Amy Adams / Vampire Weekend
March 8, 2008
RATINGS SYSTEM
***** = Brilliant, a possible future classic
**** = Great, but not quite perfect
*** = Average
** = Meh, but not complete crap
* = How'd this get past dress?
Cold Opening - Pro-Hillary Clinton Ad
• SNL’s pimping for Hillary is getting really old. Although at least this wasn’t exactly the same as the opener from the last two weeks. This was kinda odd and different for an opening sketch, with the reliance on still photos and voice-overs.
• It doesn’t seem like SNL has much confidence in Armisen’s Obama impression, since the impression only appeared via voice-over & still photos this week. It was hard to judge him. But some of Armisen’s lines made me crack up, and the bleeped-out profanity was hilarious.
• Other funny parts included Armisen slowly writing down what Amy was saying to him, and the line about Bill Clinton being outside at 3 AM.
• Amy’s commentary at the end wasn’t necessary and drew this already-long opening out even longer. They could’ve just stuck LFNY somewhere at the end of the ad.
Stars: ***
Monologue - Amy Adams
• People were wondering if they’d address the resemblance between Amy Adams and Kristen.
• I had a feeling they’d do a singing monologue tonight. Since I despise musical monologues, I almost fell asleep during this. Plus, this seemed a little too similar to Scarlett Johansson’s monologue where she and Amy Poehler sang.
• The only parts I liked were the slapping/punching part, and Kristen repeatedly bragging that she’s taller than Adams.
Stars: *1/2
Sketch - Mirror Image
• Okay, we get it - Kristen Wiig and Amy Adams look a lot alike. We don’t need two segments IN A ROW based on that, guys. Geez…
• The premise turned out to be really dumb, and the winking stuff got old fast and didn’t need to be repeated 50 times.
• Kristen was still good despite the weak material. Her voice and delivery just had me cracking up throughout the sketch. And she had a funny line about Hader getting her privates really sweaty.
• Why was Samberg even in this? His expressions were kinda funny, but he had no lines and did nothing that the other extras didn’t do.
• The ending seemed a bit awkward. Kristen looked like she was going to laugh right before the camera faded to black.
Stars: **
Sketch - Couples Therapy
• At first, I thought this would be like that dioxin poisoning counseling sketch last season with Will Forte and Drew Barrymore.
• This seemed like it would be funny at the beginning with Poehler’s depressed-looking immigrant character, but it ended up being really one-note with the repetitive “you sign papers” stuff. There were a few laughs, but this didn’t really go anyplace.
• Did anyone else notice that Poehler sounded just like Maya’s Donatella Versace impression? Not a good thing…
Stars: **
Digital Short - The Superhero
• I was already chuckling when this started out with Samberg’s serious song, because the musical digital shorts are usually always great and I was expecting a funny twist to the song. But the whole superhero/Batman-esque revelation disappointed me at first and seemed too over-the-top. Thankfully, it wasn't the only twist.
• Sudeikis punching Samberg out of nowhere non-stop had me laughing my ass off. Although it was drawn out a bit too long. They should’ve trimmed it down a little bit. I stopped laughing when there was still about 15 seconds left. And then the screen just cut to black and…that was it? Huh? Why was there no actual ending?
• Why did the cab block out the part where Sudeikis dumped the mailbox on Samberg?
Stars: ***1/2
Sketch - Fierce, The Hot Mess Make-Over Show
• I have no idea who Poehler was supposed to be (I didn’t even know she was playing a man until I read others’ comments after the show), so I didn’t really understand most of this.
• Casey did a nice job as the straight(wo)man; her confused reaction to the whole thing was good.
• I am somewhat familiar with Tim Gunn, though, so Hader’s impression gave me a good laugh. He should’ve had more to do here, though.
Stars: **
Musical Performance
Weekend Update - Poehler & Meyers, featuring Sen. Tim Calhoun, Jean K. Jean
• Best jokes: Hillary/warmed up, Jesus Crist, McCain supporters, British Sex
• Amy was really off tonight, especially the annoying Ghostbusters singing. I reacted exactly the same way Seth did to that. I’m also really sick of Amy giggling after her jokes, too. She did it after every single one tonight, even the weak ones. And WTF was her confetti/”joke of the week” thing all about?
• When Amy was introducing the first correspondent, as soon as she said “a new third party candidate”, I instantly knew it was Tim Calhoun and I was already cheering. I always love this character’s appearances and he didn't disappoint. His funniest lines tonight were the grade school education/crystal meth/phone bit, and gay marriage Bill part. The “smile at audience” parts were also a nice touch.
• I heard about Kenan doing this European stand-up character before at the UCB SNL show. When I read the description, I thought it actually sounded kinda funny. Boy, was I wrong. It was just the usual lame, loud, forced Kenan crap. And what the hell was up with the stupid dance interludes every 10 seconds? Even Seth looked embarrassed by this character.
Stars: ***1/2
Sketch - Penelope
• This character pretty much officially stopped being funny last time with Lebron James, yet they still continue to bring her back - and using the EXACT same format as the other Penelope apperances. Seriously, they never change a damn thing in these sketches. I thought they were only bringing her back tonight so Amy Adams could play Kristen’s sister (for the 50th time tonight) who either acts exactly like Penelope or like the exact opposite of her. But instead, Adams just did the same role that Peyton, Lebron, and Molly Shannon played. Would it kill the writers to try something new with Penelope?
