Photos
At this point, it is clear that the season of Saturday Night Live is coming together. The cast and writers are really cooking with the gas now. Case in point, this weekend’s episode when Ashton Kutcher hosted for some reason and yet the show was not terrible. Not at all! In fact, the show had lots of great moments. I’m not saying this was a Charles Barkley triumph, or a Jon Hamm knock-out, but you are already working at quite a deficit when your host is a sentient Von Dutch hat best known for having a cougar wife and a Twitter account (they’ll give those things out to anyone these days). Sidebar: why is Ashton Kutcher not only so comfortable hanging out with Demi Moore’s ex-husband, Bruce WIllis, all the time, but also so comfortable telling everyone about it as if America will find this normal? They could probably have cut the Oscar nominations sketch and just done a Q&A with Ashton about how weird his life is. I am sure it would be hilarious.
Anyway, some highlights from the show:
Probably my favorite sketch of the evening, personally, was the Roman grape-lover sketch. Admittedly, the whole thing kind of relies on how amused you are by funny voices, but it turns out that I am VERY AMUSED by funny voices ooh-wooh-wooh-wooh. But that is just me. Judge for yourself!
Although, the most “satisfying” sketch of the night, if what you are looking for is satisfaction, was Andy Samberg’s Rahm Emanuel impersonation, which is not to be confused with Andy Samberg’s Mark Wahlberg impersonation, no matter how similar they might sound:
A sketch that I am not convinced was entirely successful in its final execution, but which is one of the funnier premises I have seen in awhile, was the game show called What Is Burn Notice? What is it?! No one knows!
I have said it before and I will say it again for as long as it is a true thing and therefore worth repeating, but Weekend Update has been really good this year. Seth Meyers is holding it down, and the segment always has some of the funniest moments of any episode. This week featured the return of Garth and Kat:
And Elliot Sptizer:
It is not always amusing when people break character and cannot keep a straight face during sketches because it does take you out of the moment and directs the focus on the performer as an individual rather than a character (Sketch Skool 101 is now in session), but I did love how EVERYONE was breaking character and NO ONE could keep a straight face during Weekend Update. We’re just pals! Havin’ fun!
This week’s musical guest, of course, was Them Crooked Vultures, a supergroup of Dave Grohl and, you know, some other dudes. Here they are playing a song called “Mind Eraser.”
Dave Grohl also appeared in this very special (and very great) Saturday Night Live tribute to hardcore:
I bet Corrosion of Conformity fans were just losing their shit watching this. Just losing their shit completely.
Also, this sketch featuring a cameo from fellow Twitter-enthusiast Questlove did not air during the episode, but it is now on-line:
Farts.
Feb. 27: host Jennifer Lopez with musical guest Jennifer Lopez. Huh. Looks like Lorne Michaels finally completed work on that time machine! 2002 here we come!
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I’m begining to strongly dislike Ashton Kucher.
And, of course, That ’70s Show remains popular in syndication…
the severe Sarah Palin beatdown by Rahm Sandberg made this entire episode worth it. kinda disappointed by the sound quality (vocals were too low?) during the TCV performance.
I think Homme’s guitar was just too loud, especially on “Mind Eraser.”
It kind of scared me, to be honest. He sounded vicious. I only laughed when he said “In conclusion, boo fucking hoo.”
it’s true. there was genuine hatred in his voice. “Go back to the tundra, you fucking gimmick” goosebumps
As a Rahmoisseur (you get it), I must voice one quibble with the Emanuel impression, which is that Rahm, even when speaking calmly, clips every word. His words never flow smoothly together as Samberg’s words do at the beginning of this sketch. This somewhat ruins the comedie verite (or whatever) of the impersonation/sketch for me. It would be a very easy thing to fix and would significantly improve the sketch. But otherwise, great job! I like the idea. And I will always approve of the advancement in public recognition of the American treasure known as Rahm Emanuel.
The last sketch of the night usually winds up being my favorite, I think they figure a lot of people have turned the show off by then or are just all warmed up, so they let loose, and it shows.
“… Rip Torns.” WORLDS BE COLLIDING!!!!!!!
That band reunion sketch is a bonafide classic as far as I’m concerned.
Trivia for the non-hardcoreheads:
The “Cadena-Norton Wedding” sketch is an homage to Dez Cadena and Greg Norton. The names of the Crisis Of Conformity members are tributes too.
