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SNL week 2
Oct. 5th, 2009 08:45 amWho would have thought that Lady Gaga would actually make the episode better? Seriously. This was a surprisingly solid one, even though on paper it looked to be the weakest of the four they've got scheduled.
They opening skit nicely managed to skewer both Obama (for his failure to move forward on promises involving closing Gitmo, leaving Iraq, etc) and the critics who have no idea what words like "Socialist" and "Nazi" actually mean. One of the better Obama skits they've done (probably the best since "The Rock Obama").
The monologue was the rare true monologues, not relying on interruptions from the cast or band, and it worked nicely, as Reynolds has a good, magnetic personality.
The Garbage Dog Food commercial was cute enough, and the Celebrity Family Feud 1981 was brilliant, with Bill Hader doing a wonderfully twisted John Phillips. Abby Elliott and Ryan Reynolds did a great Donnie and Marie, although since they were more there for contrast, those imitations almost went to waste.
The Lonely Island Digital Short was nicely funny and surreal, although I don't see it as one of the songs that would work well without its video. Good cameo by Elijah Wood here.
The Porcelain Fountains sketch was cute, and a good use of a Scarlett Johannson cameo. Nice comedy bits for Reynolds and Armison here, too.
The Deep House Dish was one of the better ones (it's a recurring sketch that really only needs to appear once a year at most), as Lady Gaga was a natural for it, and the Madonna cameo was a nice shock ("what the hell is a disco stick?").
Lady Gaga's first musical performance was about what I'd expected from her, and thus the weakest part of the show.
Weekend Update was damned fine, with a wonderful Darrell Hammond cameo as Arnie, doing a great voice, nicely skewering that asshole Polanski and those who support him, and also milking the audience wonderfully. Kenan Thompson may have done his best Charles Barkely commentary yet, and Nasim Pedrad finally gets her time to shine on the main show (she'd done a great Kathy Griffen imitation on the Thursday show) as Mrs. Ahmadinejad. Myers, of course, was as funny as always.
"So You Committed A Crime & You Think You Can Dance" wasn't great, but it had some fun moments, and was one of those rare skits that gets to bring in almost every member of the cast. Bobby Moynahan (who really, really needs to be promoted to the main cast) does a great Nathan Lane (too bad there's not much use for that imitation these days).
The Norweigan Actors' Playhouse skit is about as funny as it was the first time, but it's got that awkward humor thing going for it that SNL can do better than most shows.
Lady Gaga's second musical performance was fascinating. It started out as a typical performance, then descended into an acoustic piano act, but unlike her American Idol appearance, in this, she actually sounded like she could play the piano and sing. And she mixed her actual acoustic version of "Poker Face" with a lounge-like freeform ramble about New York that worked surprisingly well.
The final bit, with Lady Gaga and Andy Samberg wearing the same outfit (and finding the outfit getting in the way of their mutual attraction) was damned funny, and some good physical comedy.
Overall, a surprisingly strong show.
They opening skit nicely managed to skewer both Obama (for his failure to move forward on promises involving closing Gitmo, leaving Iraq, etc) and the critics who have no idea what words like "Socialist" and "Nazi" actually mean. One of the better Obama skits they've done (probably the best since "The Rock Obama").
The monologue was the rare true monologues, not relying on interruptions from the cast or band, and it worked nicely, as Reynolds has a good, magnetic personality.
The Garbage Dog Food commercial was cute enough, and the Celebrity Family Feud 1981 was brilliant, with Bill Hader doing a wonderfully twisted John Phillips. Abby Elliott and Ryan Reynolds did a great Donnie and Marie, although since they were more there for contrast, those imitations almost went to waste.
The Lonely Island Digital Short was nicely funny and surreal, although I don't see it as one of the songs that would work well without its video. Good cameo by Elijah Wood here.
The Porcelain Fountains sketch was cute, and a good use of a Scarlett Johannson cameo. Nice comedy bits for Reynolds and Armison here, too.
The Deep House Dish was one of the better ones (it's a recurring sketch that really only needs to appear once a year at most), as Lady Gaga was a natural for it, and the Madonna cameo was a nice shock ("what the hell is a disco stick?").
Lady Gaga's first musical performance was about what I'd expected from her, and thus the weakest part of the show.
Weekend Update was damned fine, with a wonderful Darrell Hammond cameo as Arnie, doing a great voice, nicely skewering that asshole Polanski and those who support him, and also milking the audience wonderfully. Kenan Thompson may have done his best Charles Barkely commentary yet, and Nasim Pedrad finally gets her time to shine on the main show (she'd done a great Kathy Griffen imitation on the Thursday show) as Mrs. Ahmadinejad. Myers, of course, was as funny as always.
"So You Committed A Crime & You Think You Can Dance" wasn't great, but it had some fun moments, and was one of those rare skits that gets to bring in almost every member of the cast. Bobby Moynahan (who really, really needs to be promoted to the main cast) does a great Nathan Lane (too bad there's not much use for that imitation these days).
The Norweigan Actors' Playhouse skit is about as funny as it was the first time, but it's got that awkward humor thing going for it that SNL can do better than most shows.
Lady Gaga's second musical performance was fascinating. It started out as a typical performance, then descended into an acoustic piano act, but unlike her American Idol appearance, in this, she actually sounded like she could play the piano and sing. And she mixed her actual acoustic version of "Poker Face" with a lounge-like freeform ramble about New York that worked surprisingly well.
The final bit, with Lady Gaga and Andy Samberg wearing the same outfit (and finding the outfit getting in the way of their mutual attraction) was damned funny, and some good physical comedy.
Overall, a surprisingly strong show.