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SNL Review 1-13-07: Jake Gyllenhaal / The Shins

Cold Open: Bush is an idiot.  I chuckled a few times during this though, and laughed out loud at the line "and of course, astronauts". 

Monologue: Well there's some Brokeback Mountain humor here (shocker), but we're effectively swerved and things turn into Jake singing a song from Dreamgirls in drag, to the delight of gay cowboys in the audience.  Jake's singing is eerily good, and Will Forte and Jason Sudeikis (as the gay cowboys) have some hilarious reactions. 

Deephouse Dish: They're going to just grind this one into the ground aren't they?  I laughed a few times but there's ultimately no point to this one.  Andy Samberg seems to be channeling Will Ferrell's Harry Carey voice at times. 

Bronx Beat: Two clueless hosts babble through their talk show.  Simple, mindless, made me laugh. 

Donald Trump Press Conference: Trump doesn't like Rosie O'Donnell.  Figured this one was coming. 

Next Week: Jeremy Piven.  Awesome.  Musical guest AFI?  Huh?  The American Film Institute?  Wha?

Cool Food: Completely ridiculous to the point where it ceases to be lame and somehow produces a laugh or two BECAUSE it's so ridiculous.  And at least the sketch had a punchline. 

SNL Digital Short (Laser Cats 2): I enjoy this because of how absurdly low budget it is (purposely, yes I know). 

Stock Footage Awards: This is a very clever premise, and having Hammond do his Dan Rather as the host only makes it better.  Bonus points for working in the waterskiing squirrel. 

The Shins: I am not aware of this band.  They're not bad.  In fact, I could see myself making this a purchase...

Weekend Update: Seth's Scooby-Doo joke was so wrong and yet so funny.  Fred Armisen did a parody of Steve Jobs and the iPhone that is now everywhere on the internets.   

Law & Order Acting Class: Clever, and goofy at the same time. 

The Set Up: A couple sets up two people in wheelchairs for a blind date, because they're both in wheelchairs.  Weak premise, but the overacting boosts it a bit. 

The Shins II: Hey, this is "New Slang".  I know this song.  I don't know why I know it, but I know it.  I like these guys.

Kaplan, Lebowitz and Dolemite: Law firm commercial.  Too short to really get going. 

Overall I'd say that was a surprisingly solid show.  Jake was a capable host, seemed like a good sport, never broke character, and did a solid job doing what was asked of him.  Some clever writing tonight, and a strong music guest as well.

Saturday Night's All Right

New Jersey's Star-Ledger TV critic Alan Sepinwall recently sat down with the new Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season DVD set and wonders if we're all a little *too* nostalgic.  In the lengthy, well-written piece he says:

"The power of memory always adds a nice spit-shine to the pleasures of our younger years, but that polish doesn't hold up when confronted with the reality. It's not a coincidence that almost everyone's favorite SNL era was the one they grew up on. For me, that was the Phil Hartman/Dana Carvey/Jon Lovitz period of the late '80s. I can quote entire episodes verbatim, notably the one where Tom Hanks joined the Five-Timers Club of hosts and appeared on a game show with Tony Randall as Mr. Short-Term Memory. But a recent Best of Lovitz special dismayed me with how unfunny I found it all; was it just that I knew all the jokes so well already, or was pathological liar Tommy Flanagan a thinner concept than I realized at the time?"

Continue reading "Saturday Night's All Right"...

More SNL: The Complete First Season Reviews

Moviehole.net gives the recent DVD release of Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season three out of five stars, having this to say:

"Looking back on the first season of Saturday Night Live is like staring at a photograph of your 10th birthday party: You knew you had a wonderful time first-time around, but you wonder whether it’d get you as excited now."

Also, TVshowsOnDVD.com checks in with their review, and reveals that using the word "complete" in this set's title isn't exactly accurate:

"Now here's the big problem with the set; it's not uncut, despite assurances from Broadway Video that it would be. The first bit of material missing are the bumpers (the still photos) that would appear before and after the commercial breaks. Broadway Video told me that they don't really consider those part of the show, and they were removed (except for the last bumper) to make the episode on DVD flow better. Some fans will be pissed by that, and others won't care, but it's an edit that was made. A discussion at the Home Theater Forum has turned up more edits, and these are far worse than missing bumpers. A few episodes have things missing from them, like the Wrigley's Gum commercial from the Rob Reiner episode, or the Ambassador Training Institute and New Dad commercials from the Peter Boyle episode. Those last two were rerun commercials (something they did quite often), but the Wrigley Gum commercial is missing from its original airing, and its rerun (in the Buck Henry episode). I've already contacted Broadway Video about the edits, and I'm waiting to hear back from them. These edits may be very minor to you, or they may cause you not to buy the set - that's a decision that you'll have to make; at least all the musical acts are here."

Continue reading Moviehole.net's review of SNL: The Complete First Season...
Continue reading TVShowsOnDVD.com's review of SNL: The Complete First Season...

The Boston Globe reviews SNL: The Complete First Season

The Boston Globe delivers their take on the SNL: The Complete First Season DVDs:

"Rumors of the amazingness of early SNL have been exaggerated since the 1970s. And now, with the recent release of the DVD set SNL: The Complete First Season, we can all see for ourselves behind the boomer-generated myths of SNL. From Oct. 11, 1975, to July 31, 1976, the show clearly delivered both diamonds and dust, as the sketches veered from inspired topicality and originality to Laugh-In-like frivolousness to self-indulgence."

Continue reading "SNL set says much about past and present"...

