S45.E07: Will Ferrell/King Princess

[wknt3]

13 hours ago, Arkay said:

Last year at this time, my heart was breaking for Pete and I was worried for his life. This year I'm tired of him having his own customized schedule. He's absent, or shows up for one line, and he's never in the goodnights. I get that it's awkward for him because he dated Larry David's daughter, but if Colin can be around his fiancée's ex-husband, Pete and Larry should be able to handle it.

Except neither Pete or Larry have ever been known for being as, let's just say, "level headed" as Colin or for separating their work and personal lives.
 

14 hours ago, Robert Lynch said:

The banter between Will and Ryan was just terrible. You could sense the awkwardness there.

2 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

That was the joke? Will being starstruck with Ryan Reynolds and getting distracted from doing the monologue actually made me laugh.

Yeah Will has always loved this particular brand of humor. Awkward interactions, cringe comedy, whatever you want to call it. When it works for you it's hilarious, but when it doesn't it's a total miss. I think Will's goal was to go from "recognition laughs" to making the audience uncomfortable, to laughing again. It didn't work for me either, but it was definitely a deliberate choice.

[slasherboy]

14 hours ago, opus said:

Didn’t someone here say Pete isn’t there when Larry David is?

Why is that?

[Ohwell]

4 hours ago, DanaMB said:

I’m so over him. I wish he’d just leave the show. 

Yeah, I wish Pete all the best, but he's become uncomfortable to watch now, so I wish he'd leave the show.     

[Pete Martell]

Cold open: Not one laugh. Shocking. The best part (besides that lady to Heidi Gardner's right who added some poise - who was that anyway?) was that this only being 4 minutes long. I know this was because of the debate, but at least it is more weaning away from Baldwin.

Monologue: Felt like a planned monologue fell through, but Will gave me some real laughs here with his old standard "did I say that?" routine. The interplay with Tracy Morgan was fun. Ryan Reynolds looked very pretty. The woman reacting to him stole the show. I wonder if the show is moving away from 5-Timers fanfare in episodes or if Will just didn't want to go into all that. I was surprised, but not really that disappointed to be honest.

Heinz: At first I wondered if Will was going to angrily leave the table like in his old sketches. The moans cracked me up, as did perpetual teenager Kyle asking to...be excused. Melissa also had a good bit maniacally laughing and giving crazy eyes. Fun.

Debate: Honestly, it's hard to even know what to say about this. Was this any attempt at getting a political point of view across? I'm sure someone will say the show is out to get Yang, or Bernie, or is blindly supporting Kamala, or Warren, or Pete, or what have you. Or was it just an excuse to have a cameo-fest and beyond that to do "turns," peppered in with a few real moments from the debate to justify its existence? That's what it felt like to me. Should I be angry they had so many cameos? It's unfair to the cast, but it's not on the level of smugness as, say, Tina Fey's last episode, where they just had celebs and alum standing in the audience to, along with Tina, basically jeer viewers for wanting to see the cast. So I'm not angry as much as apathetic. I wouldn't really love this sketch with or without the cast. For 12 minutes, this still managed to have more life than a 4-minute cold open, and I could always find some bit (Pete's white supporter joke; Maya's meme fixation; Woody's ever-vicious Biden takedown; Rachel Dratch, as she did as a cast member, making the most out of scraps). Larry David was the most fun he's been in a long while, and Cecily Strong gave her best performance of the season (even if I imagine her casting gets backlash). The first was better, more organic. And the Warren characterization still needs a lot of work. Sort these out.

First Thanksgiving: I assume the idea was to point out the hypocrisy of people who go on about "our country" by reminding viewers that Native Americans would have had the same complaints. Of course when you have a white man giving this lesson, it becomes very muddled, although I did like the joke about white men playing Native Americans ("what is this...2014?"). A rare example of an SNL self-own working. I'm not sure why Maya and Fred were in this (unless it was to rebut further racism accusations). An interesting idea and OK execution, I guess? 

Party Song: Between Alex in a letterman jacket and the premise of the teacher at the party, I kept thinking back to Lin Manuel Miranda's ep. Nice to see Chloe get a few lines. This worked best at the end when they focused less on the party aspect and more on Will's despair.

