Tuesday, October 3, 2006
SNL, Sept. 30: Dane Cook
Opening sketch: I expected the first sketch of the season to be a bit funnier than this one, seeing as how they have all summer to come up with something. We continue to like Will Forte's George W. Bush, but this sketch, where he bugs the other guests of honor at a politician's rally, wasn't all that attention-grabbing. The "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" honors go to Jason Sudeikis.
Monologue: It's Dane Cook's second time hosting within ten months, and he gets to do a handheld mic standup again. One word of advice: Be more familiar with the content of the show you are hosting. Your first riff sounded a bit like -- no, a lot like -- a rehash of a "Debbie Downer" sketch, what with its references to the person who always tries to bring you down when you're having a good time. Wait, wait, that's EXACTLY like a Debbie Downer sketch. What happened there? Didn't anyone tell him? He's already been accused of lifting other comic's material. This might not have helped. But the rest was good Dane-Cook-based stuff.
The next sketch is a training session for security screeners. Broad but funny caricatures with a few pointed comments about the state of our security made this one pretty good. I did like the "Okay, let's name some liquids and gels" part. Someone says "turkey sandwich." You know, that's simple, but still funny.
“The Hugo Chavez Political Roundup” was up next and it was a complete clunker, even with a slightly silly Kim Jong Il impression from Amy Poehler.
The first Digital Short of the season is "Cubicle Fight", and it was not particularly funny. It was basically office worker Dane Cook fighting with office newbie Bill Hader in a very small enclosed workspace. Which you knew from the title. I did like the part where Dane blows hole punches into Bill's face as part of the fight, but I just didn't get into this one.
Bill Hader brings his fantastic Al Pacino impression to "Wells Fargo Presents: Al Pacino Checks His Bank Balance." Hader is a gifted impressionist and his Pacino is flawless. Give me this over "Cubicle Fight" any day, even if the sketch was just Pacino hamming it up. Gotta admit, a fake Pacino hamming for five minutes is better than the real one hamming for 110.
The Killers came on to do their new song, whatever it is, and while it's a good song, the lead singer was a bit tone deaf for much of it.
Weekend Update begins with a prelude: Amy prepares for the news and Brian Williams steps to the desk and says he's really excited to be doing the news. Amy is saddened to tell him they actually went another way, and in comes Seth Meyers. Then there is a fadeout, and I was expecting the Update to begin, but it went to a commercial. I thought it might have been our local affiliate (KGW) screwing up, and my suspicions were made even more forceful when the break ended and Amy was already delivering a punchline. Seth proves to be a good choice to anchor, though a joke or two did fall flat. Darrell Hammond reprised his Bill Clinton again, regaling us with a tale of a tryst between him and and an uncomfortable Condi Rice (Maya Rudolph). I have to say, Darrell Hammond should probably find a way out of this show. We're still doing Clinton? Come on. I know he was just in the news, but I really don't want to see him when he's not. The last one was good; a reference to "Tickle-Me-Elmo" led into a photo of a knife-wielding "Gimme-A-Reason Bert".
The next sketch is joined in progress again. Come on KGW! Get with it! Two water-bottle delivery guys are caught failing to make their deliveries; their theft of the bottles is demonstrated when Will opens a closet door, making way for well over 90 seconds (literally) of water bottles tumbling out. I liked that. A lot. Here they also make reference to "30 Rock" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip".
Another performance from The Killers. Didn't watch it. Sorry. Maybe later.
Next we have an odd plea from dippy Farrah Fawcett (Amy) to keep our oceans from dying. Her fake boob slides down her dress and then she walks over to participate in the next sketch, a bar scene where the bouncers (Dane and Jason) tell everyone to leave. Why did I like it when they approached a smiling Fred Armisen, broke his beer glass and sprayed him in the face with the water gun? Probably because it was so silly.
And then a send-up of those common person/celebrity insurance ads we've all seen recently. Andy Samberg is the normal kid, and Whitney Houston is the celeb. Funny stuff, if completely pointless.
Show's up! So, gone are Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Chris Parnell, Horatio Sanz and Finesse Mitchell, and there are no new cast members for the first time in like ever, although that could change later on this season. It's a smaller group and I think that will work a bit better. We'll miss Parnell, Fey, and Dratch, and we definitely will not miss Mitchell, who if memory serves correctly never did one funny thing on the show. I'd like to see Jason, Bill, Andy and Kristen get plenty of screen time this year. And although she's really funny, I'd like to see them cut Amy's time down substantially. She was in every sketch last year, I think, literally. Too much.
