Saturday Night Live Update

Our host tonight is Seth Rogen. Up until this week, I thought his weight scale was a roller coaster. I've seen him thin, huge, and medium. But, when I saw the promo, my god, he lost so much weight! Yeah, I don't have much to say about him this time around.

A lot has changed on SNL since his last hosting gig. Like, half the cast.... well that's basically it. Phoenix is our musical guest. I'll keep an open mind.

A Message from the President: I guess the sketch was decent, but the formula was the same. I guess the irony was what brand he'd name next, which made me laugh at times. But, the last one should have been something really funny, and not soft drinks. 6.0

Monologue: Good monologue. The Paul Blart comments were great. Bobby could kind of remind me of Jonah Hill. 6.5

Fast and Bi-Curious: This made me chuckle, but homoerotic sketches can only go so far before you realize "same tune, different lyrics". 5.5

Save the Newspaper: Much like the Save Broadway sketch 3 months ago, all the cartoon strip characters need help. I chuckled at a lot of these, especially at Kriten and Michaela's Pep. Patty and Marcie. 7.0

Vinny Vedecci: I've warmed up to this sketch since it first started going in early 2007, and even though I chuckled a few times, there was not a whole lot new. I knew SNL would try to change up Bobby's character, and instead of cigarettes, there would be some alcoholic beverage given to him. The ending with Seth being kidnapped was funny, though. 6.5

Like A Boss: Eh. I laughed at a few parts, but just about average with the rest of the digital shorts lately. It's a bummer too, because the Tracy Morgan digital short reminded me of the good ol' shorts back in '06 and '07. 6.0

Phone Voices: This was a really silly sketch, and Bill made me laugh the most. At first, I thought this would be another 'memory' sketch, but I realized Jason and Will weren't there. 6.5

Musical Performance: Phoenix performs "Lisztomania" which was somewhat a good song to listen to.

Weekend Update: Most of the jokes were good, but there was A LOT about Obama in England. I loved the gift exchange joke that Seth did. Rod Blagojevich was a middling effort, while Jean K. Jean was just a chore to watch, and Madonna/Jolie was pretty funny. At least it wasn't a "do you see a baby?" "No, but how's-" "Bye." formula. 7.5

You're The One That I Want: Talk about a simple sketch. I did laugh at this, though. I'll say that. 6.0

Basketball Tutor: Man, I'm no tsure what the writers were doing, or if this was just Seth's humor, but a lot of these sketches were simple sketches that didn't deliver as well as hoped. 4.0

Country Songs: I would say I liked it, but let's be honest. Not much different from the Jonah Hill sketch last year. 4.5

Musical Performance: Phoenix performs "1901".

Muppets Hit & Run: Gotta say that this was a real 5 to one sketch. I guess it was kind of funny seeing all the cast members as the muppets. It was interesting seeing Michaela doing Janice after Maya did. I love Michaela, but Maya looked almost exactly like Janice. 6.0

And Phoenix performs another song.

The effort tonight was a mixed one. It seemed a lot of the sketches were "Yeah, whatever. That sounds good." I'm not sure if that was Seth's taste in sketches... Seth was just like last time. He matched right in with the cast.

Phoenix was a little disappointing for me. They remind me of what Fall Out Boy would be in England. Their first song was pretty good, but the other two were just nothing special.. Maybe I need to re-listen to them.

All in all, an adequate show. I wish there were more creative juices to be honest, though.

6.0

Next week: Zac Efron hosts (ugh) with musical guest Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Toinght's host is Tracy Morgan, who was a cast member here from 1996 to 2003. It's always nice to have a cast member to return to host. It usually will always make a fun show. Tracy's way of sketch acting is always worth a laugh, and I mean that in a good way.. i think.

Kelly Clarkson is our musical guest tonight. I really have never liked any of her songs, but it's sweeps so why not?

Tracy is Back: This was a really silly opening. The Tina Fey cameo was great, and so was John Cena. It was also interesting seeing those familiar extra faces saying lines. 6.5

Monologue: Tracy talks about how the media can't make him look like a big ghetto deal just because he's a black comedian. Pretty funny monologue. 7.0

Chewable Pampers: Wow. A third time already? This commercial has been repeated 3 times in 5 episodes! My god, I think we've found our Urigro and our Pampers Thongs of the season! Can I just say that I'm sick of SNL putting Wiig always as the almost-star of the show. She's great, yes, but the writers and Lorne can over power her at times. repeat = bad repeat

Brian Fellows Safari Planet: Wow, can anybody believe we haven't seen a current cast member (asides Pampers) up until this sketch? The sketch was pretty weak, and it was that same repetative stuff I watched on last year's Strike last minute repeat of his Best of. 4.0

The View: At least they did it in Disney World. But, it's the same old predictable formula. Like, for instance, in all 3 The View sketches we've had with this cast, Wiig's Hasselback does the same things: Shows untrustworthy research, starts stressing with a "YES. I Did. Yes i did!" or whatever, and just screams. 5.0

Lorenzo McInTosh: Once again, same old story. Same old formula. I thought Tracy may help this out, but all he did was really just shadow Kenan and vice versa. The only thing I smiled at/kinda chuckled at was the breaking character at the end. It's always nice to see that once every WHILE. Not, like every other episode, but maybe once or twice a season. I also laughed at the "Asian Lady from Grey's Anatomy" line. 5.0

Tonight On Dateline: For a second, I was wondering if this were a repeat sketch, but I realized Bill's hair was shorter. Pretty straight forward with the formula, again. But, I did laugh when Bill and Tracy's characters started doing this "ohhhhh!" thing. There were also some good lines like the 'put a ring on it' and the 'did he shoot you a dirty look?' 6.0

Astronaut Jones: I'm glad they tried changling things up with the guy being a transvestite. But, I wish Tracy's line delivery was more exciting. Like, you know he'd either get a girl, or accept the guy. I wish something unpredictable could have happened. 5.5

Musical Performance: Kelly Clarkson perfroms "My Life Would Suck Without You". It was somewhat a good song.

