SNL -- MAY 18, 2013 -- HOST: BEN AFFLECK with musical guest KANYE WEST -- SEASON FINALE

 

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

SEASON FINALE

 
SNL -- MAY 18, 2013

HOST

BEN AFFLECK

  with Musical Guest 

KANYE WEST

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/

Ben Affleck (40, 6' 3" tall)) is an actor, writer and director.  He won the Oscar for screenwriting with Good Will Hunting, and the Oscar for directing with Argo (not to be confused with Fargo).


He has more than 50 acting credits, notably


Live by Night (in development)
Runner, Runner (in development)

2012 Argo
2010 The Town
2009 State of Play
2009 He's Just Not That Into You
2006 Hollywoodland
2006 Clerks II
2004 Jersey Girl
2003 Paycheck
2003 Gigli
2003 Daredevil
2002 Changing Lanes
2001 Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
2001 Pearl Harbor
2001 Saturday Night Live
2000 Bounce
2000 Reindeer Games
2000 SNL Fanatic (TV short)
1999 Dogma
1998 Shakespeare in Love
1998 Armageddon
1997 Good Will Hunting
1997 Chasing Amy
1995 Mallrats
...
1981 The Dark End of the Street




BEN AFFLECK - WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Affleck


BEN AFFLECK - IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000255/

Konye West (35) is a musician, filmmaker, producer, and fashion designer. 

The debut of his new song was just projected on buildings all over the world. Here's the video:

KANYE WEST - WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanye_West

KANYE WEST - OFFICIAL SITE
http://www.kanyewest.com/

Here's a recap of the show:

This was kind of a strange show.  Ben Affleck threw himself into nearly every sketch, with energy and no lack of self-parody.  But most everything seemed under-written and under-directed: amusing, but more suggestive of a great sketch than realizing any of its comic (or dramatic) potential. Reading through the descriptions of the scenes, many seem to promise more humor than the scene actually delivers. Lot’s of gay themed sketches. 

But perhaps what was most conspicuous about SNL tonight was the large number of film and video ad promos and previews.  Moreover, there was a cacophony of catastrophes:  one film was about the overrunning of the White House (White House Down) and three films were about the end of the world, more or less: World War Z, (Z is for Zombies.) M Night Shyamalan’s After Earth with Will Smith and his Son, and This Is The End, (a comedy) with James Franco, Emma Watson, Paul Rudd, Seth Rogan, and other celebrities all playing themselves.

COLD OPEN: POLITICS NATION – An amusing but somewhat incoherent sketch with no teeth.  The IRS affair could be skewered, but this sketch did not do much more than parody Al Sharpton’s misuse and mispronunciation of a few words.

MONOLOG -- On his fifth gig hosting SNL, Ben Affleck reflected on the lack of a celebration for his joining the 5 timers club. Then he was joined by his wife, Jennifer Garner, to reflect on having said at an Awards show that he was “working on his marriage”.  It was a little strange.

BENGO F#@#!K YOURSELF--A film starring the Iranian President, explaining how Argo was made of lies.

XANAX FOR GAY SUMMER WEDDINGS – A sedative for anyone who cannot cope with attending a bevy of perfect, absolutely perfect, gay weddings this summer.

NY 1933 – A strange scene with Affleck trying to hire a guy who is out-of-work, but who turns out to be too lazy and too interested in his career as a mugger to take the job. (I think the description is funnier than the sketch.) This seemed under-written and under-directed.  It did not quite make it to either funny or dramatic, and just barely made it to interesting enough to wonder if it could have been better.

NEW BEGINNINGS: FLAGSTAFF – A camp for turning gay campers straight.  Except to give Ben Affleck a chance to almost kiss another guy, this sketch had no real point.  The setup and the execution were both kind of phony.

KANYE WEST – A high energy performance.  The video that was screening behind Kanye, as a moving background, made this kind of a livemusic video.

WEEKEND UPDATE – Most of the jokes were pretty lame.  REALLY WITH SETH AND AMY (Amy Poehler came back to guest on UPDATE) was really not as sharp as usual. STEFAN was as silly as usual.  WEEKEND UPDATE paused in the middle for a parody of the climax of The Graduate, in which Seth went running after STEFAN to stop him from getting married. It was strange. 