Pizza: I rolled my eyes at what seemed like a Kate McKinnon wacky-fest, but once we got into the passive-aggressive (boy was that part believable) and nonsense portions, I found it more enjoyable. Will and Kate work well together, and Heidi and Kyle were good as the kids.

Update #1: I love Alex Moffat, but the same variation of "my dick is small and I'm sleaze" makes me shrug. This one completely doubled down on the grossness, and added Ryan Reynolds (perfectly cast here), so...it actually worked? I don't need to see this one again though.

Update #2 Che and Jost's shift away from politics and into corn (and Che trying to piss off Twitter) continues. I probably enjoyed the Buttigieg, Nazi and awful ultra-black jokes the most. This really feels like the type of dumb fun Jost prefers over woke posturing.

Cinema Classics: The concept worked much better than it should have, thanks to the performances from Will and the other Munchkin actors. I wish Melissa had played Dorothy, but that weird voice Kate uses does suit the role. Other than the weak ending I liked it.

Ventriloquist: Will's cracked-out straight man performance (Will is a master at this), along with Cecily's hysteria (first episode this season that has properly used her) made this build from too easy to genuinely good, especially the lube and that tag at the end.

Cut scenes: The Mexico sketch deserved the cut. The jeans ad was fun but presumably cut for censorship. The play sketch should have been included - great to see so many in the cast playing against type, and good energy with Will. Should've replaced the Thanksgiving piece.

Final thoughts: Political material was a drag. The rest had good points - the strongest two sketches closed out the night. I wish they'd included Celeb Jeopardy, but I thought Will and his very unique energy were properly used. I just want to see more focused writing. B/B-

36 minutes ago, slasherboy said:

Why is that?

Pete dated Larry's daughter until shortly before he began dating Ariana Grande.

Edited November 24, 2019 by Pete Martell

[Ms Blue Jay]

7 hours ago, ahisma said:

Their YouTube channel has three cut-for-time sketches. I would have preferred Cast List over the ventriloquist dummy or the horny for pizza ad.

Oh man!!!!

I'm a huge Will Ferrell fan and I'd love to watch these clips in Canada.

Anyways, I loved the episode!  I am excited for Jennifer Lopez and Eddie Murphy!

Edited November 24, 2019 by Ms Blue Jay

[madpsych78]

Eh, I am satisfied that Cecily played Tulsi. She's absolutely perfect for the part. 

I don't think Will's Tom Steyer is as good as Woody's Biden, but he totally nailed that Tom tends to stare right at the camera when he answers debate questions, instead of looking at the moderators. 

There was a shot (blink and you miss it) of Colin as Pete kneeling because Pete is actually so much shorter than Colin. So I LOLed at that. 

Honestly, I think the weakest player was Chris as Cory Booker. Chris has the wide eyes down but he comes off more like Thug Cory Booker. Chris needs to smile as he is talking more, combined with the wide eyes. 

[Peace 47]

I can’t stop laughing at the part of the cut “Cast List” sketch when the teacher tells Mikey to sing like he’s bed 1,000 women, and he breaks out into Belle’s song from Beauty and the Beast.  It’s the perfect choice of a song that is the opposite of what Will’s character asked.

[Robert Lynch]

I am not sure what is going on with Pete. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

SNL has posted some of the clips of the cut sketches on Instagram.  

[Pete Martell]

Poor Cecily was sick again this week.

[Robert Lynch]

Get well, girl! She's my favorite.

[bonniejmac]

8 hours ago, helenamonster said:

I got distracted during the monologue cuz the woman sitting next to Ryan was very pretty and had a great smile, and I started wondering how they picked the people who got to sit in those seats. Are they friends/family of the cast? Do the summer lottery winners sit there while the people in standby sit in the balcony? Especially if you're going to do a monologue that shows that part of the audience, you need to make sure the people aren't going to do anything crazy and should probably be mildly telegenic. I don't know, but I think it says something about the quality of the monologue that I was paying more attention to the audience members than what was actually happening.

