Cold Open: Fantastic start. Armisen's Obama was better than I had expected, and the media fawning was a cute touch, not to mention kinda true. And a good turn from Kristen here as well.

Monologue: I guess Tina didn't submit to the pressures of a showstopping song-and-dance number. But her little conversation with Mr. Steve Martin was well done, and that "Hispanic" voice of hers came from out of nowhere. Nice to see the microphone bonk as the crew's way of getting noticed.

Annuale: Sure, it's a bonafide Tina Fey ad, but what a great premise. They even went arty with the color changes at the end. Good evening, Casey (Rose) Wilson.

Rock of Love 2: Great turn from Jason as an earnest (ha!) Bret Michaels, and the show pretty much avoided straight parody by turning the ladies into complete monsters. Interesting choices for recurring characters tonight... we haven't seen Amber in nearly three years, but she had a decent appearance.

Digital Short: A cute idea, and I've certainly had to endure watching movies with old relatives, so of course that's how you handle it. Only qualm I had was with the length of this. It didn't need to feature a scene from EVERY Oscar movie.

What's That **** Talking About?: Another winner. Kenan actually had a decent role for a change, and Tina's genius contestant wasn't too far a reach. Amy sounded like Betty Caruso the whole time. I'd put this on par with Dry Eyes from last season, better than the Crazy Street Person sketch and MUCH better than that New Jersey game show from the Bon Jovi episode.

"All-American Girl": Though Carrie Underwood is undoubtedly the worst musical guest of the season so far, she's really not all that bad. She'd be more appreciated if she wasn't labeled "country." Maybe something like "southern pop."

Update: Seth and Amy hit it out of the park, thanks to two dynamite appearances from Tina and Mike Huckabee, who were both completely in their element. Loved both of those segments, and I am a bit surprised at how Tina was so willing to stump for Hillary. The other jokes were at least above average.

NBC Thursday: Once again, the writers do us all a favor by avoiding a straight parody, and the sketch is a million times better because of it. LOVED the surprise impressions, especially Amy's Mr. Six and Bill's John Mark Karr--of all the places for him to return, I did not expect this sketch.

Ed Mahoney: What? This guy again? Well, like his first sketch, Jason doesn't really do enough to carve out a character for him. Ed just seems like a fellow who doesn't know when to stop talking. The sketch sort of begged for the Forte/Tina couple to intervene, but sadly nothing happened. Weakest sketch of the night.

Virgania Harsen's Hot Air Balloons: Oh, this was cute. Nothing too much from Kristen, but the Maya-esque character was awkward enough to make the fake ad charming.

I Drink Your Milkshake: YES! This stuff I always get a kick out of. Hader/Amy visit the nation's maltshops in search of milkshakes to drink, and get into tiny conflicts with patrons like Will and Fred's equally-evil antagonist. Another spot-on impression from Hader, but if this show is any indication, we won't see it again for another 2-3 years. Tina's Juno was OK.

"Flat on the Floor": This cements Carrie's night as better than her two songs from last year. She actually had a little fun.

Lady Business: Wins the Most-Likely-to-Get-Replaced-by-the-Dress-Rehearsal-Version-in-Reruns award. This final sketch to have Tina's stamp of approval finds four more ladies blatantly flirting their way to the top. The showcase of SNL's female cast has been done all night, but the writing was there. Casey's lines WERE cut, right?

Grade: A big fat A. Far and away the best episode of the season, with Brian Williams' show coming in a distant second. The way that Tina completely dove into her characters made it seem like there really wasn't any host, and for a show getting back into its groove, this is what it needed. Add in some very good writing, no big-name recurring sketches, off-nights for both Kenan and Andy, the Don Pardo cake and the Gilda photo, and you have a winner.

Cold Open: Alright, we know now that Jim Downey thinks **** Is the New Black. Someday he can go back to poking fun at the candidates instead of pulling punches.

Monologue: Chris Walken certainly doesn't have to perform a song-and-dance monologue, and sure enough this Q-and-A bit suited his style well. That said, you can't help but wonder WHY things got changed. Perhaps his dancing shoes didn't fit his old feet anymore.

Grease rehearsal: The Cowbell-style sketch of 2008, Walken just can't help but interrupt music rehearsals with his own input. This time, though, he's forced to carry the weight of the entire sketch. The writing was fine (a Gene Rayburn reference!), but not stellar, kinda lukewarm.

Office stalker: An improvement, the host gets a good opportunity to interact with Sudeikis in a good setting. Liked the singing, Jason's controlled desperation, and the souvenir that will likely be displayed on the living room wall when Jason becomes a movie star and Cribs stops by.

Digital Short: I loved the first one, and I loved the second one. Laser Cats! 3D was just too similar, with the low-budget jokes really becoming stale. The Chris Dodd cameo was nice, but Walken's appearance was obviously wasted.

Surprise Party: Oh god. Kristen gasps louder than her Publisher's Clearing House character, and any hints at realism are almost immediately killed by the stupid plot.

"Nine in the Afternoon": Panic at the Disco may very well see one of the great Mass Fan Exoduses (Exodi?) of 2008, but this is at least a catchy tune with appropriate Classic Pop influence. So it was fine.

