Larry David is a rude old curmudgeon. And we love him for that.
When he appeared during this season as Democratic presidential nominee Bernie Sanders, he pretty much not only fit the bill in every way (looks, voice, behavior and mannerisms), he blew us all away. He became one of the highlights of the season as Sanders.
--
The CO features nothing but Fred--uhh, Ted Cruz, despite being an unlikable, uninteresting, strange-looking creature, bragging about his recent success in the thing I shouldn't want to type anymore.
While this wasn't the best CO, this was still pretty funny and very enjoyable.
Taran Killam was still as great as ever as Cruz, laying on even more talent and charm into and out of the impression. So this was his funniest moment since "I have what doctors call a punchable face." Also, Kate McKinnon was just as (if not more) hilarious playing Cruz's daughter. All she did was come in with this weird, stilted-looking face and say "No." in a quick enunciation, of course as she wants to leave.
This was a really good start to a very damn great episode. (As if you thought it wasn't).
--
Larry came to the main set for his Monologue, and felt he had to talk about his life.
And...it's not really good.
It was very good (the Mono, not Larry's life; that sounds pathetic--and that's coming from ME). It was laugh-a-minute and very enjoyable as well. He kept us on our funny bones and never stopped until he mentioned The 1975. This was one of the best Mono's of this season.
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And now to this week's sketches-which were [SPOLERS!] fucking gut-busting.
Starting with...
"FBI Simulator"
ALL HAIL KEVIN ROBERTS!
I'll start with a couple minor cons:
The timing felt off at times (but that's thanks to Live thing) and the acting at the start from Cecily and the cast playing the potential FBI operatives was pretty stilted (again, the Live thing), but it does give some really funny moments.
But the best parts came from the simulations. My god, that was side-splitting. The biggest laughs--of course--came from Larry David as Kevin Roberts. He clearly didn't sound like the regular schmutz who came out on stage earlier. It's someone spiked sugar and enthusiasm into his drink. And it helped a lot. It's clear that his part in the sketch has become the most meme'd part of the entire show all throughout the following week, and it has to be. That was fucking hilarious! (He needs to come back sometime. If he can appear as Bernie Sanders, he should appear again as Kevin Roberts
Also, I feel sorry for the female plant standing behind Kenan and Cecily. She was just dominated by everyone else. But it's all good. She's a (probably a writer) plant on SNL! Good for her.
Best Sketch of the Week. Hands. Down.
Fave Lines:
Simulations-
"I'M HIGH ON BATH SALTS!" -Old Female Threat (Leslie Jones)
…
"I'm Kevin Roberts, and I'm the coolest bitch in town!" AND
"I'm Kevin Roberts! And I got a very important question: Can a bitch get a doughnut?!"
AND "I just reached second base!...with a lady."-Kevin Roberts
"Have you seen my friend Kevin Roberts? Cause I got that bitch a doughnut!" -Friend of Kevin Roberts (Bobby Moynihan)
--
Trainees-
"I couldn't get a read on the man in a neon suit, holding a big ol' cell phone claiming to be the biggest bitch in town." AND "In my defense, I'm pretty confident that type of man does not exist in reality." AND "Why does Kevin Roberts have friends and a storyline!?" -O'Healy
"Did that guy just say 'Can a bitch get a donut?'" -Other Trainee (Pete Dave)
"Kevin Roberts got in my head." -O'Healy
Kevin Roberts got in all of our heads, dude. And we don't want him to leave.
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A "Steam Ship" is about to go overboard...but one of the passengers has a problem with the format of the emergency escape plan.
This was pretty bare at the start. You can tell the guy had a problem with the escape plan from the moment you see David start talking. It was funny, yes, but it still wasn't memorable.
Then Bernie Sanders comes in. As ecstatic as it was to see him in the sketch (and this episode), it felt anti-climatic--thanks to both the hindsight from watching David's impression of Sanders during this season so far and the official announcement from his campaign team. He was great.
Some of the jokes were great satirical references to the policies he's mentioned during his campaign.
Seeing the actor and the real deal in the same place was certainly a bright spot.
I don't think this was the Best Sketch (obviously), but I really still enjoyed it.
--
At a "Songwriting Class", five potential singer-songwriters get lessons and advice from their teacher. One of them gives some...interesting choices in rhymes.
There isn't much to love about this. Or even like. Most of the jokes came from David as Russ, but they weren't laugh-out-loud great. Because they have little to say, the other cast members weren't really needed. At least one of them wouldn't have been written in, and nothing much would've changed.
This is definitely the Worst Sketch this week.
Fave Lines:
"In the creek, I see a frog/
Watch as he leaps, over a--" -Jason
"Frog house"
and
"Tall FROG BuilDING"
...
"Buzz, buzz, look up in the trees/
Uh-oh, it's a swarm of--"
"Frogs in tiny helicopters"
and
"The Rise of the Toads!"
--
Peyton Manning and Cam Newton have a special message for their fans hours before their storied rivalry at Super Bowl 50.
Wow, these two let themselves go.Seriously, producers. Don't you have two skinny black guys in your cast to play Newton?? Hell, even the adolescent is a much better choice. Hell, even Sasheer Zamata is better!
I'm sorry, but that's the only gripe I have here.
The rest of this was really funny.
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Finally here, a night at a bar turns into some smooches. Some disgusting, nauseating, truly-not-must-see-TV smooches.
