Thursday, February 7, 2013

SNL: Adam Levine/Kendrick Lamar(1/26)

Eeessh.  That was…not a good episode.  I’ll go through each of the sketches, but I don’t think there is going to be very much to write home about, unless you like reveling in stilted acting and good premises thrown in the trash.

Starting with…

The Good

Weekend Update: Headlines(7)-I laughed at 70% of the jokes, but it’s not like I actually remember any of them…






The Meh

Cold Open:Inaguration(5)-It’s MLKJr day, and he wants to gossip, because dang it, “today is my day off!” This was kind of amusing, but it really gets frustrating when writers don’t actually do their research.  I’m about 90% certain MLKJr wouldn’t be happy with Obama’s policies, considering he was, at least, a moderate, if not an actual, conservative.

Monologue(4)-This was saved from the bad by the strength of it’s three(!) celebrity guests, Seinfeld, Samberg, and Cameron Diaz, giving Adam Levine advice ala The Voice.  The only time we actually had to listen to Adam speak was when he was being coerced into taking off his shirt, which: nice.

Digital Short: YOLO(4)-I think I didn’t like this because it went safe.  It had some crazy ‘advice’, and some normal advice, like it didn’t really know which way it wanted to go.  I think it may have been better if all the advice was good, and the chorus was insane, or all the advice was insane, and the chorus was sincere.  It may have even been better if it built from sane to insane, but it jumbled them up in a soupy mess, and the juxtaposition didn’t enhance the humor, it dampened it.

Bar fight(5)-So Maroon 5, Train, and Jason Mraz walk into a bar… This was a solid concept, but the piss-poor acting of Adam Lavine sunk it a bit.  Luckily, the whole sketch wasn’t built around him…

The Ugly

Commercial:Rosetta Stone(3)-Skeezy guys want to learn Thai to do ‘things’ in Thailand.  I feel like this would have been stronger if this had been cut differently, but as it was, the producers of the commercial were oblivious to what the guys were saying?  It doesn’t pass the smell test to me.

Circle Work(2)-Gay stereotype sketch #1.  This was the least noxious of the two, because it at least acknowledged it was being a stereotype, unlike…

Firehouse(1)-This entire sketch was a gay stereotype as well, but instead of jokes, it relied on Bill Hader yelling as loudly as he could.  It was almost like he was trying to channel Martin Short, of whom we’ve already seen enough of.

Commercial:Sopranos Diaries(3)-I think if I knew the source material, I may have found this more funny, but at it was, ehh.

Weekend Update:Segments(3)-Arianna Huffington was obnoxious as always, and the Ray Lewis joke, singular, went on for way way WAY too long.

Catfish(3)-This is another source material issue for me, but it was mostly generic reality show jokes, and only one show specific joke, so I’m not sure the point of using this particular show.

Janet’s Apartment(1)-and this is what happens when the whole sketch is built around Adam Levine.  I think it could have actually been funny, but Adam didn’t commit at all, and it was incredibly distracting. 

Biden Bash(3)-This was saved from a one by the Biden Bashing, but the jokes themselves were not strong, and were symptomatic of the rest of the show.

The Rest

The musical guest did not tickle my fancy, but if rap is your thing…






Adam Levine was terrible.  Like I said in the apartment sketch, he didn’t commit, and it occurred in just about every sketch.  He didn’t take his eyes off the cue cards, and every performance was stilted and wooden.

There were some good moments, but this episode was not good on the whole, and a lot of that can be placed directly on the host performance.  Hopefully the writers learned a bit from this, and don’t give Justin Bieber a lot to do.

With a 3.38 average score, this was clearly a tanked episode.  Let’s see how it ranks.

1. 11/10 Anne Hathaway/Rihanna(6.60)
2. 12/15 Martin Short/Paul McCartney(5.90)
3. 11/3 Louis CK/fun. (5.89)
4. 11/17 Jeremy Renner/Maroon 5(5.83)
5. 9/22 Joseph Gordon Levitt/Mumford & Sons (5.71)
6. 9/15 Seth McFarlane/Frank Ocean (5.38)
7. 10/13 Christina Applegate/Passion Pit (5.09)
8. 10/20 Bruno Mars (5)
9. 12/8 Jamie Foxx/Neyo(4.3)
10. 10/6 Daniel Craig/Muse (4)
11. 1/26 Adam Levine/Kendrik Lamar(3.38)
12. 1/19 Jennifer Lawrence/The Lumineers(3)

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