The 4th show in as many weeks, I had more than a few questions leading in to this episode. Namely, I questioned Gerard Butler as a true comedic force. While watching the episode live, I realized why presuppositions sometimes prove incorrect. Here is my sketch-by-sketch review of the Gerard Butler/Shakira show.
Cold Opening: The Rock Obama--This is exactly the kind of opening I like to see. Albeit political, it finds a crack in the age-old, mind-dulling structure where SNL cold openings have to be the president sitting at a desk. It brings back a character from last season, Dwayne Johnson's "The Rock Obama" and it works perfectly. Although I question why Dwayne Johnson chose this episode to do a big cameo in, I still thought it was very enjoyable and a much better-than-average opening to the show.
Monologue--Ha, this was good as well. I liked Gerard Butler singing, that kind of surprised me. Good premise, funny lines and acting from the cast. So far a very good opening to the show.
Commercial-"Fuquay Satin" Well, this wasn't too bad. I mean its an ok premise, wine simply used for...other...purposes. It wasn't too funny, but I'll take it. Now let's get back to the live skits.
Game Time with Randy and Greg--Dwayne Johnson cameos in the cold opening and then fails to fulfil his role in this sketch? Too weird. Kenan fills in for him, and although I didn't prefer this version as much (the audience already knew what was going to happen) I still liked it overall. Watching Bill do that character is never going to be a bad thing. It's a genius role.
Beauty and the Beast--My favorite of the night. Beautifully played by Kristen, Bobby, Bill, and Gerard Butler. Maybe one of the top 10 sketches of the year.
Shakira 1--Not a fan of her. Just a lame performance, too, in my opinion. As usual, I'm, just waiting for Update to start.
Weekend Update--Seth does a solid job, as expected. The guest highlight for me was Gerard Butler playing homage to Scotland with Seth translating. Now, ladies and gentlemen, that was funny.
300--The second round of sketches begins with a cross-parody of the film 300 and the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in the military. Very clever, and well played by the cast. This is the kind of writing I like to see in an episode: Use what you have and make a good idea out of something going on in the world. Great job.
What Up With That?--This sketch baffles me. It shouldn't work, it's just nonsense. But you know what? I love it. Even though I know what's coming every time, its just a hoot to watch take place. This one, I believe the first in the series, was quite funny.
Thomas--Eh, not my favorite. This character of Kristen's is probably my least favorite of hers. It plays on the awkward factor of the plot, and it gets to be a little too much for me. Every episode has that one sketch you wish you could get rid of, and this is that sketch.
Shakira 2--Eh, what can I really say? Same as her first performance.
Daveheart--A scared version of Braveheart, huh? Well....it was ok. For the "5-to-1" sketch it worked out just fine. Didn't go out like a lion but it was doable.
Overall Review: What a solid episode. This was packed with good stuff and I was pleasantly surprised by Gerard Butler's good hosting job. Shakira wasn't good, but that was to be expected. The winners were the Monologue, Beauty and the Beast, 300, and What Up With That. Not much to complain about, it was a consistent episode. It might not go down as the most flashy, but it got the funny stuff in there, and that's worth something to me. Comparing it to the last 3 episodes, I'd have to say this was the most consistent and grades out the best overall. Four weeks in a row is a lot to put the cast and crew of SNL though. It says a lot that their last show of the 4 is the best.
Agree? Disagree? If you want to leave your thoughts and opinions about this episode, feel free to do so. Next up, I will be reviewing the Taylor Swift episode, oh goody.
LiveFromNY
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Kanye West Takes Jab at SNL
In his latest single, rapper Kanye West has some words for the cast of SNL. Here is the full article:
http://dimewars.com/HipHopNews/Kanye-West-Goes-At-Saturday-Night-Live-In-His-Latest-Single--Power-.aspx?PressReleaseID=d578724b-0eb3-4624-87a0-bca58c4828b5
LiveFromNY
http://dimewars.com/HipHopNews/Kanye-West-Goes-At-Saturday-Night-Live-In-His-Latest-Single--Power-.aspx?PressReleaseID=d578724b-0eb3-4624-87a0-bca58c4828b5
LiveFromNY
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Drew Barrymore/Regina Spektor
Well I haven't done this in a while so bear with me. I did watch all these episodes that I didn't write about, but I just never found the time to write comprehensive reviews of them. So, here we go with the Drew Barrymore episode:
Cold Opening: Obama's Nobel Prize--If you recall back to good ol' 2009, I made my opinion of Fred's "Obama" very clear--I don't like it. This is no exception. Another boring cold opening. I understand why they do it. Leading with political humor is something SNL hsas done for years. But I prefer switching it up every now and again, especially if there's not much going on in the news.
