weekend Update Rip List: Mitt Romney, Ann Romney, Paul Ryan, Barack Obama, New Jersey DMV, Bashar al-Assad (President of Syria), Fred Durst, Monica Lewinsky, Paris Hilton, Brad Pitt, Stephen A. Smith, New York Jets.
I'm not sure if the skit "The Finer Things" is new or not, but Jay Pharoah and Kenan Thompson play two soft rappers obsessed with fashion. I guess they show how rappers have changed since rapping became popular. "The Finer Things" might become a regular skit, but it is one of those skits that are tough to explain. I do miss other skits like: "The Californians", "The Manuel Ortiz Show", and "What's Up With That".
Mumford and Sons won me over closing with their song "Below My Feet". Apparently they are some sort of Alternative genre, but the effort they put in their songs shows on live television. I enjoyed their music.
Positives: Mumford and Sons, Stephen A. Smith on Weekend Update
Negatives: Monologue
Overall Review: This episode wasn't bad, but it was very mediocre. Most of the skits were easy to overlook, and it was a letdown compared to Seth MacFarlane's performance. 5.8 out of 10.
Feel free to comment your thoughts, and thanks for reading.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
SNL Hosted by Seth MacFarlane with Musical Guest Frank Ocean
He's-a-Family Guy!
That's right folks, Seth MacFarlane hosts the new season of SNL on September 15, 2012. Season 38 is finally here, and SNL really blew me away with this season opener.
SNL's first opening skit of the season didn't surprise me, Jay Pharoah spoofs Obama at the Democratic Rally in Toledo, Ohio. Jason Sudeikis stars as Mitt Romney, while Taran Killam plays Paul Ryan. Learning from my first SNL review, I'll try to go through the content more quickly before I give the final review. In this skit, Obama exploits Romney's misunderstanding of lower class hardships, and Ryan's twisting of words. Pharoah impersonates Obama's public speaking technique spot on with Obama's reasoning, "There's your choice America. Stick with what's been barely working, or take your chances with them."
Seth MacFarlane impressed me beyond belief with his brilliant monologue. I'm a huge fan of the Fox TV show, Family Guy, so naturally, I knew I would be hearing some familiar voices in the monologue. I knew SNL picked a winner from the start of the monologue, with MacFarlane walking down the steps like a cool customer ready to deliver his monologue. MacFarlane reveals that he was an SNL fan as a kid and promised something to himself if he ever got to host. "Please go out with me, Farrah Fawcett," said MacFarlane to the cameras. Then he discusses the movie he directed, Ted, and the TV show he created, Family Guy. For those of you who do not know, he does many of the voices on the show such as Peter Griffin, Stewie Griffin, and Glenn Quagmire. After he talked in those voices, which was awesome, he sang a song talking about the voices in his head, using many other voices including Kermit the Frog and Marty McFly from Back to the Future.
Right after his monologue, SNL shifts right back to bashing President Obama and Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney. It is basically a skit about an Obama approved message, but Obama isn't proud of it. This skit portrays a hilarious exaggeration of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital destroying American economic lives. My favorite story was the one from Kenan Thompson's character, Raymond McCoy. McCoy had worked for a textile mill until it was bought and shut down by Bain Capital. McCoy went from working to a piano factory, to a trucker company, to an Orange Julius, to a shoe shining booth, all being acquired by Bain Capital to lay off McCoy. Mitt Romney and Bain Capital was accused of buying a company for the sole purpose of laying McCoy off.
Later, Korean pop star PSY makes a special guest appearance in a skit that takes place at the mall store Lids. The skit itself held no relevance, but was very successful for featuring PSY. For those of you who don't know, PSY is responsible for the latest YouTube song/dance craze, "Gangnam Style". This video has had approximately 200 million hits, and is rapidly increasing in popularity.
Here is the original video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0&safe=active
Frank Ocean performs after a hilarious sketch that featured puppets, and a classic Bill Hader performance. Early in his career, Ocean was a ghostwriter for artists including Justin Bieber. As of recently, he is known to perform often with Jay-Z and Kanye West. Once again since I am cut off from pop culture, I wasn't very educated on Frank Ocean, so I was caught off guard when he started hitting a barrage of high notes. His first song, "Thinkin bout You" was decent. I think the song was meant to be serious and emotional, but his facial expressions while hitting high notes had me rolling.
