Saturday Night Live

Because no one saw it?

I was totally in stitches during the Paterson bit. Not because "lol u blind" but just because Armisen nailed the guy's look so well.

I'm not surprised. Apart from the New Jersey jokes, the whole thing struck me as being in pretty poor taste; if you can't come up with much beyond blind jokes, you absolutely deserve the hate of, you know, impaired people of all sorts.

This week's was really funny, though, noticeably better than usual! Moynihan in the wedding-toasts sketch was just ... too good for animated gifs, even. (Plus also "I wish we had accents," A+ if-we-pitch-in-for-babysitters-will-those-two-keep-doing-that work.)

Looking forward to Kanye's hilarious presidential candidacy in 2020 and subsequent isolation of whatever gene makes him think he's so amazing he doesn't even have to be good at stuff.

nabisco OTM

Oh also the problems with Armisen's Obama are that (a) he gets all the mannerisms but has no underlying spirit that makes it feel like it's Obama as opposed to someone reading lines as Obama, which means (b) there's nothing funny about it, no central funny Obama quality that's coming out. The reason the "cool" one worked better was that it was latching onto an actual, recognizable Obama personality trait -- if he went on to play the guy as preternaturally cool to the extent Ferrell played Bush as a cheerful idiot or Hammed played Clinton as a lovable hornball, then maybe it'd work, but they'd need to figure out how to write that, and not just expect the dude to carry it.

(Actually that makes me realize that all their successful political impersonations are based on turning politicians into funny characters you like, as if they're all just leveling with you about their flaws -- true of that Bush and that Clinton but also lately of Poehler doing Hillary or Fey doing Palin. That funny animated Obama from the primaries did the same thing, the one where he was basically Bugs Bunny tricking Sharpton and Jackson to stay away from him.)

(I apologize for getting all analytical about this.)

alright, but can we agree that NY post article is HILARIOUS?
"Paterson in a Blind Rage Over SNL Skit"
"Gov. Paterson didn't see the humor in a "Saturday Night Live" bit that mocked his blindness.

I will never admit that anything intended by the Post is actually funny, even when it is, because it's always the kind of dick-funny we should all pretend not to notice.

oh no argument there, and it's obviously in horrible taste. but it's what's expected from those guys

paterson is a funny dude who makes fun of himself a lot, so when he gets mad about something i think its fair to say it was in pretty poor taste

"When you have a perception problem like we have, you take these things a little more seriously," said Chris Danielsen, spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind.

ok THAT is funny

hey: when ben affleck was on earlier in the season, what was he there to pimp?

i think that was one of those "i ain't got shit goin' on, but i was good when i hosted before and i feel like doing it again" type gigs.

either that or he really wanted Gone Baby Gone to do well on DVD

He hosted right before election day 2004, too.

that was mainly to help put Surviving Christmas over $4mil on opening weekend, though.

Perrin on the fourth season (Radner & Murray ascendant); I fondly remember the Scotch-tape store sketches:

http://dennisperrin.blogspot.com/2008/12/snls-classic-coke-year.html

I don't know if another American comedy show ever referenced coke use the way SNL did that year. You certainly wouldn't see that now, which dates these episodes in a weird nostalgic way. When researching Michael O'Donoghue's biography, many of the writers I interviewed told the same stories about blow in the SNL offices; how it fueled them on Tuesday nights as they shaped scripts for the Wednesday read-through; how the show's hotness guaranteed a steady supply of coke, and so on. You definitely see the results in this seven DVD set. Some of the humor is cheap. Much of it is inspired, though a certain meanness comes through. When you watch these shows in bulk, comic aggression is immediate....

