I've been re-watching "Arrested Development" recently, and one of GOB's lines stuck with me as I sat through the season premiere of "Saturday Night Live" so that I could write this recap: "I've made a huge mistake."
Why? Why do I do this? Every week it's more than an hour of my time so that I can watch one funny sketch and maybe a digital short I enjoy, and then I tell everyone, "Hey, it's not so bad. This is what it always is."
Anyway, I've got video of most of the show on the following pages, and if you don't want to watch the video (or can't because it's Hulu and you're not in America), here's the fast version:
- Pro: the writers didn't take the easy short cut of re-using popular characters or established sketches.
- Con: they did, however, go for cheap laughs (drinking urine, food dumped on someone's head) in sketches that ran too long.
In general, the show was middling to bad, with a few high notes -- pretty much the same as ever. And it looks like I'll keep pushing this rock up the mountain every week for another year. Yay!
My first thought at seeing this video was "Holy sh*t, ELEVEN MINUTES?" A five-minute sketch is too long for me. But there's some genuinely funny stuff here, from Jason Sudeikis mouthing "I'm white" to Taran Killam's portrayal of Jon Huntsman as a Chinese stereotype (Hooray for cheap ethnic stereotypes!). The six minutes after that aren't really worth your time, though.
A complete waste of five minutes unless you like Seth Rogen enough to watch him deliver two lines. Don't watch this.
Solid. I've always enjoyed "SNL's" fake commercials, and perfume commercials are some of the best to make fun of.
I like the premise okay, but it's essentially the same set-up repeated for four and a half minutes. I do award some points for the AIDS joke, though.
This one fell flat for me, but I suppose fans of Kristen Wiig or Buffalo accents might like it.
Not bad. I enjoy using Seth Meyers as a punching bag as much as the next "SNL" critic, but I don't particularly mind him as the Weekend Update anchor.
Not Alec Baldwin's finest work on "SNL."
"Tell my son that a cripple isn't a full human being." I thoroughly enjoyed this sketch.
This is a case study in comedic talent. It's not a particularly original or funny sketch, but Bill Hader and Alec Baldwin are both so good that they make it work.
Another subpar, too-long sketch that Baldwin almost saves with his performance. The stuff with the tennis jacket got a laugh from me.
This is just an excuse to use outdated impersonations, yet the execution is good enough that it works for me. Bonus points for being less than three minutes long.
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“looks like I’ll keep pushing this rock up the mountain every week for another year.”
Matt, you’re a modern day Sisyphus.
The problem with the show is that they still think topical cold opens are funny. They were in the ’90s, when our biggest national problem was that the president was getting too many BJs. Now, it’s just sad.
That Crispin Glover impression got a bigger laugh out of me than it should have
Come on, you laughed at the “I operate the fans…OR WAS I PUSHED?”
Sissy Fuss is my angry gay porn name.
You’re right on all counts, especially The stuff with the tennis jacket got a laugh from me. And this is why I keep going back. For one laugh every 10 minutes (maximum).
“sketches that ran too long”…??
I thought you said the writers didn’t take the easy short cut of re-using….. [prior year's shit]…..
Thanks for watching this for us…..I couldn’t do it…
Is no one going to address that Radiohead play a 23 minute set… for the first of 2 songs?
“It says in the script we’re playing volley ball in jean-shorts.”
That line alone was worth sitting through the 90 minutes. Overall I liked it- but what happened to Jay Pharaoh? He would have killed in the Top Gun auditions.
This was a bad episode. Anytime Seth Myers is the past part of your show, you know you got yourself a dog. I did really enjoy the perfume ad though.
fuck you, matt. baldwin’s pacino was worth the admission, alone. actually, apart from that it was pretty shit. steve martin is starting to look like he’s made out of rubber.
Drrrrrrrrpppp … Matt, about half of this show WAS re-used sketches/characters (Tony Bennett, the soap opera thing, the reporter on a tape delay).
I hate SNL but that shit was good.
Once again, many of the ideas were fine, but the execution just sucked. The intro was WAY too long to maintain its interestingness–despite a few funny moments. The humor was obvious and easy and most of the pacing was way off. It read like Sketch Writing 201 at Second City.
I beg to differ, Steve Martin is never a waste of time under any circumstances, ever. And I am offended by the suggestion! Good day sir!