This season, the writers of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” have been penning sketches that rely on the repetition of jokes as well as one-note characters. Fortunately, this past weekend’s episode, which was hosted by Actress Zooey Deschanel, proved to be one of the year’s best; due to the enclosure of sketches that were actually both creative and humorous. In addition, all the segments featured keen performances by Deschanel as well as the show’s castmembers. In other words, this past week’s episode was very enjoyable and actually memorable.
The show opened with a campaign advertisement for Sen. Mitt Romney. Romney was once again portrayed by Castmember Jason Sudeikis; who continues to shine throughout the season due to his dependable and hilarious performances. Throughout the opening, Sudeikis’ Mitt Romney remained positive about his campaign; despite the fact that he was losing to fellow runner Rick Santorum. Jason Sudeikis’ cheerful depiction of Romney is always funny; and his upbeat attitude about not winning the primaries was an interesting idea for the opening. Sudeikis’ Romney was joined in the ad by his pet dog; that eventually began barking loudly at the politician. The idea to include a dog in the sketch was very creative; as it included an extra spark to the sketch. All in all, a very fun sketch and a great way to start off the show.
For her monologue, Zooey Deschanel, who donned herself in a red dress plastered with pink hearts, played the ukulele and performed a song about someone forgetting that February 14th was Valentine’s Day. Though she appeared a tad stiff, Deschanel did a fine job performing her song. In addition, it was nice to see a one-person monologue once again this season; as Charles Barkley was the first to do so thus past January. Deschanel did an alright job; and I was looking forward to seeing the rest of the show.
The two official sketches that followed Zooey Deschanel’s monologue were actually quite intriguing and performed well. The first was a parody of “Piers Morgan Tonight;” which marked Featured Player Taran Killam impersonating the Journalist. It was good to see Killam have a central role in a sketch this week; as the previous episode he hardly got the opportunity to do anything funny whatsoever. Taran Killiam’s portrayal of Piers Morgan was very funny; as his slightly-exaggerated British accent was very funny. The subject for the sketch was Rapper M.I.A. giving the finger during the Superbowl Halftime Show; causing viewers to become upset over its unsuitability. Castmember Nasim Pedrad portrayed the rapper; who attempted to defend her actions. Pedrad’s performance as M.I.A. was a tad weak; seeing as her impression sounded nothing like M.I.A.’s actual voice. For her part in the sketch, Zooey Deschanel played an infuriated and religious mother who was offended by M.I.A.’s gesture; and wanted to take a stand against the action by displaying an exaggerated wrist bracelet. While Deschanel’s performance was amusing; it should be said that Kristen Wiig proved to be a vital component to the sketch; thanks to her comical impression of a very conceited Madonna. Other laughs in the sketch came from Jason Sudeikis and Fellow Castmember Fred Armisen; who portrayed gaudy members of hip-hop group LMFAO; who performed in the Superbowl along with Madonna. The sketch was closed with a very funny appearance by Castmember Andy Samberg; who portrayed a Cirque de Soueill gymnast that had caught much attention for his tightrope bouncing during the halftime show. It was fun to see Samberg leaping up and down in a comical fashion; and it provided an unexpected dynamic to the sketch. This was a very creative sketch that successfully featured both imaginative writing and very humorous performances. In other words, this was a good one.
The next sketch of the night was “Les Junes de Paris;” which was actually making its appearance for the fourth time on the show. However, unlike the other instances, this particular installment was the first to officially break its typical fashion. With the inclusion of Zooey Deschanel, Academy Award Nominee Jean Dujardin joined in the dancing; which was exhibited in black-and-white footage resembling an old-fashioned silent film. It was obvious that the sketch was parodying “The Artist,” which stars Dujardin and is nominated for Best Picture in this year’s Academy Awards. It was nice to see that Taran Killam, who stars in these sketches, be joined by the Golden Globe winning actor; and I have to admit, that the “Saturday Night Live” castmember is a good physical performer. Everyone did a fine job in the sketch; and even though it was a reoccurring segment, the break-in-format made it fun.
