Monday, May 11, 2015

Saturday Night Live 40 Review: Reese Witherspoon & Florence + the Machine (#MaroonMay)




Hello, everybody! Welcome to my second-to-last Review of Saturday Night Live 40.
And I’ve been very happy about this moment--for two reasons:
1. I’ve done something long-term on this blog that I’m happy about (don’t worry the other I’m also happy about is still reoccurring. #StarvsTheReview)
2. That it can finally end for a while, so I can get a few months of sleep before next season comes in late September (or early October; I don’t know, NBC could pull a change).
But I’m also saddened by this point. Because I’ve really enjoyed doing this review series for the past few months and that I’ve got something to make this blog more interesting and enjoyable. And I’m glad that this helped get the job done. I’ve enjoyed doing everything this can offer:
--writing my opinion on sketches, music performances, Update and the cast and host-of-the-week’s performances;
--creating the bumpers for them (especially after Episode 14, as they’re just as fun to create them as they are great to look at);
--offering the humor that came into mind first and fits with the jokes of the sketches; and
--giving you guys an enjoyable experience every Sunday and Monday night for this season.
And I’m grateful for the response it has gotten for better or worse (well, mostly better). So let's check out the next-to-last episode review and enjoy this for another two weeks. If you can.

This week's (or should it be called last week's; I could stop doing that) show is hosted by Reese Witherspoon. She's an award-nominated and -winning actress with many memorable roles to her credit, including her recent one in Wild, which netted her an Academy Award nomination. And this is her second time hosting; her first since hosting the season premiere after the 9/11 Attacks. So she had to bring her A-Game this time around to help keep her count up right? Well, she did...appear in the sketches, so let's walk though this episode, which was...well, better than last week's, that for sure.

The episode begins with the Cold Open taking place at an event in Oklahoma City, the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, where Conservatives come together to celebrate their noms against Hillary Clinton in the next election. Let's see how they get down and get loose!

This was a really funny CO that relied on the strengths on the looks and talents of the cast members portraying the members of the Republican party nominated for the next election. My favorites were Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Marco Rubio and Rand Paul. Everyone did a great job and made this an amazing start.


After it, Reese comes out for her Mono. This involves her and the cast bringing out their mothers to apologize for things they did when they were kids. Their moms are lovely, beautiful people and their responses were hilarious and sweet. I can only imagine who much the cast realized how grateful they are to have them in their lives. Then, some clips were shown of the cast when they were kids. These were beautiful.

Honestly, this was a really great Mono, and one of the best of the season. Watching this really made my heart warm, and my stomach ache at the same time, and it can't get better than this. Actually, it really can't...because the rest was mixed as hell.

LA Scene
This is some local entertainment talk show. Meh.

This was a less-than-average skit. Ambiguously gay Kenan and Jay was the best part. Their reactions, behavior and mannerisms in their voices was hilarious. I admit, the fart part also was hilarious. Her comment sold it for me.

Hallmark: Mr. Westerberg
This pre-tape takes place at the offices of Hallmark Cards. Employees are discussing their grumpy boss, Mr. Westerberg, and how he seems like a nightmare. One of them, Louis (Beck Bennet), then makes some mocks that get less funny and get more...creepy.

This was truly funny. Those lewd, inappropriate cracks (ahem, no pun intended--if you want it to be) Louis made about Westerberg that, according to the look on his face, seem true- makes truly made me crack up. And Westerberg himself and the mimicking his co-workers make was also a riot.

Picture Perfect
In this game show skit, two couples and their celebrity partners try to play the game, involving one drawing pictures for their teammates to guess. One team, , and their partner Reginald VelJohnson (Kenan) have the interesting time of their lives with one answer.

I thought they would get to more categories to make the pacing go faster, but meh. This sketch got much more better when The Prophet Muhammad appeared on-screen. The looks on Moyni’s and Kenan’s faces made this. It was freaking impossible for her to guess something so obscure like Muhammed, but it was funny nonetheless. Also, TKill was goofy yet devilishly perfect as the show’s host. His remarks of the rules were rude, but funny.

