As previously reported, Eli Manning (whose Wikipedia photo is PERFECT; he will never not look like an uncomfortable teenager having his prom photo taken) will host the May 5th episode of “SNL.” Today, in a move that can only be considered an acknowledgement of how awful that’s going to be, NBC went ahead and announced that Will Ferrell – who NFL pundits would claim “makes everyone else around him better” – will return to Studio 8H and host the May 12th episode, with musical guest Usher.

There’s not much else to say here, other than: that’s good news. My official prediction is that we will laugh, very likely more than once, and enjoy the evening, which will double as Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudeikis, and Andy Samberg’s second-to-last episode on the show. And then, for the season finale on May 19th, when Sacha Baron Cohen inevitably hosts, we’ll go back to our conflicted feelings about the show. But we’ll always have the 12th.

Read the rest of this entry »

It isn't online, but how could I NOT use Bobby Moynihan as George R.R. Martin as the banner?

When you think of Josh Brolin, what do you think of? The Goonies? No Country for Old Men? Maybe W? He doesn’t have a definitive role, and while he is a good actor, he’s not someone you’d ever say, “I want to see this movie because of Josh Brolin!” about. That’s why I was surprised “SNL” asked him to host (again), though I imagine the conversation went like: “Hey, Will Smith, want to host ‘SNL’? No? OK. What about you, Josh Brolin?”

That’s why he was one of the more anonymous hosts of the season. He wasn’t bad in any of his sketches — and in fact, was quite funny in “Slow-Motion Hallway” and “Principal Frye Prom” — but also he wasn’t given much to do it. Even his opening monologue was one of the shortest of the season. Both Brolin and the episode as a whole were consistently good — never awful, never amazing. (It’s also worth noting that for the rest of the season, including the Eli Manning-hosted show on May 5, we should expect a Greatest Hits collection of Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg characters, hence Gilly last week and Garth and Kat and Laser Cats this one.)

One more thing: NBC didn’t upload as many videos to their website as usual, so you won’t see the “Time of Your Life” cold open, “America’s Next Top Empire State of Mind Parody Artist,” or, most importantly, the “Game of Thrones” sketch in the slideshow. Stupid copyright issues.

Read the rest of this entry »

I can never think of anything to write for these GIF intros (other than: here are GIFs from “30 Rock,” “Modern Family,” “Justified,” “Game of Thrones,” etc.), so you should use the comments section as a free-for-all. Wanna talk about Joss Whedon? Sure! (I’m calling it now: Burnsy is wrong.) That amazing Megadeth/Motörhead post? Obviously. Jeff’s dumb speech at the end of an otherwise excellent episode of “Community”? Certainly.

But we all know what we’re REALLY going to talk about: that Three Stooges trailer, where Sean Hayes and Professor Gigglepepper flick a piece of food toward a dolphin, and it lands in the dolphin’s blowhole. That’s classic mirth-making, is what that is. I wish I had a GIF of it. Speaking of…to the GIFs!

Read the rest of this entry »

To the surprise of no one, there was an ample amount of boob and voice/accent jokes in last night’s Sofía Vergara-hosted episode of “SNL.” There were two in her monologue and they kept going right until the end, in an oddly-placed parody of The Hunger Games. And just like Vergara herself, the jokes — and episode as a whole — were fine.

I’m sorry about that segue, but I can’t think of much to say about the episode. Vergara was funny, hit her lines, and the cast seemed to enjoy working with her, and it’s already clear new cast member Kate McKinnon is a good fit, but there wasn’t a single memorable sketch. It felt like even though the writers had three weeks to work on this episode, they only started a few days ago (why was there an already aired commercial?), and even then, they began with the concept of “BOOBS…and go.”

But I’m sure you all LOVED One Direction.

Read the rest of this entry »

We’re still waiting to hear how “Community” did last night ratings-wise, but no matter the answer, the numbers will be slightly skewed (for the better). “The Big Bang Theory” wasn’t on, and it’s likely at least SOME of that audience headed over to NBC, rather than watch college basketball. (UPDATE: it did very well.) And hopefully SOME of THAT audience flipped to FX for “Archer” because holy moly, was that an awesome episode.

We’ve got two of the three shows mentioned above covered in this installment of GIFs of the Week (the one rule of this feature: NO BAZINGAS. Bazongas, sure), as well as choice selections from “Eastbound & Down,” “South Park,” “Southland,” and other shows without directions in the title.

Read the rest of this entry »