Mere hours before making his on-screen SNL debut, Louis C.K. sent out the following email:
In about 5 hours we'll be going on the air. I'll do a monologue. And we'll show you some sketches that we wrote and try to make you laugh. I'm gonna look really dumb in some of this stuff. But I don't care. Its awfully worth it. And I'm really excited. Anyway. I just wanted to let you know. If you watch the show tonight, when Don Pardo says my name and you see me walking out, all the shit in this email is what ill be thinking. I'm a pretty lucky guy. I hope you enjoy the show.
He was just as impassioned as we were because, honestly, last night felt important. It was, arguably, America's greatest comedian at the peak of his powers, hosting one of the longest-running, most well-respected comedy institutions around. HISTORY. But was it good?
Yes and no, though the "no" wasn't his fault. Last night's episode was one of extreme highs and lows — some sketches, like "Lincoln" and "Last Call," were weird and brilliant and what we think SNL should be. Other sketches, like "Mountain Pass," were dumb and a waste of precious talent and what SNL often is.
Overall, it was a success, and C.K. was fantastic throughout (especially in sketches where he could bounce off of only one person), but it still felt like it could have been better. Then again, people have been saying that since George Carlin hosted the first episode, so maybe it was just an homage?
Either way, white people do LOVE Homeland.
Bobby Moynihan brought out his Governor Chris Christie impression for the first time (I think?), and like Tina Fey's Sarah Palin, it's not so much a spoof as a direct imitation. It's impossible to mock the man who already IS Jersey, in all its obnoxious, overweight, OHHHHHH I GOT YOUR GARDEN STATE RIGHT HERE *c*ck thrust* glory. Still, when Sudeikis and therefore Mitt Romney depart at mid-season, I'm totally on-board with more Christie, as long as Nasim Pedrad's Roxy is around, too.
Also, is it just me, or does anyone else forget Fred Armisen is still on SNL?
When I saw Louis perform in August during a rehearsal gig for his standup tour, he told the same bit he used during his monologue, about "his" airport old lady. It was interesting hearing the evolution of the joke, though; for instance, back then, the part about him wishing he was sexually attracted to old ladies wasn't part of the routine. The finger-pointing and GYPSY accent were, however, and they're just as funny now as they were then.
"Fox and Friends" has never done much for me (it feels a little too easy), and this one was no different. The corrections are always amusing enough ("There are many black people, not just one who is a master of disguise" and "There is no celebrity named Rape Romano" were personal favorites), but Sudeikis's sub-par Donald Trump makes me pine for the days of Darrell Hammond, a sentiment that I'm pretty sure I'm the first to ever utter.
Yup. If "Lincoln" had ended with Kenan's emancipated slave sarcastically thanking our 16th president at the bar, it would have been good enough — and then the familiar Louie theme began playing, and "Lincoln" became an instant classic. (I wonder if there's anyone out there who had no idea what was being spoofed?) It's so pitch perfect, from the font of the credits, to the way it was shot, to Lincoln's self-effacing jokes. The only thing missing was Louie/Lincoln balancing against the Comedy Cellar brick wall with one hand. According to Late Night writer Mike Shoemaker, via Twitter, "Lincoln" was written by Seth Meyers, so props to you, Mr. Meyers. In honor, I'll refrain from commenting on your mugging for jokes during "Weekend Update" for one week and one week only.
It was dumb, but eh, I laughed. Australian humor hits the same sweet spot for me as fart and poop jokes. C.K. playing “Australia’s Steve Zahn" is a wonderful throwaway line.
If C.K. hadn't been the host, the lack of Obama and Romney would have bugged me, considering one of the most divisive elections of, oh, all-time is only a few days away. Instead, Romney didn't make his first appearance until "Weekend Update," and he continued to knock it out of the park. It feels like Sudeikis's only recently gotten a handle on the character — shame that by month's end, they'll have to "retire" him. Hopefully.
The second time "The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party" has made an appearance, and — INDEPENDENT THOUGHT ALARM — it was funny again. That's strong analysis, folks.
During his Late Night with Jimmy Fallon appearance on Thursday, C.K. commented that there was one sketch he was embarrassed to be a part of, but he still wanted to do it; he was dreading it in a good way, I guess, to stretch out his acting and/or masochism skills? I'm going to assume "Mountain Pass" was that sketch. It was so painfully unfunny that I found it hilarious. There was no punchline, the cast had no idea what they were supposed to be doing and gave up 20 seconds in (Kate and Kenan can be seen losing it), the set design was oddly intricate for something so dumb, and C.K. couldn't synch blowing the horn with the in-studio sound effects. I don't know what the point of "Mountain Pass" was supposed to be, but hey, at least there wasn't any yeti rape.