• The only Penelope line I laughed at tonight was her saying that’s her eye on the pyramid on the dollar bill.
Stars: *1/2
Sketch - Dr. Uncle Jimmy’s Smokehouse and Outpatient Surgical Facility
• It’s been a while since we’ve seen a patented “Bizarre Will Forte Sketch” on the show. Glad to see it back again. This was the usual hilarious stuff from him.
• Forte’s voice was interesting. I’ve never heard him talk like that on the show before.
• The funniest parts were the review articles, the Sudeikis/Samberg scene, and the gag with the blood bags.
Stars: ****
Sketch - Roger Clemens Presents
• Sudeikis stole the show with his hilarious impression of Roger Clemens. I especially cracked up during his tirade at the end when he yelled “I’M MAD ALL THE TIME!” He needs more parts on the show like this, instead of the smaller or straightman roles he’s been getting lately. I used to think that he’d be the utility man of the cast by now, but the writers still don’t know how to use him consistently or properly. The same can be said about Bill Hader. Those two should be carrying the show each week.
• The rest of the sketch was okay. I liked the hospital scene best out of the three acts.
• I think I read that that this got cut after dress last week, with Ellen Page playing Amy Adams’ role.
• Will someone please remind me why Darrell Hammond is still in the cast?
• Where has Armisen been tonight? This is his first real appearance of the night (not counting the still photos/voice-over in the cold opening), and it was only 5 seconds long. And he had an equally tiny part in the following sketch.
• Second sketch in a row using a hospital/emergency room scene and oddly enough, both scenes involved Samberg.
Stars: ***1/2
Sketch - The Tookie Styles Show
• What the fucking hell was this? It boggles the mind how Kenan Thompson is still employed.
Stars: *
Musical Performance
Sketch - Dancing Bar Ladies
• Good to see Casey Wilson finally getting a major role in a sketch.
• I laughed a lot when the girls did the super-fast version of the dance during the second song, but I saw where this was going and knew that the next song would be slow and they would slow-down the dance. It just got old after a while. And the girls’ failed attempts at flirting with the guys wasn’t too original.
• Hader and the other guys’ frozen-faced reactions were pretty funny.
• Continuing what I said before about Sudeikis/Hader not being used properly enough, why have almost all of Hader’s parts tonight been straightman roles? I mean, his character in this sketch, the mirror image sketch, and the Penelope sketch were all the exact same - the normal guy making confused facial expressions over the craziness he’s witnessing. And he also played the same role last week in the Peter Pan sketch. Yes, he’s a good straightman, but when is the guy going to get a funny big role again for a change?
Stars: **
_______________________________________
Show Highlights:
• Dr. Uncle Jimmy’s Smokehouse and Outpatient Surgical Facility
• Sudeikis as Roger Clemens
• Tim Calhoun
• The beginning of the punching scene in the digital short
Show Lowlights:
• The Tookie Styles Show
• Kenan and Amy on Weekend Update
• Kenan Thompson in general
• Penelope
• Monologue
Best Performer of the Night:
• Will Forte
FINAL THOUGHTS
Two pretty mediocre shows in a row. The material wasn’t really any better or worse than last week. Almost the entire first half of the show tonight was just boring except for the digital short, but things did improve slightly starting with Update. Amy Adams did a fine job as the host, and was much better than Ellen Page’s lousy attempts last week.
I’m still really worried about how bad next week’s show might be, considering it’s the fourth consecutive show and the writing has already been pretty weak these last two episodes. We could be looking at a truly disastrous show next Saturday, although Jonah Hill might help liven up the material.
CASTMEMBER/HOST COUNT DOWN:
ARMISEN: 3 sketches (Hillary Clinton Ad, Roger Clemens, Tookie Styles)
FORTE: 5 sketches (Therapy, Update, Dr. Uncle Jimmy, Roger Clemens, Dancing Ladies)
HADER: 7 sketches (Mirror Image, Fierce, Penelope, Dr. Uncle Jimmy, Roger Clemens, Tookie Styles, Dancing Ladies)
HAMMOND: 1 sketch (Roger Clemens)
MEYERS: 1 sketch (Update)
POEHLER: 6 sketches (Hillary Clinton Ad, Therapy, Fierce, Update, Roger Clemens, Dancing Ladies)
SAMBERG: 5 sketches (Mirror Image, Digital Short, Dr. Uncle Jimmy, Roger Clemens, Tookie Styles)
SUDEIKIS: 5 sketches (Digital Short, Dr. Uncle Jimmy, Roger Clemens, Tookie Styles, Dancing Ladies)
THOMPSON: 6 sketches (Update, Penelope, Dr. Uncle Jimmy, Roger Clemens, Tookie Styles, Dancing Ladies)
WIIG: 5 sketches (Hillary Clinton Ad, Monologue, Mirror Image, Penelope, Dancing Ladies)
WILSON: 3 sketches (Fierce, Penelope, Dancing Ladies)
AMY ADAMS: 10 sketches (Monologue, Mirror Image, Therapy, Digital Short, Fierce, Penelope, Dr. Uncle Jimmy, Roger Clemens, Tookie Styles, Dancing Ladies)