Digital Bits reviews SNL: The Complete First Season

The Digital Bits chimes in with their look at last week's major DVD release:

"I shouldn't have to tell you what a big deal this is. SNL is America's Monty Python, and while recent seasons have suffered in quality, those first several years are absolute gems. There's an insane amount of classic comedy here, by some of the best performers ever to take the stage."

Continue reading "Digital Bits reviews SNL: The Complete First Season"...

a brief word

Hi there-- remember me? 

I just felt the need to add my $.02...

Gwen Stefani?  Her style is not my favorite, but daymn that girl is clever.  Sampling a song from The Sound Of Music?  Risky, but it works.  She is the kind of musical act that SNL needs to draw, not the Random Chick That No One Knows Yet Buys Her Way On Air.

I do however agree with Herr Webmaster re: Annette Benning-- yawn...

SNL Review 12-9-06: Annette Bening / Gwen Stefani

Cold Open: Bush is an idiot, Iraq is a mess.  Really?  Except for Sudeikis doing camera takes when he would start reading his letters, this was a total bore and way too long. 

Opening Credits: Don Pardo has some sort of fit trying to say the name Gwen Stefani.

Monologue: I guess this monologue was left over from 1999, because it's all American Beauty jokes.  Alec Baldwin shows up because he lives in the building now.  He saves the bit. 

SNL Re-Cut Apocalypto Trailer: Wow.  The once pioneering sketch comedy series has decided to copycat something that movie nerds have been doing in their basements for years now.  Surprisingly, even with outthe power of a major network behind them, the nerds make better re-cut trailers.  This was fine, but it really was just adding subtitles to an existing trailer.  Not that hard. 

Good Morning I Hate This Town: Seems to be an excuse to say "dumbass" as many times as possible.  A waste of a good idea, but Kenan was good though.  And it was short. 

Saturday TV Funhouse - Diddy Kiddies: What does Diddy do?  Good stuff. 

Teacher / Student Sex: A teacher is in love with her idiot student.  Bening stares at the cue cards the entire time and still manages to stumble through her lines.  Wow, that was pointless. 

Next Week: Justin Timberlake

Two A-Holes in a Live Nativity Scene: This bit may have run its course. 

SNL Digital Short: Weird.  Matthew Fox is in this, so it was most likely cut from last week's show.  And although it has nothing to do with Lost, it ends with a Lost-style graphic saying Happy Holidays. 

Buyer Beware: Low budget public access-ish show (that looks too good, especially in HD, to be a low budget public access show).  Kinda pointless, but Kenan is always good for at least a chuckle. 

Gwen Stefani "sings": I'm not so sure she's even singing whatever the hell this is.

Weekend Update: Most of the jokes were pretty good.  Hammond shows up as Al Gore in a bit that goes nowhere.  Kristen Wiig's segment was equally pointless.  Will Forte and Fred Armisen sing a protest song about gay marriage.  Forte sounds like Steve Martin here for some reason. 

Monster: There's a monster in Amy Poehler's bedroom and her parents freak out.  Bening stares at the cue cards again.  I'm not really sure what her presence is even contributing to the show at this point.  I'll give this a touch of credit for Will Forte's dedication to staying in character. 

Valtrex Commercial: From the Alec Baldwin episode. 

Three Sheltered People Go To Some Restaurant: Bening stares at the cue cards, which gets in the way of an otherwise oddly interesting sketch. 

Akon: Akon raps in a purple sweater and the dude from Fishbone is playing keyboards and saying "Yep, yep, okay" into the mic during the song.

Law Firm for Cats: A commercial (done live) for cats who have inherited money.  And then in the middle of the sketch it gets cut off (for time, I'm guessing).  Ricky and Ron must have formatted the script in two hour pages this week. 

Well, that was... something.  I see no reason why Annette Bening was the host, as she contributed nothing memorable.  Sloppy in places, painful in others.

The Washington Post reviews SNL: The Complete First Season

The Washington Post chimes in with their look at the new Saturday Night Live DVDs:

"When it comes to special features, this collection stumbles more noticeably than Chevy Chase during one of his pratfalls. The only extras include midly amusing screen tests for the seven cast members and Tom Snyder's brief interview with the cast and "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels. The commemorative booklet that comes with the box set features fun black-and-white photos, but no text or information about the show's history. In fact, the DVD offers very little context about "SNL's" influence or how it began, which is practically a crime given its cultural significance."

Continue reading "Thank God It's Saturday Night"...

The Toledo Blade reviews SNL: The Complete First Season

The Toledo Blade (sounds like an indy wrestler, but I digress) has a write up about this week's release of Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season.  Christopher Borrelli writes:

"Saturday Night Live, as an institution, has a problem that is unique to network comedy. It's been on the air so long that fans of the first seasons might enjoy the latest seasons, but the latest generations would almost certainly not get the first seasons. The jokes have dated. The rhythms are stilted. Unless, of course, you were those first audiences."

Continue reading "From the start, SNL jabbed viewers with a sharp shtick"...

IGN Reviews SNL: The Complete First Season

More reviews of today's release of Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season coming in.  This one comes from IGN.com, giving the set an overall 7 out of 10:

"Although the show may appear dated, most of the comedy isn't. Yes, we did say most. While sketches like The Land Shark and Samurai Futaba are still funny, many of the political and social references are lost on those who weren't alive to watch this show the first time. But does that mean that all the comedy is dated? No, far from it. In fact the majority of the comedy is universal and based off of irreverent and relatable topics. So is the content on this set worth your money? We definitely think so. But if you have a hard time watching anything that wasn't made in the last five years you may want to pass."

Continue reading "IGN: Saturday Night Live - The Complete First Season Review"...