To the surprise of no one, there was an ample amount of boob and voice/accent jokes in last night's Sofía Vergara-hosted episode of "SNL." There were two in her monologue and they kept going right until the end, in an oddly-placed parody of The Hunger Games. And just like Vergara herself, the jokes — and episode as a whole — were fine.
I'm sorry about that segue, but I can't think of much to say about the episode. Vergara was funny, hit her lines, and the cast seemed to enjoy working with her, and it's already clear new cast member Kate McKinnon is a good fit, but there wasn't a single memorable sketch. It felt like even though the writers had three weeks to work on this episode, they only started a few days ago (why was there an already aired commercial?), and even then, they began with the concept of "BOOBS...and go."
But I'm sure you all LOVED One Direction.
To say this was the best Romney cold open yet is a bit like saying Romney's the best Republican running for President.
Politics.
Why did the audience laugh when Sofía said "Saturday Night Live" in Spanish? That's right, because we're MUY ignorante. Now let's go listen to Lou Bega and watch some Speedy Gonzales cartoons.
Was There a Boob and/or Voice Joke? Yes (2)
When we inevitably do our list of the weakest sketches of the season, this will be in the top-five. It's essentially the same joke as the NBC Football promo from earlier in the year, but even less funny because OMG DO I HATE FRED ARMISEN ON "SNL." What was the joke here? That a news anchor couldn't turn? That's not funny. To erase this TV equivalent of the dead body from Stand by Me from my memory, I'm gonna watch Otis Redding sing "I Can't Turn You Loose":
Was There a Boob and/or Voice Joke? Yes (1)
Funniest pre-taped bit of the season. Hader's increasingly exasperated expressions were great.
/runs to the store to grab a Tombstone Pizza
//dies
In an otherwise uneventful "Weekend Update," Drunk Uncle stole the sketch. Bobby Moynihan has mastered the character to the point that even though Uncle's really, really racist ("Knock knock" "Who's there?" "Immigrants" "GO AWAY"), you'd still want to get a drink with the guy. At least until he starts singing the Folgers song.
Andy Cohen's "Watch What Happens: Live" falls somewhere between Obnoxious and WHY IS THIS CRAP ON TV, so I was happy to see "SNL" completely destroy its unaware, unfunny ridiculousness (and how Cohen, Bravo's Executive VP of Original Programming, gave himself a show). Taran Killam should be in every sketch.
Was There a Boob and/or Voice Joke? No
New cast member Kate McKinnon's highest profile appearance of the night. I liked this sketch because Sofía was the one who was easier to understand ("YAYYY"). That's a clever enough subversion this late in the episode.
Was There a Boob and/or Voice Joke? Yes (1)
HUNGER GAMES HUNGER GAMES KATNISS GOOGLE RESULTS HUNGER GAMES
But whatever, it was fine.
Was There a Boob and/or Voice Joke? Yes (1)
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Penelope Cruz is a white girl. She’s from Yurp.
I was really drunk when I watched it and I didn’t laugh. So that means it sucked. Also, I hope the “One Direction” is straight to hell.
Alright, that GIF of Moynihan is pretty funny. I’ll give him that one.
“He’s still Cassius Clay to me, Seth!”
OTIS REDDING IS THE TRUTH!!!
to show Lil pound cake for the third time this season, with thousands and thousands of extra teen girls watching for 1d was a little sinister i thought.
Voice or accent?
Sometimes the joke was, “Jayyyyyy,” other times the joke was, “JAYYYYYY.”
BOOM HUNGER GAMES
HUN-GAR GEEEEEEEMMMMMMSSSS! I guess I’m stupid because that sketch made me laugh the most.
The HPV doll was hilarious the first time they aired it, what was the point of doing it again? I also almost killed myself when the Gilly sketch came on. Has Kristen Wiig left the show yet? Christ.
All in all, the Almost Pizza commercial and the Drunk Uncle were the obvious highlights. The Watch What Happens sketch was funny, but only because whatshisface was spot on with his impersonation. The Hunger Games sketch was a lot better than I expected, but I can see why it was the 12:50 sketch.
Also, Kate McKinnon will do just fine on the show. Get Kristen Wiig off the show already. She’ll fair much better in Hollywood, without Gilly on her back.
Has anyone else heard the rumors about Sofia actually being able to mask the accent, but uses it for marketing?
Also, the couple of times I’ve read about cast member Kate McKinnon, I can’t help but think of the Jonathan Santlofer novels.
I thought she has pretty much admitted it. There is older footage of her with a pretty Americanized accent back when she was just getting started in the US.
I’ve heard that too. She’s said that she pumps up the accent on Modern Family because its funnier. I believe it’s called “The Charo Effect.”
When I reached a third clip with the same Kia ad at the start it was time to assume the rest of the clips just suck and move on.
Did see he Watch What Happens clip and it would probably be more funny if it weren’t so close to an actual episode. They need to exaggerate more.
I thought this episode was terrible. Uninspired cold open, one of the worst WU they’ve had all year, a lame “haha, look at the straight guys being gay” commercial, they brought back Gilly for God’s sake, and they re-hashed the “guy can’t film the promo right” they just did a few weeks ago with Charles Barkley. The monologue and the pizza commercial were the only bits that made me laugh. I appreciate the Zooey Deschanel show, and kudos to Sophia Vergara for trying the Fran Drescher impression, but the sketch fell flat other than the Michael Cera stuff.
What the hell is up with One Direction? Whenever they weren’t dancing they looked nervous and awkward. Add to that the ass-scratching and face-poking and it’s hard to believe they perform for a living.
Also amazing how they sounded the exact same whether 5 of them sang at once or 2.
You can tell that Wiig is leaving soon, because that Gilly sketch, as terrible as it was, was beyond what she usually does and was almost a way of Wiig saying F-you to the Gilly haters. Or maybe it was an F-you to the character itself.
I got the feeling that was retirement sketch for Gilly, thanksbetojesus. Now let’s just hope they can retire the Manuel Ortiz show sketch. That. Is. AWFUL.
Watching these clips is a happy reminder that I made the right choice in not watching SNL for the past 5 years/ but I did enjoy the opening monolgue for the mandatory clevage shots.
I actually chuckled at the Armisen one. I’m a sucker for the Clueless Idiot Characters. I only watch SNL online, in select clips, but they seem to be doing the job. Hit and miss, just like since all sketch comedy. Of course, you have to *want* to be amused. Doesn’t work if you’re stroking your shotgun and mumbling about John Belushi.