Lyrics:
When Ronald Reagan comes around
He brings the fascists to your town
You think it’s cool to be a jock
But we all get beat up by cops
It’s a
Fist fight fist fight
Fist fight in the parking lot
Fist fight fist fight
Fist fight in the parking lot
(Spoken, Fred)
I guess my mind’s all messed up
But isn’t that a result of going to your schools being a part of your system
Following your orders
(Ashton)
I guess you want me to put on a suit and tie and eat my happy meal
(Dave (his mic dropped out for a few lines, then Ashton gave him his))
I guess you want me to have 2.5 children and a white picket fence
I have a better idea. Why don’t I kick in your windows with my boots
(Fred)
You hear that Alexander Haig? You getting all that Ed Meese?
It’s time for a
Fist fight fist fight
Fist fight in the parking lot
Fist fight fist fight
Fist fight in the parking lot
Uh, thank you. Going above and beyond in your Internet duty!
I was amazed at how pitch-perfect the lyrics, the singing/spoken word, and the physical stage show were. They really nailed it. I mean, like, Wow.
also, can we all agree that this is one of the cutest and best things that ever happened during a Super Bowl?
Tiny babies in giant headphones! TINY BABIES IN GIANT HEADPHONES!
seriously where’s Notsewfast?
Kid is LOVIN’ the new Yeasayer! He can’t stop listening to it!
Has anyone actually seen Burn Notice ever? more importantly, what is Burn Notice?
I watched about 10 minutes of a random episode yesterday because I have been meaning to check it out due to the good reviews it gets. Bruce Cambell aside, it wasn’t gripping enough to stay with.
i believe Burn Notice is what you give the fire department when you’re going to burn leaves in your backyard
It was awesome–we watched this episode with friends of ours who had literally no idea what Burn Notice was or what it was about. And yet we’ve been watching it the entire time it’s been on–I’m pretty sure we discovered it when my husband was out of work a couple of years ago and had way too much time on his hands. But anywho, it was a pitch perfect sketch, especially with the added layer of actually trying to explain to our friends what it was while the WHAT IS BURN NOTICE? sketch was going on. Mad props, ad wizards who came up with that one.
Ok, I admit I am a Burn Notice fan. And this snl cracked my shit up.
I’ve watched the first couple seasons of Burn Notice. Bruce Campbell is terrific, as always, and that’s what started me watching the show.
It’s about an ex-CIA guy who basically is a one-man A-Team, helping the little guys and solving crimes while trying to clear his name. It’s also a little MacGyver-ish, as he uses his CIA smarts to solve problems in unexpected ways, and they show you the nitty-gritty of how his plans would work, etc.
It’s not a bad show, but I don’t think I’ll watch any more of it, simply because it did get really repetitive and the lead actor (whose name I’m too lazy to look up) is really hammy and self-serious.
It’s also yet another show set in Miami. What is up with so many shows in Miami?
Then you’re missing it. Michael Westin (like the hotels) and Fiona (I-couldn’t-sustain-my-irish-accent) are FINALLY hooking up. And Bruce Campbell moved out of Michael’s mom’s house.
On a more or less serious note, can I present a theory/question? First, a premise. Every now and again Seth Meyers will do a podcast interview with a sportswriter, Bill Simmons, on espn.com (we cannot escape sports!). During each interview Simmons will pitch a couple sketch ideas to Meyers. One actually made it onto the show, though Meyers said that someone else had that idea as well, but a couple of the jokes from the interview were used on SNL, so. Meyers has even said he’s written a couple jokes/sketches for Simmons (I guess as an easter egg for the fans?)… Anyway, can we all agree that there have been a couple strange intertextual moments between SNL and Videogum this year? What with the juggalos sketch and the timing of this week’s Rip Torn joke (even though it did not make the cut).
A few theories:
1. The Number 23
2. Gabe has passed along a couple jokes/ideas to his dear (and very funny) friend Jenny Slate and they have found themselves reaching the air.
3. SNL’s cast is interested in the same stuff as us monsters and that’s why we find them so funny!
Regarding number 2, just so that I don’t get downvoted into oblivion meaning someone else will have to carry the fire: I’m just throwing out a fun idea on a slow monday morning! I don’t view it as a bad thing!
Don’t worry, you’re not an electrified lemon or a DS3M so you should be more than fine.
There are people on the SNL staff who are clearly aware of Videogum. When we had the Gummy awards in December, we had a few celebrity ballots. Fred Armisen of SNL chose the Gathering of the Juggalos sketch as his favorite (a sketch which was then parodied on SNL), and Andy Samberg had a ballot as well, so between then and Jenny Slate we have at least three SNL folks who are aware of Videogum.
That said, Videogum is not (obviously) the only source for funny stuff and viral vids on the Internet, so some of it may well be coincidental.
