My Top Ten Sketches & Top Five Hosts

I know you've all been waiting eagerly for my take on NY Mag's list. Well today is your lucky day!

TOP TEN SKETCHES (in no particular order)
1. Single Ladies (Paul Rudd) - A pretty simple idea that was so well-executed and while it may have resorted to putting guys in leotards, and watching them bump and grind, the very thought of it still makes me laugh. Also, it helps that Single Ladies was probably my favourite song of last year.


2. Palin/Biden Cold Open (Anne Hathaway) - This was my favourite of all the Palin sketches, in that it mocked Joe Biden and Sarah Palin in equal measure. The hilarity was sustained throughout and I think it was the most creative in that most of it was not a mere transcription of events as it was in Palin/Couric open.

3. High School Musical (Zac Efron) - The most inspired non-monologue monologue of the season? I think so. Pretty refreshing to see a Disney star openly make fun of the franchise that made him famous, and not only that, but it featured a hilarious turn from Darrell Hammond as Walt Disney who was depicted as an anti-Semite.

4. New York Times (James Franco) - You would have thought that a sketch lampooning the liberal media would have been warmly welcomed by McCain supporters and conservatives, and yet this was coolly received due to a comment made about incest between Todd Palin and his daughters. Instead of seeing that this sketch was highlighting how out of touch NY Times reporters are with regular people, conservatives saw this as an attack on the wannabe "First Dude". In actuality, this sketch was one of the funniest of the year, and showed SNL isn't afraid to mock liberals and conservatives alike.
"What's your name?"
"Karl Marx."

5. The Lawrence Welk Show (Anne Hathaway) - Funny, surreal perfection. From Armisen's Welk impression to Wiig's baby hands to the revelation that she ate a cat to the bubbles. Left me wanting more, and still makes me laugh.

6. Countdown with Keith Olbermann (Ben Affleck) - Is it possible to have an epic sketch? If so, then this is the Ben-Hur of SNL sketches. Ben Affleck did one of the best impressions in a sketch with a wholly ridiculous premise, that Keith Olbermann lives with his mother and cat. Hilarity ensued when Olbermann accused John McCain of having Nazi sympathies and comparing his application refusal from a co-op board to the Trail of Tears. Also, I can now appreciate Armisen's Richard Wolf impression having become a regular viewer of Countdown.

7. Weekend Update - Sarah Palin Rap (Josh Brolin) - I think I might have actually preferred this one rap to all the Tina Fey Palin sketches altogether. As soon as Amy Poehler started rapping, I wanted to scream "Thank you!" It was just all so perfect - one of the funniest women in America rapping (and not in a loving way) and openly mocking a vice-presidential candidate as said vice-presidential candidate sits there dumbly waving her hands in the air.
"McCain, Palin, goin' to put the nail in
The coffin,
OF THE MEDIA ELITE.
She likes red meat,
Shoot a mother-humpin' moose eight days of the week."

8. Save Broadway (Neil Patrick Harris) - As somewhat of a Broadway nerd, to see all of my favourite theatre characters & theatre jokes featured in a sketch was so mindblowingly wonderful to me. Also, I loved NPH's impression of Mark from Rent & possibly my favourite line of any sketch this season:
Guy from STOMP smashes trashcan lids together.
PHANTOM:
Wow, still relevant.

9. Everyone's A Critic (Paul Rudd) - Just downright nuts, and my favourite SNL short of the year. Just when you think its over - NOPE, ITS A MOVIE. And the painting is so intriguing to me, what could it possibly be? Absurd, crazy, hilarious & Paul Rudd naked = your perfect SNL short.

10. Vincent Price's Valentines Day Special (Alec Baldwin) - Now, for a personal favourite. Best installment of the Vincent Price Specials in my opinion. Always really well written, and the impressions are sublime, as are Liberace's innuendos. Kristen's Carol Channing was inspired.

VINCENT PRICE:
"Where's the hand Carol?"
CAROL CHANNING:
"I'll never tell!"


TOP FIVE HOSTS:
1. Anne Hathaway - For surpassing my expectations in every way imaginable, incorporating song and being such a darned good sport about everything, Anne Hathaway is the number one host for season 34. What other show would feature sketches about Mary Poppins having an STD or a Lawrence Welk show?

2.Neil Patrick Harris- For bringing SNL to heights only previously reached with the aid of Tina Fey/Sarah Palin. Probably the most consistently funny show all season & like Hathaway, NPH was totally game for anything and was totally cool and self-deprecating about everything.

3. Paul Rudd - Fit in seamlessly with the cast and while it featured a few lacklustre sketches, the show was so memorable for the Single Ladies & Everyone's A Critic sketches, and the strong message the show sent out in opposition to the passage of Prop 8. Can't wait to see him again!

4. John Malkovich - For being totally weird and off-kilter and thus having one of the funniest shows of all season. Played everything from a weird girl called Gertie in the throes of puberty to one of two brothers excited about getting calculators for Christmas.

5. Tracy Morgan - For being Tracy Morgan and bringing the Tracy Morgan-ness that SNL is severely lacking. No other host could make a sketch about a dud director whose entire cast is killed during the making of a film, half as funny as Tracy Morgan did.

Honourable Mentions : Jon Hamm, Justin Timberlake, Dwayne Johnson.

This blog is dedicated to the memory of my beautiful cat Baxter who passed away today. Always love you, B! ♥

Jorm Dances!

Jorm dances to Green Day!

Will Ferrell/Green Day - Thoughts?

I have the episode ready-to-watch, but alas I have to do some studying before I can sit down & enjoy it.
In the mean-time, what were your thoughts on the show? How did Ferrell round out season 34? Did he reprise his Bush impression? How were Green Day?

Simon Rich's Thoughts on Octo-Mom

Who Wrote What Sketch?

So, I found a copy of the SNL rundown sheet from last week's show online, and it has the names of the writers for each sketch, so just decided I'd share with you.

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

So New York Magazine has compiled a list of their favourite hosts & sketches of the season.
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 (Seth 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 Morgan)
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!

Will Ferrell/Green Day Promo

Video Recaps Full Episodes Webisodes

SNL's Casey Wilson Reads Internet Comments from Casey Wilson

Here is a new Funny or Die video from Casey Wilson in which she reads internet comments. It's hilarious but it also makes me a little sad that people be hatin' on Wilson so much. I for one think she's kind of awesome.

Will Ferrell Promo

Video Recaps Full Episodes Webisodes

Backstage Video from Timberlake Show

NBC's website is being very uncooperative at the moment, and it is refusing to let me embed the clip, so you guys are just gonna have to click here & watch for yourselves. Sorry peeps.

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/backstage-timberlake-show/1100397/

Andy Samberg on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Video Recaps Full Episodes Webisodes

Lonely Island on Jimmy Fallon

Just in case you missed the trio perform I'm On A Boat. Enjoy!

Video Recaps Full Episodes Webisodes

Oh Snap, Bonus Interview!

Andy Samberg talks to EW about the making of Motherlover here:

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/05/ew-exclusive-qa.html

Enjoy!

Congrats To Maya Rudolph..

Congrats to SNL alum Maya Rudolph who is expecting her second child with director Paul Thomas Anderson.
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

From MTV.com:

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."