THE GREG PULINO FUNERAL  -- Another strange under-written sketch in which people gang up on GREG PULINO for having been an awful person, while GREG (Affleck) who is still alive comes in “disguised” as Greg’s Uncle to defend him(self).

HERMES HANDBAGS – The ex-hookers perform a “commercial” they wrote so that Hermes will send them handbags.  Affleck comes in to help them, but talks about herpes, not Hermes.

ENGAGEMENT PARTY– A family of emotional cops can’t get the words out to toast the engaged couple.

BRIT BAND: IT’S GOING TO BE A LOVELY DAY – Rather a sweet end to a rocky show as the final number of the season is a whole bunch of people on stage singing that no matter how bad things really are, “It’s going to be a lovely day”… and “It was a lovely night with you.”

Well… He could have used more support, but Affleck was a game host.  There were no bad sketches, no great ones (XANAX and the final BAND were my favorites).  The show wasn’t very funny, but it was consistently amusing. 

It seemed like a missed opportunity, because there were hints that Affleck could be a great comedian with the right material.

This was the season finale. Several current cast members are reportedly leaving, so it may be a new and different SNL next season.

 

Here are links to some other SNL stories on QPORIT:

SNL -- MAY 11, 2013 -- HOST: KRISTEN WIIG with musical guest... VAMPIRE WEEKEND (Fun Show!)http://qporit.blogspot.com/2013/05/snl-may-11-2013-host-kristen-wiig-with.html

SNL -- APR 13, 2013 -- HOST: VINCE VAUGHN with musical guest... MIGUELhttp://qporit.blogspot.com/2013/04/snl-apr-13-2013-host-vince-vaughn-with.html

SNL -- MAR 9, 2013 -- HOST: JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE with musical guest... JUSTIN TIMBERLAKEhttp://qporit.blogspot.com/2013/03/snl-mar-9-2013-host-justin-timberlake.html

SNL -- FEB 9, 2013 -- HOST: JUSTIN BIEBER with musical guest... JUSTIN BIEBERhttp://qporit.blogspot.com/2013/02/snl-feb-9-2013-host-justin-bieber-with.html

SNL -- JAN 26, 2013 -- ADAM LEVINE with KENDRICK LAMAR (Great show! & lots of clips!!)
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2013/01/snl-jan-26-2013-adam-levine-with.html

SNL -- JAN 19, 2013 --JENNIFER LAWRENCE with THE LUMINEERS
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2013/01/snl-jan-19-2013-jennifer-lawrence-with.html

SNL -- DEC 15, 2012 -- MARTIN SHORT WITH PAUL MCCARTNEY
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2012/12/snl-dec-15-2012-martin-short-with-paul.html

SNL -- DEC 8, 2012 -- JAMIE FOXX WITH NE-YO
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2012/12/snl-dec-8-2012-jamie-foxx-with-ne-yo.html

SNL -- NOV 10, 2012 -- ANNE HATHAWAY WITH RIHANNA
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2012/11/snl-nov-10-2012-anne-hathaway-with.html

SNL -- OCT 20, 2012 -- BRUNO MARS
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2012/10/snl-oct-20-2012-bruno-mars.html

SNL -- SEP 22, 2012 -- JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT WITH MUMFORD & SONS
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2012/09/snl-sep-22-2012-joseph-gordon-levitt.html

SNL -- SEP 15, 2012 – SEASON PREMIERE! -- SETH MACFARLANE WITH FRANK OCEAN
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2012/09/snl-sep-15-2012-season-premiere-seth.html

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SNL -- MAY 11, 2013 -- HOST: KRISTEN WIIG with musical guest... VAMPIRE WEEKEND

 

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
SNL -- MAY 11, 2013     

HOST 

KRISTEN WIIG

 

with Musical Guest 

VAMPIRE WEEKEND

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/

See below for a recap of the show:

Kristen Wiig, who was one of the funniest members of the cast until she left the show in 2012, returns to SNL, to host for the first time.

Kristen's films include  Bridesmaids, (which she co-wrote), MacGruber, Flight of the Conchords, Adventureland, and Paul. 



KRISTEN WIIG ON WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristen_Wiig

KRISTEN WIIG ON IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1325419/

KRISTEN WIIG ON AMAZON

VAMPIRE WEEKEND is an American indie rock band.  Its members are:

Ezra Koenig - lead vocals and guitar 
Rostam Batmanglij - backing vocals, guitar and keyboard
Chris Tomson - drums and percussion
Chris Baio - backing vocals and bass
Steve Buscemi - other guy.

They have appeared on SNL before, in 2010. Their (3rd) studio album, VAMPIRES OF THE CITY, will be released on Tuesday (5/14/2013).

 

VAMPIRE WEEKEND ON WIKIPEDIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_Weekend

VAMPIRE WEEKEND ON IMDB

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2908363/ 

 
VAMPIRE WEEKEND ON AMAZON

Here's a recap of the show:

This was a better than average show.  The writing, direction and acting all seemed strong.  The sketches were a little richer, more animated and more inventive (and funnier) than some other recent shows. 

COLD OPEN – Congress added Jody Arias to the list of witnesses at the Get-Hillary hearings to harden the ratings.

MONOLOG – This didn’t make complete sense, but it was fun.

1-800-FLOWERS a commercial for flowers for Mother’s Day.  Ah Mom!

SOAP NET: THE CALIFORNIANS– This was the best version of this sketch yet.  (It seems like it’s a favorite of the cast because it is one of the few sketches where they can not keep from breaking up.) My favorite parts were the slow feint, and washing the mirror.

DISNEY CHANNEL:  KOREAN WATER GHOST – Funny. (“OK. Nobody tells dad!”)

Some promos & ads: Ben Affleck is coming for the season finale. The “More’s Better” commercial was a nice little big hug for mom.

THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW: SINGING ON THE BEACH – This was slightly amusing, but it didn’t quite seem to have a point.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND’Ssets were pleasant. No Steve Buscemi.

WEEKEND UPDATE – The jokes were OK. SECOND HAND NEWS was just really bad jokes. GARTH AND KAT is not funny, except for GARTH AND KAT who have a great time.  (Note: It’s true:  talking at the same time your scene partner is and saying the same thing is much more fun than watching someone else do it.)

TARGET LADY – This is one of Kristen’s weakest characters.  I’d have preferred a sketch with one of her more interesting roles.

DOUGLASTON WELLNESS CENTER – Acupuncture needles start spouting more and more fountains of blood.  A bloody funny and yet kind of understated sketch. Best of the night.

EDDY’S – Two sexy ladies (late 20’s?) and two kids (pre-teen?) on what? A date? Just strange enough to be confusingly funny.

CLASSY SEXY ELEGLANCE– Good sketch, and great background dancing.

It seemed like some extra effort went into this show. It was nice to see Kristen Wiig back.

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SNL -- APR 13, 2013 -- HOST: VINCE VAUGHN with musical guest... MIGUEL

 

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
SNL -- APR 13, 2013     

HOST 

VINCE VAUGHN 

 

with Musical Guest 

MIGUEL

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/

Recap: See below!

Hosting SNL will be Vince Vaughn, the well known comedy actor (for example):

Lay the Favorite
The Dilemma
Couples Retreat
Four Christmases
Fred Claus
Into the Wild
The Break-Up
Wedding Crashers
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
Old School

Swingers

and...
Delivery Man (coming!)
The Internship (coming!)
A Case of You (coming!)

VINCE VAUGHN ON IMDB

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000681/ 

VINCE VAUGHN ON WIKIPEDIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Vaughn

The Musical Guest is Miguel (Miguel Jontel Pimentel), a Grammy winning R&B/rapper, known for the song Adorn and the Urban Album Kaleidoscope Dream.

MIGUEL ON WIKIPEDIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_%28singer%29

VINCE VAUGHN ON AMAZON

MIGUEL ON AMAZON



RECAP:

This was one of the stranger SNL shows.  Beginning with the monolog, most of the sketches had an undercurrent of hostility.  Throughout the show, there seemed to be much more conspicuous reading of the Cue Cards than usual.  And until the last sketch, both writers and actors seemed to be pulling their punches and running without much energy.

The best bits of the night were the Cold Open, and the final sketch.

Miguel had a dreamy kind of effect on me.  I listened and kind-of melted into reveries, while kind-of subliminally enjoying the sound.  (I also always appreciate when the Musical Guest brings their own look to the performance.)

COLD OPEN -- Obama and Senators explain the striking breakthrough on  discussing the idea of the possibility of maybe thinking about background checks for some people except perhaps where it might matter -- in the impossible event the House even considers the idea.

MONOLOG -- A weird and unique monolog in which Vince went into the audience and alternately coddled and hassled one woman and two men, who might have been real audience members and not paid shills.  The coddling of the woman unfortunately reminded me of the reports of the reported events with one woman that reportedly ruined the reported relationship between Vince and Jennifer.  The coddling seemed uncomfortably bordering on too cozy. The hassling of the two men was even less pleasant.  This is a kind of humor which humorists often respect, but audiences not so much: it was staged as a real interaction between Vince and real audience members... The sketch would have been more familiar and very different (less "realish" and possibly more funny) if the woman and the two men were played by cast members. 

It was also disappointing that having gone to great lengths in the monolog to talk about interacting and checking the woman's reactions through the show, that she was not ever mentioned again during the show.

AL PACINO ACCUSED MURDERER BIOPIC SERIES -- The idea was funny, and the wigs were funny in this "preview," but there were not many other jokes.

"STORMY SKIES" ON THE WEATHER CHANNEL -- This parody featured some mildly risque puns using weather terminology to describe Soap Opera situations, but the good jokes were scarce, and the delivery kind of tepid.

IAN RUSH OF THE BIZARROS -- BioPic of an angry Brit rocker (of the Reagan-Thatcher era) who lost his audience because he was pro-Thatcher. Another funny idea that lacked a critical mass of jokes. And does anyone watching SNL care about the Reagan-Thatcher era?

A PREVIEW OF THE INTERNSHIP (with Vince Vaughn) --  Coming soon. Seems very promisingly funny.

SHORT TERM MEMORY LOSS THEATER -- A great premise.  Terrible execution. A play with none of the characters able to remember their lines.  This could be improv heaven or Christopher During hysteria, but there were no jokes, just people not remembering their lines.

WEEKEND UPDATE -- The jokes were OK. LL & BRAD were amusing.  MARINA CHAPMAN (who claimed to have been raised by monkeys) not so much.

PROM -- In the same hostile/unpleasant spirit of the monolog, Vince is the rich old guy on the hill who contributes a fortune to support the Jr High School Prom, then comes and dances with the barely teenage boys, abuses the barely teenage girl, and borders on sexually and socially inappropriate behavior. (On the wrong side of the border.) But it wasn't funny.

NBC SPORTS OFFICES 1990 -- The best (and only funny) line: after the NBC execs complained that the lyrics of the proposed theme song for basketball broadcasts was repetitive, the lyricist responded, "But basketball is repetitive."

LAST CALL -- The only sketch in which the actors and writers let go: The last two drinkers at the bar hook up.  

This last sketch saved the night, and will join the ranks of SNL classics.

Here it is, LAST CALL:

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SNL -- MAR 9, 2013 -- HOST: JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE with musical guest... JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
SNL -- MAR 9, 2013     

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

HOST And! MUSICAL GUEST

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/

Justin Timberlake has the unusual honor of being both the host and the musical guest on SNL. Fans waited in the cold and snow for tickets. According to reports, the waiting hordes had some support from SNL and JT himself with soup and pizza.


How's that for deja vu.  Exact one month ago, Feb 9 not Mar 9, another Justin spawned exactly the same language except for FEB => MAR and BIEBER => TIMBERLAKE (and taking out "beliebers," since if there are Timber Lakers -- Basketball players with axes??? -- I'm not aware).

Last Month's BIEBER Post in QPORIT

(http://qporit.blogspot.com/2013/02/snl-feb-9-2013-host-justin-bieber-with.html)

 

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
SNL -- FEB 9, 2013     

JUSTIN BIEBER

HOST And! MUSICAL GUEST

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/

Justin Bieber has the unusual honor of being both the host and the musical guest on SNL. Fans (Beliebers, or in French, LeBiebers) waited in the cold and snow for tickets. According to reports, the waiting hordes had some support from SNL and JB himself with soup and pizza.

Here's more information about Justin Timberlake:

Note: Justin has won 4 EMMY's, TWO for appearances on SNL!

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE ON WIKIPEDIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Timberlake

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE ON IMDB

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005493/

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE ON AMAZON

RECAP 

COLD OPEN -- A not very interesting Elton John singing at the funeral of Hugo Chavez. 

Note -- for the real HC when he visited NY and the NYFF for a screening of Oliver Stone's "SOUTH OF THE BORDER"  see: http://qporit.blogspot.com/2009/09/oliver-stones-south-of-border.html

MONOLOGUE -- Justin joins the 5 Timer's club: Paul Simon, Steve Martin, Dan Ackroyd (Bartender, original cast), Chevy Chase, with Martin Short (waiter - making the Three Amigos), Alec Baldwin, Candice Bergen and Tom Hanks.  Super-reunion!

A good-looking Bud Light commercial with JT

A nice commercial for Vikings -- but it's on a night with so much competition it can't even fit on a DVR.

DATING GAME SHOW -- with 2 wild and crazy guys -- Bachelor 1 --("O I'm gonna lose.")  --A fun sketch.

Lunk alarm - Part of this commercial is almost good enough to be part of a sketch. (The rest, not so much.)

SAUSAGE DEPOT -- vs. vegan-ville  ("You're gonna remember how good a salami is")

NUVA BLING -- Say goodbye to the same old birth control.

MUSIC -- Ladies and Gentlemen "Make some noise!"

So far, the theme of the night is not so much funny as just Fun!

WEEKEND UPDATE -- Good jokes. STEFAN - "writing for SMASH" -- Funnier than usual - Donald Duck having a  nightmare --

THE TALES OF SOBER CALIGULA -- Didn't work.

MAINE JUSTICE -- The New England Everglades...  This sketch is the best kind of completely crazy.

Ad - Revolution is returning March 25.

MOVIE PREVIEW -- Having it all...

CHAMPAGN (???) SHAMPAN ??? MOET & CHANDON ad by porn stars -- very funny sketch.


This was a good show with lots of energy and spirit!  The last sketch was the funniest.  Maine Justice was crazy.  With Adam Samberg & Jay-Z added to the alumni in the 5-Timers club, this was one massive reunion.

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SNL -- FEB 9, 2013 -- HOST: JUSTIN BIEBER with musical guest... JUSTIN BIEBER

 

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
SNL -- FEB 9, 2013     

JUSTIN BIEBER

HOST And! MUSICAL GUEST

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/

Justin Bieber has the unusual honor of being both the host and the musical guest on SNL. Fans (Beliebers, or in French, LeBiebers) waited in the cold and snow for tickets. According to reports, the waiting hordes had some support from SNL and JB himself with soup and pizza.

Justin is probably the biggest star ever to have been discovered from his postings on YouTube. His home-made postings were spotted when he was a young teen. Now 18 (Next birthday, March 1.) he continues to be a major force on Twitter with tens of millions of followers and a hefty percentage of the total traffic.


Some promos for the show:





Recap:

A good show.  Justin was a game host -- he was in many sketches; he acted well and naturally; he parodied himself; he only broke up out of character once, and why not, it was a funny moment.

Several sketches were not just just non-verbal comedy. -- I'd call them anti-verbal.

There were lots and lots and lots of ads, adds, addds, addddddddds..........

Keenan Thompson is becoming more and more of a solid, funny presence from show to show.

COLD OPEN -- An anti-verbal sketch.  An accurate and sometimes hilarious description of TV anchors with nothing to say and airtime to fill -- in this case sportscasters during the superbowl blackout. Best line: when the clock in the stadium stops, do we stop aging?

MONOLOGUE -- Justin was good.  Whoopi was a nice surprise. (But I'm not fond of people wearing religious necklaces on stage.)

SOAP NET - THE CALIFORNIANS -- Another anti-verbal sketch, as the Californians say nothing except to name the roads they drove on.   This time it was well-directed and despite (or because of?) several actors failing to maintain a plausibly ridiculous accent, it was quite funny.

Lots of Ads Adds Addddds... But I do like the GE commercial (just not too often).

MSG SECURITY - BODY DOUBLES -- A premise ridiculous enough to be funny.  Ellen was the best double (and... they were setting up a joke for later!)

ONLY ON BRAVO - REALITY SPINOFFS -- Wacky ideas. Some funny. Best: "Real House Plants of Beverly Hills"

More ads... But I liked the Buick ad: Every car should have a rear view camera and a super-wide angle side view mirror.  My car has some serious blind spots.

MUSIC -- Justin sang some interesting songs.

WEEKEND UPDATE -- Recently the jokes have been consistently funny. Best line: Is the criteria for a drone strike "a just cause" or "just 'cus"? CHILDHOOD FRIENDS OF RICHARD III was amusing; so was THE ONE BLACK GUY IN EVERY COMMERCIAL (another successful Thompson bit).

GREASE PARODY -- Justin as an 11 year old in love, with no idea what it's all about.

More ads; even one for the Metropolitan Opera.

MILEY CYRUS FAN CLUB -- Well done, with Justin as a Miley Cyrus Fan.  The Ellen joke pays off here.

MEET THE PARENTS AND THE BRO' -- Another anti-verbal sketch. Justin kind of breaks up and loses it here for a moment with Bro' screaming "glice" in his ear.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY FROM JUSTIN BIEBER -- Alas, this sketch did not really work.  

BOOKER T WASHINGTON HS VALENTINE'S  (ABSTINENCE) DANCE -- Some funny moments, but the sketch seems underdeveloped.  


Overall, Justin's sketches seemed to focus often on parodies of immaturity.  But he was game for all the innuendos, contributed a lot to all the sketches he was in, and was in many.  He did a good job!


 
LINKS:

JUSTIN BIEBER ON WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Bieber

Looking at Justin's bio on Wipipedia gives a tremendous impression of the huge power of the Bieber experience.

JUSTIN BIEBER ON AMAZON

Note... there are more than 11,000(!!!) Bieber items on Amazon! Here's a sample:


Click the top icon to see many more Biebitems!







Here are links to some other SNL stories on QPORIT:

SNL -- JAN 26, 2013 -- ADAM LEVINE with KENDRICK LAMAR (Great show! & lots of clips!!)
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2013/01/snl-jan-26-2013-adam-levine-with.html

SNL -- JAN 19, 2013 --JENNIFER LAWRENCE with THE LUMINEERS
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2013/01/snl-jan-19-2013-jennifer-lawrence-with.html

SNL -- DEC 15, 2012 -- MARTIN SHORT WITH PAUL MCCARTNEY
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2012/12/snl-dec-15-2012-martin-short-with-paul.html

SNL -- DEC 8, 2012 -- JAMIE FOXX WITH NE-YO
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2012/12/snl-dec-8-2012-jamie-foxx-with-ne-yo.html

SNL -- NOV 10, 2012 -- ANNE HATHAWAY WITH RIHANNA
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2012/11/snl-nov-10-2012-anne-hathaway-with.html

SNL -- OCT 20, 2012 -- BRUNO MARS
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2012/10/snl-oct-20-2012-bruno-mars.html

SNL -- SEP 22, 2012 -- JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT WITH MUMFORD & SONS
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2012/09/snl-sep-22-2012-joseph-gordon-levitt.html

SNL -- SEP 15, 2012 – SEASON PREMIERE! -- SETH MACFARLANE WITH FRANK OCEAN
http://qporit.blogspot.com/2012/09/snl-sep-15-2012-season-premiere-seth.html

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SNL -- JAN 26, 2013 -- ADAM LEVINE with KENDRICK LAMAR

 

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
SNL -- JAN 26, 2013
  ADAM LEVINE & KENDRICK LAMAR

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/

Adam Levine, from THE VOICE, is a singer (Maroon 5) and actor (AMERICAN HORROR STORY and the coming CAN A SONG SAVE YOUR LIFE -- with Keira Knightley, by the director of ONCE). 