Monologue--This was good. How many impressions of Drew do we need? The more the merrier. Drew has a good laugh poking fun at herself here, and watching all the impressions was great fun. (especially Kristen's and Abby's) Now that's how you write a monologue.
Gilly--I'm not a fan of Gilly, yet this time it seemed to be much better. Drew definitely added to the sketch, and despite my general dislike of this character, Gilly did ok here.
Celebrity Ghost Stories--A bunch of impressions, and some are pretty good. Abby pulls off a great Anna Faris, and newbie Nasim Pedrad pulls off a great Charlyne Yi impression. Andy's Billy Bob Thornton is pretty solid too.
Commercial: "University of Westfield"-- This served to be a pretty good commercial parody. Showing the irrelevance of online degrees, ha. And I liked Jenny Slate here. That might be one of the only times I say that.
La Revista Della Televisione--Yes, some Bill Hader. In this latest installment, Vinny and Drew discuss Drew's directorial debut for "Whip It." Pretty much the same humor as always. (Although that's not a bad thing if the humor is still good) I love Bill and Fred singing Devo. Classic.
Regina Spektor 1--Never really cared for her. Not much of an opinion on her performance. Nothing too drastic.
Weekend Update--James Carville is really funny. Bill puts in another great showing. His impression is almost making fun of itself. Great stuff. Also, Kenan's Maya Angelou bit was good. A solid Update overall, Seth is the man.
Tampax to the Max--Oh, yes. In future episodes there will be versions of this that I liked better, but this is where it all began. The humor here is a little...how do I put it? One-sided to say the least. Everyone knows its coming. Yet I still can't stop myself from laughing. Great premise with the ESPN Classic setting, and a great job from both Jason and Will to make this recurring segment a fan favorite.
Cooking al Fresco--This is where the show started nose-diving. Not a fan of this sketch. Getting to be later in the show, isn't it? Bobby's Guy Fieti was all right, but it couldn't save the skit.
Larry King Live--Here again is a "downer" sketch. A weak punchline repeated over and over again doesn't make it any better. The Larry King sketches on SNL are hit-or-miss. This one missed.
SNL Digital Short "Brenda & Shaun"-- Not a fan. It was just.....weird. Andy and the Lonely Island crew have interesting minds, that's for sure. Not the worst Digital Short in the world, but to think someone had to actually write up this idea...surprising.
Regina Spektor 2--Same as before. I've got nothing interesting to say about Regina.
Book Reading--This gets my vote as one of the creepiest characters I've seen on the show. Will Forte is versatile, that's for sure. His character "Hamilton" isn't particularly funny. But the show has to close somehow, and why not leave the weirdo for the end.
Overall Review: This was a good episode, primarily based on the first half. A few very good sketches (Monologue, Vinny Vedecci, ESPN Classic) yet the second half had some real clunkers. (Larry King, Cooking al Fresco) So, all things considered, it wasn't a bad episode. Drew's a proven vet, and she pulled off another solid hosting job. Musical guest was so-so, and the writing was too. Compared to the first two episodes, I'd have to say it was much better than Megan Fox/U2 but not quite as good as Ryan Reynolds/Lady Gaga.
Agree? Disagree? Feel free to post your thoughts and opinions below. Thanks everyone, and stay tuned for my next review of Gerard Butler/Shakira.
LiveFromNY
Cold Opening: Obama's Nobel Prize--If you recall back to good ol' 2009, I made my opinion of Fred's "Obama" very clear--I don't like it. This is no exception. Another boring cold opening. I understand why they do it. Leading with political humor is something SNL hsas done for years. But I prefer switching it up every now and again, especially if there's not much going on in the news.
