The Thirty-Sixth Season Finale of Saturday Night Live, while Filled with Reoccurring Sketches, was a Decent Show Thanks to Good Performances
The show opened with Featured Player Taren Killam portraying Former IMF Head Dominique Strauss-Kahn being sent to a prison cell at Rikers Island; where he would be staying with two inmates-- played by Cast Member Kenan Thompson and Featured Payer Jay Pharoah. The cast member's characters were mocking Killam's arrested character about the situation; as well as expressing their opinions on international issues. The performances were good and Thompson and Pharoah worked well as their characters. It was a decent opening and it got me looking forward to the rest of the show.
For his monologue, our host for the evening claimed that even though Executive Producer Lorne Michaels wanted him to sing at least once, he would not do so. Of course, Timberlake did end up singing; as he crooned about all the things he would not do when performing a musical piece— but ended up doing so anyway. The whole monologue was very predictable; but Timberlake’s energy made it fun and I excited for the first sketch.
The first segment of the night starred cast member Kristen Wiig as a costumed spokesperson for a tea restaurant that was facing competition from Justin Timberlake’s character—a dancing mascot for a liquor store. The sketch featured Timberlake breaking into parodies of popular songs in his effort to take customers away from Wiig’s character. This type of sketch has been done everytime Timberlake hosts the show; as he once did played a mascot for homeless shelter in December 2006 as well as being costumed as an omelet for a pice when he first emceed the program in October 2003. The segment basically played out as it always does; with the slight exception for the inclusion of Lady Gaga as a fellow mascot for Timberlake’s character’s company. The chemistry and energy present by the three performers was very good; making the sketch entertaining.
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The second sketch of the evening marked the third appearance by cast member Bill Hader’s elderly and out-of-touch news reporter Herb Welch; who I actually brought up in post before this one. This time, Hader’s character was supposed to be interviewing students who were evacuating from their school; which was suffering from a serious gas leak. Unfortunately, as we have seen by the previous two installments of the sketch, the aged reporter can’t get the job done properly; as he could never find the right people to interview and was clueless about what was going on. Even though Hader is one of my favorite cast members, and he still gives a good performance as his character, the sketch has ran its course and I am tired of basically seeing the same thing repeated over and over again.
The show’s digital short followed next; once again featuring cast member Andy Samberg’s and Justin Timberlake’s R &B Duo that was first introduced in 2006 and then returned when the later hosted in May 2009. This time, their characters were singing about having a three-way with the same woman they are dating; which happened to be played by Lady Gaga. Unlike the previous appearances by their characters, this particular video seemed rushed and too ridiculous. And even though Timberlake, Samberg, and Lady Gaga performed well, I felt that the whole reason for the short was just to appease the audience’s need to see the characters again. It was at this point in the show that I figured there would probably be no original material whatsoever.
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And of course, I was right once again. Other sketches that were included in the finale were a game show sketch in which Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga had to guess the name of a given person. The joke of the sketch was that Lady Gaga was able to correctly identify people that they had met at some point in their lives. While Lady Gaga was able to recognize every single person, Timberlake wasn’t able to do so. While the premise of the sketch sounds funny, it should be noted that the very same sketch, which happens to be entitled “What’s That Name?,” was first done back in December when Paul Rudd hosted. The only difference between these two installment, was that Rudd’s and Featured Player Vanessa Bayer’s characters, weren’t able to easily distinguish anyone. The only difference this time was that Timberlake and Lady Gaga were playing themselves and only the later knew everyone’s name. When the piece aired the first time, it was fresh and I was laughing the whole time. This time, I was confused to figure out why they would repeat a good one-time-only sketch. Nevertheless, all the performances in the sketch were very good and Lady Gaga showed to me that she can act as well as sing.
