SNL: 38.19 – Zach Galifianakis & Of Monsters and Men

Season 38 is sadly in the home stretch so we have to savor each moment in hopes they will last us through the long, un-funny summer. :tear: Thankfully there was plenty to laugh at this week with former SNL writer, current The Hangover series star, Zach Galfianiakis!

The cold open was one of my favorite recurring sketches, ‘Fox and Friends’. I keep waiting for this bit to get old but somehow it doesn’t. Everytime I see the Fox logo, I’m giddy (only on Saturday night however – every other day of the week I cringe), I just can’t help myself. Of course a big part of the success of ‘Fox and Friends’ is the “corrections and I might have literally laughed out loud at “The California wildfires are not a professional soccer team”.

Credit to: gifsnl

I love when hosts come on SNL and just do their own thing when it comes to the monologue. Zach Galifianakis did just that. Thankfully for us, his “own thing” is dry and weird and hysterical. His monologue was a perfect example. I might have soiled myself at the idea of pulling up behind someone broken down on the highway just to try out jokes. Genius.

I think we can all agree that this was the greatest sketch of the night.

Even if the writing of ‘Game of Game of Thrones’ was shit, Galifianakis in that dragon costume (a child’s XL) would have made up for it tenfold. Thankfully the writing wasn’t shit and the sketch was just funny all the way around. If the costume wasn’t enough, referring to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as an “old pilgrim” made it even better. Of course when the picture of the old pilgrim is held by none other than Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) then the sketch reaches a level of damn near perfection.

(Speaking of Game of Thrones – make sure to check back to Grizzly Bomb on Mondays to read our recap and review of each new episode. Go ahead and check out episode 5, ‘Kissed By Fire’, right here.)

The match.com fauxmercial was good but really wasn’t that much to write home about. Something about picturing Martha Stewart getting her freak on just doesn’t sit well.

Credit to: bravoishere

“Let’s put Zach in a wig and Friends t-shirt and have him yell about Helen Keller” is how I imagine the Jennifer Aniston look-a-like sketch was born. I’d also completely forgotten about The Hangover making a third appearance so it never occurred to me that Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms (sidenote: how great was Andy’s goodbye on The Office this week?) would show up. I’m glad they did because there’s just something inherently funny about men in wigs, probably why I watch this show week after week.

Good ol’ Dionne Warwick

For the record: Vanessa Bayer has an incredible Jennifer Aniston impression.

Weekend Update seemed really long this week. Not that it’s a bad thing, because it is not, just seemed longer than usual. I don’t know that I listened to a word Bill Hader as James Carville was saying because I was too busy laughing at his hands. Dealing cards and DJ’ing were my favorites.

I’d say this has been Kate McKinnon’s year because she has been on fire with quite a few memorable sketches and characters, but this isn’t her first year and she’s almost perfect to be a Kristin Wiig (next week!!!!!) replacement. Instead, I’m giving this year to Cecily Strong. An impressive rookie season especially with her “girl at the party” character. Three times in one year? That’s good. That’s really good.

Fred Armisen’s “Randal Meeks – tech analyst” review of Google Glass is one that I imagine Google isn’t going to be all too pleased with but the rest of the world got a good laugh. However, I can’t imagine many people were laughing at the “Michael Jordan wedding jugglers” sketch. So random and not really in a good way.

The New Balance commercial was great and “Racist Jim” was meh, but the real winner of the second half of the show (and had the Game of Game of Thrones sketch not been so great, it would have certainly topped the night) was “Darrell’s House” on Knoxville Cable Access.

At first I thought this was just another end of the night sketches that they just let go on way too long that didn’t really seem to have much of a point. The joke had been made and then they kept going on and going on. Much like the “Z-shirt” sketch from the Kevin Hart episode they did a rare callback with the last bit of the night and every edit Darrell had suggested in the first bit we saw done, even the “wink”.

The comedy writing geek in me loves things like that!

Overall, I thought it was a really strong episode. There were a few sketches that weren’t as great as others, but I think Darrell’s House and Game of Game of Thrones made up for those. This was Galifianakis’ third time hosting so by now I think everyone is aware that his shows are just going to be a bit weird and awkward. Fortunately it was entertaining as well.

But hang on to your ass Fred because next week it’s none other than Kristen Wiig returning for her first hosting gig!

I’m so excited about this episode that I’ve preemptively forgiven them for the inevitable “The Californians” sketch.

Until next time SNL fans!

SNL: 38.13 – Christoph Waltz & Alabama Shakes

After the “let’s just get through this” host that was Justin Bieber, I was really looking forward to this week’s SNL with Christoph Waltz. There’s just something about real actors coming to do the show that makes it worth sitting through the teen idols. Waltz did not disappoint, at all.

Credit to: bloggymoynihan

The cold open was quite strong. I thought they were going to stick with a political open but I was pleasantly surprised when instead the show opened with Jason Sudeikis and Cecily Strong as cruise directors for the ill-fated Carnival Triumph. Unlike last episode’s Super Bowl cold open, the cruise directors were well paced, the rest of the cruise staff was quick and funny, and the jokes were good; sad that this is out of the norm, but it was and it was good. However Ms. Strong, as a daughter of the great city of Mobile, Alabama, it is pronounced “mo-beal” not “mo-bile”. Come on, we are always a little sensitive this time of year, given how no one ever remembers that we were the ones that brought Mardi Gras to America but to not even know how to pronounce our fair city’s name? Well that’s just rude.

