You know, SNL has had its interesting choice of hosts these past few seasons. There are two scenarios to this:
1) Lorne and the producers will find hosts in actors/personalities that star in shows that air on the network to fill up the quota (It's happened before with Parks and Recreation star Chris Pratt hosting the premiere; other examples include Brian Williams, Adam Levine ),
2) or people who are popular former cast members from seasons past (which include [from the past few seasons alone] Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Jimmy Fallon, Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg).
Which brings me to Blake Shelton. This artist is pretty much a country music superstar (and since I've never listened to any of his songs outside of Boys 'Round Here" [which he performed later on], that's all I know). He's also popular from his role as judge/coach on The Voice, the oh-so mega-popular reality-competition series that also airs on NBC. Which explains a few things:
The Voice and SNL bot airing on the same network
Lorne seemingly not being desperate to find anyone to host to fill up quota, and this not being his doing
They actually think there can be more humor from his witty banter and “rivalry” with Adam Levine
So let’s get’r done!
The Cold Open takes us Inside the NFL, where host Greg Gumbel (Kenan) takes us into the recent scandal from the NFL (the second one since last week) involving the New England Patriots using deflated footballs to help them score games. Beck Benn appears as Bill Belichick, TKill (aka Usual Guy #2) plays the franchise’s quarterback Tom Brady (who’s pretty much an airheaded pretty boy who’s talented at throwing a ball on decorated grass), Moyni (Usual Guy #2) portrays Assistant Equipment Co-Manager Dougie Spoons (really, writers?!), the real brains (if any) of the scandal (especially at the end of the skit),
and Kate Mc, KyMoo, Pharaoh and SaZam plays reporters asking the idiots piecing questions.
I just love it when writers make a CO that isn’t political and base it from a recent scandal. But here it’s just mixed. All of the things Belichick and Brady said were really good and funny,
but some of the things Spoons says were just fucking stupid. I mean, right out of the gate, he said “You guys wanna touch my balls or somethin’?!”. Even MADtv wouldn’t write something so corny like this shit.
(Also, take a look near the end of the skit, where the old black reporter next to Kate Mc sorta...misses his mark.)
Overall it was a really good CO. However...
The Monologue is just jokes about Blake's hick upbringings (he says he’s a “Fish Out of Water coming to New York City” [because he and the writers may have forgotten of his appearance on The Tonight Show two days ago, which is 2 FLOORS DOWN in 30 Rock...and every time he’s performed a concert and made a TV appearance there] and the only comedy show he watched was Hee Haw) mixed with the usual mediocre SNL humor, featuring Pete Dave, LesJones, Pharaoh, the Usual 2 Girls and the Usual 2 White Guys (dressed like they’re not out of place in a sketch on Hee Haw) being taught about “country humor”. And by that, I mean sex with skanks, first-grade level idiots, wives who can’t cook worth a divorce and incest.
Now, I’ve never watched Hee Haw before, but I can tell from watching this, that the writers never did either. The jokes were terrible and predicable. Also, the “Deliverance” reference seemed strange at first, until the third joke from Moyni. I guess it is possible for someone to find humor in “Gonna make you squeal like a piggy”. It was pretty funny, though, and the music playing was catchy.
Farm Hunk
And of course, the hick-ness spread into the sketches with The Sketch After being a clear spoof on The Bachelor. Replace the typical white dude with a typical white dude with a thick Southern accent and a twang (which in this case, is Blake).
The ladies (all the female members) are basically hot, snotty, airheaded women from Hollywood who do porn. That’s funny.
The hilarious part about it is the genius twist on the usual trope of booting off the women of color first, and sticking with the air-headed, yet hot white women pretty much picked from the same state who'll tear each other apart (physically, emotionally, and mentally) for the one guy’s affection, and move to his horrible Iowa hometown, not realizing that they'll all be kicked off the show sometime or another. Also, I like Blake's charm, and his mocking the Southern Hick stereotype. Leslie Jones made the sketch.
Ladies and gentlemen, Family Feud Celebrity Edition is BACK!!
And this time it's the coaches...of...The Voice (Well, it was expected but at least it was funny) vs. some judges...of...American Idol.
Everyone did great with their impressions.
TKill as Adam Levine (definitely)
Pharaoh as Pharrell Williams (absolutely)
CecStrong as Christina Aguilera
Kate Mc as Keith Urban
SaZam as Nicki Minaj
Back Benn as Harry Connick Jr., and
KyMoo as Steven Tyler
And Kenan was great as always as Steve Harvey. His jokes in Harvey’s mannerisms always works for me. Although, I still hate when jokes are made about celebrities saying things that make people remember who they are for a pop. That feels tacked on and annoys me.
Parole Board
In the following sketch (which is really dark), a man in prison (in what seems like the 1940s; I’m surprised he wasn’t arrested for walking down the street) is pleading for parole, but the board (Usual Guy #1, CecStrong aka Usual Girl #1 and Shelton) is not easily impressed with his plea. Because he's a cannibal.