Image taken from http://www.blogcdn.com/www.tvsquad.com/media/2011/05/snltimberlakegaga640.jpgBut, following this comedy routine, I was disappointed to see an encore of a sketch that aired during my favorite episode of the season; which happened to be hosted by Jim Carrey. The sketch features an amusement park ride that breaks down mid-course; right in front of barbershop-quartet-dressed animatronic-robots that appear to come alive--- and one of two stuck passengers notices the attractions coming to life. When the first sketch aired this past January, Carrey joined Bill Hader and Featured Player Taren Killam as the robotic-beings that freaked out a passenger, played by Kenan Thompson, while delighted another amusement park visitor; played by Kristen Wiig. The first time the sketch was performed, I was laughing hysterically as it was a very creative and well-executed idea. This time, while Timberlake did a good job playing one of the robots, I was let down greatly as a once-great sketch was now being turned into a reoccurring one. However, everyone still a very good job with the material; especially Jason Sudeikis—who was great as the freaked out amusement park tourist.
Following this piece, another reoccurring sketch was performed. This time, it was a game show piece entitled “Secret Word;” and it was actually being performed for the third time this season. The sketch once again starred Abby Elliot and Bobby Moynihan as contestants being paired-up with celebrity panelists fin an attempt to win. Unfortunately, they are paired up with two celebrities for the show; as Kristen Wiig portrayed theatrical actress Mindy Gracin and Justin Timberlake played master illusionist The Mysterious Crandell. The joke of the sketch was that Wiig’s character would keep giving away the answer to every question, which causes her teammate to lose each round, and that Timberlake’s character was too occupied by performing acts of wonder rather than helping his matched-up contestant figure out each question asked by Bill Hader’s emcee character. While the performances were once again very good, I was by now very tired of the fact that there was not one totally original sketch this evening so far; other than the opening. I now realized that the writers can not think of anything original whatsoever.
At the end of the night, however, there was a reoccurring sketch that I was truly happy to see. Of course, I’m talking about “The Barry Gibb Talk Show.” The sketch stars Former Castmember Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake as brothers Barry and Robin Gibb of The Bee Gees. The format of the sketch features Fallon’s portrayal of Barry Gibb interrupting his political guests and shouting comical name-calling to their faces. Fallon constantly gives a great performance everytime the sketch is done, which happens to be whenever Justin Timberlake is on SNL, and he always makes me laugh when doing his exaggerated impression of the musician. Timberlake is also great as the almost-always-quiet brother Robin; only briefly speaking when Fallon’s Barry asks him if he has anything to contribute to the “discussion.” To which, he would never have anything to add. Fallon and Timberlake are a great team and I wish that the sketch would have aired earlier in the evening; as it was my favorite sketch of the night.
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Other highlights of the show included a surprisingly brief “Weekend Update;” which featured Andy Samberg impersonating actor Nicholas Cage during an interview with Bradley Cooper. The whole piece was basically meant to lampoon the actor’s constant habit of screaming and overacting in a majority of his films. Thus, I feel that Samberg and Cooper were very funny together and it was a very engaging piece.
I also have to admit that I enjoyed Lady Gaga’s performing as the show’s musical guest. I do enjoy her well-known song “Born This Way;” as it is a very appealing and fun song. I also liked her new song “Judas” as well; since it is catchy and I am interested in listening to it on the radio or the Internet. Furthermore, Lady Gaga was able to contribute some additional energy to every sketch she was in and I think that she is going to be hosting the show at some point in time.
As I look back on my review, I do feel that the overall episode, while very much filled with repeated material and routines, the performances by everyone made the show better than it could have been. And Timberlake is always a good host as he has great chemistry with the cast and I would even like it if he joined the show for a season or two-- if his schedule allows him to.
And now that the season is over, we will be having repeats throughout the summer; until late September, when the thirty-seventh season begins airing. And, if I see certain episodes rerun during the summer at some point, I will post a mini-review that outlines my overall comments and feelings about the material that was included and the manner in which the host was used. And then, when the new season starts, I promise that I will be reviewing the episodes for your reading pleasure. For even though the material is weak, the cast is definitely great and I look forward to seeing them again in the fall.
e-mail me at thatsnatertainment@gmx.com
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