Due to the impressive timing from both C.K. and Bobby Moynihan, "Hotel Fees" was the rare SNL sketch that felt Monty Python-esque. Just replace the dead parrot with a mounted bobcat.
America, meet the new Kristen Wiig: Kate McKinnon. "Last Call" was wonderful. McKinnon more than held her own against C.K., and she not only reminded me of Wiig, but also Will Ferrell, in the way she moved her body and enunciated certain words. (I got a distinct "Bill Brasky" vibe.) She's the show's next superstar.
And I'm naming my kid Dan Pants Kurp.
At least they didn't play "We Are Young"?
This feels an important GIF to have around:
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“Lincoln” was hilarious, but I felt they could have stretched it to at least two more skits.
I like that it was one long sketch at the beginning. When things are broken up like that, then we complain that they were beating a dead horse. Re: Brad Pitt last week. Maybe that’s just me, though. It’s rare that they’ll carry something throughout the show and it remains funny with each instalment.
Reading this makes it less horrible than I thought while watching it lol. That last sketch though..
I thought the kissing portion of Last Call was his embarrassing sketch but I can see how Mountain Pass would be it. I laughed at it last night but today I see how bad it was.
yeah i think clearly it was the kissing thing. he didn’t say he was nervous to do the sketch because it was bad, he said he was nervous about it because it would be embarrassing and humiliating and that’s obviously the grotesque kiss.
He mentioned that the crappy sketch had something to do with wardrobe, so it was definitely the Mountain Pass sketch, which was in fact horrible. Last Call was hilarious, so you’re both wrong, anyway.
you might be right about the Mountain Pass thing, but neither of us said Last Call was bad so i don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about with that last sentence.
And secondly, Uproxx is amazing, and the commenters and writers are far funnier than I’ll ever be, but man do you guys have this annoying cynical nature of not enjoying anything. Every week it’s the worst musical act ever. I am beautiful woman and I love good man…..inter racial romance is my dream… so I joined —blackwhitePlanet.С0M—–it’s where to- connect with beautiful and excellent people!I enjoyed Fun. even though “Carry On” is just an awful song. I love hyperbole too, but let’s not forget Ashlee Simpson was a musical guest once.
Misread ‘his embarrassing sketch’ as ‘an embarrassing sketch’. So sue me.
McKinnon is definitely being groomed as the next big thing. She got the Wiig vibe going on, but her character in the bar sketch reminds me of something Cheri Oteri would’ve done….and I mean that as a complement!
i”m surprised she’s still a “featured player” considering she’s gotten more screen time than Sudeikis and Hader combined this season.
speaking of which, why the fuck are they going so light on Hader lately? he’s the best guy in the cast
I’ve wondered the same thing about Hader. Too often this season, he’s the supporting character in a terrible sketch.
The way it works is each week you write sketches and bring them to the table and pitch them. Sometimes you have a dry spell so you just end up in one, or zero, sketches that somebody else wrote.
well everyone should be doing the Lord’s work and making sure Hader has a role in their sketches.
One of the best lines of the night, from the girl you regret talking to skit – “Can I sing a negro spiritual for one minute?”
“seth, can i use the n-word, real quick?”
They even had they guy giving the finger while Louie’s eating pizza in the Lincoln sketch. Brilliant!
the lincoln louie was fucking brilliant. the only duff was the mountain sketch
The cold open was much better than terrible. Fun. can die in a fire.
If I was a literature major living in Manhattan who just became old enough to go out to bars and “experience life”, I could see the appeal of Fun. But I’m not, so I dont.
the singers mouth is so enormous it’s terrifying. just a weird looking dude. and, yeah, terrible band.
That band was so bad I wrote a shitty poem about it:
I hated Fun.
There.
I said it.
I hate Fun.
Fun sucks.
Was this part of their plan?
If everyone hates us then our name will be extra ironic and then maybe they’ll like us?
Assholes.
Now I hate Fun even more. Great.
Get off my lawn.
Get off my lawn.
Get off my lawn.
Lincoln was amazing, and it pains me to say that something Seth Myers wrote was funny.
The Ram Horn sketch had me in hysterics. I was hoping that it was going to be a non-sketch sketch where halfway through Louie would say fuck it and go backstage and talk to Lorne or he would just grab a mic and lambaste SNL for being lazy and intricately break the show down for 20 minutes and everyone on staff has a moment of clarity and decide to cut the bullshit.
The ram horn had me laughing because it looked like the cast was in on the stupidity. But i like your idea.
Last nights show was ok. Its nice to see SNL do things that are a bit absurd(Hotel concierge/last call) but otherwise, meh. The skits werent so much funny as much as they featured good performances from individual players. Meh.
