Alec Baldwin is back! A couple weeks ago it was 15-time host Steve Martin taking the reins of Saturday Night Live, and this week we were treated to 14-time host Alec Baldwin. My expectations were really high going into the episode, with fond memories of some of Baldwin’s previous hosting gigs (in particular his Pete Schweddy skits). Were my expectations met? No, not really, but it wasn’t the worst episode that we have seen this season. There were some legitimate laughs and plenty of cameos.
Let’s break it down.
Cold Open: It was fun to see Dan Aykroyd back on SNL, but this skit seemed unworthy of him. It just wasn’t that clever or funny, and seemed to be a bit of a low blow on the Republicans. SNL can do better than that, especially when it comes to politics.
Monologue: I thought the Christian Bale joke at the top of the monologue was pretty funny and I was a little surprised that Baldwin went there. The whole Jack McBrayer bit was good too, especially when he was poking fun at Baldwin’s many times hosting.
The fourth Jonas Brother: I was a little nervous when I saw the Jonas Brothers on the stage, but Baldwin (mostly) saved it.
The Cougar Den: I was so afraid that this skit was going to warrant another appearance by the Jonas Brothers, but I was pleasantly surprised that I got Cameron Diaz instead. Not a bad installment of The Cougar Den, all in all.
Digital Short: Oh great, more Jonas Brothers. At least they have a decent sense of humor about themselves.
Sir Mix-A-Lot’s Photoshop: I’ll admit this sketch had me laughing, even if there wasn’t much to it.
Musical Guest: Is it just me or do SNL and the Jonas Brothers cater to very different demographics? It seems like an odd choice for musical guest, but it will probably get the episode huge ratings.
Weekend Update: This week we got another appearance by Oscar Rogers. I don’t know why Keenan Thompson yelling “fix it” and “do it” is funny, yet somehow it works for me. The celebrity blogger bit was pretty funny, even if it did drag on a bit too long. The Joaquin Phoenix appearance seemed a bit obvious, but had to be done after that crazy appearance on Letterman.
Vincent Price’s Valentine’s Day Special: This skit got pretty raunchy, but as usual, the “throwback” impressions (which is a nice way of saying “no longer relevant”) were spot on. I wonder if any of the Jonas Brother fans watching even know who any of these actors are supposed to be.
Scheduling Meeting: Blech. This skit was a real stinker. I didn’t even crack a smile.
Wii Game: As someone who often cracks jokes about “playing with his Wii,” I have to admit this skit was funny. Bizarrely, it was followed by two repeat pre-recorded bits. That’s pretty odd. Were they that short on fresh material this week?
First Coughs: A clever idea that was short enough to work.
All in all, this was a fairly mediocre to weak episode. I was hoping for more from Baldwin, and even though he did a good job with what he was given, the installment still came up short. What did you think of this week’s show, and what was your take on the re-run skits?
i thought most of this week was pretty week, courgars den and the wii one was my favorite, i liked the WU but keenan’s part wasn’t really funny,the donut brother one was wayyyy stupid i was like wow, but i also kinda liked first cough and sir mix alots * i just played that song on sing star so it was fun.*
I laughed more about the five minute monologue of Late Late show than I did about the whole 90 minute SNL episode with Alec Baldwin.
Only when you find something that’s true comedy you discover how bad SNL has become in recent episodes. The last three weeks were so embarrassingly bad – first with a guy promoting a movie only Mr. Magoo-type people could enjoy, then with a guy who is the only “star” in a movie everybody and anybody will go see for all the OTHER actors in it, and now Alec Baldwin who’s great on 30 Rock and put another nail in Conan’s coffin with saying he won’t come on when Conan has moved to the West Coast. I mean they made fun of it but honestly how bad does it get when people actually start telling you they won’t come on in the future to do more of the OTHER crappy show on NBC (you know, SNL)
I didnt make it through the episode. I switched it off a minute into the digital short. I couldn’t take any more Jonas Brothers singing, they were raping my ears. Their fans were asleep by 10pm what was the point of having them? Thank God for Lost reruns to give me something to watch so I could see WU before going to sleep.
Decent episode. But this is the second time recently that there were short on time. Even with two old rerun bits they had plenty of time to run the full credits even up to showing the clock. Usually they cut it off way before that.
It just irks me that The Daily Show and The Colbert Report can do 2 hours worth of shows over four days and SNL with a week can’t even put in a full show with two songs from a musical guest. It’s just getting a bit weak. Two rerun bits, that’s phoning it in a bit to much.
Alec Baldwin is back! A couple weeks ago it was 15-time host Steve Martin taking the reins of Saturday Night Live, and this week we were treated to 14-time host Alec Baldwin. My expectations were really high going into the episode, with fond memories of some of Baldwin’s previous hosting gigs (in particular his Pete Schweddy skits). Were my expectations met? No, not really, but it wasn’t the worst episode that we have seen this season. There were some legitimate laughs and plenty of cameos.
i thought most of this week was pretty week, courgars den and the wii one was my favorite, i liked the WU but keenan’s part wasn’t really funny,the donut brother one was wayyyy stupid i was like wow, but i also kinda liked first cough and sir mix alots * i just played that song on sing star so it was fun.*
I laughed more about the five minute monologue of Late Late show than I did about the whole 90 minute SNL episode with Alec Baldwin.
Only when you find something that’s true comedy you discover how bad SNL has become in recent episodes. The last three weeks were so embarrassingly bad – first with a guy promoting a movie only Mr. Magoo-type people could enjoy, then with a guy who is the only “star” in a movie everybody and anybody will go see for all the OTHER actors in it, and now Alec Baldwin who’s great on 30 Rock and put another nail in Conan’s coffin with saying he won’t come on when Conan has moved to the West Coast. I mean they made fun of it but honestly how bad does it get when people actually start telling you they won’t come on in the future to do more of the OTHER crappy show on NBC (you know, SNL)
I didnt make it through the episode. I switched it off a minute into the digital short. I couldn’t take any more Jonas Brothers singing, they were raping my ears. Their fans were asleep by 10pm what was the point of having them? Thank God for Lost reruns to give me something to watch so I could see WU before going to sleep.
Decent episode. But this is the second time recently that there were short on time. Even with two old rerun bits they had plenty of time to run the full credits even up to showing the clock. Usually they cut it off way before that.
It just irks me that The Daily Show and The Colbert Report can do 2 hours worth of shows over four days and SNL with a week can’t even put in a full show with two songs from a musical guest. It’s just getting a bit weak. Two rerun bits, that’s phoning it in a bit to much.
SNL hasn’t been funny since Chevy Chase left. :p