Well the 37th season has come to an end. And the finale could have been MUCH BETTER. Mick Jagger was a very good host; despite the fact that he was given very bad material.
The Lawrence Welk Show was nothing special. Jon Hamm's appearance was a nice surprise; and it was nice to see Kristen Wiig and Jon Hamm on stage together for one more time. The performances were good but the sketch itself wasn't great.
Mick Jagger did a very good job with his monologue. I liked seeing him have the stage to himself. Even though he didn't perform a song, I was happy with it.
Secret Word was brought forward once again; and it was the same old thing. Kristen Wiig performed well once again as her character; but the writing was pretty stale. Mick Jagger gave a good performance and I was glad to see him play a character in a sketch.
The open mic sketch wasn't very funny. I got the joke right of Mick Jagger playing a character that is nervous about performing in front of a live audience. The comical renditions of The Rolling Stones' songs by Fred Armisen and Bobby Moynihan were alright; but the joke grew old fast. Mick Jagger handled himself very well; and his purposely bad singing at the end was funny. Other than that, this was a predictable sketch and could have been written A LOT better.
"Lazy Sunday II" was an interesting surprise; as it was nice to see a tribute to the digital short that made Samberg a star. It was very nice to see Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg together again; though the short itself wasn't as hilarious as the first one. Nevertheless, an alright tribute to Andy Samberg.
Kenan Thompson's Al Sharpton sketch wasn't funny at all. I've gotten very tired of Kenan this season; as most of his sketches haven't been great. This particular sketch featured weak writing and not many jokes, Mick Jagger did fine with the material he was given; but that's about it. In addition, Jason Sudeikis was practically given nothing to do. That's a big shame; considering that this could have been his final show.
Weekend Update wasn't entirely great. Seth Meyers had one or two good jokes; but other than that, his material was pretty much a miss. I'm really getting tire of him rushing through every joke in a desperate attempt to move the segment along in hopes of getting to the guest commentators or characters. Bill Hader once again played Stefon; but his given material was nowhere as good as some of his previous appearances. Bill Hader and Seth Meyers possess good chemistry; but I truly feel that the segment could have been funnier. I also am surprised that there wasn't any other commentaries on Weekend Update; but, even if there would have been, chances are the writing would have been bad. Thus, a weak final Weekend Update for the season.
The So You Think You Could Dance sketch was pretty weak. Bill Hader's Dave Matthews Impression wasn't funny or accurate; which is disappointing as usually his portrayals of celebrities are very good. Nasim Pedrad did a weak impression of Jewel as well and Fred Armisen's Santana portrayal was alright. I actually liked Mick Jagger's portrayal of Steven Tyler; though his allotted dialogue wasn't very funny. The dancing portions weren't very funny; and I felt they were pretty rushed. In all honesty, the whole sketch felt too short and the ending was very abrupt. Not a great sketch at all.
I have nothing to say about The Californians. The sketch wasn't funny the first time it took place during the Josh Brolin episode and it wasn't funny now. I felt terrible for the cast, Mick Jagger, and very surprise guest Steve Martin (what was he doing in that sketch???); as they were given such terrible material. I don't understand why Lorne Michaels wanted this sketch to come back. And I also wonder why Steve Martin would agree to make a guest appearance in this sketch anyway. I wish he would have been given a better sketch; perhaps one that starred him, Mick Jagger and Kristen Wiig. Now that could have been good. But no. The writers and Lorne decided to bring back a sketch that wasn't funny at all the first time it occurred. What a disappointment.
All of the evening's musical performances were very good. Mick Jagger is one of the world's best performers; and I enjoyed all his collaborations tonight. He sounded very good with Arcade Fire; but it was his performance with The Foo Fighters that made the night. The Foo Fighters are a GREAT rock band and they sounded great with Mick Jagger. Jeff Beck was also very good; and the combination of his guitarring with Mick Jagger's singing was great. Simply put, the musical performances tonight are probably tied with The Black Keys and Coldplay as being the best of the season.
The farewell sketch for Kristen Wiig was very nice and sweet. Mick Jagger singing "She's Like a Rainbow" fit perfectly with the farewell. I really liked seeing the castmembers dance with Kristen Wiig along with Lorne Michaels. You could tell they all enjoyed working with her these seven years and I'm really sad to see Kristen Wiig leave. She may have been given bad skits, but she is an adept performer. She has saved allot of sketches throughout her tenure as a castmember due to her great comedic skills and acting. I'm going to miss seeing her on the show and I wish her the best of luck.
I'm a little uncertain if this was Jason Sudeikis' final show. His small part in the Al Sharpton sketch and his introducing of Mick Jagger and The Foo Fighters was all he did tonight. If this was his last show, I'd be VERY DISAPPOINTED. Sudeikis was a great performer and, just like Kristen Wiig, he was able to save sketches thanks to his top-notch comedic skills. I have a small feeling that he will be back at the start of next season to play Mitt Romney in all the political sketches. And then after the debates and election sketches, he will formally leave. Other that that, I just don't know. I'm just disappointed that Jason Sudeikis didn't get to do all that much tonight for the season finale.
As for Andy Samberg, I have a feeling that this was it. Last week, he and his fellow Lonely Island cohorts got to celebrate their 100th digital short; and this week, he got to re-team with Chris Parnell once again for a follow-up to "Lazy Sunday." I don't think there is much more he could do; so I wouldn't be surprised if tonight was his last show as well. He was a good sketch comedy performer throughout his tenure on the show; but he wasn't as great as Kristen Wiig and Jason Sudeikis. I will miss him a little he's not back next season; but I think it's time for him to move on.
And that's my review. I enjoyed live-blogging many of this season's episodes as well as reviewing other episodes. Sometime this week, I will be posting a review of the 2011-212 season on my blog for your reading enjoyment, I am looking forward to writing this; as I will be sharing my overall thoughts about the season as a whole.
Until then, thank you all for following me and stay tuned for more Nater-Tainment! Good night everybody!
E-mail me at thatsnatertainment@gmx.com
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