| Jack Black / The Strokes | |
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Well, I can honestly say that I was looking forward to this show. I figured that since I wasn't too impressed by last week's episode, that this week, hosted by a comedian, would be much improved. I guess I'd just have to wait and see, however.
[ COLD OPENING ] Bush Hits His Head
I would have been completely shocked if SNL started with anything other than Bush with a scrape on his face. I think it was a very clever and funny idea to tie Cheney into the whole situation, and like always, Darrell's Cheney was spectacular. This was kind of short for an opening, but it was very funny, so I'd have to say that I really enjoyed it. This was a good way to start a show which I hoped could keep making me laugh.
RATING : 9/10
[ MONOLOGUE ] Jack Black
I would have been surprised if Jack didn't pull out the guitar at least once during the episode, so I wasn't surprised to see him do so here. His song was decently funny, so overall this wasn't too bad of a monologue. But there has been better.
RATING : 6/10
[ COMMERCIAL ] Flenderson's Oversized Bows
This was a great idea that was carried out very well. I loved Seth's comment, "well yeah...but it doesn't have one of those big bows on it...so I HATE IT!" Hilarious! And it even makes you think...where the hell do they get those bows, anyway?
RATING : 8/10
[ SKETCH ] Russell Putnam : Investigative Reporter
Well, this sketch was promising right up until it shows Russell at the High Times HQ, then it just stops being funny. But before that there were some good parts, especially when Darrell says "...well he's too close to the truth!" But other than that, I didn't find this sketch to be anything special.
RATING : 6.5/10
[ SKETCH ] Tales of Valour
I thought this was going to be long and drawn out, until the monster requested a "slutty girl". It was all great from there on in. The monster's descriptions were quite funny, as were Jimmy's responses. This one of those sketches that catches you off guard but once you catch the drift it's funny. I really enjoyed this one.
RATING : 8/10
[ SKETCH ] The Lovahs
I really didn't like these two when they first started these characters on the show, but I must admit, they've really grown on me. I especially think Will is great in these sketches. There's just something about the way he acts that I find extremely funny. This sketch was constant joke after joke. There were some new mispronunciations, and I especially liked the "towtruck" one. I'm impressed!
RATING : 8.5/10
[ COMMERCIAL ] Friends
I've never watched Friends because I can't stand the tape of people laughing that they edit in after anybody says anything. It's the most irritating thing ever. So I didn't really get this.
RATING : 2/10
[ SKETCH ] Now That's What Actors Call Singing!
If I were to describe this sketch in one word, it would be hilarious. Some new impressions here, all of which were great (especially Jeff's Spacey impression). I think the funniest joke of the sketch was the Al Roker bit...that had me rolling until the bass-off started.
RATING : 9/10
[ SKETCH ] Bass-off
This sketch wasn't too bad. It's always funny when Will tries to do something to keep up with the sound effects...similar to the monologue last season when he's tap dancing. Jack had a good character too, and it worked well. Gotta love those special effects at the end!
RATING : 7/10
[ WEEKEND UPDATE ] With Jimmy Fallon & Tina Fey
Well this WU had it's ups and downs. I found a few jokes to be extremely funny, possibly best of season candidates here. These were the James Earl Jones/KKK joke, the figure skater joke (men are still free to "take it to bulge city", and the Bush eating a Pringle one. I found the Tenacious D thing to be pretty stupid though, so that brought the mark down in my opinion. Obviously not by much though because it remains a 9.
RATING : 9/10
[ MUSIC ] The Strokes
Whoah...dems talented...
[ SKETCH ] America Undercover
Well this sketch was okay I suppose. Most of it wasn't that great, but I really loved it when Dean took Chris down and Chris shouts out "racial profiling!" That was great. Jack trying to escape over the fence a few times wasn't bad either. This is the exact type of sketch I like to see when the show's winding down.
RATING : 6.5/10
[ SKETCH ] Happy Birthday
I'd like to start by saying that Will was completely hilarious in this sketch. His haircut alone was enough to make me laugh though. His commentary at the beginning was great, explaining how complicated and confusing the Happy Birthday song is. I think this sketch was a really good idea. However, I found it went way too far downhill once Jack came on and started singing his extended version. I didn't find it too funny and it went on WAY too long. This sketch was a good idea gone horribly wrong.
RATING : 5/10
[ NOVEL ] My Big Thick Novel By Jack Handey
"I persuaded the monkey to open my jail cell, and I made myself some breakfast..." Well it went something like that. Global TV cut it off so I had to switch channels and I only caught some of it. Kinda funny I suppose.
RATING : 2/5*
* - not counted towards episode's final rating
[ MUSIC ] The Strokes
I've been playing guitar for...hmm six months maybe? If my band got a drummer, a bassist, and a vocalist, we'd sound like this. Probably better though.
[ OVERALL RATING ] 70 / 100
[ BEST SKETCH ] Now That's What Actors Call Singing! ( 9 )
[ BEST QUOTE ] "I can be adventurous...I once french kissed a boy for 10 seconds" - Amy Poehler as virgin. "She's a real hellcat!" - Jack Black as monster
[ POINTS OF INTEREST ] Seth looked identical to the lead singer from Nickelback in the bass-off sketch.
This wasn't a bad show, overall. Obviously you can tell by the rating that it was better than last week's, no question. But I still think it could have been much better. Now, we have one week off and then the next week it's Britney hosting. So it'll probably have to wait for another month or so for a quality episode.