I just realized that Weekend Update is such as broad subject to cover, I might just have a Weekend Update Rip List to show who all was made fun of by Seth Meyers. Anyway, the most notable part of the segment was Seth MacFarlane playing Olympic Gold Medalist swimmer Ryan Lochte. MacFarlane poked at Lochte's intelligence and communication skills while he tried to show his thoughts on new TV shows such as: Animal Practice which MacFarlane refers to as Monkey Hospital, Go on which MacFarlane refers to as Goon. However, when Meyers asks about Fox's American Dad, MacFarlane snapped out of his stupidity trance and said "I've heard that's actually really good."
My favorite skit had to be the Drill Sergeant skit with Seth MacFarlane as the Sergeant. I know that MacFarlane doesn't have a stuttering problem, but he stutters often on Family Guy for comic effect. It took me until after the skit ended to fully grasp the meaning (I guess I'm sl- sl- sl- slow). I forgot that stereotypical sergeants always ask, "Did I stutter?" This fact gave the skit that extra witty factor considering that MacFarlane stuttered plenty of times. I can never explain the funniness of SNL fully on a blog, that is why it is important that you don't just read the review, and watch the show, too.
Frank Ocean closes a great SNL with a great song he calls "Pyramids".
Positives: Strong monologue, funny skits, Gangnam Style, Frank Ocean, Weekend Update
Negatives: As far as I've seen, not a strong featuring cast this year. No Andy Samberg, No Kristen Wiig
Overall review: 9 out of 10
Feel free to comment your thoughts, and thanks for reading.
That's right folks, Seth MacFarlane hosts the new season of SNL on September 15, 2012. Season 38 is finally here, and SNL really blew me away with this season opener.
SNL's first opening skit of the season didn't surprise me, Jay Pharoah spoofs Obama at the Democratic Rally in Toledo, Ohio. Jason Sudeikis stars as Mitt Romney, while Taran Killam plays Paul Ryan. Learning from my first SNL review, I'll try to go through the content more quickly before I give the final review. In this skit, Obama exploits Romney's misunderstanding of lower class hardships, and Ryan's twisting of words. Pharoah impersonates Obama's public speaking technique spot on with Obama's reasoning, "There's your choice America. Stick with what's been barely working, or take your chances with them."
Seth MacFarlane impressed me beyond belief with his brilliant monologue. I'm a huge fan of the Fox TV show, Family Guy, so naturally, I knew I would be hearing some familiar voices in the monologue. I knew SNL picked a winner from the start of the monologue, with MacFarlane walking down the steps like a cool customer ready to deliver his monologue. MacFarlane reveals that he was an SNL fan as a kid and promised something to himself if he ever got to host. "Please go out with me, Farrah Fawcett," said MacFarlane to the cameras. Then he discusses the movie he directed, Ted, and the TV show he created, Family Guy. For those of you who do not know, he does many of the voices on the show such as Peter Griffin, Stewie Griffin, and Glenn Quagmire. After he talked in those voices, which was awesome, he sang a song talking about the voices in his head, using many other voices including Kermit the Frog and Marty McFly from Back to the Future.
Right after his monologue, SNL shifts right back to bashing President Obama and Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney. It is basically a skit about an Obama approved message, but Obama isn't proud of it. This skit portrays a hilarious exaggeration of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital destroying American economic lives. My favorite story was the one from Kenan Thompson's character, Raymond McCoy. McCoy had worked for a textile mill until it was bought and shut down by Bain Capital. McCoy went from working to a piano factory, to a trucker company, to an Orange Julius, to a shoe shining booth, all being acquired by Bain Capital to lay off McCoy. Mitt Romney and Bain Capital was accused of buying a company for the sole purpose of laying McCoy off.
Later, Korean pop star PSY makes a special guest appearance in a skit that takes place at the mall store Lids. The skit itself held no relevance, but was very successful for featuring PSY. For those of you who don't know, PSY is responsible for the latest YouTube song/dance craze, "Gangnam Style". This video has had approximately 200 million hits, and is rapidly increasing in popularity.