Before "Weekend Update" was a brief sketch about a newspaper office set in the 1940s. It featured the editor, played by Jason Sudeikis, introducing the newest employee; played by Zooey deschanel. Everyone in the sketch, except for Deschanel's character, spoke in a rapid-fire delivery that paparelled films of that time period, However, the fast pacing of everyone's dialogue flew over the head of Deschanel'd character; who constantly tried to fit in by attempting to speak in a similar fashion, but didn't succeed. Kristen iig did a fine job playing a former reporter that was perplexed by the hiring of Deschanel's character; and Taran Killam portrayed an enthusiastic reporter that rushed in to cheerfully deliver a news story. Everyone did very well with their performances; especially Zooey Deschanel, whose attempts to fit in were hilarious. This was a creative sketch; as it wasn't at all reoccurring and it relied on good performances and clever writing. As of now, the show was on a good streak.
The episode’s installment of “Weekend Update,” however, proved to be a mixed bag. Seth Meyers’ jokes were either slightly funny or devoid of any humor whatsoever. A gag about NBC’s “Smash” and its strong ratings leading to a series of spinoffs equipped with “Law and Order”-esque titles was Meyers’ best; as was funny to see him poke fun at NBC wanting to cash in on the new series’ success. This installment of “Weekend Update” also featured a not-very-humorous segment that featured Nasim Pedrad impersonating Journalist Arianna Huffington. The impression was alright; but the material that Pedrad was given wasn’t funny at all. Pedrad did the best she could do make the segment work; but the weak writing just greatly affected its quality.
However, “Weekend Update” was saved by the reoccurrence of a segment called “Get in the Cage;” which featured Andy Samberg portraying a comically-exaggerated version of Nicolas Cage that interviews a fellow actor about their performance in a recent film. This time, however, the segment was altered by the presence of the ACTUAL Nicolas Cage; that was meant to be a clone of Samberg’s characterization. It was good to see Nicolas Cage poke fun at his method of acting as well as point out just how embellished Samberg’s impression of him is. It was also fun to see Cage poke fun at his upcoming release of “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance;” as it’s always nice to see celebrities poke fun at their films. Andy Samberg and Nicolas Cage had good chemistry and the entire segment improved this week’s installment of “Weekend Update” MUCH better.
Following “Weekend Update” was a new talk-show sketch entitled “Bein’ Quirky with Zooey Deschanel;” which featured Castmember Abby Elliot impersonating our host of the evening. It was funny to see Elliot exhibiting a straight on portrayal of Deschanel; right down to the facial expressions and manner of speaking. The sketch was made even better when Deschanel portrayed Mary Kate Olsen; who enabled her depiction to appear amusingly frail and devoid of a personality. It was very funny to see Elliot impersonating Deschanel; who was literally right in front of her during her tenure in the sketch; and it was good to see her be a good sport. The sketch also featured Kristen Wiig, who portrayed a very shy Bjork, as well as Taran Killam depicting an extremely bashful version of Michael Cera. This impression proved to be very funny; as Killam did a terrific job mimicking the actor’s soft voice and timid method of laughing. The sketch itself proved to be quite funny; as Elliot’s representation of Zooey Deschanel presented activities like knitting and staring at the camera while the music of Mama Cass plays. All in all, a very fun sketch that contributed to the enjoyable nature of the episode.
However, the greatest aspect of the show was a series of pre-taped commercial parodies that were a response to Clint Eastwood’s Chrysler commercial that aired during the Superbowl. The ad-spoofs featured Castmember Bill Hader impersonating an extremely-irritated Eastwood going on excessive rants about the Republican candidates running for president as well as how American are failing to catch up to China’s success rate. The parodies included various running gags; such as the increasingly- aggravated facial expressions of Bill Hader’s Clint Eastwood as well as his pants getting more and more higher; resulting in his slacks reaching his neck in the final send-up. Hader did a great job mimicking Clint Eastwood’s gruff voice and manner of gritting his teeth when appearing infuriated. All three commercial parodies were brilliantly written and performed; thus resulting in not only being the best part of the show, but perhaps one of the greatest parts of the season!
