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Saturday Night Live Season 36 Episode 1

Amy Poehler/Katy Perry

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AIRED: 9/25/10

Live from New York, it's... Kristen Wiig! Sketches include "RNC Headquarters," "Bronx Beat," "Bosley Hair Restoration," "Maternity Matters," "The Mosque at Ground Zero," "The Lean Years," "Theme from 'Boogerman'" (Digital Short), "Chez Henri," "Actor II Actor," and "The Even More Expendables." Katy Perry performed "California Girls" and "Teenage Dream."moreless

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Fan Episode Reviews (5)

Looks like this show was brought to you by the number 38, and the letters double D!

7.5

By whoaitsconner, Feb 02, 2011

Season 36 is coming with big changes. Over the summer, Jenny was (somewhat inevitably) let go, and to fill her shoes, SNL hired 4 new cast members! The cast members are Jay Pharaoh, who's videos of his impressions are great, Vanessa Bayer, Paul Brittain, and Taran Killam. 3 out of 4 of these new cast members are mostly new to the television world, but Taran Killam has appeared on MadTV, and a few television movies and whatnot. I'm excited to see how these 4 new cast members do!

Abby Elliott did make it through the summer without being let go, something that many would have questioned, and has been promoted to be a full-time player, along with Bobby. Nasim is still featured this year, as expected, since it's only her 2nd year she's going on.

Many writers who were hired just last year have already left the show. Jessi Klein has left, along with Hannibal Burress.. I'm not sure what happened there, but, some newbies have been hired on. I still hope that my wishes made during my season finale review will be granted.

Our host tonight is SNL vet, Amy Poehler. I'm excited to see her performance tonight, which will be, of course, awesome. Musical guest is Katy Perry. Yes, Katy Perry. You've heard two out of her two new singles on the radio all summer long, "California Gurls", and "Teenage Dream". My mind is boggling on what songs she'll perform tonight.

RNC Headquarters: Yes, it seems inevitable that SNL would parody this nut, Christine O'Donnell. All the things I've heard from her on the Today Show, and such, are sadly true, and comedic. Kristen did a great job playing her, and I thought this was a good opener to start the season off.

Monologue: Amy has a bad dream, including a bunch of cameos, like Jimmy, Tina, and JT. As much as I wish this wasn't such a cameo-studded night, it was still a funny monologue. Especailly with Kenan being Lorne. It was a good way to mention the big summer success, "Inception".

Bronx Beat: I'm glad they brought this sketch back. I, in the minority, love this sketch. It's loose, and it just always feels fresh. They always complain about something new, and make it funny, everytime. Katy Perry was great in this, in many ways. haha, but yes, it was a good sketch.

Bosely Hair Restoration: This was a good commercial to start off the season. A lot better than Bladdivan last season.

Maternity Matters: They made this sketch watchable, by changing some things around, and Fred still makes me laugh with his grumpiness, but I really suggest not doing these kinds of sketches anymore.

Mosque At Ground Zero: This was a hilarious way to include the controversy that is the mosque. Bill also did great as the spokesperson for this.

Musical Performance: Katy performs her early summer hit, "California Gurls". Waa-oh-waa-oh...

Weekend Update: This was a really good Update, and as much as I have, and will, get annoyed of Seth still being around, I'm glad he's back. Amy's return on Update was great too. I really didn't know where it was going when the real David Paterson showed up. It was really awkward at first with him scolding them, and finally he broke the ice with his New Jersey joke. Jay Pharaoh was unbelievably impressive as Will Smith.

The Lean Years: This was a good way to have Amy's character, Amber on. I was hoping they wouldn't do the usual formula of having Amber on another reality TV show.

Boogerman: This was quite the odd digital short. Peter Saarsgard was really surprising to be appearing in this, and overall, I didn't find it funny... but it wasn't bad.. it was definitely different.

Luncheon: This was actually a really funny sketch, to me. People hated this, but I thought it was good. I loved Bill's random character coming up and giving Trish the win. "Advantage Trish.."

Musical Performance: Katy Perry performs her late-summer single, "Teenage Dream". The acting/dancing from the cheerleaders in the background was my personal favorite cliche in this performance.

Actor II Actor: This was actually a funny short sketch with Andy making Justin mad.

The Unwatchables: This was good. The random impressions they brought up were great, and it was good seeing Amy's Kim Jong Il again.