In the end, it was boring yet was funny. Even though he made it work, Kenan’s voice was irritating, and made me think that a relative of Sump’n Claus was in the slammer for eating people. I assume even he would give him sump’n after that.
Topeka Today: My Darlin’ Joan
On a local talk show in Kansas, a 97-year-old songwriter (Usual #2) talks with the hosts (Usual #1 and SaZam) about some songs about his wife of seventy years (Kate Mc; who I might as well call on of the Usuals too), who died some time ago. With a singer (Shelton) to bring the songs to life on-air, he wrote his pain and heartbreak was written into music. And it starts off sweet...then it gets ugly.
This sketch felt a little predictable, I could almost tell the rest of the show from then on just from that. Still, it was funny, with the "Humidifier from Hell" part being hilarious.
I also have a few problems about the couple’s old photos looking like something from a green screen, especially when the show has a photographer doing the ultra-amazing bumpers (which look legit-ly retro), but I won’t get into that.
Magician
The Five-to-One (which in this case, started 10 minutes before 1 on the dot) was also predictable. In it, a magician (Usual Guy #2) is doing a show. A guy (Blake) believes this is fake, So he tries to prove it, while the magician proves him wrong and does his tricks. This definitely the worst sketch of the night, bar none.
One of my better favorites is the spoof on hard life, pain, heartbreak and crazy people in country music with "Wishin Boot". Kate Mc, Aidy, and Shelton did great here, with the lyrics tackling many stereotypes in Country music (some that don't make sense) and ending up hilarious.
So here, I'll just make short mentions about his two performances:
"Neon Lights” is about
and "Boys ‘Round Here" is basically everything hicks do--drink, shoot, ogle women and get truck stuck (along with a terribly dated reference to that old dance craze of "The Dougie" that'll make Cali Swag District laugh at him):
Time For an Update:
Part 1:
Part 2:
This week's report from Jost & Che was a little...disjointed. Some jokes were misses, Jost was slow as ever, Che flubbed a line for the first time in a while, and dragged a bit. Fortunately, it was mercifully short like last week. And again, they've gotten better.
Riblet is something else. He's Che's old pal from high school, and was waiting a little less patiently to do his thang. And when he did his thang, it made me notice; my God, Bobby Moynihan could be really good at doing Update. I'm sure everyone enjoyed that like I did, because Moyni handled those two roles very well: being a wack-ass wannabe ghetto homie and a fake news anchor joking on the latest news in a straight-yet-goofy manner. (Che later tried again to get a cheap pop from the Audience by mentioning a guest but forgotten that Riblet's not Prince.)
Resident Young Person Pete Dave returned for another chat about what the young'ns do around town. This time gay porn. It was just like "Would You Go Down on a Guy" all over again.
The final guest, Nicole, teaches us about how to control our personal finances and assets. And she's Michael's ex-girlfriend. So of course she gives him hell. This was the weakest bit of the night, but had to be in comparison with Riblet and Davidson. SaZam did a great job though.
So Apparently, Che has been screwed over more in the 13 minutes he's had to sit in the desk this week than the 90 minutes we've had watching the show (and the two days more I've had from writing this review.) He lost his job, his ex to his so-called best friend and his co-anchor to the pack of laughing hyenas.
Man, Che can't catch one this week. That's a damn shame. #SNL
— Andrew Pollard (@APollard36) January 25, 2015Poor buddy. Seriously, Riblet or Bobby Moynihan would be a great change of pace at the desk.
How Was The CO?
DeflateGate CO
The Kick is Good. (Heh, football reference)
Top Three Best Sketches:
Farm Hunk
FF Celebrity 2
Parole Board
honorable mention--
Wishing Boot
Topeka Today: My Darlin’ Joan
Worst Sketches:
Magician
Okay, I may be wrong here. Episode 4 with Chris Rock isn't the worst episode...This one with Blake Shelton is. Say what to want about the former; at least it had some really interesting humor and had everyone talking. And the writers had flexed their muscle that time. This, however, was weak. And super dull. The jokes were fine, but they were clearly there to suit Blake's country roots and music, and it showed. I know the show can have a bad episode every now and then, but judging the comments from a lot of people that pretty much scream "I miss the First Five Seasons even though I can clearly but it on DVD!!" or "I miss the Phil Hartman/Jon Lovitz/Jan Hooks/Dennis Miller era, even it's never coming back!", it seems they see every one after them as the bad episode. Blake did a great job as host; he showed off a lot of charm, which I really like and did his best to continue the sketches, even though they were mediocre.
Also, no one really impressed me more this week than Kenan & TKill. Kenan shined as Greg Gumbel and the cannibal inmate in "Parole Board", while Taran was great as Tom Brady and Adam Levine. These impressions have led them to the top of the best cast members of this week. Good job to them!
See you then!
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