Some quick observations about the 31st season premiere of Saturday Night Live two nights ago:
1) Come back soon, Tina Fey; please don’t let us suffer through Horatio Sanz (far left) trying to read the news again for another week. (Sanz wasn’t terrible, just relentlessly mediocre, and he’s the show’s worst offender when it comes to failing to maintain a TV news-like poker face and cracking up at the cue cards.)
2) New guy Bill Hader’s gift for impressions should be a real asset; his Al Pacino was uncannily good — and funny.
3) Nice way to defuse the Kanye West situation: a funny sketch bringing back MVP Mike Myers to joke about his embarrassing moment alongside West at last month’s Katrina telethon. This seems to be SNL’s standard operating procedure for its more notorious guests (from Monica Lewinsky to Winona Ryder to Paris Hilton): defuse controversy by making a joke acknowledging the scandal without actually allowing the guest to restate his case and defend himself (or further embarrass himself).
4)The JetBlue sketch wasn’t really funny, but it shows some moxie to make fun of a sponsor who’s bought a number of ads airing during the same episode. I guess this, along with 3), is what passes for daring in TV comedy today.
What did you think of the premiere, PopWatchers?
Comments (1-15) of 41 Add your comment
where was tina fey?
The “Girls Gone Wild – Katrina Edition” was horrible and tasteless. I can’t believe that made the air.
I was the live show in NYC, and I thought it was really funny. Mike Myers was good in the Kanye spoof and I love Bill Hader! His imitations are priceless!!! I could see him really adding a lot to the show!
i thought it was one of the funniest eps in years…keep it up guys! and come back soon tina!
I can take a joke as well as the next guy, but as hard as I tried to see the humor in it, I couldn’t help but be appalled by the skits they did in reference to Hurricane Katrina. They pushed me over the edge in the Girls Gone Wild skit. Did they not see those people in New Orleans really wading through the streets trying to save their lives. And then they had a girl pretend like she was dead and the cop got in on the action. Completely tasteless and tacky. I am a fan of the show and from the MS Gulf Coast. I’ll definitely think tiwce before I watch SNL again. Plus, the rest of the show wasn’t very funny either.
I thought Girls Gone Wild was very funny. It mocked the makers of that tasteless video franchise, did not belittle the victims. However, it being so near the edge is what brings attention to it and makes it funny. Come on, “hey girls, wants some water? show us where babies feed!! i love helping people.”
Carrell’s face in the debbie downer skeches were great. he is in fact great!
i think sanz was just uncomfortable. his true humor did come out when he said “i just like to watch bears screw.” that was the quality sanz humor we love. he is better than he did. i think he would do better if given more opportunities. start doing it his own way. let us not forget norm macdonald.
Sanz’ timing on his joke-lines was terrible. He blew them one after another, all the while seeming so self-amused.
I thought the girls gone wild commercial was hilarious. I thought Bill Hader was the best guy they have added in years. I stopped watching at 12:30, but all the skits were somewhat entertaining to pretty funny up to that point. Horatio was not so good on the weekend update though. A good start to the season overall.
I found the show boring, but the Mike Myers sketch was funny..I love Steve Carrell, I was hoping for a better show with him (I don’t blame him, I don’t think he was used to his full potential by the writers)…Horatio Sanz was painful to watch…I’m looking forward to next week with Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite)…and the show with Lance Armstrong might be interesting…
Horatio Sanz was as terrible as Kevin Nealon. Horrible. One of the reasons I never watch SNL anymore.
BEST WEEKEND UPDATE ANCHOR–> NORM MACDONALD, HANDS DOWN THE FUNNIEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To begin, Will Forte’s George Bush skits are getting tiresome. The Kanye West situation was handled well and was quite humorous. Horatio is just a temp for Tina, so I’ll cut him some slack. The Debbie Downer/Bob Bummer skit at the end was funny and the Girls Gone Wild – Katrina was hilarious. I’m really digging Bill Hader…it’s about time SNL got another impressionist to counter Darrell Hammond (who probably will be gone after this season). I’m really surprised to see that Ashlee Simpson will be the musical guest next week. Why? Why is this talentless brat still able to get gigs?
Not a very good episode overall I don’t think. It’s on the TiVo and I haven’t even forced myself to finish. Got as far in as the news. Not necessarily Horatio’s fault that even this segment wasn’t a winner as the entire show seemed a bit off. While it was a bit sad to throw Girls Gone Wild into the hurricane mix, it was just as dumb as the real Girls Gone Wild commercials and hit the right chord in that respect.
The whole show was tired. They need to get rid of most of the cast, with the exception of Amy Poehler, and Will Forte. I mean, does anyone think Seth Meyers is funny? Why has he been around for so long? There was probably one too many jokes about Katrina – we get it, you can laugh about it – that doesn’t make it funny. Horatio Sanz was just ok on Weekend Update but Tina Fey was the brains and Amy was the foil – we need someone a little smarter than Horatio.
For a season premire, without their head writer (Tina Fey is on maternity leave, as noted during Weekend Update), without a lot of Maya Rudolph to lean upon (she was tacked on at the last minute as she is very pregnant and had to get her doctor’s permission to fly in from L.A. where she spends the off-season), with several new people, and a host who in addition to being a former writer, only has two speeds (deadpan straight man, and completely bizarre)–it wasn’t a bad effort. The Katrina skits were not in poor taste, as they never lampooned the actual victims, only the people who attempt to capitalize on their pain. ANY time this show “makes fun” of a tragedy, the satire is directed toward celebrities, politicians, and others who use these events as opportunities to bolster the population’s opinon of them. Oh… and Weekend Update has sucked for years because the news isn’t special anymore. (We’re inundated with it, all the time.) Just consider it an old man’s “walked ten miles uphill both ways in the snow” story.
I dare you to perform this show, with an ever-changing script, late at night, and then tell me how unprofessional these people are.
I’ve been a fan FOREVER of this show, through ups and downs. Skits were pretty good with the exception of the weird variety show type of skit (what was THAT?). But then again, SNL always has a throwaway skit in the last half hour, just for the hell of it. The Katrina thing was funny for the first minute or so but went on a bit long considering the freshness of this. It’s satire you know so anybody who truly gets satire would not be offended by this. Sanz wasn’t great but it’s not his thing. BTW Norm MacDonald didn’t compare to Kevin Nealon, my favorite non-classic host(classics Chevy, Bill, Dan and Jane are still the best). Worst Weekend Update host? Colin Quinn (gack).