As for the monologue, that made me nervous. Here was a great cold open only to have a visibly nervous Christoph Waltz come out and sing. How many musical monologues does that bring us up to for the season? Way too many. I feared that his nervousness would make the rest of the show laborious but thankfully, it was short-lived. Actually you could tell Waltz was battling nerves in many of the sketches but he did a great job despite it.

Credit to: waltzs

“What Have You Become” has the distinction of probably being my new favorite game show sketch. I would hope that it’d become a recurring sketch but it would be difficult to have the same payoff as the question being turned on the host so I’ll just have to re-watch this one numerous times. Christoph Waltz talking about his overbearing mother making him go to “game show school” was obviously the highlight but almost as good was Aidy Bryant having the chance to say anything about herself and choosing mediocre knitting. Well, mediocre knitting and her bitch of a daughter.

In the first of two pre-recorded bits, Waltz played the retired Pope Benedict. I’m not a retiring pontiff but I was seconds away from setting up a meeting with my local “Papal Securities” office. Something about Jason Sudeikis in a pair of glasses makes me want fork over money.

While I enjoyed seeing Nasim Pedrard getting her own character, Tippy just didn’t do it for me. I respect that it’s difficult to get out of the shadow of a personality such as Kristin Wiig but it’s probably not wise to try to use a character that she would certainly excel at, as a vehicle. That being said, perhaps if it’s a recurring character Nasim can make it her own and work her way out of that shadow. Best of luck.
http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=n32896

The best part of the night was the second pre-recorded sketch, this time a movie trailer for the newest Quentin Tarantino film, Djesus Uncrossed. I am a huge SNL fan and usually laugh pretty heartily at various sketches, but I have not laughed as hard at something in quite some time that I did to this trailer. It was perfect. Anyone who has seen even half a Tarantino film recognized his style immediately, that style being very bloody, and often involving swords. Christoph Waltz was perfect as the freshly resurrected Djesus who sets out to take his revenge on the Romans. If there were any doubts about Taran Killam’s ability to impersonate Brad Pitt, they were put to rest as he did a great job and now I can’t even see the word “Roman” without pronouncing it as “R0-Mans”.

Credit to: wilderthanbilly

If the sketch itself wasn’t entertaining, the backlash certainly has been. Long story short, people are losing their shit. It has certainly kept my attention this morning and has been quite educational. Apparently if you thought the bit was funny you are either a god-less heathen, atheist, or a “libretard”. Oh and you are most certainly going to hell. I imagine the FCC is fielding their fair share of complaints this morning, and if this compilation of SNL complaints through the years is any indication, they probably make for fun reading. Good times.

By the time the CD commercial came up for the JaMarcus Brothers, the show was on a roll unlike one I’ve seen all year. You could tell that everyone in the cast knew it as well. JaMarcus Brothers was probably one of the funniest “Time Life Music” bits they’ve had in a while, thanks to Waltz as the adopted white virgin. Hysterical.

I’m a huge fan of Alabama Shakes so no surprise that I really enjoyed their two pieces of the night. Brittany Howard is amazing, and I’ve decided that I would like her to follow me around and sing-narrate my life.

Much in line with the rest of the night, Weekend Update was fantastic. No surprise to anyone, Marco Rubio (Taran Killam) made an appearance with his infamous thirst and dedication to maintaining eye contact with the camera. I wouldn’t have pictured Rubio as one to take on a YouTube meme such as the “cinnamon challenge” so you learn something new everyday. I’m waiting for his “Harlem Shake” video to hit the internet.

Credit to: stupidf***questions

Kate McKinnon continues her campaign for full cast member status and this week, it came behind the Weekend Update desk. I don’t know if she’s writing these characters herself, or someone is writing for her, but whoever it is, they are hitting it out of the park.  Ann Romney and Cecilia Gimenez were both great but they pale in comparison to the Russian woman hoping the meteor was there to turn her into dust so she could be eaten by a goat and finally warm. So good.

Credit to: 3swallows

If I had to choose to low point of the night? For me it’d be the return of Regine. The only plus to Fred Armisen’s crotch flashing drag sketch is watching the other cast members trying to keep it together. Of course when Bill Hader is involved, there’s not much chance of him keeping a straight face, and this week was no different.

Fox and Friends may seem tired, but it still makes me laugh, no doubt thanks to Bobby Moynihan and his absolutely ridiculous character. He certainly has a talent when it comes to making the dim bulb, Brian Kilmeade, very entertaining to watch. I think we can all agree that it’s about time they start crediting the fourth host of the Fox morning show, Vanessa Bayer’s rack. Woowee she had the girls out for a walk this week!

I probably shouldn’t have enjoyed the “Secret Valentine Admirer” sketch as much as I did. Awkward Christoph Waltz certainly is adorable and the payoff with Keenan Thompson’s reaction to a second “valentine” was great.

Overall? Easily the best episode of the season, if not the best of recent seasons. Even though there are plenty of people pissing and moaning that they are no longer watching the show due to the whole Djesus thing, there were enough of us who loved it that hopefully NBC won’t see any substantial blow-back. It was nice to see the writers taking a step back onto the unsafe and daring ledge, a refreshing change of pace from the somewhat predictable and pedantic.

Next week is a rerun, likely due to the Oscars on Sunday night, but they return on March 2nd with what looks to be a promising episode with host Kevin Hart and musical guest Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.

Until then SNL fans!