For me, the most inspired, original writing in the fourth season came from Don Novello and Brian McConnachie. Novello was best known as Father Guido Sarducci, the Vatican gossip columnist, whose absurdist takes on the Catholic Church still resonate. But Novello also authored two running, slice-of-life sketches: Olympia Cafe and Scotch Boutique. The former was more popular, its "cheeseburger, cheeseburger, no Coke, Pepsi" becoming a national catchphrase. Yet despite that covering, the Olympia Cafe pieces were subtly acted, Novello's attention to detail well defined. Scotch Boutique displayed even more precision. A store that sells only scotch tape opens in a dying mall. At first seen as a ridiculous idea, the Boutique soon prospers, selling tape to the other store owners so they can put up their Going Out of Business signs. These pieces ran through the entire season, forming an extended narrative as opposed to recurring one-liners and character turns. Scotch Boutique was an intelligent look at people confronting failure and loss. There were no jokes, only situations, each more dire than the last. Those pieces are perhaps the most poignant work to ever air on SNL.

Actually that makes me realize that all their successful political impersonations are based on turning politicians into funny characters you like, as if they're all just leveling with you about their flaws

i think the major exception to that is phil hartman's reagan — the vindictiveness and meanness that flashes over his face when he yells "I'M the president, only *i* need to understand!" is creepy in a very believably reaganesque way.

yikes

i don't get lonely island/samberg - is it possible for snl to have one hit wonders?

this is really really bad!

this lonely island/t-pain thing got preempted by the thing funny or die did w/ t-pain

haha ok i can ride for road trip part 2!!! first was one of the most underrated of the season imo

this is really really bad

that wasnt terrible, nowhere near the road trip one with paul rudd obv which is a classic

i am a relatively new SNL watcher, was there one of those before the paul rudd one?

OMG that Bjork impression!

They've done the drinking buddies/jukebox sketch probably about 5 times in the past couple years now. I can't say I'm tired of it yet...

Bjork bit had me rolling.

Is TV on the Radio usually this bad live?

oh ok the first time i saw was the paul rudd and i really loved that one

xpost

Dear SNL, please find more ways to get Bobby Moynihan to impersonate Nathan Lane.

yeah i love the song thing...apparently it's called "song memories": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Memories

tonight's and the road trip were definitely the weakest, though, best one was done to "The Weight"

i didn't think it was a bad episode personally...especially considering Bradley Cooper has to be the most obscure guest host they've had in years and years, wtf was up with that.

who is he

he asked the message board instead of going to google

he had 5th billing in Wedding Crashers and like 10th billing in He's Just Not Into You, apparently is on Nip/Tuck now? scarcely had any idea who he was before seeing his name on the TV listing today.

xpost HOOS it's ok some people are so not famous he'd make a Tuomas out of anyone

yeah i love the song thing...apparently it's called "song memories": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Memories

tonight's and the road trip were definitely the weakest, though, best one was done to "The Weight"

― some dude, Sunday, February 8, 2009 1:09 AM (11 minutes ago)

yo def need to trac down the other song memories b/c road trip killlled me

they are soo00o in their winter slump

It's actually not terribly unfunny tonight.

I can't believe it took them 17 years to come up with a Sir Mix-a-Lot sketch like that, though.

ugh it's really dragging for me
the only thing that was OK was the first sketch after the greet with cameron diaz (!)
kenan thompson has never been and never will be funny

Cougar ageism as funny as minstrel racism.

Turned it off.

Cameron Diaz always shows up for the cougars sketch. But what else is she doing these days?

Kristen Wiig's Carol Channing impression is a revelation.

I love the Vincent Price sketches.

the wii skit was so smart it should go to college, but a bit blatant. w/e, i'll take it

last few episodes have been pretty week, but I keep watching because I love the cast, especially Wiig who just brings it every time. You know tonight was bereft of ideas when they recycled two bits, the pampers ad and the balloon ride.

It's common for them to repeat "commercials" throughout a season (or even two).

First Coughs and the one w/ the 3 guys scheduling a meeting were both A+ Baldwin showcases.

I know they repeat sometimes, but if they repeast more then one, I get thinking that they don't have enough material or something.

i'm shocked some 15 year old with a web cam didn't do that wii sketch two years ago