I kept wondering about her too, because I took the NBC Studios tour at 30 Rock this past spring and when looking at 8H, they specifically mentioned that the floor seats usually go to friends and family of the cast/musical guest/host, so they can be assured it’s not just fans who might flip out and rush the stage or something. 

[peeayebee]

I've grown more fond of Woody Harrelson's Biden's impression. Like Biden, he's likable yet... off.

I like Will Ferrell a lot, so I enjoyed much of the ep. 

I thought the Wizard of Oz ep was very good. I LOL'd when Will said for the second time, "WHAT WERE WE WEARING?!" Loved Kate's Judy Garland impression.

The teen party music video was good, too. And the pizza commercial.

[Robert Lynch]

12 minutes ago, bonniejmac said:

I kept wondering about her too, because I took the NBC Studios tour at 30 Rock this past spring and when looking at 8H, they specifically mentioned that the floor seats usually go to friends and family of the cast/musical guest/host, so they can be assured it’s not just fans who might flip out and rush the stage or something. 

That would make a lot of sense, but knowing how the stage is so small, I could imagine how tight those balconies are. It's too bad we can't sit in the lower section. I like to be a fly on the wall and watch the whole thing unfold. I bet you those seats are not that comfortable to sit. I know the balcony has the original  Yankee seats! So nosebleed sections indeed.

[stonehaven]

Boat guy just made me want to shower....and I don't get the point except be "edgy" with juvenile wordplay but it's still just mysogonistic writing.

I did like the Dem Debate sketch..and as a Minnesota girl, I loved the joke about Klobuchar's bangs...

[Pete Martell]

56 minutes ago, stonehaven said:

Boat guy just made me want to shower....and I don't get the point except be "edgy" with juvenile wordplay but it's still just mysogonistic writing.

I did like the Dem Debate sketch..and as a Minnesota girl, I loved the joke about Klobuchar's bangs...

I've never really liked those pieces, which is too bad because Alex is one of my favorites of this cast. This one was so OTT I'm hoping it was done deliberately to finally close the door. 

Klobuchar replied about the bangs.

[Milburn Stone]

10 hours ago, Pete Martell said:

I've never really liked those pieces, which is too bad because Alex is one of my favorites of this cast. This one was so OTT I'm hoping it was done deliberately to finally close the door. 

Klobuchar replied about the bangs.

I like Klobuchar, but is she blaming the shaking on the HVAC system in Atlanta? Really?

Maya's Kamala is so good, I might start to get them mixed up. (Like I did with Fey/Palin.)

Edited to add: I just realized I like her Kamala so much, I want Kamala to win, just so I can see more of Maya.

Edited November 25, 2019 by Milburn Stone

[Quickbeam]

14 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I've grown more fond of Woody Harrelson's Biden's impression. Like Biden, he's likable yet... off.

I went to U of D when Biden was our senator (Blue Hens!) and he was frequently seen on campus. It's crazy accurate. Woody nails it, combining the weird statements with the big tooth sincerity. Plus was there when he got his hair plugs; looks better now. 

[DanaMB]

On 11/24/2019 at 4:15 PM, Pete Martell said:

Cut scenes: The Mexico sketch deserved the cut. 

I loved it because it came straight from 90 Day Fiancé (Caesar and Maria), candy panties included. 

[Pete Martell]

17 minutes ago, DanaMB said:

I loved it because it came straight from 90 Day Fiancé (Caesar and Maria), candy panties included. 

I read that. Unfortunately I've never seen the show so I couldn't connect them. 

[AnimeMania]

From the three cut-for-time sketches, one looks pretaped and the other two look like they would be performed live. How do they get the videos for those, do they tape a full dress rehearsal? Why can you hear laughing?

[wknt3]

3 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

From the three cut-for-time sketches, one looks pretaped and the other two look like they would be performed live. How do they get the videos for those, do they tape a full dress rehearsal? Why can you hear laughing?

Yes they tape a full dress rehearsal at 8pm on show nights with an audience so you will hear laughter just like you do on the live show. They use the audience reaction to determine what gets cut, moved up in the running order, etc.  Also the show sometimes uses the dress rehearsal version in repeats.

