Bradley Cooper / TV on the Radio
February 7, 2009
RATINGS SYSTEM
***** = Excellent, a possible future classic
**** = Great
*** = Average
** = Meh
* = How'd this get past dress?
Cold Opening - Senator Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi
• This was a decent opening, but nothing too great.
• Kristen’s comments about republicans and her line about stupid people running around acting like idiots were the funniest lines.
Stars: ***
Monologue - Bradley Cooper
• The Inside the Actor’s Studio clips were interesting.
• Bradley’s tips on how to play a bully were pretty funny and accurate.
• James Lipton! It was great to see him, but I wish he got a little more to do here. They seemed to end his bit pretty fast.
Stars: ***
Sketch - Today
• I’m surprised and disappointed to see another one of these. The first one wasn’t that funny, plus they just did it a few episodes ago. And why do these always have to be the first sketch of the night?
• Kristen’s Kathie Lee impression continues to be more annoying than funny.
• The only parts I laughed at was Michaela not being surprised that Kristen/Kathie Lee understands where Christian Bale was coming from regarding his infamous tirade, and the Ho-down line.
• The stage light falling in front of Kristen at the end didn’t really get any laughs. What was the point of it?
Stars: *½
Sketch - I'm Gonna Have Sex With Your Wife
• This was pretty much a one-joke sketch that didn’t really go much further than the title.
• Bill’s angry facial expressions were really funny, though, as were Will and Fred’s facial reactions to the off-camera sex.
• Michaela looked like she was still wearing the same wig from the previous sketch.
Stars: **½
Digital Short - I’m on a Boat
• I heard before about this song being on the Lonely Island’s new CD. This was really funny, but not quite as great as Jizz in My Pants.
• The rapping was great and it’s always nice to see Jorma and Akiva on SNL. T-Pain’s random appearance was funny as well.
Stars: ****
Sketch - Song Memories
• Like the last Song Memories sketch, I’m glad they changed the setting again from the usual bar setting, but this was pretty weak overall.
• A lot of the stories tonight had predictable endings like Bill’s sister story and Will’s jacuzzi story, and I completely saw the whole funeral twist coming. I think they need to finally stop doing these Song Memories sketches. They seem to be running out of ideas with it.
• Jason’s Starbucks story was the only decent one.
Stars: **
Weekend Update - Seth Meyers, featuring Mark Spitz, James Harrison, Bjork
• Best jokes: Pelosi, Bush, John Madden
• The Mark Spitz commentary had a few funny lines like the “Spitz Carlton” bit. The segment ended too abruptly, though.
• I’m tired of Kenan playing every black football player on Update. His Harrison commentary actually wasn’t as bad as his usual Update stuff, but still not that great either.
• I was happy to see Kristen’s Bjork impression back since I really liked that Iconoclasts sketch from last season. Her impression was again very funny tonight and the song at the end was great.
• I’m surprised the “Really” segment is continuing even after Amy left, but it was still great tonight with just Seth. I loved all the stuff he said about the Kellogg’s characters, the comment about a genie granting a wish at a Phish concert, and the dick line at the end.
Stars: ****
Sketch - Hockey Fan
• When I first saw the locker set, I got worried and thought this would be yet another Dancing Coach sketch. Thankfully, I was wrong.
• Bobby was funny as the little kid as was his non-excitement over Bradley’s character.
• The sketch seemed kind of short, but I guess that’s good that this didn’t go too long.
Stars: ***½
Sketch - Bad Guys, Good Conversation
• This is the second time Michaela has played a Glenn Close character. She really does look like her. She did a good job as her Fatal Attraction character and her line about being “unkind” to a rabbit was funny.
• Jason as the Karate Kid sensei was hilarious.
• Bill did a great impression of Jame Gumb/Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs and the biggest laugh of the sketch was his line about stealing a woman’s skin so he wouldn’t need a sex change operation, and all the other characters’ reactions to that.
Stars: ***½
Sketch - Intervention
• This was another one-joke sketch that didn’t go anywhere and got old fast.
• The ending was also weak, and why did Andy keep looking up at himself in the monitor?
Stars: *
Sketch - No Bruce! Let Me Finish! The Best of Celebrity Tirades
• I was wondering if they’d do a direct parody of Christian Bale tonight.
• A good closing sketch overall, but the timing seemed off at the beginning.
• Kenan’s George Foreman was terrible as expected.
• I’d never seen Abby’s impression of Joan Cusack until now. It was pretty funny.
• Bobby’s Nathan Lane was dead-on and hilarious and stole the whole sketch.
Stars: ***
_________________________________________________________
Episode Highlights:
• Weekend Update
• Digital Short
• Bad Guys, Good Conversation
• Bobby as Nathan Lane
Episode Lowlights:
• Intervention
• Today
• most of Song Memories
• Kenan as George Foreman
Best Performer of the Night:
• Bobby Moynihan
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, an average episode. Not too bad, but nothing really special either. At least it’s a step up from the last two episodes. The first half of the episode was pretty shaky, but things got a little better starting with Update.
CASTMEMBER COUNT DOWN
ARMISEN: 2 sketches (Reid and Pelosi, Sex With Your Wife)
FORTE: 5 sketches (Sex With Your Wife, Memories, Hockey Fan, Intervention, Celebrity Tirades)
HADER: 4 sketches (Sex With Your Wife, Memories, Bad Guys, Intervention)
HAMMOND: 2 sketches (Hockey Fan, Celebrity Tirades)
MEYERS: 1 sketch (Update)
SAMBERG: 5 sketches (Monologue, Digital Short, Update, Bad Guys, Intervention)
SUDEIKIS: 3 sketches (Memories, Hockey Fan, Bad Guys)
THOMPSON: 2 sketches (Update, Celebrity Tirades)
WIIG: 5 sketches (Reid and Pelosi, Today, Sex With Your Wife, Update, Intervention)
ELLIOTT: 1 sketch (Celebrity Tirades)
MOYNIHAN: 2 sketches (Hockey Fan, Celebrity Tirades)
WATKINS: 4 sketches (Today, Sex With Your Wife, Hockey Fan, Bad Guys)
WILSON: 2 sketches (Sex With Your Wife, Intervention)