Also , why is Rihanna next weeks musical guest, AGAIN?? With no Samberg, that means no Shy Ronnie skit, so why bother?
Maybe he’ll make a surprise return for one final Ronnie skit.
Yup.
Because she has a new album coming out and people would rather watch her promote it than Christina Aguilerra promote hers.
I liked mountain pass. Louis saved that bit by being way over the top in his delivery.
I think that was the point… I think this skit was supposed to be bad. Like Louis really wanted to be in a bad skit to make people squirm.
Exactly spot-on. Horrible premise/writing, but Louis’ delivery and the sync with the horn really made it hilarious. Though it did probably go on a little too long, and nobody other than Louis got to be funny.
I thought the episode was pretty fantastic. sure, i’m based as i adore CK (as any right thinking person does), but i was preparing for a letdown simply because their styles on paper clash. but i thought he delivered and i laughed at every sketch. i even loved the mountain bit, breaking and flubbing lines (when in moderation) goes a long way.
Louis’ old lady monolog was the best. And that bit about old ladies in stores randomly talking to strangers is both true and adorable.
I could definitely use more of the New Jersey sign language translator. But Bobby Moynihan has done Chris Christie at least once before. I think it involved the media fawning over him and begging him to run for president?
I’m thinking they built the mountain pass set for another sketch that didn’t make it to air, and then threw together something at the last second so it wouldn’t go to waste. And does anyone else agree that Louis doesn’t look like Louis unless he’s wearing a black shirt? Red bowling shirt in the last call sketch took away some of his essence.
Last night proved why we all love Louis and why SNL is absolutely terrible. His monologue was stellar because it was basically just his stand-up, and like everyone said, Lincoln was genius.
But the other sketches… good god. The whole night I was thinking, “why would anyone write this?” I feel like Tina Fey needs to guest and do a meta-”Really?” sketch calling out the writers. I think a perfect example of this was the Fox News one. The absurdity and exaggeration didn’t translate. Or “Last Call” where obviously all the thought that was put into it was “let’s do a sketch about how people in bars have nothing in common but pretend they do anyway because they’re desperate.” The idea is funny, but it’s just not enough for a sketch I think.
I agree – I know this is vague but there’s no edge to the sketches. I blame Meyers b/c his style is just sort of smarmy but not too offensive. The kind of style that gets you the ESPY’s gig.
Licking Louis CK’s face has edge. Making fun of deaf people has edge. A black guy asking Lincoln ‘Nobody’s shot you yet?’ has historical edge. I think this is the same old story where people that watch the show religiously just want to bag on it for God knows what reason. Just stop watching it if it sucks so bad.
Why did the lead singer of Fun. dress as Rick Astley?
I was thinking more Lloyd Dobler
Did CK say he was nervous about the Last Call sketch? I would be too. Not just with the crazy kissing but cos it’s Kate McKinnon and I’d probably get wood. She’s really hot to me. I’m glad she’s getting such a spotlight on the show.
The show wasn’t incredible but it made me laugh more than usual. One of the best we’re gonna get this season, me thinks.
Also, that Australian Screen Legends sketch was pretty funny.
I have to admit, Bobby Moynahan’s Chris Christie impression (well, the general blue collar Jersey/Outer Boroughs, usually Italian, douche character he does) was hilarious. The interpreters were also amusing.
I feel sick that Bobby Moynahan is starting to grow on me. His work on the Hotel Checkout sketch was pretty great, too.
Fun was like the one of the worst acts I’ve ever seen on the show lol
Louie was fantastic as usual
Apparently you missed the episode with Robyn.
Mountain Pass was so, so painful to watch, I almost turned it off right then. CK’s monologue and Lincoln were definitely my favorite bits (which makes me wonder if I should have just caught up on those episodes of Louie instead of sitting through SNL) Also, I was prepared for Fun to suck live and for that to be painful to, but I was kind of impressed.
So if there is no Barack in the episode then Jay Pharoah just doesn’t need to show up that week?
In Lincoln he played a slave….so do with that what you will.
Cold open was good, opening monologue was brilliant (as we have come to expect from C.K.)
Mountain Pass was a ridiculous piece of shit and I have a feeling that the new young writers had something to do with it. Australian Screen Legends was utter fucking shit, I’m Australian and I usually love it when we get the piss taken out of us but geez, that was just shit!, Fun could possibly be the worst “band” i’ve ever seen! Hotel Fee’s just makes me love Bobby even more, he’s just killing it! Last call was great, Kate was brilliant, at least she isn’t so one trick pony like Kirsten, sorry, never found her overly funny. Why bother having that new Tim guy, the one and only time I saw him was on stage during the closing thank you’s, at least the big girl has talent, that guy has sucked in every skit he’s in.
