Sunday, April 25, 2010

TV Review: SNL merely average with sub-par host


Hey, Saturday Night Live still has new episodes this year! For some reason, I find this surprising. Because of their rigorous writing and rehearsal schedules, it always feels like they start later and finish sooner than every other show out there.

In an iffy season like this one, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The best part of last night's show was the embed clip above, which was actually by one of the show's writers, not even a cast member. I definitely agree with his take on Girl Scout cookies; I could eat boxes of those god damn Thin Mints at any point of the year. (As a bonus, Seth Meyers and I apparently think alike - I wrote my blog earlier today about the Lane Bryant models before his thing on the Charmin bears with toilet paper stuck to their ass.)

Beyond Weekend Update, the only other skit I really enjoyed was the recurring one with Tina Funnylastname, the doorbell tone saleswoman. This time though, she was working on alarm clocks. Much like "What up with that?" and Astronaut Jones, the sketch is just so silly and weird that I can't help but laughing every time I see it. While Jenny Slate will probably still be remembered mostly for dropping an F-bomb on her debut show, I like this character of hers.

Beyond that though, the show was very meh. Gabourey Sidibe sucked as the host, which didn't really surprise me. Her, uh, unique look kind of limits what sort of skits and roles she can be in, so I was subjected to her as an angry black lady in an apartment complex and as a disgruntled federal worker. Also, she apparently studied for her hosting stint by reviewing nothing but Jimmy Fallon tapes, since she flubbed lines and cracked up laughing at several points.

If you didn't catch this episode, then I recommend you just watch Weekend Update and the alarm clock skit - it's about 10 minutes after Update - instead of subjecting yourself to the entire thing.

Grade: C-

2 comments:

  1. Wow lol hate much on Gabourey? Not everyone can control themselves during live skits. Bill Hader lost it a couple times as well. And don't you think it's a little harsh to pretty much be saying she wasn't a good host because she's overweight so they couldn't give her good characters? Not saying it was a great episode, like you said it was just kind of average but there's been more than enough episodes with skinny white people as hosts who weren't very good either.
    I do like that reoccuring skit though with the salesgirl. the alarm clocks were funny. Doorbell one is still my favorite.

    ReplyDelete
  2. FAT PEOPLE DON'T DESERVE TO BE HAPPY!!!

    ... lolz, j/k! I just thought she 1) lost composure in almost every sketch and 2) constantly stepped on other people's lines. On top of that, because of her appearance, you weren't going to have her impersonate anyone except maybe Queen Latifah.

    I do agree with you about skinny white people hosting though, especially since the whole cast is full of skinny white people except for Kenan and that guy with the curly hair. Ryan Phillipe was a pretty poor host as well.

    If anything, SNL should *only* let black comedians host, because they're always funny and it makes up for the deficiencies in their cast. Every "black comedian" host that I can think of - Martin Lawrence, Jamie Foxx, Damon Wayans - killed it on the show. It would never, ever happen, but it would be awesome if Dave Chappelle hosted at some point.

    ReplyDelete

Try not to be too much of an ass, unless completely necessary. You are subject to tyrannical moderation.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails