Category: saturday night live: season 42

Donald Trump is showered in “pee pee” jokes on ‘Saturday Night Live’

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 42

Saturday Night Live
“Felicity Jones & Sturgill Simpson”
January 14, 2017

Felicity Jones is something of an unknown quantity. Sure, she was great in Rouge One, and I assume she was good in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and The Theory of Everything, but frankly, I wouldn’t know. And that’s my point: even though she’s been in plenty of movies, Jones is a fairly new face for most Americans and thus we went into her Saturday Night Live episode without knowing what to expect. And to be honest, she had a rocky start — her monologue genuinely worried me that we were going to be dealing with another January Jones. But the writers protected her by not giving her sketches that she was expected to carry on her own (even the monologue was deftly taken out of her hands halfway through), and she was lucky to land on an episode with fairly strong material. I’m not exactly anxious to see her return (WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, ADAM DRIVER?), but I’m not mad about her first time as host, either.
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‘Saturday Night Live’: Casey Affleck’s white elephant gift

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 42

Saturday Night Live
“Casey Affleck & Chance the Rapper”
December 17, 2016

The Saturday Night Live episode before the Christmas break has for the past few years been one of the better episodes of the season, often bringing back SNL alums like Jimmy Fallon, or Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to do the honors of hosting. This year SNL went with notorious laugh riot, Casey Affleck who is busy promoting his hilarious new comedy Manchester by the Sea. The episode was a mixed bag, to say the least. Some sketches were smart and played to the host’s strong suits (the Dunkin Donuts ad was genius) while other sketches seemed to have been pulled out of a slush pile of rejected ideas. In short, it was fine but not exactly an episode worthy of Fallon, Fey or Poehler.

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John Cena is brawny and brainy on an uneven ‘Saturday Night Live’

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 42

Saturday Night Live
John Cena & Maren Morris
December 10, 2016

Having an athlete host Saturday Night Live is something of a crap shoot. Some athletes are naturally charismatic and funny, like Charles Barkley and the Manning brothers, but for the most part, these are not people who have much in the way of comic timing or acting abilities.

But you know who have both of those skills in spades? Professional wrestlers. And professional wrestler John Cena is an undeniably charming individual with clearly a good sense of humor about himself. The only real surprise about his hosting of SNL is that it took this long to happen. Unfortunately for John Cena and his comedy talents, he was underserved by the writing on an uneven episode of Saturday Night Live last night.

Some sketches played on Cena’s physique and athleticism hilariously, others felt like half-good ideas gone wrong. One political sketch was one of the best they’ve done all season, another was a complete waste of time. It was just all over the place. Maybe when Cena returns — and hopefully he will return — the writing will be as strong as his weirdly giant muscles.

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‘Saturday Night Live’: Emma Stone, you deserved better.

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 42

Saturday Night Live
Emma Stone and Shawn Mendes
December 3, 2016

Here are a couple of positive things I will say about this episode: 1. Emma Stone was as charming and delightful as ever, even while being given some bullshit material to work with. POSTER SKETCH, I’M LOOKING AT YOU. 2. No sketch was over 6 minutes long.

That’s it. That’s pretty much the only positive things I have to say about this episode. Were there some good sketches buried in here? Yes. I am willing to concede that it was not a complete shit show all the way through. But someone as talented as Emma Stone deserved so much better from the writing that she was given last night. Try harder, guys. You can’t just keep expecting Kate McKinnon to come in and save the day each week.

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‘Saturday Night Live’: Kristen’s ThanksWiiging

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live, saturday night live: season 42

Saturday Night Live
Kristen Wiig and xx
November 19, 2016

It’s hard: last week’s episode hosted by Dave Chappelle in the wake of Trump’s presidential upset will long be remembered as one of the best Saturday Night Live episodes of this particular era. Sharp, emotional, defiant and fierce, it felt important. It felt like SNL was taking on the responsibility in helping that half of America who was still in shock and in grief at the election results to find a way to laugh again.

As such, this week’s episode was going to be difficult for any host to follow. So how’d Kristen Wiig, SNL alum and fan favorite do?

Eh, she was fine. Last night’s episode was not terrible — Benedict Cumberbatch, now that was terrible — but last night wasn’t great or memorable, either. Last night’s episode was the equivalent of putting on an old sweatshirt: comfortable, familiar and warm, but not something you’ll remember even two days from now. It was fine! But the shame of it was with a host like Kristen Wiig, it could have been much, much better.

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‘Saturday Night Live,’ Kate McKinnon and Dave Chappelle offer the post-election catharsis we needed

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 42

Saturday Night Live
Dave Chappelle & A Tribe Called Quest
November 12, 2016

~deep cleansing breath~

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‘Saturday Night Live’: Cumberbad

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 42

Saturday Night Live
Benedict Cumberbatch & Solange
November 5, 2016

I so wanted this to be a great episode. I wouldn’t describe myself as a “Cumberbitch” but I do appreciate me some Benedict Cumberbatch, think that he has a gift for comedy and believed he would be a natural as host. But UGH, this episode.

In the last episode of the election, Saturday Night Live decided to tone down the politics and instead serve a bunch of sketches that were puzzling at best, down right terrible at worst, and fill the rest with guest appearances in the hopes that no one would notice that it was just flat-out not funny.

It didn’t work.

(But I don’t blame you, Benedict Cumberbatch. An actor can only do so much with the material he is given.)

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‘Saturday Night Live’: Tom Hanks gits-r-done on ‘Black Jeopardy.’

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 42

Saturday Night Live
“Tom Hanks & Lady Gaga”
October 22, 2016

Tom Hanks is a known quantity. The man has, as of last night, hosted Saturday Night Live nine times now, which somehow is not the record. (Alec Baldwin has hosted 16 times — not including his guest appearances; Steve Martin some 15 times; John Goodman 13 times; and, fascinatingly, Buck Henry has hosted 10 times.) So I don’t really have much to say about Hanks as a host other than, you know, he’s good? You don’t get invited back 8 times if you’re not good?

tom hanks shrug i don't know.gif

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Emily Blunt and the ‘Saturday Night Live’ ladies give Donald Trump the ‘Lemonade’ treatment and it is glorious.

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 42

Saturday Night Live
“Emily Blunt & Bruno Mars”
October 15, 2016

Let me just begin by saying that I have not had dinner, Thanksgiving or otherwise, with Emily Blunt, Bruno Mars or anyone on the Saturday Night Live cast. So go ahead and lower your expectations for this post … and for this episode.  Continue reading “Emily Blunt and the ‘Saturday Night Live’ ladies give Donald Trump the ‘Lemonade’ treatment and it is glorious.” →

‘Saturday Night Live’: Lin-Manuel Miranda is a God damned national treasure

by Therese Odell, posted in saturday night live: season 42

Saturday Night Live
Lin-Manuel Miranda & Twenty One Pilots
October 8, 2016

True story: I had Thanksgiving dinner with Lin-Manuel Miranda. And not at some big event where you buy tickets and the celebrity is in the room or something but you never meet them. No, I had Thanksgiving dinner with Lin-Manuel Miranda and probably 16 or 17 other people in my friend’s Brooklyn apartment.

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