The Lincoln bit was too good, and it made me think that he should do a whole historical figure standup routine in his act. The everyman style of Louis’ comedy really sold the lazy impersonation and every part of the performance was hilarious. I just showed the monologue to some coworkers from DISH, and we all thought that it one of the best that they have had in a long time. I love how I can save all of the best bits from every week on the giant hard drive of the Hopper that I just got from DISH so that I can show them to all of my friends. It must have been a real treat for the writers to see Louis go out there and give such a great monologue because they didn’t have to write it and get to experience it like the audience.
where do you work? i don’t think i caught it…
These DISH spams are getting progressively more awesome and sophisticated. I’m starting to look forward to them.
Agreed. I want to have conversations with the spams.
First off, Louis C.K. is amazing. And secondly, Uproxx is amazing, and the commenters and writers are far funnier than I’ll ever be, but man do you guys have this annoying cynical nature of not enjoying anything. Every week it’s the worst musical act ever. I enjoyed Fun. even though “Carry On” is just an awful song. I love hyperbole too, but let’s not forget Ashlee Simpson was a musical guest once.
Hmm nevermind I was drunk watching the show. Watching the musical performance of “Some Nights” now and it doesn’t sound as good as the studio version. My point still stands about being cynical of musical acts. Or not. I don’t know. I really don’t care about defending people who play music for a living.
that, like, soul scatting thing he does or whatever you wanna call it in Some Nights is so awkward and embarrassing to watch
Commenters here are generally masochistic. There is a high ratio of people that watch SNL every single week without fail, but do nothing but rip on how crappy it is. I’m not sure what these people’s lives are like that they have that much time to waste on it. Maybe they just want to be part of the conversation? Even though they add nothing to it? I can’t even guess why people would be so idiotic. It does get awfully annoying.
Come on now…are you new to the internet? Everything is always the worst something ever.
I feel like I went through phases with FUN. When I stumbled upon them on Spotify I was like “Oh this is kind fun music.” Then they played We Are Young like 15 times on my ride from New York to Philly and I thought OK that’s a LOT of this song…but good for them. Then I saw them on SNL and I was like “Nope. Hipster nonsense.”
@Mattjy2011 those are the people who “hate-watch” a show, and I don’t get it. If I hate a show, I never watch it again. Some people like to watch a show just so they can clown on it, but I’d rather save myself some cringes and just go watch some more “The League”
I, for one, did not enjoy your comment.
When he told the joke in Atlantic City in September the wishing he was sexually attracted to old ladies was in.
I havent watched a musical act all season and last year i watched Mick Jagger perform but pretty much changed it at every one else. In fact the last 2 music guests (besides Jagger) that Ive watched were Radiohead and Paul McCartney. SNL has shit taste in music is what i’m saying.
Not true. Just from last season, Jack White, The Black Keys, Florence and the Machine, Foo Fighters/Arcade Fire and even Rihanna. All killed it. Most of them not stuff I like but I can appreciate what they brought to the stage. Not saying they don’t have a lot of crap but they have more gems than people give them credit for.
SNL isn’t in the business of breaking new bands, they follow the trends. That’s fine with me.
We are never home/awake to watch live (my wife has people who like her – if it were up to me, I’d be a hermit) but watching it later on my DIRECTV receiver (ha) actually is way better. You really notice how few sketches there are. I keep thinking “You do seven sketches a week. How hard is it to come up with ideas?” I always wanted them to have one recurring character that every host plays differently. Let each host give it their own voice.
Simply tremendous: [latenightjimmy.tumblr.com]
Ethers!
Good Lord I hope you’re wrong about McKinnon being SNL’s great big thing. She does the exact same character in all her skits with the exact same accent. Her Swedish, Canadian, Californian and Australian accents are all the same. The accents aren’t even good.
With that said, I thought SNL was pretty good. Mountain Pass wasn’t terrible. But it could have been cut short to make it a little more solid.
I squealed with glee when the Lincoln sketch transitioned in to the Louie/Lincoln credit sequence. Brilliant.
In my opinion, this episode was the worst of the season and fun. was the only good part of it. I found C.K.’s opening monologue to be weak and not funny at all, and most of the sketches were offal. Especially “Last Call.”
I also think that fun. is not bad at all. At least they are talented musicians who write good, original songs, and their stuff is better than most crap on the radio these days. Now that they’ve gone mainstream, people are hating on them just because of how popular they are. Both of their albums are wonderful and all of their songs have a unique sound; something that a lot of music is missing. Also, I’ve personally met all of them and they’re nice people, so I really feel like all the hate they’re getting is completely undeserved.