Weekend Update: I was waiting and waiting for the show to finally take off, and it DID! Update was really really fun this week. Bill's Malkovich was hilarious, and Kristen's Barbie was just as entertaining. The walk on by Tracy was kind of ruined by the side camera angle gaffe, but otherwise was really funny. 8.0

Big Love: This was a really funny parody. All the impressions were pretty spot on, and Tracy was great. 7.0

The Party: This felt like a good old digital short that you don't see a lot these days. It was original, and so Lonely Islandish. 7.5

Suppressex: Forte's line at the beginning was great. Tracy was great in this too. 7.0

High IQ: At first I thought this was only going to star Wiig just dancing. I was going to roll my eyes, but this turned into a really funny random sketch. 7.0

Musical Performance: Kelly performs "I Do Not Hook Up". It's an alright song. Not as annoying as her first album, and I never really heard her second album.

Family Flix: This was actually a really goofy 5 to one sketch, and Tracy was great in it. 6.5

Gas Right: Why not end the night off with another repeat commercial? Don't we have any taped commercial that never made it to air this season? Wasn't there a dating service commercial that was cut from the Michael Phelps show? I'd rather see something new than something that is repeated and wasn't that funny the first time. repeat = alright repeat

Tonight's show was shaping up to be a pretty boring show up until it got to Update. Then, the show took a whole new direction, and was fun! The last 45 minutes was pretty strong, while the first 45 minutes was shaping up to be a pretty weak and predictable show. The outcome was a modest, but decent mid-season show.

Tracy was Tracy. He was pretty funny, and made some sketches that weren't original kind of worth watching. Kelly is a good live act, but her music is nothing too too special for me.

6.0

And, here's where I plug in the next live show. Once again, they didn't announce it. It's really getting annoying. Like, they've slowly gotten more and more worse at announcing guests in upcoming dates. Look at last year around this time: We knew Shia and Steve were hosting in May. Then, starting season 34, we didn't find out any of the October shows until right around October started. Now, it's this.

Next week is the repeat of the boring Steve Martin episode. The week after is a repeat of the Alec Baldwin episode. April 4 is our next show.

Wow, talk about burn out eh? In the past 5 episodes on the 2009 calendar, we've had two episodes that weren't widely considered disappointments. One of them being really good, while the other one middling to a decent broadcast. The other three, two of which were hosted by legends on SNL, were nearly forgettable. I don't know if it was just the fact that the writers didn't try, or if they just really didn't care. If tonight's broadcast is good, then maybe it will prove the fact that the writers can't do a 5 episode arch in 6 weeks in the middle of the season.

The host tonight is Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Wierd thing is when he was pegged to host late 2007 (which was cancelled due to the writers' strike), he was announced as "The Rock" simply. But this time, it was strictly Dwayne Johnson. Our musical guest tonight is one that nobody had guessed when we were speculating (U2 was the top contender). Ray LaMontagne is our musical guest tonight.

A Message From Secretary of Treasury: In what you thought was just going to be a sit down announcement from Timmothy Geithner blaming everything on the Bush administration, turns into a phone-line for help. This was a decent opening, and the Nigerian Prince thing was great. 6.5

Monologue: The Rock tries to prove he's tough, which turns into him being compared to 4 girls and his gay trainer. Pretty funny monologue. 7.5

MacGruber: MacGruber has kind of lost respect from many fans since he sold himself to Pepsi, but tonight wasn't that. It was actually a real sketch. By the way, did anybody else notice the fact that the first 20 seconds of the conversation between MacGruber and MacGyver was the exact same as it was during the Pepsi commercials? 7.0

The Rock Obama: Rahm Emanuel tries to convince Obama to get angry, which all plays out great in his head. This was a pretty funny sketch, but there were some parts when it was moving very very slowly. They could have mixed it up more than just throwing them out the same window. Maybe this would have been better later in the night. 6.5

MacGruber: MacGyver and MacGruber are happy together until MacGyver wants to leave him again. The little segueways between the MacGyver and MacGruber explosions were great. 7.5

Activia Yogurt Shoot: Okay, so this wasn't a total carbon copy, but pretty close. This was somewhat a better sketch than the Ashton Kutcher one, but since it was already used, it cancelled this quality out. At least do something diffierent. 4.5

Hawaiian Bar: When this started, I was worried that it was going to be this sketch when the singers annoyed the customers, and it would move slowly, but it actually turned out to be a pretty funny sketch. 7.0

MacGruber: This time, Grubs threatens to poop on his dad's ashes when he dies. I've gotta say, this sketch gets more and more out there every time it airs. But that's not a bad thing. 7.5

Musical Performance: Ray LaMontagne performs "You Are The Best Thing". A pretty nice song.