Tonight's show was a really good way to open up the season. Katy Perry's music played no part in making this a good show. It was all the comedic aspect, which was great. Amy Poehler was, of course, a great host. Tonight we got a look at Jay Pharaoh, and I'm already impressed. Hopefully in the next few episodes, we will be acquainted with the other 3 new cast members.

Next week: Brian Cranston hosts with musical guest, Kanye West.moreless
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Mediocre, but better than expected

7.0

By braves_snl, Jan 24, 2011

The 36th season of NBC's "Saturday Night Live" premiered on Saturday (Sept. 25) with a mediocre episode, which was actually refreshing because it was actually mediocre. Going into the episode I was absolutely dreading it because of host Amy Poehler, who I consider the worst cast member in the show's illustrious and oftentimes infamous history. Poehler, who is frankly an odd choice to host a season premiere, is the 26th former cast member to host the sketch comedy show. She wasn't great by any means (Has she ever been?). But, it was just nice that the show didn't completely suck like I was almost certain it would.

The show's cold opening mocked the recent news headline of Tea Party darling Christine McDonnell, who is the Republican nominee for Delaware's 2010 Senate special election and reportedly dabbled in witchcraft and opposed masturbation in the past. The sketch portrayed Kristen Wiig as O'Donnell and was basically an excuse for Wiig to say the word masturbation as many times as possible. It was a disappointing cold open. Surely, the summer break could've given them something better to start the season off with. I was frankly surprised they didn't begin the season with a Barack Obama cold open. The monologue (which is typically a waste of time for most hosts) actually proved to be one of the best moments of the night, but not necessarily one that was that funny. It was simply nice to see all of the cameos from former cast members Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch and recurring guest and host Justin Timberlake. The best sketch of the night was the Bronx Beat featuring Poehler and yet another cameo from a former SNLer Maya Rudolph. The highlight of the sketch was when Katy Perry (the show's musical guest) enter wearing a low cut Elmo T-shirt mocking the fact that earlier this week "Sesame Street" deemed a scene from an episode featuring her and Elmo singing too obscene for the air because of Perry's rather large cleavage. The worst sketch of the night (of the ones I saw … I refused to watch the one-legged Amber sketch, which for some reason Poehler loves so much, because I think it may be the worst character in the entire history of the show) was easily Andy Samberg's Digital Short "Boogerman." Samberg's Digital Shorts continue to remain either the highlight of the show or the low point of the show. The dude desperately needs some balance to these. Weekend Update's funniest joke was mocking a surf dog competition in California with anchor Seth Meyers remarking that "it was Thanksgiving for the sharks." Weekend Update also included Fred Armisen's hilarious (and highly politically incorrect) impersonation of New York Gov. David Patterson. However, this time Patterson, himself, made a cameo on the show alongside Armisen. In the past Patterson said he was disgusted by the inappropriate portrayal of the disabled. The segment also gave new cast member Jay Pharaoh the chance to show off his Will Smith impersonation. Musical guest Katy Perry danced and sang her way through two of her recent smashes "California Gurls" and "Teenage Dream."

The biggest disappointment from the season premiere of "SNL" was the little usage of my three personal favorite cast members Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader and Keenan Thompson. Whether the show is good or bad on any given week is really up to the air time these three guys see.moreless
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Amy Poehler!! Katy Perry??

5.0

By SupernaturalImp, Jan 16, 2011

I watched this episode because Amy Poehler was hosting and I think she's funny. I wasn't too thrilled when I heard Katy Perry was the "musical guest", but I thought, oh well, Amy will be funny. After watching this episode I was really disappointed. Katy Perry can not sing or act and she is not at all funny. Which would of been okay if I didn't feel like she was bringing Amy Poehler down. I still thought Amy was pretty funny, the skits were kind of blahz, the tiny hat skit was funny. Overall Amy Poehler needs to come back and host with someone more talented than Katy Perry. Or at least someone that doesn't suck the funny out of SNL.moreless
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Amy Poehler hosts.

7.5

By thefanof, Nov 03, 2010

Amy Poehler, who has made more cameos on SNL since leaving than I have eaten healthy meals, was your host tonight, becoming the fourth female cast member to do so. The episode was a solid start to the new season, but rarely did I laugh at anything Poehler said.

Cold Opening: Christine O'Donnell, I did not think that she was big enough to be mocked, but apparently she is. I don't think most people knew much about her (I watch Bill Maher, but do a lot of other people?) but they had masturbation jokes, so I guess people laughed at that.

