Saturday, May 16, 2009
Who Wrote What Sketch?
Geithner Cold Open - Jim Downey
Monologue - Alex Baze/John Mulaney/Steve Higgins
Target Lady - James Anderson
Immigrant Tale - Simon Rich/John Mulaney/Marika Sawyer
Surgery Centre (Plasticville) - Paula Pell
Barry Gibb Talk Show - Steve Higgins/Erik Kenward/John Solomon
Pirates - Seth Meyers/Bryan Tucker
Also, there was a Britain's Got Talent sketch that was cut and that was due to star Casey Wilson & was written by John Mulaney and Colin Jost. Now, why didn't we get to see that?
SNL End-of-Season Lists
Their top 5 hosts are:
1. Josh Brolin - yeah, Josh Brolin was their favourite host of the season.I thought the Josh Brolin episode was pretty good, but it had very little to do with Josh Brolin and more to do with Sarah Palin and Mark Wahlberg.
2. Jon Hamm
3. Paul Rudd
4. Neil Patrick Harris.
5.Anne Hathaway
Their favourite sketches were:
10. Easter Album (S
eth Rogen)9. Clearing The Air (Paul Rudd) - I was surprised to find out that SNL had begun airing shorts from students at The New School.
8. Two A-Holes At An Ad Agency in The 1960's (Jon Hamm)
7. Fart Face (Josh Brolin) - seriously, this was the 7th best sketch of the season? C'mon!
6. Weekend Update - Madonna & Angelina Jolie (Tracy Morgan)
5. Dateline (Tracy M
organ)4.Mark Wahlberg Talks To Animals (Anne Hathaway)
3. Palin/Couric Cold Open (Anna Faris)
2. Jizz In My Pants (John Malkovich)
1. Weekend Update Sarah Palin Rap (Josh Brolin.
So, I don't want to say NY Mag are wrong or anything, because they are entitled to their own opinions, but this list is so off-the-mark. There are about four here whose presence on a top-ten list is totally mind-boggling to me.
But, what do you think? What were your favourite sketches of the season? Who were your favourite hosts?
Comment, comment, comment!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Backstage Video from Timberlake Show
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/backstage-timberlake-show/1100397/
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Oh Snap, Bonus Interview!
http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/05/ew-exclusive-qa.html
Enjoy!
Congrats To Maya Rudolph..
In case you didn't know, Maya Rudolph plays a pregnant woman in the upcoming Sam Mendes movie "Away We Go." Coincidence, huh?
Congratulations!
Akiva Schaffer Talks About Making of MotherLover
Sometimes, you can remember exactly where you were when inspiration struck. Then, there are times when you're trapped in a small writer's room in Midtown Manhattan with your pals and a world-famous singer/actor, thinking about Mother's Day, listening to the R. Kelly/Usher song "Same Girl" and trying not to ruin your so-far spotless viral-video résumé — and at last a genius idea falls in your lap. At least, that's how the "Saturday Night Live" short "Motherlover" was born.
"We weren't sure if we should go in a whole different direction and make a new song that has nothing to do with those guys or a short film that's totally different," explained Akiva Schaffer, one-third of the Lonely Island crew. "We didn't want to ruin the first one because it was so cool."
Schaffer and partners Andy Samberg (this year's MTV Movie Awards host) and Jorma Taccone faced this dilemma last Tuesday night when they met with that week's "SNL" host Justin Timberlake to discuss a potential sequel to their 2006 viral smash "D--- in a Box."
Finally, they decided to roll the dice and revisit the lives of their wildly popular new-jack swing duo (sometimes referred to as Bootknockaz), but with an even nastier twist than last time. "What would be most satisfying for the audience?" Schaffer recalled them asking. "It would be cool to start with them getting out of prison with their boxes." And then, of course, they remember that it's Mother's Day.
The video, in which the duo express their desire to sex up each other's mothers as the ultimate tribute to Mother's Day, has already become an instant viral atom bomb, helping Lonely Island to break the feared sequel curse and allowing co-directors Schaffer and Taccone to breathe easy after a sleepless week of writing, recording and shooting, which ended with Schaffer editing the final clip right up until moments before it aired on Saturday night.
While brainstorming the new video, the quartet were listening to some old-school new-jack acts, like Guy and Teddy Riley, but they ultimately found a Timbaland-style beat created by Taccone's brother, Asa, and his friend, Drew Campbell, that was left over from the sessions for Lonely Island's debut album, Incredibad.
"We started singing along to it," Schaffer recalled. "Someone mentioned Mother's Day, then there was a joke about that R. Kelly/Usher song, and we were like, 'It could be the same girl,' but then we realized it should be each other's moms!"
And the rest, as they say, is history. Timberlake stayed up until 5 a.m. on Wednesday writing the lyrics with the Island crew, who then stayed up until 4 a.m. Friday morning recording the vocals before setting up the grueling 20-hour shoot just a few hours later.
"This one I can say that we did 100 percent in conjunction with Justin," he said, praising the singer and new go-to guest of "SNL" with consistently finding a way to up their game by suggesting killer melodies for the song. "He's good enough that he brings a lot of awesome melodies, and it's great that he can sing and really add some funny lines to the song. ... He's clearly the best. He's three-for-three [on viral videos] on the show, and he's solidified his rep overall, not just for shorts. He clearly brings something magical." Schaffer said the stunt casting of the moms was relatively easy. Susan Sarandon's name popped up very early for the role of Samberg's mom. "We needed a blond actress who looked like Justin, and I don't know if I even told the other guys, but I was in a hotel room a week ago, and I turned on the TV and saw the movie 'No Reservations,' and Patricia Clarkson plays the restaurant owner in that," Schaffer said. "So, I brought her up, and they all said yes immediately." Both women were quick to sign up. Clarkson showed up on set at 11 a.m. on Friday, after just agreeing to the gig around 12:30 the night before.