Weekend Update: After last episode's crap of jokes and commentaries (leaving out Joaquin Pheonix and B**** Please Blogger) the Update desk finally found it's way back. This time, the jokes for the most part had the edge over the commentaries. Okay, so the Kenan commentary got worse as it went on, but hey, it's a Kenan commentary. And, right when Seth talked about Jessica Rabbit being the sexiest cartoon, I knew instantly that Andy was coming out to do Cathy. This was a much better commentary than it was on the Michael Phelps show. Justin Timberlake cameo was great, and Jessica Biels as Jessica Rabbit was hilarious. Then there was the Jon Bovi, remember that sketch? It was from the weaker Jaime Pressley episode from two seasons ago? Well, if you didn't notice, the first minute and 30 seconds was the EXACT same thing as the sketch with Jaime Pressley. But, it got a tad funnier and a tad less painful than it originally was on the Jaime Pressley episode. 7.5

Game Time with Dave and Greg: It would have ben funnier if Bill was playing a real creepy sportscaster, but this sketch was a pretty decent one. 6.0

Apprentice Commercial Shoot: Man the last time they did one of these Donald Trump shoots was, like, 4 seasons ago. This was really funny. Especailly Dwayne, Fred, and Michaela as Dennis Rodman, Tom Green, and Joan Rivers. 7.0

Musical Performance: Ray performs "Trouble" which is the really nice song. I also loved the blue lighting that went with this. Random, I know.

Lighthouse Date: This was actually a pretty funny 5 to 1 sketch. The way Dwayne set every conversation he had with Kristen turning it into a sexual comment was hilarious, and all the guys yelling from below were hilarious. 7.0

Wow. A good show. An actual firm, good show. Dwayne has always been a great host, and tonight was no exception. Instead of being all before Update and leaving Post-Update down, good sketches were sprinkled all throughout tonight's broadcast. There were some middling effort sketches, but the only actual weaker sketch was the Activia commercial. My only other complaint is the fact that, maybe it was just me, or that the cast seemed to be cue card staring a lot more than normal. I don't know. Maybe it was just me.

But, both Dwayne and Ray were great tonight. Our 3 cameos tonight (Richard Dean Anderson, JT, and Jessica Biel) were all delights.
 

7.0

Next week: Tracy Morgan returns to host with musical guest Kelly Clarkson. As long as Tracy takes it easy on the recurring characters, I know this should be at least a decent show.

Well, the Brad Cooper show kind of stated that SNL is coming out of it's New Year/Winter slump (which usually starts in the first January episode, but this year hels off one). It still could have used a LOT more perfection. I don't know what SNL will do next as far as consistency is. Tonight will tell.

Now, Alec Baldwin is hosting.That's awesome. But, as I stated in m last reiew, I'm worried if the writers will put it ll in this week or not. They're really struggling with recurring hosts this season. The newbies are the ones hitting it out of the park usually.

Cold-- Oh, and Jonas Brothers are musical guest.

Republicans Meeting: Look! Dan Aykroyd apearance! The sketch worked out, but it was a really slow beginning. Just the awkward way of saying the same thing with different words got old after a while. 5.0

Monologue: The audience loves Jack McBrayer more than Alec. This was actully a pretty funny monologue, and it's always nice having Jack McBrayer around. 7.0

The 4th Jonas: Okay. This is our lead off sketch? Alec really carried this sketch, and, I knew we were going to have to deal with them appearing in sketches. Just not the lead-off. 5.5

The Cougar Den: Michaela was just awkwardly there. They might of well just had two hosts. As for Cameron, it worked the first time, but the point of being a guest on the Cougar Den is that you're not alays there. The sketch was pretty funny all together. Some new ideas were great. 6.5

Jonas in an Old Band: Of course, this as a Lonely Island Idea. But, it just didn't work. 5.0

Sir Mix-a-Lot's Photo Booth: I actually liked this skit. The way they icorperated the song was great. 7.0

Musical Performance: Jonas Bros performed a song. I don't know what song. I muted it. Seriously though, why did the camera capture the 3 faces of them at the end of the song? Were they trying to capture the moment or something?

Weekend Update: The show's in a slump, so hopefuly Update will bring us out of it. It kind of did. All the jokes were almost like time fillers between commentaries. None of the jokes really got a chuckle out of me. Abby's Angelina was good, but rehashed. Jason's Joaquin Phoenix was funny, but slow. Kenan's Oscar Rogers was just completely rehashed while the commentary of the night was Michaela's **** Please' blogger. That was probably the only thing of tonight's Update that I got a laugh out of. 5.5

Vincent Price's Valentine's Day special: Right when you think the show is going to be snow balling into a worse show, you are delighted with a surprise. This sketch was just as delightful as all the other Vincent Price sketches. Kristen's Carol Channing made me forget all the annoyance Ive had with her lately. (It came back after the sketch was over, don't worry) Alec was also funny in this. Great sketch. 8.0

Scheduling: I was worried that this was going to be a fartface sketch, but it was a little bit more funnier than that. I got a lot of chuckles out of Will's "Carol, hold my calls!" 6.0

Musical Performance: Alec's dauhters are in the Jonas cult. Great. I actually just had the volume low on this, but still, it wasn't all that enjoyable.

Playing the Wii: I laughed, okay? I'm a 15 year old. Shut up! 7.0

Pampers Chewables: In a line of "Oh no! We have extra time! Put in a repeat commercial!", this airs again. I would have prefered any other commercial but this one. Especially since it aired just two wees ago. bad repeat choice

Virgania Horsen: Are you kidding me? If we're going to air a taped segment from last year, do Annuale. I did chuckle. And after watching it, I'm craving theTina Fey/Carrie Underwood show again. Also, this aired a year ago from next week. That was a good night for SNL.. "ehh" repeat choice

First Coughs: This was actually a funny sketch. Everybody captured the faces perfectly, except Wiigy, who made a silly face instead of a face with fear.