Here is the original video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0&safe=active
Frank Ocean performs after a hilarious sketch that featured puppets, and a classic Bill Hader performance. Early in his career, Ocean was a ghostwriter for artists including Justin Bieber. As of recently, he is known to perform often with Jay-Z and Kanye West. Once again since I am cut off from pop culture, I wasn't very educated on Frank Ocean, so I was caught off guard when he started hitting a barrage of high notes. His first song, "Thinkin bout You" was decent. I think the song was meant to be serious and emotional, but his facial expressions while hitting high notes had me rolling.
I just realized that Weekend Update is such as broad subject to cover, I might just have a Weekend Update Rip List to show who all was made fun of by Seth Meyers. Anyway, the most notable part of the segment was Seth MacFarlane playing Olympic Gold Medalist swimmer Ryan Lochte. MacFarlane poked at Lochte's intelligence and communication skills while he tried to show his thoughts on new TV shows such as: Animal Practice which MacFarlane refers to as Monkey Hospital, Go on which MacFarlane refers to as Goon. However, when Meyers asks about Fox's American Dad, MacFarlane snapped out of his stupidity trance and said "I've heard that's actually really good."
My favorite skit had to be the Drill Sergeant skit with Seth MacFarlane as the Sergeant. I know that MacFarlane doesn't have a stuttering problem, but he stutters often on Family Guy for comic effect. It took me until after the skit ended to fully grasp the meaning (I guess I'm sl- sl- sl- slow). I forgot that stereotypical sergeants always ask, "Did I stutter?" This fact gave the skit that extra witty factor considering that MacFarlane stuttered plenty of times. I can never explain the funniness of SNL fully on a blog, that is why it is important that you don't just read the review, and watch the show, too.
Frank Ocean closes a great SNL with a great song he calls "Pyramids".
Positives: Strong monologue, funny skits, Gangnam Style, Frank Ocean, Weekend Update
Negatives: As far as I've seen, not a strong featuring cast this year. No Andy Samberg, No Kristen Wiig
Overall review: 9 out of 10
Feel free to comment your thoughts, and thanks for reading.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
SNL hosted by Eli Manning with musical guest Rihanna
In this episode of SNL, Eli Manning follows his older brother Peyton's footsteps of hosting the show. Both Manning brothers are currently NFL quaterbacks, with Eli leading the Superbowl ring total with two compared to Peyton's one. However, Peyton leads the league MVP total with four compared with zero for Eli. Eli is once again faced with following Peyton's footsteps and is expected to have the same success on SNL.
SNL begins with a spot on imitation skit of the weekday morning show Fox and Friends. The skit featured the imitations of hosts Steve Doocy, Gretchen Carlson, and Brian Kilmeade. SNL did a great job with the skit as far as showing how all three hosts excessively rip President Obama throughout their show. SNL also made Brian Kilmeade especially brain dead with his contributions to the discussed topics. I thought that the most essential part of the skit was the fact that SNL captured and showed how biased the hosts are. What's funnier is that it wasn't really that exaggerated compared to the real Fox and Friends.
Eli Manning begins with a shaky start in his monologue. Throughout the monologue, Manning sounds like he is reading instead of speaking. I know that all of the hosts kind of have that sound, but I thought it was even more noticeable in Manning. Also, Manning spoke like he was in a hurry. I noticed that he would continue to talk while the audience was laughing and it killed his rhythm. On the bright side, the SNL writers threw in an Olive Garden joke that never fails to make an audience laugh.
The following skit features Manning playing a character on trial for murder, while his lawyer tries to prove the jury of his client's innocence. Manning was at home texting during the hour of the murder, but he turns out to be a massive creeper repetitively texting women he barely knows. His conversations of the previous night were being read aloud, with Manning giving examples of his texting faces such as ;P and :o.
The icing on the cake for me was a picture he sent to a woman, followed by his pronouncement of the word "kewl" and his web search history that proved his innocence. His last two web searches were elderly butts, and very elderly butts. Manning made a great recovery from his monologue with this "kewl" skit.