Monologue: The actual monologue was not very good, but a creative dream sequence featuring cameos by Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon, Justin Timberlake and Rachel Dratch somewhat saved it.

Bronx Beat: Nonsense. Total nonsense. They actually spent two minutes talking about Katy Perry's chest.

Bosley: Pubic hair wigs. If that humor entertains you, so be it.

Maternity Matters: Roger Brush is filling in again. A little better than usual because of the fact that he actually had some substance and not just "I can't hear you."

Gay Wedding: Someone definitely has been watching Bill Maher lately as they had another political issue, the Ground Zero Mosque being discussed. Weekend Update: They had Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey on the show, but neither of them came out for this? Lame.

Showtime: Amy Poehler brings her farting character back for a new show on Showtime. Abby Elliot did a good Laura Linney exaggerated impression, but I don't know what Kristen Wiig was going for with her Mary Louise Parker. Horrible sketch though. Digital Short: Katy Perry sings while clips from a stupid movie show and crowd shots from award shows play. Nothing more to say.

Trish: If you are a Kristen Wiig fan you probably loved this. Mildly clever and amusing, but definitely not a great sketch.

Actor II Actor: Andy Samberg is really starting to sound like Jerry Trainor. Stupid sketch, but a good question about when Timberlake will release more music.

The Even More Expendables: Eh, just an excuse to have some new impressions. Jay Pharaoh's Will Smith earlier and Chris Tucker here were not bad at all, but not enough to convince me he is a good addition to the cast.moreless
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SNL Season Premier with Amy Poehler and musical guest Katy Perry causes this reviewer to go wild with interrobangs. Cold opening is Christine O'Donnell at the RNC. She is running against Chris Coons for the Senate in Delaware. 9-25-2010moreless

8.0

By Chipslinger, Oct 03, 2010

This was a pretty good SNL with lots of the females coming out of retirement for "Poehler Bear." Kind of like the Betty White show with a younger Betty White. Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, and Maya Rudolph were all there. Justin Timberlake was on. Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey did a walk on for the opening monologue dream sequence where they threatened that they would do Weekend Update. Seth Meyers and Amy did do Weekend Update and their "Really?" segment. Fred Armistan did his parody of Governor Patterson. Then the real Governor Patterson came out. He was pretty funny, and a good sport. Armistan always ends his Patterson segments by wandering about in front of the cameras like a blind man. Both Pattersons did that, but it interrupted the announcement that Jeff Zucker was stepping down when Comcast takes over. I thought they were about to slam Zucker, who was a major douche bag, and no doubt had been a thorn in SNL's side. Maybe it was planned as a coitus interuptus so they wouldn't get sued or called on the carpet for saying what they really felt. NBC used to be the best network for comedy, but since he zucked it up with reality show trash, it's in the toilet. Even NBC's Thursday Night Comedy line up, which has been sacrosanct since Cheers and Friends, was Big Banged and then 30 Rock lost to Shatner Pants and %#*! My Dad Says, which had its genesis on Twitter. Twitter?! Talk about your revenge of the nerds! He hasn't quite stepped down--yet. Katy Perry was in at least two skits and she also did two songs. One was as a guest on Bronx Beat, the one where Maya and Amy were Bronx housewives with a talk show. Perry was a young woman who read to children at the library, but her breasts had grown large over the summer. Another skit had her singing a song from the movie Boogerman at an awards show. Scenes from the movie played on a monitor, and an interpretive ballet was performed. This was funny because it was absurd. Andy Samberg danced the part of the Boogerman in the interpretive ballet, and I liked how the boogers were represented by yellow streamers that Samberg controlled with two long sticks. It was somehow reminiscent of the puppets and staging by Julie Taymor for Lion King on Broadway.