That's the show. It's good to see the SNL band getting respect, but my god. We had, like an extra 5 - 6 minutes in the show. There could have been a whole other sketch. Maybe two! This show was REALLY rehashed, and, at times just complete repeats (Horsen, Pampers). Obviously the creative spark is burning out. I can only wonder, though. What would SNL have done if next week were a fourth consecutive show? Would they have shown us up, like with the Jonah Hill and Anne Hathaway shows? We'll never know. Usually, during February, they'd do two shows, a week break, and then 1 show by itself. So, like this show would have been next week. Maybe that would have improved the show.

But, any ways, Alec brought his game, which was good. It was just the writing. In all seriousness, the JoBros looked like they had fun, and they're actually a good live act. I just don't like their music.

It was a VERY disappointing Baldwin show, and a little bit below average regular show. But, I enjoyed myself last night watching it. Anyways, the lull is not over, but we'll wait for March.

5.5

March 7 is our next live show. No confirmed guests yet. But, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is in the rumor cycle. U2 is also up for grabs for March 7 as musical guest. But, right now, I hope the writers can rejuvanate (Did I spell that right?). Who knows? Two weeks is a great break time. Jon Bon Jovi to Brian Williams. Remember?

Next week is a broadcast of the god pre-Update, terrible post-Update Hugh Laurie/Kanye West show. February 28 is Harris/Swift rebroadcast. Sweet. Did anybody realize that we skipped over McGraw/Luda, T-Pain repeat? Did Lorne not like that episode?

SNL is a little bit more hit an miss in the year 2009 calendar than 2008. Granted it's only been 3 episodes and one of them were very good, but the other two were let downs. 4th show is now, and will it be another letdown? Here we go....

Host is Bradley Cooper, from his new co-starring role in He's Just Not That Into You. Musical guest is TV On The Radio. It should be a very interesting show.

Pelosi/Reid Message: A funny premise, but Kristen's other characters that show bitter sides were shining off of this. Like, she almost reminded me of Aunt Linda with the hand gestures and voice patterns at times. 6.5

Monologue: The only thing I really laughed at in this was Bradley blowing off James Lipton. The monologue was just a regular one. 6.0

Today: I groaned when I saw this come up, but this was a vast improvement over the NPH sketch. I laughed at almost everything. 7.5

I'm Gonna Have Sex With Your Wife: This could have been sooo much funnier. I laughed at Forte's declining happiness a lot, but the other two were so phoned in. 5.0

I'm On A Boat: Wow. Remember when digital shorts were funny? Those were the days. Moving on... 5.0

Song Memories: I always enjoy these sketches (except for the Ashton Kutcher one), and this one was just as good. But, what happened to thos single punchlines that they usually say a moment after they say the full story? 7.0

Musical Performance: This is such a cool band. They sure sang "Golden Age" with groove. I also dig that baritone and her sun glasses.

Weekend Update: This may be the first memorable Seth Update! I mean, he's been doing fine, but tonight was really good. Andy's commentary was alright, while Kenan's actually got a big number of chuckles out of me. I was really happy to see Kristen's Bjork back tonight. It was very funny. Amy never helped "Really?" It was all Seth. 8.0

Locker Admiration: Bobby is there!!! I missed his absence last week. This was actually a really funny sketch. Bobby is so awesome. 7.0

Bad Guys, Good Conversations: This was a pretty funny sketch. Jason was the best part. It reminded me so much of his Roger Clemens last year. 7.0

Intervention: Why? Why must we go through every episode with at least one terrible Wiig sketch? Like, I know it wasn't all Wiig, but still. Once again, something in dress HAD to be better than this. 3.5

Musical Performance: They slide right on through "Dancing Choices". Man, this band is good.

No Bruce! Let Me Finish: This was actually a pretty funny 5 to 1 sketch. Kenan sucked at George Foreman, though. I did laugh at that part because it reminded me of The Office. Never mind, though. 7.0

Not a vast impovement, but this show was an improvement over the last two. I just don't see why SNL chooses the sketches they do. Like, if the SNL dress audience liked the Intervention sketch, then I'll throw this computer out. Seriously. Are they just doing that for the cast members to be happy?

We're starting to get out of that January 'whatever' feeling, hopefully on time for Alec Baldwin next week. Anyways, Bradley was an adequate host while TV On The Radio was an interesting band. It's just the main suspects: the writers!

6.5

Next week Alec hosts with musical guest the Jonas Bros. I won't even touch base with how POed I am with the music decision. I just hope Alec brings it for a great show. I'm worried though. SNL kind of sucks at having returning hosts on this season. I'll be pleased if the show reaches a 7.0 on my scale. (Of course I'm hoping for higher)

Can anybody believe we're more than halfway through the season? It's unbelievable! Also unbelievable is that I'm doing reviews with one arm.

Our host is Steve Martin! How can you not be excited? But, then again, SNL has been trying to get former classic hosts for a while, and the episode itself just doesn't deliver. I think getting new hosts is what SNL should focus on. The best episodes this season have been by newbies like Jon Hamm, Anne Hathaway, and Neil Patrick Harris. But, maybe tonights episode will be awesome. Musical guest is Jason Mraz. Moving on..