Monologue--This was good. How many impressions of Drew do we need? The more the merrier. Drew has a good laugh poking fun at herself here, and watching all the impressions was great fun. (especially Kristen's and Abby's) Now that's how you write a monologue.
Gilly--I'm not a fan of Gilly, yet this time it seemed to be much better. Drew definitely added to the sketch, and despite my general dislike of this character, Gilly did ok here.
Celebrity Ghost Stories--A bunch of impressions, and some are pretty good. Abby pulls off a great Anna Faris, and newbie Nasim Pedrad pulls off a great Charlyne Yi impression. Andy's Billy Bob Thornton is pretty solid too.
Commercial: "University of Westfield"-- This served to be a pretty good commercial parody. Showing the irrelevance of online degrees, ha. And I liked Jenny Slate here. That might be one of the only times I say that.
La Revista Della Televisione--Yes, some Bill Hader. In this latest installment, Vinny and Drew discuss Drew's directorial debut for "Whip It." Pretty much the same humor as always. (Although that's not a bad thing if the humor is still good) I love Bill and Fred singing Devo. Classic.
Regina Spektor 1--Never really cared for her. Not much of an opinion on her performance. Nothing too drastic.
Weekend Update--James Carville is really funny. Bill puts in another great showing. His impression is almost making fun of itself. Great stuff. Also, Kenan's Maya Angelou bit was good. A solid Update overall, Seth is the man.
Tampax to the Max--Oh, yes. In future episodes there will be versions of this that I liked better, but this is where it all began. The humor here is a little...how do I put it? One-sided to say the least. Everyone knows its coming. Yet I still can't stop myself from laughing. Great premise with the ESPN Classic setting, and a great job from both Jason and Will to make this recurring segment a fan favorite.
Cooking al Fresco--This is where the show started nose-diving. Not a fan of this sketch. Getting to be later in the show, isn't it? Bobby's Guy Fieti was all right, but it couldn't save the skit.
Larry King Live--Here again is a "downer" sketch. A weak punchline repeated over and over again doesn't make it any better. The Larry King sketches on SNL are hit-or-miss. This one missed.
SNL Digital Short "Brenda & Shaun"-- Not a fan. It was just.....weird. Andy and the Lonely Island crew have interesting minds, that's for sure. Not the worst Digital Short in the world, but to think someone had to actually write up this idea...surprising.
Regina Spektor 2--Same as before. I've got nothing interesting to say about Regina.
Book Reading--This gets my vote as one of the creepiest characters I've seen on the show. Will Forte is versatile, that's for sure. His character "Hamilton" isn't particularly funny. But the show has to close somehow, and why not leave the weirdo for the end.
Overall Review: This was a good episode, primarily based on the first half. A few very good sketches (Monologue, Vinny Vedecci, ESPN Classic) yet the second half had some real clunkers. (Larry King, Cooking al Fresco) So, all things considered, it wasn't a bad episode. Drew's a proven vet, and she pulled off another solid hosting job. Musical guest was so-so, and the writing was too. Compared to the first two episodes, I'd have to say it was much better than Megan Fox/U2 but not quite as good as Ryan Reynolds/Lady Gaga.
Agree? Disagree? Feel free to post your thoughts and opinions below. Thanks everyone, and stay tuned for my next review of Gerard Butler/Shakira.
LiveFromNY
I'm Back
Hello everyone! Well I haven't brought my top-notch SNL news and reviews in quite some time. My last post, as I recall, was after the Ryan Reynolds episode back in October, yikes. Frankly, I wish I could have kept up my posts, but I'm still committed to the show and will bring you updates on what's happening, as well as my personal opinions.
Over the summer, I intend to give full-length reviews of all the episodes that I failed to review during the year. If you're a fan of SNL please read my posts and leave comments. Thanks for reading and here's to a great year
LiveFromNY
Over the summer, I intend to give full-length reviews of all the episodes that I failed to review during the year. If you're a fan of SNL please read my posts and leave comments. Thanks for reading and here's to a great year
LiveFromNY
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