COLD OPEN
ZOË RICE: Aw, a little Wayne’s World party time excellent. It’s hard not to have a soft spot for this throwback – the material was nothing new, but that’s kind of the point. I particularly enjoyed “Who’s on Firth.”
HOWARD MEGDAL: This one left my kind of cold, though I loved the touch of including Phil Hartman’s old introduction. Was this funnier 20 years ago, or was I just 10 years old? Merits further study.
MONOLOGUE:
ZOË RICE: I usually avoid Dana Carvey, even on talk shows, and so I expected to really dislike this. Carvey’s impressions are always more about him than his target, and his material is all twenty years past its prime. I found the monologue to be pretty innocuous – the Jon Lovitz cameo was cute, even if the pairing did seem like something of a washed-up high school reunion.
HOWARD MEGDAL: I’d have liked this better if it were written by the 1986-1993 writers.
I-SLEEP PRO
ZOË RICE: Perhaps the first airing of this commercial was long enough ago, or perhaps the material is strong enough to endure a second go-round, but I enjoyed this as much the 2nd time round.
HOWARD MEGDAL: I just renew my standing objection to repeats within a new show. Still, glad this repeat was one of the good ads produced this year.
CHURCH CHAT
ZOË RICE: The Church Lady got in some good Charlie Sheen jabs, the Kardashians were a good fit, and man Justin Bieber is everywhere this week.HOWARD MEGDAL: The intervening decades haven’t made it harder for the Church Lady to criticize pop culture, that’s for sure. This worked very well.
CELEBRITY CRISIS CENTER
ZOË RICE: Another vehicle for SNL impressions – the return of Hader’s Alan Alda was welcome, Armisen’s Ice – T was point perfect, Jay Pharoah’s Eddie Murphy was okay if a bit awkward toward the end, and Dana Carvey’s Mickey Rooney is just plain played out. Still.
HOWARD MEGDAL: Exactly. The skit didn’t hold together. Love Hader’s Alda, though.
DIGITAL SHORT: THE ROOMMATE
ZOË RICE: Samberg’s goofiness always tends to elicit something of a giggle, but this one didn’t hit it out of the park for me.
HOWARD MEGDAL: Right- Digital Shorts have a high floor, but this was near that floor.
LINKIN PARK
ZOË RICE: Ooh, sparkly lights! A fun performance and a rather pretty song. I enjoyed.HOWARD MEGDAL: I was happy when this ended, but this is not my kind of music.
UPDATE:
ZOË RICE: Some decent Egypt Update coverage this week, and Paul Brittain’s James Franco was a hoot: “I love jobs!” (I hope we get to see him again post-Oscars.) Kristen Wiig’s disco meteorologist was somewhat entertaining–it’s hard not to smile at “Wear gloves”–but she’s still short of hilarious here.
HOWARD MEGDAL: Wiig really made the disco meteorologist work, I thought. I maintain she is Carol Burnett in search of Burnett’s material.
LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY
ZOË RICE: I have not yet failed to be entertained by Wiig’s Kathy Lee impression. Dana Carvey’s Regis is alright, but the material dragged until Wiig popped into the frame.
HOWARD MEGDAL: Oh, I thought his Regis was terrific. This was a bit aimless, but worth doing, given Regis’s departure.
LITTLE MISS LITTLE GIRL PAGEANT
ZOË RICE: When I saw Kenan Thompson and Dana Carvey together, my first thought was “Oh, help me.” And indeed the pairing was painful. But seeing Vanessa Bayer just standing there in her Little Miss outfit offered a beacon of hope. The contestants saved this bit, with particular note to Samberg who is great as little Brendon. If only we could have had less Kenan and Dana, more Vanessa, Kristen, Samberg, and fine, even Abby Elliott.
HOWARD MEGDAL: This was devoid of laughs for me.
DEBRA WURTZ
ZOË RICE: Does Abby Elliott only have one “character” voice when she’s not doing Rachel Maddow? I liked the content and the idea here, but unfortunately Abby Elliott annoys me.
HOWARD MEGDAL: Also yet to see Elliott perform in a way her pedigree suggests she should.
LINKIN PARK
ZOË RICE: Linkin Park sure likes a gimmick. In this case the black and white made this song seem really quite pretentious.HOWARD MEGDAL: It’s a free country, so people can like this if they want.
GREEN BAY BAR
ZOË RICE: A new wave 80s-glam band in a bar full of die-hard Green Bay football fans. I dig the idea, but somehow there were no laughs in the execution.
HOWARD MEGDAL: See, I don’t like the idea. This doesn’t relate, even tangentially, to anything anyone can relate to, and as a result, it is simply a group of extreme, one-dimensional characters annoying others. Which is not the same as comedy, yet is the organic basis for many SNL skits.
Tags: Church Chat, Dana Carvey, impressions, Justin Bieber, Linkin Park, SNL, Wayne’s World
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