Message from the President: Very funny opening. Between the lookbacks, and Biden, this showed that SNL is going to try to spoof this president, even if it kills them. I'm looking forward to more spoofs in the future. 7.5

Monologue: You know it's a Steve Martin monologue when he's all over the place. Nice monologue. 6.5

Pampers Chewables: A creative idea, but the commercial proved that the idea can be milked so far. Why are all commercials starring Kristen and Jason this year? 6.0

Awkward Inoverts At a Superbowl Party: I was glad to see these characters back. The ectasy thing was great. 7.5

Laser Cats 4ever: Eh.. after last year's Walken one, I'm not all crazy for this sketch. The 'so bad its good thing' has gotten really old. I did get some chuckles, though. 5.5

Issues: Kenan sketch... yawn. The premise was a decent idea, but, after Update. Please. It was a LOT beter than "GOOD! EX! CUSE!!" 5.5

Benard Madoff: I thought it was a funny idea, but I was waiting for something to happen. Like, his wife to come out... oh well. 5.5

Crush on Steve: All four ladies have a crush on Steve. I thought this was pretty funny, and I love that persona that Steve plays being a down right snob. 6.5

While I'm here, I just to say I loved those 3 Pepsi/Macgruber commercials during the breaks that appeared during the original broadcast for NBC, not Global).

Musical Performance: Jason Mraz performs "I'm Yours". I'm not a hater of this song like my good tv.com friend, Stu (lol), but I don't enjoy the song all too much. Mraz is a great live act, by the way.

Weekend Update: Good Update tonight. The Blagojevich commentary was decent while the Jolie appearance was a great step for Abby. But, Fred stole this. The Patterson commentary was hilarious. It was even better than the last time. 8.0

Crazy Wife: Same character, different costume and voice. The only thing that made me remotely laugh was the resemblance to my former piano teacher (by looks, not voice or mind). Kristen, you're very talented, but make characters that have a point. 4.5

"Late To School": Steve performs "Late To School" with his band. The song got good laughs out of me. 7.5

The Gun: This was kind of funny, but, it was put at the right timespot. 6.0

Musical Performance: Mraz and Colbie Caillat perform "Lucky". Whatever.

Tonight's episode was a below average one, and a disappointing one with such a great host. SNL obviously has a better time finding its voice with the new generation of actors. Steve was great while Mraz didn't hurt the show.

5.0

Next week, Bradley Cooper will host with musical guest, TV On The Radio. Excited for the musical guest, and the show itself can go any direction.

have a very big feeling tonight's episode will be mediocre. No, not because of any guests, but just because last week's episode was such a delight, that I just know SNL will go for the easy joke. But, you know what? I may be wrong. Maybe we could have two delightful episodes of SNL in a row.

May I mention right now that I don't base SNL on a political schedule. I don't say this is "the inauguration episode" or "the election episode" or the "post-election episode". In my eyes, this is just a mid-season episode.

Rosario Dawson is hosting. I wonder if she'll either be a stiff serious actress, or a funny versatile one. Fleet Foxes is a nice indie rock band whose musical guest tonight. We'll see how it goes.

Dick Cheney's Final Interview: Wow. Talk about setting the tone for the night. In a bad one-joke premise, Dick says he does not regret anything. This sketch was a terrible way to start of the evening. 4.5

Monologue: Basically the whole monologue is Rosario trying to say how Hispanics will overcome all their stereos, while a certain character we haven't seen in a whle tries to stick to all the stereo types. 5.0

North American Savings: Just watching the characters cry was a little entertaining. The whole idea was pretty clever, but the delivery was just dull and drawn out. 6.0

Learnin' Train: Right when it began, I knew the sketch was going to be a bad lead off. Everyone in this sketch was very funny, but the writing was way, once again, too drawn out. Couldn't we have gotten a more kid-kind of star other than Harry Connick Jr.? That was really random for a celebrity impersonation. 5.5

Going out of Business: It was a pretty good spoof on all these crappy local commercials. I really didn't get the bleep out of the name. I guess I'm just dumb. 6.5

Aladdin: This was actually a really funny sketch. It actually went by really smoothly. 7.0

Homies: Until Forte came on, I was asking "what the hell is this?" but , right when that script came on about the drugs, I started laughing a lot. 6.0

Gilly: Wow. Kristen keeps on getting these wicked bad characters. What is wrong with this? Shana, the sexy girl was actually a really funny [one time] character. I did get a chuckle at a few parts, but the sketch in and of itself was not funny at all.4.0

Musical Performance: Fleet Foxes did an awesome job singing Mykonos.

Weekend Update: Slow jokes tonight, and, 2 out of 3 slow commentaries. The Madoff commentary was actually really funny. But, really, Judy Grimes is not working. She needs to stop. Kristen is really good at talking fast, but we need to mix the character up a little. Meanwhile the Canadian Goose commentary was kind of alright, but it was just slow. 6.0

La Policia Mexicana: While the idea was pretty funny, it was just a really really bad execution. I mean, I got laughs at the way I would have written this, if I had to do it in Spanish, but, it was just a slow paced kind of sketch, like "okay, here we go... we're going to do this first... then this..." 4.0

The View: Not as good as the first shot around. Partially because it was the same story line with Hasselback. She's a crazy right-wing radical, we get it! And Rosario's Selma Hayek was funny, but did not help the sketch at all. Jason's Gervais was really funny, especially with the giggles, and the sketch moved a long nicely. But, still, no cigar. But, I'm glad SNL realized it wasn't as funny as the first time, there by putting it at the 12:45 spot, instead of the post-monologue spot. 6.5

And, we could tell that Lorne was about a minute and a half off or so, with the 40 second band intermission, and all the other band segue-ways.

Musical Performance: Fleet Foxes pull out "Blue Ridge Mountain". Another great song.

Good Excuse: Man, thank goodness this was a 12:55 sketch. It was so not funny. The only part I actually laughed at was the cats screaming "GOOD! EX! CUSE!" 3.5

That's the show. Wow, what a disorganized show. We had a few (very few) bright spots, but nothing really stuck out as a sketch I'll look back at. I kind of expected a fall-out show, especially after last week's pure bliss show. Notice how I said disorganized. Yes, it was a disappointing show, but not too much. Musical guest was great, and you could tell there was SOME effort in the show. But, for once, I see that the cast really didn't put in their full effort this week. But, it was just really disorganized. The time of the show was underestimated by 2 minutes (which is really big for television), so, instead of plugging in another taped segment, we showed a bunch of band segueways.