This week's show gets a 3-star rating from us here at E.K. Nation. Next week, Jamie Pressly!
Monologue: It's Dane Cook's second time hosting within ten months, and he gets to do a handheld mic standup again. One word of advice: Be more familiar with the content of the show you are hosting. Your first riff sounded a bit like -- no, a lot like -- a rehash of a "Debbie Downer" sketch, what with its references to the person who always tries to bring you down when you're having a good time. Wait, wait, that's EXACTLY like a Debbie Downer sketch. What happened there? Didn't anyone tell him? He's already been accused of lifting other comic's material. This might not have helped. But the rest was good Dane-Cook-based stuff.
The next sketch is a training session for security screeners. Broad but funny caricatures with a few pointed comments about the state of our security made this one pretty good. I did like the "Okay, let's name some liquids and gels" part. Someone says "turkey sandwich." You know, that's simple, but still funny.
“The Hugo Chavez Political Roundup” was up next and it was a complete clunker, even with a slightly silly Kim Jong Il impression from Amy Poehler.
The first Digital Short of the season is "Cubicle Fight", and it was not particularly funny. It was basically office worker Dane Cook fighting with office newbie Bill Hader in a very small enclosed workspace. Which you knew from the title. I did like the part where Dane blows hole punches into Bill's face as part of the fight, but I just didn't get into this one.
Bill Hader brings his fantastic Al Pacino impression to "Wells Fargo Presents: Al Pacino Checks His Bank Balance." Hader is a gifted impressionist and his Pacino is flawless. Give me this over "Cubicle Fight" any day, even if the sketch was just Pacino hamming it up. Gotta admit, a fake Pacino hamming for five minutes is better than the real one hamming for 110.
The Killers came on to do their new song, whatever it is, and while it's a good song, the lead singer was a bit tone deaf for much of it.
Weekend Update begins with a prelude: Amy prepares for the news and Brian Williams steps to the desk and says he's really excited to be doing the news. Amy is saddened to tell him they actually went another way, and in comes Seth Meyers. Then there is a fadeout, and I was expecting the Update to begin, but it went to a commercial. I thought it might have been our local affiliate (KGW) screwing up, and my suspicions were made even more forceful when the break ended and Amy was already delivering a punchline. Seth proves to be a good choice to anchor, though a joke or two did fall flat. Darrell Hammond reprised his Bill Clinton again, regaling us with a tale of a tryst between him and and an uncomfortable Condi Rice (Maya Rudolph). I have to say, Darrell Hammond should probably find a way out of this show. We're still doing Clinton? Come on. I know he was just in the news, but I really don't want to see him when he's not. The last one was good; a reference to "Tickle-Me-Elmo" led into a photo of a knife-wielding "Gimme-A-Reason Bert".
The next sketch is joined in progress again. Come on KGW! Get with it! Two water-bottle delivery guys are caught failing to make their deliveries; their theft of the bottles is demonstrated when Will opens a closet door, making way for well over 90 seconds (literally) of water bottles tumbling out. I liked that. A lot. Here they also make reference to "30 Rock" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip".
Another performance from The Killers. Didn't watch it. Sorry. Maybe later.
Next we have an odd plea from dippy Farrah Fawcett (Amy) to keep our oceans from dying. Her fake boob slides down her dress and then she walks over to participate in the next sketch, a bar scene where the bouncers (Dane and Jason) tell everyone to leave. Why did I like it when they approached a smiling Fred Armisen, broke his beer glass and sprayed him in the face with the water gun? Probably because it was so silly.
And then a send-up of those common person/celebrity insurance ads we've all seen recently. Andy Samberg is the normal kid, and Whitney Houston is the celeb. Funny stuff, if completely pointless.
Show's up! So, gone are Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Chris Parnell, Horatio Sanz and Finesse Mitchell, and there are no new cast members for the first time in like ever, although that could change later on this season. It's a smaller group and I think that will work a bit better. We'll miss Parnell, Fey, and Dratch, and we definitely will not miss Mitchell, who if memory serves correctly never did one funny thing on the show. I'd like to see Jason, Bill, Andy and Kristen get plenty of screen time this year. And although she's really funny, I'd like to see them cut Amy's time down substantially. She was in every sketch last year, I think, literally. Too much.
This week's show gets a 3-star rating from us here at E.K. Nation. Next week, Jamie Pressly!