The shoot, which took place in various Brooklyn locations, began at 9 a.m. on Friday and stretched until the early morning hours of Saturday, at which point Schaffer had to begin editing the footage. "We finished the final edits when the show was already on," he said.
Schaffer admitted that there were a number of jokes that were too raunchy to make it on air — he didn't even want to discuss them for fear of offending — but that the troupe knew early on that they had captured the elusive magic one more time.
Timberlake's girlfriend, Jessica Biel, told MTV News she was skeptical when she first heard of the idea, but she thought the whole thing ended up being so wrong it was right.
"I know Justin's mom was coming to the show, and he warned her ahead of time," Schaffer said. "And my mom loves to brag ... but I don't know if she told anyone about this one. But she did thank me for the Mother's Day video."
Reminder:
Don't miss it!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Justin Timberlake/Ciara - Review
Cold Open : Funny enough take on the bank stress tests, but maybe a little obvious. I am glad to see the banks get made fun of though, and to see SNL represent the world's general disillusionment with the world's banks.
6/10
Monologue: Being the classy showman that he is, Timberlake was excellent at this song-and-dance routine. While it may not have been hilarious, it left me with a big stupid grin on my face, and got me pumped for the show.
8/10
Celebrity Name Translator – Hilarious concept, as it is exactly what my own mother does, but it wasn't executed as well as I'd have liked it. One thing in particular that stands out is "Breakdance Fountain" - Mom-speak for Brokeback Mountain.
6/10
Target Lady – Oh man, I loved this. Timberlake was characteristically awesome here as Target Lady's friend Peg, and most definitely outshone the titular character. His delivery was just perfect, as was the costuming. I also loved Kenan's character's description of Target Lady's voice : a voice box covered in egg.
8/10
Coming to America - Possibly my favourite of the night. Being Irish, I got to laugh at the accents - Timberlake's was surprisingly the best. It may have just been an excuse to relive some of Justin Timberlake's earlier career, but it was high-larious. My favourite line: "He'll sing a song about bringing sexy back."..." 'Twill be gone & he'll bring it back!" I loved Samberg's ancestor character also - "With him, it'll be more about the charisma." Also, props to the set and costumes crew - nice work!
9/10
Motherlover Digital Short: The D*ck In A Box guys make a welcome return to carry out the "second-best idea" they've ever had. I could tell you what it's about but it wouldn't seem nearly as funny as it actually is. Nice cameos from Susan Sarandon & Patricia Clarkson as the guys' mothers. Best DS in a while.
8/10
Plasticville - To be honest, I never saw the big deal about this one. Amusing - sure, hilarious and meriting a recurring sketch - no. But I appear to be in the minority judging by the audience's response last night. What I did like was JT's take of Poker Face (Mediocre Face). However I did spend a chunk of the sketch looking for split ends in my hair. But it's probably just me.
6/10
Weekend Update - Not as good as some recent Weekend Updates. I can literally remember two jokes that made me laugh out loud - the Manny Ramirez one & the Maggie Gyllenhaal/Peter Sarsgaard (or is that Aaaraa) jokes. Others were just amusing. Regarding Spitzer & Paterson, I've decided I like Paterson better sans Spitzer. Frankly the thought of Eliot Spitzer with a prostitute makes my stomach churn, and I can't muster up laughs for it, so a good chunk of that sketch was spent repressing horrible visual images that wouldn't go away. I loved the cameos of Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto & Leonard Nimoy. Also, did Nimoy get away with saying dickheads on air? Nice!
7.5/10
Barry Gibb Show – I love these ones & while I don't think this was as funny as the last one, I still really enjoyed it. Perhaps my favourite part of the sketch was when Barry pleaded with Robin to say something, and pretend that there was nobody there, causing Timberlake to briefly break character. I have also been singing the theme tune all day, so that's gotta count for something.
8/10
Somalian Pirates - One of the most original, imaginative, high concept sketches in a while. It consisted of a mix-up causing Somali pirates to receive a shipment of toy swords and guns, while a Pirates of the Caribbean street performance group received authentic swords and AK-47's (is that right, gun nuts?) I thought it really succeeded in condensing the story to a few minutes. I literally need a list for all the things I loved in this sketch:
- Fred playing with the toy pirate.
- Michaela Watkins' bored and apathetic helpline girl.
- Bill's character proclaiming that being in The Little Mermaid was his dream.
- Justin's gay pirate voice.
- Kristen's character asking for Thursday off.
9/10
Ciara : Enjoyed the first performance, skipped the second one.
Overall:
For me, Timberlake solidified his status as one of the best hosts of SNL. He's a good old-fashioned showman, and to be honest he stole every sketch he was in. However the cast members barely got a look in, and it became The Justin Timberlake Variety Show Special, taking away from the ensemble feel of SNL. However, I do think it was one of the best shows of the season, with Weekend Update being the weak link of the show. I'm eager to see how Will Ferrell fares next week in comparison.
8.5/10
Marci Klein Interview
It's super interesting and insightful so enjoy!
http://juliemenin.com/2009/05/marci-klein-part-i/
http://juliemenin.com/2009/05/marci-klein-part-ii/
http://juliemenin.com/2009/05/marci-klein-part-iii/
http://juliemenin.com/2009/05/marci-klein-part-iv/
http://juliemenin.com/2009/05/marci-klein-part-v/
Justin Timberlake/Ciara
Did Mr. Timberlake live up to our high expectations? Best sketch? Worst sketch?
Comment, comment, comment!