And another funny thing...there is a claim by another TV show that SNL writers stole the idea of the sketch from the writers of that sketch that they wrote that aired in an episode of their show. This Hour Has 22 Minutes, a Canadian satirical news program, has a sketch very similar to this one that also involves a game show where contestants must draw for a big cash prize, and one of them must draw the infamous Prophet. Even the set of the shows look similar.
Here’s the claim from some writers:


and here’s the sketch itself:

The notable differences here are this: in the 22 Minutes sketch, the contestant is told the answer, while the SNL sketch had the contestants shown the answer, and there are teams of couples with celebrity guests as partners.
I even read some comments on YT saying that the producers should do something about it. How’s that gonna help anything? 22 Minutes is a Canadian show; SNL is American. Fighting a plagiarism case won’t help because most people don’t watch or even hear of the former show in the first place. All it will do is increase some relevance for both shows that will go away soon. All everyone involved will do is accept that “Imitation is The Best Form of Flattery”.

Why does this keep happening? Why must SNL write and make sketches that end up similar to sketches from other shows? It’s happened for the second time this season this season and it’s now getting annoying. Remember that sketch in Episode 4 where Sarah Silverman, Nessa B & SaZam play Tina Turner impersonators with discussions of their lives, that was later turned out to be similar to a sketch made by The Groundlings? Yeah, this situation is just like that. You know the phrase “Fool Me Once, Shame on You; Fool Me Twice, Shame On Me”? Well, this fits here. SNL writers, shame on you for copying a sketch from another show, and making it yours for a minute. I stuck by you once before, and now even I can’t defend you. You’re on your own this time.

I’ll be discussing Florence + the Machine’s performances in a moment, but first…
This shit...again.
It’s like the show is trying out sketches to see if they work, in the hopes that the first time was horrible. It’s just like “How to Dance with Janelle” and “Right Side of the Bed”; fortunately the two aforementioned sketches have picked up on quality a bit the second time around, so let’s see where “High School Drama Theater” does this time.

It was...less crap. I did laugh a few times and their efforts were more appreciated here. Also, the reactions of Leslie Jones hilarious. This won't be a favorite of mine in the long run, but I enjoyed this a little more than I did last time. It felt weak, but the concept wasn't. I wouldn't mind them trying this again next season, but not enough to care.

Southern Ladies
A group of women from the South discuss some things that got them drunk…you know, Southern stuff.

This sketch was...boring. Just women getting tipsy for the more obscure of things. It barely got a laugh out of me. And this is probably the weakest sketch of the night. But fortunately, it wasn’t the worst.

This next sketch was complete bullshit.
Two water park attendants are causing accidents to their customers when they try to flirt with a lifeguard.

Like I said, complete bullshit. Why this sketch come in is beyond me. It’s not funny, it’s boring and it's sterile. The only reason why this came in the live show in the first place, is because the water slide set is expensive and can’t be used more than once. It may look amazing and lifelike, but it couldn’t save this crap sketch from getting any laughs. This is the worst sketch of the episode.

Whiskers R We
Never thought I see this again, too, but it was a good thing. Kate Mc bring life into the creepy old woman Barbra DeDrew selling cats with a young woman (usually a female guest host) on her side to not only help sell them, but also slip in some inappropriate stuff we can be glad we've only heard once. Her assistant is Purr-sula (Resse), and she's eager to help out, but DeDrew has other things in mind.

DeDrew is less strange here and Purr-sula was kinda tame but also good.
I laughed like hell when DeDrew said to one of the cats, Sapphire, "Bitch, you're 4 1/2,", and calls another Magellan because of his greatest discovery, "his own butt-hole!". This was a great sketch to end the episode and ended it on a high note. Now, this is a sketch I want back nest season. For three reasons:
1) Kate McKinnon
2) KITTENS!!
3) The funny gags and puns that come from it


This week’s musical guest, Florence + the Machine, are simply one of the best modern-day bands I’ve ever heard. The compositions, the music, the lyrics, everything. Florence’s voice--dear God, Florence’s voice. It’s like a angel and a judas mated and their child began sing after her birth. Her voice, to me, is a hybrid of Janis Ian and Janis Joplin, with a pinch of Olivia Newton-John thrown in. Seriously, it just gives me life every time I hear her. So you could see my excitement when they were performing this week. Oh...and from this tweet I made a few weeks ago:

Either way, I’m ecstatic that they performed.

Here’s the first song, “Ship to Wreck”:

The beat is wonderful, Florence's vocals (along with those of the background singers) were hauntingly beautiful and the song itself is quite nice, with its wonderful, trance-ful beat and amazing performances, it reminds me of a good Fleetwood Mac song.