Musically, Katy Perry is not as good as Lady Gaga, but she puts on a pretty good show. It is not that deep, just a lot of cheesecake and short skirts and cleavage. One song, "California Girls," was about beaches and bikini tops over Daisy Duke shorts that would "melt your popsicle" sang with appropriate (or inappropriate) hand gestures. She has a blonde back up dancer, and a black one. Like Shakira's dancers, or the bride's maids at a wedding, they are never cuter or allowed to dance sexier than the star or the bride respectively. One song was called "Teenage Dream" and Perry and her dancers had cheerleader outfits with extremely short skirts. At one point, you could look right up there and see Perry's Katy. I was surprised that Russell Brand didn't punch out the camera man. The guitarists were wearing football garb. It was not deep or profound. But it was all about being young, looking hot, and having fun. Kind of like Extreme Spring Break, or a milder version of Girls Gone Wild. Pushing it as far as the censors would allow. I think that Ke$ha does this sort of shtick better--her lyrics are simultaneously stewpid and clever. Lady Gaga and Ke$ha have her beat in music and trashy/sexy songwriting, respectively, and Christina Aguillera can sing rings around her, plus is no slouch in the other areas, either. Perry owes a lot to Britney Spears, too. Not in musical style but in the presentation and exploitation of libido. The song that got KP noticed was "I Kissed a Girl" which was a pretty calculated grab for attention that worked, playing on the well known propensity for young male adolescents to fantasize about girl-on-girl action. But who knew the ploy would get past the puritanical public? Good timing, Perry. She got a lot of press because she was pulled off Seseme Street for being too risque and low cut while doing a song with Tickle Me Elmo. Download it on YouTube. On the Bronx Beat segment they alluded to that when they said it looked like her chest was brought to you by the number 36 and the Letters Double D. The other thing putting her face in the press (or pressing her !*!$ in your face) is her upcoming marriage to Russell Brand, and his arrest for punching a paparrazi who was trying to film up her skirt. Though there may not be a law against snatching a shot of her snapper, there should be, and what jury would convict Brand for punching the guy. He should be commended for defending her honor (such as it is at this point after announcing her engagement to Russell Brand). I think that Katy Perry is kind of tacky and musically lightweight, but she has built up a lot of momentum, and I predict that she will be around for a while. She is kind of cute and sexy, though. It's not like I hate her. I wouldn't kick her out of bed for eating crackers. Russell Brand is a lucky S.O.B. Two of the skits were cut off abruptly for commercials towards the end of the show. What were they thinking? That we were all asleep and wouldn't notice?! I would end that last sentence with an interrobang if it was in my font set. It was kind of sloppy chopping off the skits like that, but I suppose that the sponsors had paid for the commercials and the skits ran long, so chop, chop. Great branding, making their commercial responsible for the audience missing the punch line of a skit. Product displacement?! The best segment was a prefilmed piece about gay marriages at the Ground Zero Mosque. There was a cute piece where Amy kept upstaging her friend played by Kristen Wiig by wearing a tiny hat. Bill Hader would walk by in a pink suit carrying a small dog and express approval of Amy's latest fashion coup. One of the new cast members did a mock interview on News Update as Will Smith. I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes the new standout. Don't know his name, but he is easy to spot. He is the new black guy. He is skinnier than Kenan Thompson. Another bit was about hair transplants, with the hair coming from other parts of the body that may have a slightly kinkier texture. I missed the opening bit. What was it? Can anyone tell me what I missed?! "Live From New York, it's Saturday Whaaaaat?!?!?"moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Don Pardo	Announcer
Jay Pharaoh	Himself
Taran Killam	Himself
Paul Brittain	Himself
Vanessa Bayer	Herself
Nasim Pedrad	Herself

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Katy Perry	Herself	Guest Star
Rachel Dratch	Herself	Guest Star
David Paterson	Himself	Guest Star
Amy Poehler	Herself	Recurring Role
Tina Fey	Herself	Recurring Role
Jimmy Fallon	Himself	Recurring Role

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NOTES (4)
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- Sketches not shown in the 60 minute version: the "Really?!" segment on Weekend Update, "The Lean Years," "Bosley Hair Restoration," the "Boogerman" Digital Short, "Tiny Hats," "Even More Expendables," and Katy Perry's performance of "Teenage Dream."
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- Sketches cut after dress rehearsal: a woman's (Nasim Pedrad) upset stomach is cured with a Pepto Bismol-like tonic at a bar; on Family Feud, Steve Harvey (Kenan Thompson) continues to mangle words; following a lobotomy, a man (Andy Samberg) is confused by conversation; Secretary Hillary Clinton (Amy Poehler) speaks about the president's low poll numbers; and a Dana Carvey-produced political cartoon is shown.
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- With this episode, Amy Poehler becomes the 26th former cast member --and fourth female alum--- to host SNL.
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- Taran Killam, Paul Brittain, Vanessa Bayer, and Jay Pharaoh's first episode.
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