5.0

Rosario was actually a really versitale host, and helped the show a lot. Fleet Foxes was really good, and will definetely be one of the better musical guests of the season. As for the show, who knows? Maybe they're saving their energy for the next show... which brings me to...

In 2 weeks, Steve Martin comes for his 15th hosting gig!!! Jason Mraz will acompany by performing "I'm Yours" and probably some crappy album cut. There has been some speculation that maybe he'll play "Remedy", but I'm not putting money in on it. So, hopefully the writers and cast will... well try.

As soon as I knew that Neil Patrick Harris was going to be our host this evening, I knew we'd be in for a good episode. But, then I thought, "well, SNL usually goes into a drab form in January episodes", so I was wondering if we'd continue that trend. We left off on a rather off Christmas episode with Hugh Laurie, which I also expected to be good, but did not stand up to par, so, how am I so sure tonight will be good? I'm not. And I'm not especially with Taylor Swift as musical guest. Her songs are sappy, but that's not the only reason I'm not excited for her guesting on tonight's episode: It's also because I heard her perform live on New Years Eve. Eeek. Let's keep a look out on that.

So, yeah, NPH is our host tonight, with musical guest Taylor Swift. The cast has finally taken a worthy break, unlike how they've been breaking for the past 3 months or so, with 1 week breaks (not even at times) sprinkled through the first half of the season. So, I know the cast will have energy. It's the writing that's the verdict.

The Rachel Maddow Show: Wow! Abby gets really good screen time! I'm happy to see that! Of course, those pictures of Burris being removed were funny. Also, it was nice to see Jason's Blagojevich back on, and obviously, the audience was happy to see it back on, also. 7.0

Monologue: After quick one liners from hecklers in the audience to NPH about how they 'met' his mother, Mark Wahlberg suddenly enters and tells them to stop. That was a very funny twist that gave me the vibe of the cast saying "we're gonna try this week!". 7.5

Today: Hoda Kotb and that annoying cartoon woman, Kathie Lee Gifford present the fourth hour of Today, and Kathie goes way to far with her little jokes, while she can't take a hit from Hoda. This was pretty funny, but, I've gotta say, why didn't Neil Patrick play that Biggest Loser trainer, Bob, instead of a made up trainer? He looks just like him! Also, maybe this could have been put off until the 3rd commercial sketch, or something. 6.0

Musical Meeting: Broadway is going down with the recession, and all the actors of broadway meet to see what they can do. I thought this was a very entertaining sketch. Darrell's Stomp made me laugh a lot, as did most of the characters. It was interesting to see how Taylor got no applause. I'm not even sure if people recognized her. 8.0

Penelope at Group Counseling: I saw this in the dress promo, and went "oh boy." Penelope was very funny in the Peyton Manning and Molly Shannon episodes, and, if it werent' so rushed, she was kinda funny in the LeBron James episode. But, that Amy Adams sketch was so not funny, so I was wondering what would become of tonight's return. It was actually more of a delight than not. They got a little more creative this time around, and, of course, Liza Minnelli coming out was great. 7.0

Doogie Howser M.D. Theme: It was nice to see a digital short that wasn't aiming for the funny goofy song as much as the entertaining song. This was just as entertaining as the rest of the show has been thus far. 7.0

Musical Performance: Taylor Swift performs "Love Story". She did much better than she was on New Year Eve, but, still, I'm just not a fan of her music.

Weekend Update with SETH MEYERS: Interesting to see how the theme is the same, just with new pictures. They also shortened the desk a little bit. For his first Update around alone (I mean official, now), he did very well. Charles Barkley was actually tolerable, if not funny! Will Forte has had better Update songs than this one, but it was still entertaining. 7.5

Two First Names: This was actually a really creative idea. All the impressions had me laughing. It was good to see Wiig's Jaime Lee Curtis back, and I loved Michaela's Julia Louis-Dreyfus. 7.0

Air Traffic Control: Two woman are trying to overcome something that happened in a fight, and are talking about solutions. Definetely the dullest sketch of the night, here. Seeing NPH in drag only lasted as fresh and funny for about 3 seconds, and the rest of the sketch was a drag in and of itself. Will Forte did have me laughing at parts, though. Did this remind anybody else of the "Where's My Purse?" captain? Egh. 4.0

Frost/Other People: This was a really good 12:45 piece. It reminded me of the Rainn Wilson sketch, White Possom Scream. 7.0

Musical Performance: Taylor performs "Forever & Always". Not much to say here.

Burger King Whopper Virgins: Who said this wasn't funny? This was hilarious! I didn't even care if it was a taped segment, it was still a really funny sketch. All three characters were really funny. Bobby Moynihan was HILARIOUS! 8.0

Geese, tonight's show was a delight. The only thing holding me back from giving this an 8.0 were the musical acts and that 12:40 sketch. Has this cast already found it's voice? They seemed to gel so well tonight, I'm just lost at words. I thought, especially with the new girls, it'd be a while until we got everyone evening out, but everyone got to show their strong points tonight. Abby, who has been doing a 1 line a night thing for the past 4 episodes, finally was really prominent tonight. Even Kenan was doing well by me!

Neil definetely fit in with the cast. Even with his little chuckles, he was still a helpful more than hurting host. Taylor Swift wasn't anything that hurt the show, but nothing that helped the show at all. Even with Neil's good performance, this was definetely a night that goes out to the cast. They did a spectacular job.