Update: Nice and short. I just wish that Andy's bit was cut out (how on earth did people think that was funny?), and that Seth could lose some of the ego. The camera posing at the end was way too much.

Walken Family Reunion: SNL should know better than anyone that Less Is More. Trim the sketch to just Chris, Bill, Amy, and maybe one other castmember, give them each a few more lines, and the sketch turns from hollow to solid.

Indoor Gardening Tips from a Man Who's Very Scared of Plants: Finally we come across the pure Walken sketch. This was quite funny, of course, perhaps the best of the evening overall. Proof that a good sketch can be made after a pitch of "we get Walken to say 'googley-eyes.'"

Top Chef: Is there a clause somewhere that SNL can only parody Cable TV shows? I mean, most of the good ones are on cable, but that's no reason to avoid the broadcast networks entirely. Anyways, a solid impression from Kristen here, but nothing else works. Is that the best premise they could come up with? That a contestant was just kinda stumped?

"I Write Sins Not Tragedies": Brendon Urie was "pitchy," to use a completely original word. And I don't think their attempt at a low-key version of the hit single completely clicked. But Fun with Censorship, as "goddamn" becomes "ahh-damn."

Larry King Live: Darrell Hammond's 1000th-or-so solid impression, and another one that's been buried at the end of the show. Liked the idea, though, seeing as we should all be buying Carter's books, but I totally have no interest in reading them.

Certainly the weirdest show of the season, as I kinda expected, since there were some laugh out LOUD moments just with Walken's delivery alone, despite a sea of lousy writing and some laziness from the cast.

Cold Open: Surprisingly well done. Forte was good enough as General Petraeus, a great nod to the weird protesters, and the writing allowed all three presidential candidates to play off each other really well. Bill's Senator Byrd was a hoot, and Fred's Obama is better than it used to be. The canned cheering for the opening montage starts a good second before the live audience.

Monologue: Ehhhh, they shoulda gone farther. For somebody who loves overacting so much, Ashton could've amped up the peskiness. The drug jokes were too obvious. Oh, and I suppose American Idol singlehandedly brought back indoor scarfs.

Cougar Den: A good sketch, all things considered. The three lady castmembers treated this like pros, and Cameron Diaz fortunately knew to have fun with her 300% Latina character.

Bouncer sketch: Did the writers care at all about the central joke? If Ashton's supposed to be set aside in favor of five freaks, which he was, then why DIDN'T they let Oliver inside? Meanwhile, Fred seems to be low on inspiration lately.

Digital Short: Good premise-- no, no, Andy, this doesn't mean you can bring it back a second time. The trio is right to mention how some Digital Shorts can be lazier than others. And it helped having the right musical guest-- with Wilco or Vampire Weekend or whatever, this would not have been as funny.

Activia ad: Kristen, you can try a little harder at getting Jamie Lee Curtis right. It was good, but far from great. And to throw this in a poop yogurt sketch? This topic is appropriate for a throwaway Weekend Update joke, say from Tina Fey, but not a whole sketch.

"Run (I'm a Natural Disaster)": Awesome performance

Update: Absolutely loved Kristen's character. This was pure gold, definitely one she must've rehearsed over a million times. Hope it comes back. As for Nicholas Fehn, well, you know. Kill it already. By the way, Amy: please come clean and admit you blatantly reworded an old joke with the "flu shot" one.

Amie: Flashback to last year, where they brought back every single recurring bit in their arsenal during the season's final three shows. This hasn't been as bad, yet still the occasional jukebox sketch appears.

Death by Chocolate (all three): Their heart was in the right place. IMO if they took Ashton's smirk off his face and gave him a blank stare, he'd appear more like a serial killer-- which would make the chocolate bar suit that much funnier. Then again, nobody understands dark humor.

The Mellow Show: Oh please, this is like the NBC McCain Is Old sketch. Real newsflash here, Jack Johnson is crazy mellow. At least Bill Hader had a dynamite Dave Matthews impression, much more precise than Jimmy Fallon's ever was. The 92nd John Mayer impression was totally the worst one.

"Who's Gonna Save My Soul": A captivating performance. Paraplegic Stripper: Apparently they hired Casey because she can commit to doing anything in front of a crowd of strangers. That's all well and good, but it doesn't equal talent, honey. I fear she may not have any decent impressions inside her. Kristen had a prime opportunity to just use her Cougar character in this sketch, since the voice was the same.

The shows with young mainstream hosts always tend to have a real consistency to them. This means nothing will fall flat in front of the 18-49 crowd, and SNL will rely on what kinds of jokes have worked before, but you have to look elsewhere for any real brilliance. That's just what happened tonight, in 90 minutes of predictability with flashes of talent (The Cold Open was funny. So was Kristen on Update). Like on his last two shows, Ashton turned out OK.

Cold Open: Didn't overstay its welcome, but it lacked the comprehensive everyone-bashing from the last cold open. At the same time, it really started to beat a dead horse. Fortunately the season's wrapping up, and we should be getting some new twists in the presidential campaign by September.