I always loved this sketch, but it really feels formulaic (Weird, wasted woman says some dumb things with some drunk guy and then they kiss), but it was creepily brilliant the first time. This version feels like a one-trick pony. But thanks to David, it breathed some new life, which made me happy.
And that blindfold glasses prop is really cool. I so want one.
Fave Lines:
"Hey, Bartender. Give me a Kentucky Nightcap.
That's a Bourbon with a Tylenol PM floating in it." -Ace Chuggins
...
"The seat I'm on is wet, and it is my fault." -Sheila Sorvage
...
"What's your name, sweetie?" -Ace Chuggins
"It's Sheila Sorvage. You can remember that,
because if you mix up the letters, it almost spell Vagisil." -Sheila
...
"You're thinking of a different Ace.
I work as a before model for teeth whitening ads." -Ace
...
"Something is happening here."
"Oh, something is happening."
"Yeah, it's called an outbreak.
And it's time for you Zika viruses mutate on out of here." -Bartender
--
This week's sketches were consistently good and funny. There was one weak spot here, but all else was really good. The cast did great. The most memorable members for me were Kenan (during "FBI Simulator", and "Last Call"), TKill (for his Ted Cruz performance in the CO), Moyni and K
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Now on to this week's Pre-Tapes, both of which show just how much a cynical and unreasonable grump David really is...again.
First off, "Bern Your Enthusiasm".
Bern Your Enthusiasm
Larry David stars as Bernie Sanders in "Bern Your Enthusiasm."
Posted by Saturday Night Live on Sunday, February 7, 2016
I've never watched CYE very much (mostly because of HBO, but also even during its' very short lived stint in syndication). But I definitely get the gist of this.
Seeing David as Sanders is always a welcome sight, but mixing the latter him with the former's show is genius. Especially because we haven't seen New episodes of CYE in over four years.
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This week's musical guest is The 1975, a British alternative band who...does things that make them popular, apparently. Seriously, I don't know much about them, other than their name, which sounds like a name they thought up during their formation when they got high on uppers and decided to stick with it because years in a name are good enough for originality and hipster-ality. Meh.
Anyway, they were pretty awesome.
I like their sound—clearly modern alternative rock with splashes of retro rock and new wave thrown in. It's
really relaxing even, as the smooth sounds even calm me down for the time being. Even during the choruses.
The title of their latest album, their second--and I'm not kidding when I'm writing this-- is I Like it When You Sleep, So You Are So Beautiful, Yet So Unaware of It (Huh, charming and creepy), with two songs being performed here--"Love Me" and "The Sound"--being singles from the record.
"The Sound" is everything.
The funk production is brilliant, along with the fun, upbeat, happy vibe from it; the catchy-ness of the chorus (along with a backing choir singing it); and that guitar solo from . All of this make this song great in my mind, and makes me a fan of the band.
Then there's "Love Me", pretty much this decade's "Fame" by the late, ever-so-great David Bowie (at least in production). But according to lead singer Matty Healy, it's something more.
"It came from jamming. We're big Talking Heads fans, big Scritti Politti fans, and Japan as well. "Love Me" was just three years of being on the road and not wanting to soundcheck the same song every night. That riff just happened. "Love Me" sounded bombastic and ridiculous and a bit arrogant and I was like, "That's what it needs to be about. The rock star buying into his own self-constructed mythology." We found ourselves, as a band, being immersed in a world we didn't feel part of. So it's just… love me, if that's what you want to do."Even though this is the first time I've heard their music, I could actually believe this.
The production is great, with the slick licks of Adam Hann's guitar especially being amazing and catchy, and wraps up the lyrics of cocky-yet-caring self-worth and growth within so perfectly. And Healy's vocals were just as great, as without the backing choir from "The Sound", he can do just as badass on his own. I love this performance as well.
These performances were awesome. Lead singer Matty Healy was superb; but for me, the unsung hero was lead guitarist Adam Hann and bassist Ross MacDonald, who really pulled me in with their performances on the strings, even with everything else being just as amazing for me. It's really the music from the band that makes me love them.
The 1975's second studio album (*sigh*) I Like It When You Sleep, So You Are So Beautiful, Yet So Unaware of It is available now. I definitely suggest you go get it.
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DEREK ZOOLANDER WAS ON UPDATE!! *cough* Excuse me.
Time for an Update:
Part 1
Part 2
I loved their "Braking News" jokes on the New Hampshire Republican debate that happened earlier in the evening where Ben Carson wandered aimlessly from the entrance to the area.
Kate McKinnon appeared as Turvy Barbie aka Barb, a discarded model of new version of Mattel's Barbie brand, in which the iconic doll is redesigned to many women's body types to reflect today's women--not just skinny and plastic. She had her thoughts on her being rejected.
This was hilarious. A genius take on the new body type Barbie dolls, McKinnon works the role like she is a Barbie doll--prefect, normal, ready to take on the world, funny and weird. She can do anything as any role, and this rejected Barbie--I mean Barb reflects this.
If you thought Bernie Sanders was the big surprise, you're mistaken. This was.
When I saw them during the goodnights, I was so shocked to see them I dropped my remote, forgetting that they were on Update. That was brilliant.
Best Sketches:
FBI Simulator (ALL HAIL KEVIN ROBERTS!)
Steam Ship
Best Pre-Tape:
Ben Your Enthusiasm
Worst Sketches:
Songwriting Class
dishonorable mention-
Super Bowl Greeting from Cam & Peyton
Wraparound:
ConcluSLoN:
This episode was fucking hilarious and brilliant.
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