7.5

Next Week: Rosario Dawson hosts with musical guest Fleet Foxes. I hope this cast can keep their great work up.

Wow, we're already half way through the season! My god, things are going by fast. Granted, the second half will be 5 months long, while the 1st half is only 3 months, but still, time is going by fast. As far as SAG news, we will get our January 10 and January 17 episodes in, before even thinking about anything, so don't worry about that.

Tonight is Amy's last show. Yes, it really is, this time. It was kind of expected that she'd come back for the Christmas episodes, so, it's good to have her back while we can. Amy has been an awesome cast member, and even though we can think she has a big ego at times, she will be sorely missed.

This week's host is Hugh Laurie, who did a magnificant job hosting last time, so I'm really looking forward to the show. Kanye West is back after a little bit more than a year from his last visit.

Blagoevich in Congress: Jason playing Blagoevich? Wierd choice. Hader or Armisen would have been my first two choices. The sketch did drag on, and that bleeped out swearing stopped being funny the first time Sudeikis unexpectedly did it. I would have prefered a Nancy Grace cold opening for Amy's sendoff. 6.0

Monologue: I have to say once again, Laurie is a very funny guy. This monologue was all over the place, but in a good way. 7.5

Bronx Beat: You've gotta be kidding me. Seriously? And a lead off sketch? The sketch itself wasn't as bad as the Braff and Manning Bronx Beat sketches, but not as good as the Brian Williams sketch. I kind of felt bad about how Maya got NO applause at all. But, then again, that sketch never gets applause. I kind of feel bad for them. 6.5

Dysfunctional Family: Right when this started, I knew it was a dysfunctional family sketch, yet I was still laughing on the floor by the time this was over. Just those stupid little things are all so true! That ironic ending was awesome, too. 8.0

Wedding Toasts: This was a silly sketch, and I enjoyed it. Hugh's character was hilarious, and so were most of the other ones. 7.5

Musical Performance: Wow, this was a really cool stage set-up, but, I can not stand this song. Maybe it's just me, but Kanye was much better a year and a half ago when he was on.

Weekend Update: Most of the jokes were funny, while Fred as Patterson KILLED! It was hilarious! Fred is so freakin talented, it's not funny (unless he's trying to be funny, of course). Right down to Amy's heartfilled goodbye, and Fred interrupting it was hilarious! 8.0

Lamps: Dancing lamps. I thought the premise was clever and witty: Lamps holding owners hostage, but it really didn't go anywhere, at all. 6.0

Cat Letter: This was actually somewhat entertaining. Hugh, once again, was great in this, and so was Kristen. 5.5

DS: Lay-Offs: Eh, it was a 10-to-1 digital short. What ever. It wasn't terrible. 5.0

Musical Performance: Kanye West performs once again, and it's an underwhelming song. Don't get me wrong, Kanye's talented, (a lot more talented than T.I.) but maybe it's just me.

No skating rink tonight. Bummer. Somebody pointed out, that New York City, and all of New England, was at most 20 degrees last night. I totally forgot New York City was a real place for a second. Never entered my mind, plus they, and I, just got an ice storm, so it's probably even worse out there right now.

Tonight was a decent night, yet at the same time, it was an off night. I guess doing 11 shows in 14 weeks (14 broadcasts in 14 weeks to be exact), the cast was kind of looking forward to this break. Everything was just kind of off. Steve Martin was not here to sing "Not Gonna Phone It In Tonight", so I guess that's what did it. Hugh was a great host. Even him starting to chuckle in Bronx Beat had me laughing. Kanye West, as I stated, was just not as thrilling as he was on his last visit. Maybe it's because his new album is more love songs (i guess?), but I don't know.

I really will miss Amy. She was great on the show. I am looking forward to the evolution of Michaela, Abby, and Casey (yes, even Casey). Speaking of Abby, she really hasn't done anything to prove herself, yet. Michaela has been doing all kinds of stuff. I really do think she's another Kristen Wiig, which is a good thing. Abby still has yet to show off why she got on this show. Casey has slowly, but surely, risen up to fill Amy and Maya's voids, but she can still go much farther. As for Kristen, I just hope she keeps it up. She's doing a fantastic job.

6.0

I'm taking it our next episode is January 10. No confirmed host. No confirmed musical guest.

On January 4, we have a special (not sure what time), called SNL Sports Extra. If it's live, and new, then I'll review.

Next week is a rebroadcast of the uneven Josh Brolin/Adele episode, while the week after is the strong Ben Affleck/David Cook, and after that, the uneven Paul Rudd/Beyonce episode.

Wow, I can't believe I'm not reviewing for 2 weeks. It just feels like yesterday I was making reviews right back to back. Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!

And, now, my half-way through the season awards!

BEST COLD OPEN:
Vice Presidential Debate (10/4)

WORST COLD OPEN:
Biden/Murtha (10/25)

HONORABLE MENTION "YOU'RE A CASTMEMBER AGAIN" AWARD:
Chris Parnell, Maya Rudolph, and Tina Fey

SKETCH THAT WASN'T THAT BAD, BUT STILL BOMBED WITH THE AUDIENCE:
Narc School (10/18)

BEST ROOKIE CAST MEMBER (Between Moynihan, Watkins, Wilson, Elliott):
Bobby Moynihan

ANOTHER AWESOME ROOKIE CAST MEMBER WHO SHOWS REAL POTENTIAL:
Michaela Watkins

A GOOD ROOKIE CAST MEMBER WHO STILL HAS YET TO PROGRESS:
Casey Wilson

CAST MEMBER WHO REALLY HASN'T PROVED ANYTHING YET, BUT STILL HAS PLENTY OF TIME:
Abby Elliott

BEST WOMAN:
Kristen Wiig

BEST MALE CAST MEMBER:
It's a 3-way tie: Armisen, Hader, Forte

WORST CAST MEMBER:
I'd say Kenan, but he's showed improvement in my eyes. Thompson or Samberg, really.