Monologue: For our monologue, SNL took some of the easiest targets in the world and let the cast just give straight impressions. I'm sure this was a hoot for hardcore Indy fans, but for everyone else it didn't work nearly as well.

MacGruber (all three): Please will you know better than to beat a character into the ground make it stop make it Stop now

It's a Match: Props to SNL for trying to stay as faithful to the actual show as possible, with the music, set and logo, but the characters' name changes screamed cop-out. It's true that formulaic impressions are just as bad (see Monologue), but name-changing shouldn't be used as a crutch either. Also, Fred knows he could've played Charles instead of turning the character into Paul Lynde.

Scared Straight: I'm boggled as to why the cast or crew got a kick out of Kenan's prisoner character in rehearsals. It's just more of the same. The only redeeming part of the sketch was the series of inadvertent film references. Incidentally, the Gay Sex Humor Count is at 3 and climbing.

Suze Orman Show: A definite high point. The writers actually improved upon the sketch from its first goaround, giving it more of a focus with fewer random segments. Kristen's impression is just as good.

Digital Short: Maybe I missed the memo, but I never understood why a Digital Short had to air during every single episode this season. Tonight's was proof that this was a bad idea.

"I'm Amazed": My Morning Jacket was another solid booking, a reliably interesting live act with talent. I especially liked the first number, a fun jam from the band.

Update: Seth and Amy were on their game, but it was clearly the duo of Fred and Bill who stole the show with their spot-on take of the Grand Theft Auto characters. Kenan may also have shown up, but I never really notice him anymore.

Vinny Vedecci: Good to see the writers still trying new things with this sketch. The cigarettes and Lorne cameo made for a nice touch at the end. Shia himself wasn't particularly interesting, and he's been this way for the whole show now, but that didn't derail anything.

He Likes You: A pretty good premise hurt by pretty lousy execution. I wasn't so much turned off by the one-joke ending, but the male sextet didn't all have to resemble Farley and Sandler so much.

"Evil Urges": Once Jim James actually opens his eyes, we can tell him that Song #2 was fine, albeit a little uncomfortable. They definitely had this sense of look how amazing we are!

Anthropologie sketch: I bet Amy proposed a new character by saying one or two lines of dialogue, and the rest of the sketch just wrote itself. No, yes, no.

I thought the Ashton Kutcher show was a shade below par, this one even moreso. Shia LaBeouf was as OK as he was last year, and the writing didn't try to save us from lots of hokey performances from the cast. The Suze Orman sketch was the only real winner, followed distantly by Fred/Bill on Update, It's a Match, and the musical guest performances.

PostPosted: Tue May 20, 2008 10:49 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Cold Open: Steve Carell had a very deliberate facial expression and tone to his voice-- clearly he was trying to come across as both authoritative and machinelike while reading the long list of names. That helps, as do some of the middle names that act as cute embellishments. Unfortunately this doesn't entirely mask the stink of a Robert DeNiro cold open, only partially.

Monologue: Very, very good. It was nice to see Nancy Walls getting more NBC screen time, and Steve again performed this perfectly. It was manic without being grating, and I don't think any other hosts this year, save for one or two, could've pulled this off.

DNC ad: Great premise. Just the sight of trying to assemble a face from half of Hillary and half of Obama is funny, but the writers make sure to hit all of the notes, touching on nearly all the strategies from both candidates.

Deal or No Deal: Much like his Barack Obama impression, Fred really let his Howie Mandel slip away from him. Howie never actually talked so slow that you suspected a mental illness, not even close. The subplot with the painstakingly nerve-wracking briefcase reveals was funny, but the whole thing with Steve and Forte was too bland.

A-holes: I know this is the obvious joke, but I still think the writers could've done much more with the karaoke "performances" from Jason and Kristen instead of their usual non-sequitur questions. The blank staring while "Baby Got Back" ran in the background was the one sketch highlight.

Digital Short: YES! YES! Whoever wrote this got it perfect. Sketch of the night, and one of the season's best. Jason's Jim Halpert is still amazing.

McCain 2008: Whatever. I'll give him props for actually badmouthing Arizona, however fake it was intended to be. He'd be better on Update.

"This Ain't Sex": Usher looked like he was trying to put on the performance of his lifetime, but it fell much shorter than that. Kinda boring, to be honest.

Update: Seth's David Patterson joke was nice and risky, but otherwise he and Amy had a lousy night. As mentioned, McCain was better chatting with Seth and Amy here. As for the next Jackson/Sharpton commentary, yawwwnnnn.

Charlie Flitt Show: The writers filled their plates too high, with jokes coming from all over, but none of them actually working. A few big jokes can make a sketch, but that doesn't mean a greater number of tiny ones will.

CPR Training: Forgive me, I laughed. The moment when Steve punched his fist all the way through Andy's chest was genuinely unexpected. Of course the writers couldn't go much farther from there (how do you try and top a gallon of fake blood?), but this wasn't a total waste.

"Love in This Club": Seriously, no comment. It was... fine, I guess?

Bless This Child: I'm a sucker for gleeful child endangerment, so this was right up my alley. One of the best season-cappers in a while now.