The next skit features Manning playing himself on the set of the Madden NFL the video game. Alongside other cast members playing the parts of Tim Tebow, Victor Cruz, Ray Lewis,and Troy Polamalu, Manning is trying to find the right touchdown celebration for the game. His first attempts seemed awkward, and I wondered if the skit could recover. Then he tried to throw an imaginary grenade in celebration, shown below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PT4ErmuPRQ&feature=related&safe=active
The video quality of that link wasn't great, but that turned the skit around for me. His next celebration was making a sandwich, dropping it and picking it up, and looking around before consuming the sandwich. It wasn't as funny as it was silly, but I think silly, pointless things are funny.
Rihanna is next to perform after a short skit concerning Occupy Wall Street covered by Herb Welch. Welch, played by Bill Hader (my favorite cast member), was very unprofessional, and politically incorrect with a hint of racism. Welch made a poor video about Occupy Wall Street, downgrading its importance.
Rihanna performed with her song Talk that Talk first. Now, I'm not very familiar with pop culture, but I know Rihanna is very famous. As far as her song, she performed well, but I'm not a big fan of the lyrics. But my conflicting beliefs with musical guests doesn't hurt the rating. But I deduced that she was talking about sex due to the lyrics and how she was dancing...
Weekend Update is tough to go over since it was a review from four months ago. However, Seth Meyers made fun of people who go to the tanning bed too much, and the star of the movie The Dictator made an appearance which was awesome. After Weekend Update, there was a short tribute to Adam Yauch from the Beastie Boys who had died around early May.
Since I have been extremely late posting this review, and since this episode was just a rerun, I am cutting this review somewhat short. For now, I'll use positives and negatives to rate the episode.
Positives: Great skits, exceptional effort and contribution from Manning
Negatives: Mediocre monologue, occasional awkward moments from Manning
Overall review: 6 out of 10.
Feel free to comment your thoughts, and thanks for reading.
SNL begins with a spot on imitation skit of the weekday morning show Fox and Friends. The skit featured the imitations of hosts Steve Doocy, Gretchen Carlson, and Brian Kilmeade. SNL did a great job with the skit as far as showing how all three hosts excessively rip President Obama throughout their show. SNL also made Brian Kilmeade especially brain dead with his contributions to the discussed topics. I thought that the most essential part of the skit was the fact that SNL captured and showed how biased the hosts are. What's funnier is that it wasn't really that exaggerated compared to the real Fox and Friends.
Eli Manning begins with a shaky start in his monologue. Throughout the monologue, Manning sounds like he is reading instead of speaking. I know that all of the hosts kind of have that sound, but I thought it was even more noticeable in Manning. Also, Manning spoke like he was in a hurry. I noticed that he would continue to talk while the audience was laughing and it killed his rhythm. On the bright side, the SNL writers threw in an Olive Garden joke that never fails to make an audience laugh.
The following skit features Manning playing a character on trial for murder, while his lawyer tries to prove the jury of his client's innocence. Manning was at home texting during the hour of the murder, but he turns out to be a massive creeper repetitively texting women he barely knows. His conversations of the previous night were being read aloud, with Manning giving examples of his texting faces such as ;P and :o.
The next skit features Manning playing himself on the set of the Madden NFL the video game. Alongside other cast members playing the parts of Tim Tebow, Victor Cruz, Ray Lewis,and Troy Polamalu, Manning is trying to find the right touchdown celebration for the game. His first attempts seemed awkward, and I wondered if the skit could recover. Then he tried to throw an imaginary grenade in celebration, shown below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PT4ErmuPRQ&feature=related&safe=active
The video quality of that link wasn't great, but that turned the skit around for me. His next celebration was making a sandwich, dropping it and picking it up, and looking around before consuming the sandwich. It wasn't as funny as it was silly, but I think silly, pointless things are funny.
Rihanna is next to perform after a short skit concerning Occupy Wall Street covered by Herb Welch. Welch, played by Bill Hader (my favorite cast member), was very unprofessional, and politically incorrect with a hint of racism. Welch made a poor video about Occupy Wall Street, downgrading its importance.