WORST MUSICAL GUESTS:
3. T.I.
2. Lil' Wayne
1. Kanye West

BEST MUSICAL GUESTS:
3. Duffy
2. The Killers
1. Coldplay

WORST HOSTS:
3. Josh Brolin
2. James Franco
1. Michael Phelps

BEST HOSTS:
3. Anne Hathaway
2. Jon Hamm
1. Ben Affleck

WORST OVERALL EPISODES:
3. Paul Rudd/Beyonce
2. Josh Brolin/Adele
1. Michael Phelps/Lil Wayne

BEST OVERALL EPISODES:
3. Ben Affleck/David Cook
2. Jon Hamm/Coldplay
1. Anne Hathaway/The Killers

Wow, I can't believe I'm not reviewing for 2 weeks. It just feels like yesterday I was making reviews right back to back. Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!

Before Thoughts
Wow. She's still on. Amy Poehler is still on. I always thought Lorne was just being overly positive like he did with Maya in February. But, she's still on. Obviously next week will probably be her last episode. I don't think she'll stick around until January 10.

John Malkovich is our host this week. Exciting, eh? Malkovich is like his own little character, much like Christopher Walken. I've been looking forward for his stint since it was announced 2 weeks ago. Continuing November sweeps in December (?), T.I. is musical guest. Maybe it would have been effective to have him in October, when he was up on the charts, but "What Ever You Like" isn't exactly THE song, any more. And I'm just talking demographics. For me, personally, I'm not looking forward to T.I. at all.

A Message From Hillary Clinton: Okay. Amy's back. I guess this sketch had it's one liners, but, really, this sketch was just like any other Hillary opening. Hillary's bitter. I really thought they'd do more than this. But, it's nice to see Amy winding down her stint on the show. 6.0

Monologue: Malkovich reads to little children, and interrupts with startling disturbing news every few sentences. I thought this was more of a sketch than monologue, but it worked. 6.5

Gas Right: Instead of a nose patch to stop you from snoring, you have a butt patch for making less noisy farts. I guess this was rather 4th graderish, but, it wasn't anything close to Urigro, so thumbs up. 6.0

Shana: A new office girl, Shana, has all the boys all over her. That's what I thought this sketch was going to be all about. A one-premise sketch. But, it actually evolved into a nicely written sketch. Unfortunately, I fear recurring. This was a great one-time sketch, but, no. No, Kristen. No. Don't. 7.5

Obama's Cool: This was indifferent. I guess the little music thing helped save this. 5.5

Vinny Vendicci: I usually hate this recurring sketch, but, still, since the Shia LaBeouf one, it's warmed up on me. This was no different from that one. But really, they've GOT to stop doing that 'person says they can't speak Italian, Vinny yells at back stage hands, hands yell back', that's just getting tired. 7.0

Virginia Horsen: Digital Short? Technical mistake, maybe, but who knows? This was funnier than the Tina Fey one last February. I couldn't help but notice that Kristen's secondary character played by Horsen sounded like that twin from Mirror Image sketch from the Adams broadcast in March. 8.0

Calculator!: I know many people thought, "Lame..." when they watched this, but, come on, this is how we all acted when we got our Nintendo 64, or Gameboy Color, or Atari. It was so funny and simple, over a stupid calculator. 6.5

Musical Performance: T.I. performs "Whatever You Like". Wow, and this was on the top billboards for more than a week? I loved how John had to look back to see who he was introducing.

Weekend Update: Wow. Update was slow tonight. I was really looking forward to returning back to the Seth/Amy combo tonight, but, really, nothing happened. Kenan's commentary was a Kenan commentary. Boy George was more unfunny than funny. I did enjoy the 9-year old commentary. That was good for a few laughs. But, hopefully, for their last episode together next week, they'll redeem themselves. 5.5

Gertie: This was so effed up! Like, whoever wrote this had to be coked up! But, that's what made it hilarious! It was just so random, and so out of nowhere! I loved it! 8.0

I Jizzed My Pants: Wow. No live sketch for a second commercial break back? Were dress sketches THAT bad? But, this was funny digital short. It's one-premise, but it's above average from the rest of the digital shorts lately. 6.5

Musical Performance: T.I. performed "Swing Ya Rag". Ha.

J'acuzzi: A good 5 to one sketch... not much to say about it... 6.0

Tonight's episode was a good broadcast. I was hoping for better, but, you know what? It worked. Amy being back barely made a mark on the broadcast. Jason and wasn't in the live show AT ALL. Weird how that works. John was his own person, and was a good host. He's a very interesting character, if you ask me. T.I. really didn't do anything for the broadcast. His hit, "Whatever You Like", suits to millions, as we can speak up and say, we all don't like hip-hop. *cue slap stick drum roll* Anyways, this was the first stand out above average broadcast we've had since Jon Hamm/Coldplay. The only real low-light I could find was Weekend Update. Ironic.

7.0
Next week: The decorations are hung, the band breaks out the music, the sketches are a little more cheery: It's our Christmas episode! Hugh Laurie hosts, with musical guest, finishing up our November Sweeps Extension, Kanye West. January's is always known for indie bands, right? Hopefully...