Of course, not everything during the episode was great. One such sketch featured Zooey Deschanel and Kristen Wiig portraying the hostesses of a supposed all-out crab cook-out. Both women would constantly increase the waiting time for their guests; who were longing to eat cooked contractions. The joke got old quite quickly; as we were getting the idea that the visitors would never get to dine on their much-anticipated dinner. Both Wiig and Deschanel gave good performances; but unfortunately, the sheer predictability caused the sketch to become very thin. We knew that the visitors weren’t going to get their meal whenever the ladies stepped out of the house; and the ending of the segment confirmed the inevitable punchline. I feel bad for Kristen Wiig and Zooey Deschanel; as they were forced to work with poor material that wasn’t very amusing. What’s more, I greatly wish that the castmembers who played the guests that were waiting for their meal were given more to do than just get more and more annoyed with the delay of their meal. While this sketch proved to not be funny, the following piece proved to be even worse.
What came next was a disagreeable segment that was actually already done this season. It took the form of a television program that was enthusiastically hosted by two tech experts, played by Zooey Deschanel and Andy Samberg, who introduced short pre-taped clips of people’s hands fiddling around with technological devices in a manner that made them appear to be engaging in sexual activity. The whole segment was overly-juvenile; as the clips were accompanied by some of the show’s castmembers’ voicing the devices. This resulted in the vignettes appearing to take the form of short pornographic films; which, in turn, made the sketch even more ridiculous. This whole segment actually first aired when Emma Stone hosted this past November; and I remember not liking it back then, And guess what? I STILL DON’T like this segment. Everything about it was very poor; especially its title; as it alone makes me infuriated. "What's the name of the title", you ask? This whole segment is called "We're Gonna Make Technology Hump." That headline alone makes me dislikee the sketch due to its sheer absurdity. Its sketches like these that make me question the future of “Saturday Night Live;” as humor like this is not at all clever and it makes the show appear foolish. The entire idea of the segment isn’t funny; mainly due to its pure silliness.
The last sketch of the night featured Kristen Wiig and Zooey Deschanel portraying Victorian-era sisters that kept writing to each other about their latest love interests that happened to be borderline foolish. The male castmembers that played their boyfriends gave good performances; as watching their characters stumble around comedically proved to actually be funny. And Wiig and Deschanel were fine when playing their characters as well; as they did a fine job speaking in a traditional manner that was suitable for the time-period. However, it should be said that the ending to the sketch felt a bit abrupt; as it failed to leave the audience with a memorable punch. Nevertheless, a finely performed sketch and a decent way to end the show.
In retrospect, Zooey Deschanel’s first time hosting “Saturday Night Live” was enjoyable; mostly due to a good amount of cleverly-written and funny sketches. A majority of the cast gave good performances throughout the night; especially Taran Killam and Kristen Wiig. Bill Hader also had a good night; thanks in large part to the Chrysler spoofs that featured his ingenious Clint Eastwood impression. He also got the opportunity to shine in a clever Verizon ad-parody that lampooned the many multipart options that are come with ordering the company’s new 4G LTE. The commercial parody provided a good amount concerning the complication of the phone service; and Hader gave a great performance as an enthusiastic salesman cheerfully explaining the technology to an old person, played by Fred Armisen. Who appeared confused about the product. These pre-taped segments allowed Bill Hader to demonstrate more of his comedic skills; and I DEFINITELY feel that he’s the best performer on the show currently. .
As for Zooey Deschanel, I think she did a fine job hosting the show. Though she appeared slightly nervous during the monologue, she gave it her all during the night and proved to be a decent sketch comedy performer. She exhibited good chemistry with the cast; especially Kristen Wiig; as evident by their good performances in the crab dinner sketch. I just wish that particular sketch was written better. I wouldn’t mind seeing Zooey Deschanel appear again; as I think that she could be a good reoccurring host.
I also happen to think that Karmin was a fine musical guest. Their performances of their songs “Brokenhearted” and “I Told You So” were both very catchy and brisk; as their sound was slightly different than past musical guests.
Thus, this past weekend’s episode of “Saturday Night Live was quite enjoyable; despite a couple of misfires in the final third of the episode. I just hope that Former Castmember Maya Rufolf will be provided with good material when she hosts on February 18!
E-mail me at thatsnatertainment@gmx.com
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