Lately, it seems that the best material on SNL is often the pre-taped sketches. Last week, they did one of the more daring satirical pieces about the Republican party shutdown of the government with Miley Cyrus as Michelle Bachman. It was seriously out there--and almost reminded me of the edgy material from the show's original run back in the '70s. This week, they kept things a little bit lighter but it was just as funny with a sketch about a "Boy Dance Party" which happens in secret after the wives and GF's leave their men behind to watch football.
Taran Killam killed it with some awesome dance moves, particularly the "shake that sack" move. He is the go-to hot guy on the show these days, sporting some serious guns. Oh--and there's also Bruce Willis doing his best to keep up with the boys as well. Good stuff.
The cold open for this week's SNL was unusually star-studded and quite funny too. Adam Levine, of Maroon 5 and THE VOICE, was the host and they did a set up where he was judged on his monologue ala his own show by a panel of celebrity comedians; Andy Samberg, Cameron Diaz, and (surprise!) Jerry Seinfeld. Jerry had some of the best lines about giving advice to some "looks less Jewish than his name" but Cameron Diaz was hysterical doing a send-up of Christina Aguilera and, well, herself.
The whole thing ends with Adam Levine taking his shirt off to reveal his infamously tatted torso. Which actually turned this cold open into a hot one. After this turn and his guest starring on AMERICAN HORROR STORY, what could be next for this hot hypenate....maybe a cool indie fillm? We shall see...
Oh remember the 80's. Remember instructional videos. Remember speedwalking. This is a comic short from Eliot Glazer on Broadway Video's (SNL's production company) YouTube channel. Hilarious!
The biggest surprise of the general election has been the emergence of Big Bird and public television as a major issue. Who would have guessed that, after Romney's winning the debate, the biggest take away would be his comments about the bird?! Though it all sounds silly on the surface, it really isn't and I think it's great that people are finally being enlightened to the ridiculous notion (one Republicans have harbored for years) that cutting things like federal support for PBS (and the arts in general) will somehow take a dent out of the deficit. Of course, the percentage of these programs as part of the budget is less than 1/10th of 1 percent and now, with Romney's infamous line, hopefully the voting public has been educated about this issue.
However, on the flip side, the folks at SESAME STREET are somewhat queasy about being drawn into the battle between Romney and Obama. They reluctantly OK'd a Big Bird appearance on SNL with some revisions to the script that made the spot more funny than political. But, after the Obama campaign released an ad with Big Bird, the folks at the Children Television's Workshop said enough is enough and today asked that the ad be removed from circulation. The ad itself is sort of a riot but it's also understandable that CTW does not want to be in the fray of the election. But they are in it now.... whether they like it or not.
After leading the moribund Denver Broncos to a string of unlikely victories over the last two months, Christian quarterback Tim Tebow has become The Story of the NFL season. This weekend's SNL took on The Tebow in a hilarious sketch, which I thought was one of the best of their own season.
Taran Killam (who recently killed it as Robyn in a viral video) plays Tebow perfectly as a guy with a little too much love for Jesus after the son of God makes a surprise appearance in the Broncos locker room to explain a) he is responsible for their victories and b) he doesn't have time to do this anymore so the team better get their act together. Jesus is played well by Jason Sudekis who, oddly enough, is more famously known for playing the devil in a series of Weekend Update appearances.
I came across the sketch on YouTube Sunday morning where, in less than 24 hours, it now has nearly a million hits. As to the Broncos game with the Patriots yesterday referenced at the end of the sketch, Jesus was not on Tim's side as they were handily dispatched by the Super Bowl champs 27-16.
Tina Fey hosted SNL this weekend and it was one of the best shows of the season. Not only did she bring back Sarah Palin and do a killer routine on Weekend Update about Jesse James' hookers, she also starred in and probably wrote one of the best SNL fake ads I've seen in a while. It's for the Brownie Husband and it is hysterical. I possibly laughed a little more than the average viewer as I had just baked some brownies earlier in the evening. But, just for the the record, I didn't curl up to them on the sofa or bring them to bed. OMG--that last scene is a riot!
Alec Baldwin served as guest host this weekend on WNYC's arts show "Studio 360", subbing for regular host Kurt Anderson. He did a great job, interviewing Laura Linney about acting and Mary Carr about her latest memoir of about addiction.
It was quite a change having him as host as he was more conversational with the guests, like he was having them over for dinner. He also did a number of droll jokes regarding Kurt Anderson's whereabouts ("he's in the trunk of my Toyota") in the same, flat NPR-style voice that made his "Schweddy Balls'" sketch such an SNL classic. Hearing him talk like this made me want to watch that skit again and, all these years later, it is still hysterical.