Adam has an extensive discography and three Grammys.

ADAM LEVINE ON WIKIPEDIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Levine

ADAM LEVINE ON IMDB

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1747013/

ADAM LEVINE ON AMAZON

Kendrick Lamar is a 25 year old hot rapper.

KENDRICK LAMAR ON WIKIPEDIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kendrick_Lamar

KENDRICK LAMAR ON AMAZON

RECAP: (See below the recap for selected video clips from the show!)

This was a funny and sophisticated, very well written and performed show.  Even the endings of sketches -- often a weak element in SNL comedy -- were clever.

Some commercials and promos are worth noting: Maroon 5 will be back next week, followed by host Justin Beiber with musical guest... Justin Bieber.  The series finale of 30 Rock is coming up.  There was a great promo for THE VOICE.  There was something I didn't understand at all about "Stride On". The GE commercial for GE Works was good. And there was a teaser that looked interesting about Mercedes Benz on Feb 23.  However, there were a lot of commercials.

COLD OPEN: Brilliant notion... the ghost of MLK coming to talk with BHO on inauguration night.  Best lines... "We're still waitiing for our first black magician..." and the epic "It's not every day they let a black ghost open the show...[both together]  LIVE FROM NY IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT!"

MONOLOGUE: Nice surprise with Adam Samberg, Cameron Diaz and Jerry Seinfeld guesting as "coaches"  They were all very funny (note: Seinberg was the only one to have trouble with his lines!)  Levine closed the monologue by going shirtless and displaying some impressive tattoos.

FAKE AD FOR ROSETTA STONE: Making "preparations" for that "special" trip to Thailand.

THE GAY NETWORK -- CIRCLE WORK: Two gay men give gay advice to straight people... mostly that the "straights" are really gay.  When he says he will spell it out, he really spells it out... every letter.  Best ending to a sketch: ... I gotta poop.  I'll be back in 45 minutes.

SOPRANO DIARIES -- THE SOPRANOS IN HS: This parody of the Sex and the City Prequel was right on the money with respect to both the Sopranos and prequels.

NEW HAVEN FIRE DEPARTMENT INCIDENT: When his ex-girlfriend shows up at the fundraiser, it's the ultimate meltdown.  Best line: "Is nine years a decade?"

DIGITAL SHORT: "You Only Live Once" -- This was a very sophisticated and complex video.  One of the best video shorts.


KENDRICK LAMAR'S raps were fine. A straight-ahead rap performance.

WEEKEND UPDATE: The jokes were good. I liked Apps for Apes. Ariana Huffington was good.  Ray Lewis was terrific!

RUMBLE AT THE CAFE: Well executed but not much of an idea.

CATFISH: A boyfriend hoax. Not much of an idea.

ADAM AND JANET - OUR STORY: Band member goes back with (gross looking) fan. Not much of a sketch.  It started well as if were a Law & Order parody, but that never re-appeared. (Note:) SNL is promoting it as a "featured recommendation".

BIDEN BASH: Biden headlining at a Country Fair show.  It was a great Biden, but not a great sketch.  It does suggest that producers of SNL may want to juice up the campaign fodders of Biden and Hillary to insure material for SNL in 2015 and 2016.

All in all, through Weekend Update it was a great show.  The last few sketches needed more work.  Levine was very good in all his sketches.  Working live as himself on THE VOICE was great preparation for SNL.  Actors with only stage and screen credits often have more trouble adapting to the SNL experience.

VIDEO CLIPS: DIRECT FROM SNL! 