Rihanna performed with her song Talk that Talk first. Now, I'm not very familiar with pop culture, but I know Rihanna is very famous. As far as her song, she performed well, but I'm not a big fan of the lyrics. But my conflicting beliefs with musical guests doesn't hurt the rating. But I deduced that she was talking about sex due to the lyrics and how she was dancing...
Weekend Update is tough to go over since it was a review from four months ago. However, Seth Meyers made fun of people who go to the tanning bed too much, and the star of the movie The Dictator made an appearance which was awesome. After Weekend Update, there was a short tribute to Adam Yauch from the Beastie Boys who had died around early May.
Since I have been extremely late posting this review, and since this episode was just a rerun, I am cutting this review somewhat short. For now, I'll use positives and negatives to rate the episode.
Positives: Great skits, exceptional effort and contribution from Manning
Negatives: Mediocre monologue, occasional awkward moments from Manning
Overall review: 6 out of 10.
Feel free to comment your thoughts, and thanks for reading.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Live from New York
It's Saturday night! Two weeks before season 38 of SNL begins, that is.
Unfortunately, my first review of a live SNL episode won't be posted until season 38 begins on September 15, 2012. Until then I'll be forced to review, dare I say, reruns. But maybe I'm overreacting. Reruns can be interesting right...right!?
Tonight on NBC, Eli Manning will be hosting the rerun of SNL with musical guest Rhianna. Just those two names give off the impression of a great episode. Although Eli has now made his mark in the NFL with two Superbowl rings, his older brother Peyton Manning was the first Manning to host SNL. Not only did Peyton host, but he did a phenomenal job. I think this would put Eli under pressure to live up to Peyton's performance. Then again, he's been living under Peyton's shadow his whole life.
The routine for this blog when SNL starts live on September 15 will probably start with an overview of next show within the week. Afterwards, the review should be posted by the end of every Sunday. Since the first two reviews will be reruns, I will use those episodes as trial runs to prepare for the new episodes. I'll go over the more popular features such as the host monologue, the musical performances, the host's performance in the skits, and who could forget Weekend Update with Seth Meyers (personally my favorite character is Bill Hader's Stefon). I'll finish the blog with an overall rating, what I liked and didn't like, and maybe discuss the specific political references even further featured on Weekend Update.
I am looking forward to posting reviews on the live shows, and these reruns should help me decide what should and shouldn't be in the review. Feedback is very much encouraged, such as your favorite skits, or your own rating of SNL if you disagree with me (which is fine because I am definitely not an expert), or anything else you would like to discuss. If you have any additional ideas that you think would help my blog, please feel free to let me know. That's all folks, thanks for reading.
Unfortunately, my first review of a live SNL episode won't be posted until season 38 begins on September 15, 2012. Until then I'll be forced to review, dare I say, reruns. But maybe I'm overreacting. Reruns can be interesting right...right!?
Tonight on NBC, Eli Manning will be hosting the rerun of SNL with musical guest Rhianna. Just those two names give off the impression of a great episode. Although Eli has now made his mark in the NFL with two Superbowl rings, his older brother Peyton Manning was the first Manning to host SNL. Not only did Peyton host, but he did a phenomenal job. I think this would put Eli under pressure to live up to Peyton's performance. Then again, he's been living under Peyton's shadow his whole life.
The routine for this blog when SNL starts live on September 15 will probably start with an overview of next show within the week. Afterwards, the review should be posted by the end of every Sunday. Since the first two reviews will be reruns, I will use those episodes as trial runs to prepare for the new episodes. I'll go over the more popular features such as the host monologue, the musical performances, the host's performance in the skits, and who could forget Weekend Update with Seth Meyers (personally my favorite character is Bill Hader's Stefon). I'll finish the blog with an overall rating, what I liked and didn't like, and maybe discuss the specific political references even further featured on Weekend Update.
I am looking forward to posting reviews on the live shows, and these reruns should help me decide what should and shouldn't be in the review. Feedback is very much encouraged, such as your favorite skits, or your own rating of SNL if you disagree with me (which is fine because I am definitely not an expert), or anything else you would like to discuss. If you have any additional ideas that you think would help my blog, please feel free to let me know. That's all folks, thanks for reading.
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