Remember last week, when I said all sorts of nice things about Charlie Day and the “Saturday Night Live” writers finding funny and original angles on topical subjects? Take all of that and make it the opposite for this weekend’s episode with Emma Stone. It’s no fault of Stone’s, who’s funny and attractive and played everything from southern beauty queen to husky-voiced creepy old lady with equal abandon. The writing just blew.
Let me put it this way: I play a game where I time how long it takes me to watch “SNL” on DVR. Most weeks, even when I hit fast-forward when a musical act or sketch loses my interest, it still takes about about 55 minutes to get through the show. This week? I did it in under 36 minutes. And it’s 36 minutes I would very much like back.
If you’re a masochist, here are a couple of barely-watchable bits from the episode I dredged up:
Cold Open: Another GOP Debate
This sketch wasn’t so much a parody of Rick Perry forgetting his talking points during a debate as it was a replay. I enjoy Bill Hader’s Perry, and there are a couple decent gags here, but this is so unimaginative that I can’t believe everyone in the writers room would be okay with this. Why not a sketch where Rick Perry forgets simple but important facts? I’d kind of like to see Bill Hader playing Rick Perry playing MacGruber.
The Devil on the Penn State Scandal
I enjoy Jason Sudeikis’s good-natured Devil, and I like the idea that even Satan is disgusted with Jerry Sandusky and everything that’s happened at Penn State. But why did Seth Meyers and “SNL” have to pussyfoot around the actual subject of young boys getting anally raped? Weekend Update airs after midnight; tackle that subject head-on. Sure, it’s going to be unsettling for some that a comedy program is addressing it so forthrightly, but actually saying “little boys got butt-raped” would make the Devil’s disgust a lot more poignant — and remind people that the horrible acts aren’t something that should be glossed over.
(For the record, this wasn’t REALLY the worst episode ever. I don’t think anyone can top the lazy writing/bad host combo that aligned when January Jones hosted.)
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The “Someone Like You” sketch was wonderful. Short and sweet and topical in its own way.
The Perry cold open was super lazy, especially after the great Perry WU segment from last week.
I do still love Sudekis’ Devil, though. And Herb Welsh is kind of great.
@hoffmry — a fair point. Too bad the music rights keep the video from being online.
I think it’s cool when a TV Reviewer(?) admits to fast forwarding thru 2/3rds of a show. Not that I’m defending the show, it’s just… ya know… watch it.
SNL should institute suspensions for terrible bits. The Armisen-Wiig improv during Weekend Update would merit 2 weeks, minimum. If I want to watch two people masturbate, I have the Internet, thanks.
What made this episode especially unbearable was that even the digital short, which are usually the highlight of any episode, was not very entertaining. I stayed awake long enough to watch Weekend Update and kind of zoned out during the devil bit. Stefon or go home.
I think it’s cool when a TV Reviewer(?) admits to fast forwarding thru 2/3rds of a show. Not that I’m defending the show, it’s just… ya know… watch it.
I like it when a blog commenter (?) doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about. The running time for an SNL episode — actual content — is generally about one hour. I fast forward through commercials and musical performances that aren’t part of my review. And you’ll pardon me if I don’t sit through all of a six-minute recurring sketch.
So re-work your math and get back to me, shithead.
This was 1994 season bad.
In Ufford’s defense I don’t think anybody should be subjected to the secret word sketch, TV blogger or not. That’s a solid five minutes of fast forwarding every other week before the sketch even starts. That also applies to anything where Keenan Thomas is wearing a wig.
I’m just sick of the damn retro game show skit. Who keeps putting that one on the air?
And why hasn’t there been any of Bill Hader’s James Carvill impression this season? After Stefon and the Devil, that’s my favorite WU bit.
I liked Nasim Pedrad better when I thought it was one of the counts against Jerry Sandusky.
The most creative part of that show was the bumper photo of Emma Stone dressed as Roseanne Rosanna Dana. When your wardrobe department is more inspired than your writing staff, you got problems.
The thing that made the Melissa McCarthy episode so great, was that she was the star of the skit, not a character reacting to Kristen Wiig’s stupid character of the week. Emma Stone deserved the same treatment. SNL writers need to write skits in which the host is the star not the straight man any of the overused characters. I thought Emma Stone was fantastic in the Bridal Skit, it was a stupid skit, but she got to act stupid, not react to someone else being stupid. I do realize it is very competitive among the other SNL actors trying to get time on TV, but the best skits are the ones in which we get to see the host acting out of character or doing impressions.
I did enjoy “I want to be president, but not like this.”
Also, is there an impressionist out there as good as Kenan Thompson?!? The way he’s mastered wearing a bald cap while talking in the same hammy voice he uses in every other sketch is simply breathtaking.
I was half (okay fully) in the bag when I watched the show but I thought it was fine. I agree the Rick Perry bit had so much more potential but I still thought it was funny. Someone like you, the devil bit on update, and the bridal shower sketch all made me laugh. The dancing french teens was fun to watch but clearly not funny.
That said, the writing can be infuriating sometimes. I understand they’re up against decreased attention spans and inflated expectations based on everyone’s favorite era (which in most cases weren’t as consistently good as they’re remembering). But some of the recurring characters / bits that they keep forcing are just awful (the password game, Wigg and Amerisan improv singing, everything Keenan Thompson has ever done). How can they be so out of touch?
Matt, I’m going to take the opposite approach of that other commenter and say…you know…don’t watch any of it.
A friend of mine got to go to a cast party last year after he met some of the lower totem pole writers through a friend and he said that most of them are recent NYU grads who couldn’t make a stoner laugh. Sounds about right.
Vince:
You mean that was Kenan Thompson in the bald cap? I had no idea! The way he just disappears into his characters is amazing.
Bridal skit was ok but it was missing something. I thought “Someone like you” was probably the highlight (which is just sad), but for me it was the “We make Technology hump” was my personal favorite. Maybe because I had finished my fifth scotch during the commercial right beforehand.
I thought Emma stone showed greater range of acting than most of the cast. With that said, could it kill the SNL crew to get more recurring characters of think up of more one off, but original skits? There’s no point in watching skits with characters where you know exactly what is going to happen.
More Nasim and Jay Pharroah please.
I feel bad for saying this, but I lost my shit when the Rick Perry open turned into Of Mice and Men.
NOT the worst epsiode ever. I could mentione some names of hosts of previous horrible episodes but I’d rather not induce post traumatic stress on folks.
Okay, Charles Barkley, Michael Phelps, Adrian Brody…
Is it good business to call your readership ‘shithead’?
Bringing in Of Mice and Men was brilliant, and I liked how the others all felt so embarrassed for him, but the parts where they were the spotlight were just meh.
@ether and tweezers
as a reader of this ship, i’d say yes, yes it is.