It’s so nice to have adult-monster conversations about this stuff! We did it! I do ultimately lean towards option three in my theories, which is what you just stated, werttrew. But let’s not cut videogum too short, it is the web’s number one place for trampoline accidents and Puppy Bowl coverage.
I must admit, part of me does like thinking of Samberg or Sudeikis panicking before the weekly pitch meeting and frantically scrolling through the archives looking for some inspiration. We’ll know it to be true if Seth Meyers ever says “All right, settle down you monsters!”
As if there aren’t already too few hours in the day to sit around in pajamajeans listening to Die Antwoord, browsing Videogum and checking to see if Selleck, Waterfall, Sandwich had been updated, now you’re going to tell me that there are other funny websites?
Calm down. I was kidding. There is only Videogum. Shhhhh. There is only Videogum. Shhhhhhhhhh.
I wonder about that! Sometimes, I think it’s just parallel thinking. But Gabe/Videogum is like -1 degree of separation from SNL. About Bill Simmons: he’s just a funny guy. I listened to his Patton Oswalt interview recently and they were riffing like two old comics.
And of course, robots and aliens. Everything can be linked back to robots and aliens.
That reminds me, does anyone watch Infomania on Current? It seems they use the same clips and video that are posted on her A LOT.
Much love for SNL and the cast, but the first sketch was just unwatchable, and I feel like this happens a lot. The opening monologue was TBS Very Funny though. I didn’t know much about Ashton Kutcher freak outs before, but my husband said he co-hosted some BMX contest in 1998 back when no one knew who he was and proceeded to lose his shit whenever someone did something cool. My husband thought he was mentally handicapped.
Something is definitely HAPPENING on SNL. There’s a great rhythm.
Question: Is there a way to find out which writers wrote which sketches??? I’ve come across that info sort of randomly – on the writers Twitter accounts or mentioned in interviews or podcasts or whatever, but is it listed somewhere?
I want to say that it is USUALLY safe to assume that the person who is the main character of a sketch is its writer. But the scripts of sketches definitely get passed around A LOT throughout the week, so everyone kind of has the opportunity to get their fingerprints on any given sketch. Bill Hader talks about how he’s always trying to get more Vincent Price on the show, so you know that whenever they do a Vincent Price sketch, it’s coming from him. Weekend Update would be the exception to the rule – I believe Meyers says that they have 2 or 3 writers who do only that every week, other than the special segments.
I’ve been following Seth Meyers (@sethmeyers21) on Twitter for a while, and sometimes he throws that info out there – most recently, he mentioned that the Cialis for 3-ways was written by someone named Alex Baze (@bazecraze). Through one of those two I also started following another writer, Jessica Conrad (@jessicajconrad).
Honestly, I have no idea who any of the SNL writers are except Lutz, but I’m interested in this question as well, so if anyone a little more enterprising than me wants to put a bit of research into finding all the cast/writers who are on Twitter (and maybe even make a list), that would be a good resource. You could probably even directly ask the writers, they only seem to have a few hundred followers (Seth has like 60k).
I think I’m following about 10 SNL writers on Twitter and they’ll USUALLY tweet when one of their sketches had made it to air… and on the NBC website, they list the general credits for each episode, like which of the writers wrote for the episode, but they don’t get any more specific than that and say who wrote which sketches. DO THIS, NBC! Inquiring comedy geek minds want to know.
And the writers are extras in the sketches a lot too – Easter eggs for the superfans.
The first person to put Miley Cyrus’s ‘Dance Party USA’ over Crisis Of Conformity’s ‘Fist Fight’, will receive 9 Schrute Bucks from me.
i think maybe one of the SNL writers got their hands on the new Aziz Ansari album and was “inspired” for this Burn Notice skit…
I just wanted to say that if SNL had Jason Sudeikis do a Glenn Beck impression every week, I’d be a happy camper. That is all.
If SNL had Jason Sudeikis dancing in the red track suit in the corner of every sketch, I’d be a happy camper.
I actually enjoyed the Will Reading skit quite a bit where Ashton played a pool boy who had pleasured a 110 year old with stage 5 chlamydia for the past ten years.
“What was she going to do, give birth to a ghost?”
Pretty good stuff all around.
I enjoyed the Zoot Alors french black guy bit on weekend update
Damn. I need a cigarette after that Rahm Emanuel sketch.
Was Topher Grace busy this night?
garth and kat was by far my favorite four minutes of the show, even though they broke character. but come on, fred armisen and kristen wiig seldom break character, so give ‘em some slack, no? they aren’t repeat jimmy falloners or anything. i dare say it’s almost funnier when they break character once in awhile? just not like above 7 on the fallon scale