The next song “What Kind of Man” is just fucking awesome.

It’s about being in love with someone who isn’t there for you when you need him/her most. The lyrics are amazing in portraying the guy as a self-centered asshole without calling him such, and is like long-form poetry. And the beat is should be a musical equivalent of a spirit animal; it starts quiet and soothing with the use of a harp, and then kicks up a couple notches with drums, bass, and a trumpet (which was played awesome-ly in the recorded version by Goldfrapp's Will Gregory). And again, Florence’s vocals carry the track into the ionosphere, and give us all another reason why Florence + the Machine is one of the hottest, coolest, amazing-est and most talented bands of the modern day.

They have a new album coming on the 29th, called How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (sounds like a perfect slogan for Viagra, amirite?). I suggest you go buy it. You don’t need to be a fan to listen to it; it’s all amazing. I’m going to.

Time for an Update:
Part 1:

Part 2:

That joke about Floyd Mayweather calling Manny Pacquiao a coward was dark. Made me wonder why I was laughing at at. Oh yeah, because we all know Pacquiao was the real winner of that fight, and Mayweather was an asshole about it.
Another highlight was when the co-anchors asked their mothers to send in a joke in time for Mother's Day. They were intentionally old-fashioned, and therefore very funny. Also, Colin mom's is also a very lovely mom. And I can only bet that Michael's mom would've been fabulous!
Also, Colin’s comments on McDonald’s new Hamburglar was also hilarious.
Oh and someone needs to tell Michael to get a Red Bull; or at least make his face look like he doesn't need one?
--

Relationship Expert Leslie Jones returned for her last appearance of the season, and of course was a riot. Her flirting with Jost was funny as always, and her letters were hilarious. Although her yelling is a little pretentious and is quite a turn-off (pun intended). Nonetheless, I can’t wait to see her again next season and see what love problems she’ll encounter next.


The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party (Cecily) also returned, and this time, she brought a friend (literally) in another Girl (Reese) to discuss the San Francisco Police Department's assessment of previous arrest that may have been racially motivated. Of course, Cecily brings it with this brainless beauty and her opinions of the big stories. Reese also did a good job as the other Girl, but not as much as Cecily. It felt more forced than not.


Another returnee was Willie, Michael’s neighbor and the most optimistic guy he knows. He's there to talk about Graduation, the time of the school year where students get ready to move up with their lives, and miss friends and teachers. The jokes were pretty good, and pretty uplifting. This Kenan portrayal is a pretty nice and enjoyable.
--
This week's Update was more average than not. I loved the jokes from Jost & Che, which, while had a bit bite, were still funny enough not to call bullcrap. Then the recurring characters came in and it was all steep from there. Leslie Jones was really good, but not great, Two Girls at a Party were fine, but not really good, and Willie was while a little limp, was still really funny and enjoyable.
All-in-all, this was mostly barely memorable. That's all I got.
Favorite Bits:
Mayweather's "Pacquiao's a Coward" Joke (in a dark, personal way)
Hamburgular
Mother Jost and Mama Che's Mother's Day Jokes

As for this entire episode. it was...borderline forgettable.
I enjoyed some sketches while wishing others never existed. The Highlights to me were the CO, Mono, Mr. Westerberg and Whiskers R We, while Lowlights were Southern Ladies (for being so weak) and Waterslide (for being bullshit), with LA Scene, Picture Perfect and High School Theater being middle-of-the-road, for having some good tidbits while not being fully great. This episode had a smorgasbord of mediocrity.

Reese was a good host, but she wasn't given much to do in almost all of the sketches. She gets a few sentences at most, while the cast took over. And when she does get a line to speak, it's not all that cracked up.. Not memorable and not much to deal with. Kate Mc and TKill were the best of the bunch to me, with everyone else more so-so. Again--Not memorable and not much to deal with.

So in the end...uhh, let's say it was better than last week. But only by a couple hairs. My faith in this show making a comeback is like the death of Generalissimo Francisco Franco: It dies, is still dead, and nothing else will come of it. (At least until another quick call-back)

Next week, it's the big night. The big episode everyone is waiting for. The season finale, hosted by Louis CK with music from Rihanna. I'll be there, you'll be there. Yeah, see you then.
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