COLD OPEN -- OBAMA AND MLK

ADAM LEVINE MONOLOGUE

"RAY LEWIS" on WEEKEND UPDATE

GET ROSETTA STONE THAI TO PREPARE FOR "THAT" TRIP TO THAILAND

THE SOPRANOS DIARIES

THE FIREHOUSE INCIDENT

DIGITAL SHORT: YOLO - YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE

ADAM AND JANET

KENDRICK LAMAR PERFORMS POETIC JUSTICE

KENDRICK LAMAR PERFORMS SWIMMING POOLS

BIDEN BASH

For more clips from this and other SNL shows:
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/

And for full episodes of SNL shows:
http://nocache-secure.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/categories/season-38/681148/?view=thumbnail

Here's SNL's complete episode guide:
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/recaps/#cat=38&mea=1632&ima=115628

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SNL -- JAN 19, 2013 --JENNIFER LAWRENCE with THE LUMINEERS

 

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
SNL -- JAN 19, 2013
JENNIFER LAWRENCE & THE LUMINEERS

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/

Jennifer Lawrence comes off a Golden Globes win for Silver Linings Playbook, after winning for Hunger Games at the People's Choice Awards to host SNL.

She's just 22!

JENNIFER LAWRENCE - WIKIPEDIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Lawrence

JENNIFER LAWRENCE - IMDB

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2225369/

 JENNIFER LAWRENCE ON AMAZON



 
The Lumineers, a folk-rock band, are the musical guests.  I've noticed that SNL's picks for musical guests are the hottest acts around.

THE LUMINEERS - WIKIPEDIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lumineers

 THE LUMINEERS ON AMAZON
 


  

Here's the recap...

 

It was a mixed bag.  There were a lot of good jokes and good ideas for sketches.  There was too much insult humor.  Jennifer worked hard, appearing in lots of sketches, but many seemed to have a great concept and terrific promise that was not fully realized, either because of the writing, the performances, or both.

 
COLD OPEN -- Piers Morgan with Lance Armstrong, Te'o and Jodie Foster.  Each segment was hilarious.  This was the highlight of the evening.  (If only this had set the tone and quality level for the whole show!)

"Jodie Foster" even managed to deliver (with laughs!) the joke she tried to make on GG night: (build up to a big "gay" reveal, then say something else.)


MONOLOGUE -- Jennifer was game enough to play with her I beat Meryl line at the GG by dissing all her Oscar rivals, but she didn't completely sell all the jokes and it was at best a modest success.  It was a pretty gutsy monologue considering that Oscar voting is still in progress.


VERISMO COMMERCIAL -- A funny and pointed commercial of a coffee machine that talks with other machines while getting the drink wrong and dissing the drinker. (Barista's take note: you can be replaced by a machine with all your worst foibles.)


REAL COMMERCIALS -- There were two (real) commercials for Silver Linings Playbook within a few minutes.  I thought this was a bit much.  But then they doubled down and many of the other commercials were also run multiple times.


GIRL FRIENDS TALK SHOW -- This idea was no better this time than it was the last time they did it. It's unpleasant insult/humiliation humor with no humor.  It's not funny and it's not fun.


HUNGER GAMES POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE -- This was a great idea for a sketch but the writing and performances were kind of flat with only a few good moments.  The best moment was perhaps a very tall Jennifer standing up.


SPLITTING HOBBITS -- How the Hobbits story will be split into 18 films.


INSULT CAFE -- A restaurant where the customers go to be humorously insulted.  But then Jennifer is a waitress who is sincerely insulting. There seems to be (I've noticed it in some other shows this year, too) a sense in the writers' room that insult humor, badly done, is funny.  It's not. It's just unpleasant.


THE LUMINEERS -- I liked their sound; their words... not so much.


WEEKEND UPDATE -- The jokes were funny.   SECOND HAND NEWS is a collection of garbled news items.  Some of these lines worked, some didn't.


DOG CHANNEL -- TOP DOG CHEF -- Here was another potentially good idea for a sketch that didn't quite deliver what it seemed to promise. 


B108FM -- Another staple of the SNL repertoire -- a bad broadcast show. 


DANIELLE -- A French erotic movie.  A clever idea but it was pale compared to the potential.


CIVIL WAR LETTERS -- An exchange of letters between a proper young lady and a horny soldier... Sexting circa 1865.


Jennifer was a game and hardworking host in a show that did not deliver as well as it might have.  It's live (of course) and it's created in a week or so.  This particular show could have possibly used another week of polishing the sketches.  But all in all it was fun.

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