SNL: Week 9

Mostly a Meh week.

Highlights:

The opener, rightly noting that the press seems to give a crap about Tiger's affairs much more than they do about the affairs of hypocrites whose infidelity actually impacts the government. Not great, but fun.

Taylor's monologue. Surprisingly good, and we finally got the Kanye bit we'd been expecting with the other Taylor.

Spark of Love: Dear god, this was funnier than it had a right to be. I mean, just the whole thing with Keenen getting wheeled in was hysterical. And the bit where he stole the yogurt was priceless. Lautner held his own here, too.

Team Jacob vs Team Edward: Lautner showed that he's willing to do whatever it takes for a skit, and this was funny both on its face and on a meta level.

Weekend Update. Funny as always (but see below).

The PGA updates: Good use of the Tiger situation without focusing on the domestic violence aspect of it.

Mid-lights:

Doorbells. Cute, but went on too long. Nice to see Jenny Slate get a sketch, though.

Football: Another one that just went nowhere, but was fun while it lasted.

The final twenty seconds of the Patty skit. This is one of Kristen Wiig's most annoying characters, but once things went from "zany" to "utterly insane," it was okay. Just not worth the time to build it up.

Low-lights:

The show choir. Yes, everyone involved was talented, but the skit just fell flat.

The complete lack of Jon Bovi. What the hell, folks?

Also, Bon Jovi's songs, which kind of sucked. I felt like Homer at the state fair, wanting to shout at BTO to play a song that people actually wanted to hear.

Amazon Tuesday deals: Dragon Age, Brutal Legend, Assassin's Creed, PS3 games, Underworld, More!

Still mostly behind after yesterday. Here are a few deals worth noting, though:

The 18 Days, 18 Deals today cover Brutal Legend, Dragon Age: Origins, and Need for Speed: Shift.

The regular Video Game Deal of the Day is on Assassin's Creed for $20 off.

The Gold Box Lightning Deals today are all on PS3 games (GTA4 is available now, inFamous is coming up next, and later games include Star Wars, Saw, and Transformers items).

You can get all three Underworld movies for $11.99. That's $4 a movie, or about a nickel for every shot of Kate Beckinsale in leather.

You can also get Big FishBig Fish or The Princess Bride for $4.99 a pop.

Glee -- the music

I've got both Glee albums, and have listened to all of the songs.

Their version of "You Can't Always Get What You Want" gets better every single time I listen to it. So do Colfer and Michele's duet on "Defying Gravity," True Colors" (Ushkowitz finally getting the chance to shine), and Riley's amazing "And I am Telling You I'm Not Going."

That said, there are few songs worth skipping on either album. Doubly so if you actually watch the show.

Eighth time is the charm

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame -- an institution whose very existence, one could argue, undermines everything it stands for -- has announced this year's class, and The Stooges finally made the cut. Others who made it include Genesis, Jimmy Cliff, The Hollies, and ABBA. I'm pretty much fine with everyone who made it, as all of them have significant influences.

As for folks who didn't make it, The Red Hot Chili Peppers aren't actually the most overrated band of all time, but they're close*. Not sure that's who I'd have started with if I were writing that article, other than maybe any other eligible artist on the planet.

KISS deserves a place (and will get it, eventually, but there's clearly a quota on caps-locked bands), as does Heart, but Donna Summer? Really? If we're talking about female solo artists from that era, Pat Benatar deserves a spot before Summer's name is even uttered (and yes, Benatar damned well deserves a spot).

Bad Brains is about ten years overdue for induction, but given how long it took The Stooges, I suspect we've got a while to wait here. Devo's been waiting even longer, and I don't see anything changing for them in the near future, alas.

*I lied. They actually are the most overrated band of all time, as Weezer, Oasis, and Radiohead all have to last another ten years or so even be in the same league. Also, all of those bands have at least three distinct songs. The Chili Peppers are still stuck at two.

Twenty-two years too late

Noted con artist Oral Roberts has "been called home."

I'm not, incidentally, a believer in the idea that if you can't say something nice about someone, to not say anything at all. Or that one shouldn't speak ill of the dead. Bad people, once dead, don't magically become good.

In more exciting news

James Frain -- so good as Thomas Cromwell on The Tudors -- is joining True Blood.