What with me being on the West Coast and writing about sports this weekend, I wasn’t around to watch “Saturday Night Live.” And yet, somehow, the world continued spinning. Crazy but true.
Strangely enough, the last time I didn’t watch “SNL” was the same time that the first of Kenan Thompson’s “What Up With That?” sketches aired. I loved the first one because it turned so many “SNL” conventions on their heads: it’s a talk show sketch that isn’t the usual lame talk show sketch, it features guest stars and blatantly refuses to use them in any meaningful way, and the fact that the skit goes on too long is part of the joke. That said, I REALLY hope this doesn’t become a recurring skit. Because this could get old real fast.
Anyway, I didn’t catch anything on Twitter about people thinking it was a terrible episode, so I’m going to assume that host Joseph Gordon-Levitt did a decent job until I finally get around to watching this a week from now. I like JGL despite the three names thing. Brick was awesome, and he was really good in Mysterious Skin despite that movie creeping me the hell out. It’s pretty funny to joke about beating and raping someone with a shampoo bottle, but it’s something else entirely to watch it happen.
Here’s the only skit from this weekend’s “Saturday Night Live” that’s worth its salt. Given that I set the bar pretty low and that I prefer to defend “SNL” from its detractors, I still have to admit that this episode — hosted by January Jones — was probably the worst of the season so far. I’ve come to expect the usual negative aspects (the cold open that goes on too long, flat monologue, etc.), but this episode wasn’t elevated by a good digital short or a few memorable skits. It failed to showcase the host in any interesting role, the Black Eyed Peas butchered their own terrible songs, and the show leaned too heavily on homosexuality and farting to try to get laughs. And I think we all know that’s MY schtick! *makes out with guy* *fart noise*
FRIDAY: There is nothing good on tonight. Or any Friday night. Ever. It’s television’s collective hangover from blowing its wad on Thursday night.
SATURDAY: Assorted college football. Check local listings and Every Day Should Be Saturday for more. Later, January Jones hosts “Saturday Night Live.” She was actually a comedic actress before landing “Mad Men,” so there’s justification for setting your expectations too high. Pictured: Jones on “Late Night” earlier this week after playing beer pong with Jimmy Fallon.
SUNDAY: Your usual allotment of NFL action, punctuated by Patriots-Colts on Football Night in America (NBC). I’ll be rooting for the Pats because Tom Brady is so handsome on my fantasy team some reason that isn’t gay. Also:
The Simpsons (Fox) — Say what you will about it falling off, but at least it wasn’t created by Seth MacFarlane. If you prefer to watch funny cartoons, you may wish to instead catch ‘Venture Bros.” on Cartoon Network at midnight.
Untamed & Uncut (Animal Planet) — Animal Planet is now officially making its shows sound like porn titles.
WWII in HD (History) — Starts at 9:00 Eastern/8:00 Central. If you don’t watch this, just plan on not participating at Warming Glow next week. And forget about getting a Christmas card from me. Watch preview clips here.
In another video from the Celebrity Autobiography series (the last one was Kristen Wiig reading Suzanne Somers), here’s Will Forte reading from Mötley Crüe’s The Dirt. The Dirt is awesome enough in its depiction of the umlautin’-est band that ever umlauted, but to have Forte’s nerdy voice describe Tommy Lee’s anxiety during his courting of Heather Locklear is pretty funny.
All right, so it’s nothing all that special. But it works as a placeholder while I buy time to round up links and pictures from last night’s “Mad Men” season finale. That’s what this day is all about anyway, am I right?
[Buzzfeed]
Here’s the best part of this weekend’s “Saturday Night Live” hosted by Taylor Swift: a digital short that sharply spoofs the Twilight trailers that make fat teenage goth girls all wet. And look! Taylor’s got the Kristen Stewart lip-biting thing down pat! There’s a lot to like here, from everything Bill Hader does to mummies not liking the Franks to the wrinkle of drama we get from the rumor that the SNL host is dating New Moon star Taylor Lautner.
Other than that, “SNL” was the same as ever: kinda crappy with some highlights. I’m inclined to say it was worse than usual because I fast-forwarded through a couple sketches, but I actually liked the monologue (video below), and Weekend Update was really strong, and the cold open (Kristen Wiig as Greta van Susteren with Jason Sudeikis’s awesome Glenn Beck) was pretty good. Plus I’d like to credit the “SNL” writers for NOT basing a skit around the Kanye gag. It can’t be easy to avoid low-hanging fruit like that (funny, I often say the same thing to women while pointing at my crotch).
Taylor Swift will host tonight’s episode of “Saturday Night Live,” and before it airs I’d like to put out a call to see if anyone knows a good bookie. I need to get odds on Kanye West making a special appearance to jokingly interrupt Swift’s monologue. It feels like money in the bank to me. In fact, if the only “Kanye” they can muster for the show is Kenan Thompson in Louis Vuitton shades, I’ll be immensely disappointed. I just don’t think they’d make non-actress Swift the host without some kind of plan to incorporate Kanye into a skit.
Of course, I’ve been wrong before, as the countless strike-throughs on this blog can attest, so feel free to heckle me in the comments section when it turns out that Kanye’s in a Buddhist monastery in Kashmir. Otherwise, consider this your open thread to discuss the episode. I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon with a “What’s On Tonight” and Monday morning with highlights from “SNL.” Until then, sláinte!