[heatherchandler]

20 hours ago, DanaMB said:

I loved it because it came straight from 90 Day Fiancé (Caesar and Maria), candy panties included. 

It is every last bit of the ill-fated trip to Mexico - the pre-paid dinner, the ticket that got cancelled because he didn't have money, the (ewwwww) candy panties.

[Pete Martell]

6 hours ago, wknt3 said:

Yes they tape a full dress rehearsal at 8pm on show nights with an audience so you will hear laughter just like you do on the live show. They use the audience reaction to determine what gets cut, moved up in the running order, etc.  Also the show sometimes uses the dress rehearsal version in repeats.

I read somewhere that they started taping dress in December 1985. 

It's interesting to read old recaps of episodes from that period as apparently they were heavily edited in repeats - moving sketches around, improving the quality of the audio for the musical performances, sweetening the laughter, etc. 

You can find a lot of old reviews for 85-86 here, complete with differences between live and repeat.

https://www.bendouwsma.com/snl-review-index

In other news, you will be shocked to learn there were no problems between Jost and Ryan Reynolds backstage.

https://pagesix.com/2019/11/25/colin-jost-joined-by-fiancee-scarlett-johanssons-ex-ryan-reynolds-on-snl/

[JZL]

On 11/24/2019 at 3:15 PM, Pete Martell said:

First Thanksgiving:  . . . Of course when you have a white man giving this lesson, it becomes very muddled . . .

Eh? So Tarantino can't do Inglorious Basterds because he's not a Jew?  Oh wait, that was waaay back in 2009 before civilization started.

[Pete Martell]

3 hours ago, JZL said:

Eh? So Tarantino can't do Inglorious Basterds because he's not a Jew?  Oh wait, that was waaay back in 2009 before civilization started.

Tarantino tends to do whatever he wants, but I'm not sure he would see himself as a voice on social or racial matters either. 

[Pete Martell]

Either due to Thanksgiving gifts, or the high amount of views all of Will's cut for time pieces have gotten over the last few days, SNL released the last of the CFT pieces from this week's dress rehearsal. 

[Jody]

On 11/24/2019 at 12:15 AM, ebk57 said:

I may have laughed twice during Update.  Otherwise, this show was deleted from the DVR as soon as it was over.  Good thing they have some time off.

        I Happened to Laugh During the Monologue ! IT struck me as being Funny ! I Did Not Know that Will Ferrell Could Do An Impression OF Tracey Morgan ! I Did not know that was what he was Doing AT First !

On 11/24/2019 at 12:42 AM, Arkay said:

While I generally find Will Ferrell amusing, the monologue was cringe-inducing. One overlong joke, with the ex-husband of Scarlet Johannsen? Wouldn't that be awkward for Colin? Or maybe these things are cool in 2019, I'm too old to know. 

I thought Kate did a great Dorothy. That was my favorite sketch tonight. I also adore Fred Armisen and everything he does makes me laugh.

Last year at this time, my heart was breaking for Pete and I was worried for his life. This year I'm tired of him having his own customized schedule. He's absent, or shows up for one line, and he's never in the goodnights. I get that it's awkward for him because he dated Larry David's daughter, but if Colin can be around his fiancée's ex-husband, Pete and Larry should be able to handle it. Or maybe Larry refused to have Pete around--I could definitely picture that!

It was fun to see all the familiar faces but it did cut into face time for the newer cast. I'd like to see Chloe more because she hasn't been on much. 

I have never heard of the singer and really didn't find her compelling. 

           Dan Aykroyd Was Dating Lorne's Wife Rosie Shuster And That Was In The Late 1970's ! Apparently, That Was Cool Back Then Because Lorne Did NOT Fire Dan Aykroyd !

On 11/24/2019 at 4:32 AM, rmontro said:

That would have been an expensive joke.

This was the same as last week for me, I enjoyed the second half of the show more than the first.  Very odd.  Can't say it was the best written show, but I thought it was funny, so that's  good.

Loved that they referenced the urban myth Munchkin suicide in Wizard of Oz.  Funny sketch too.  Also liked the ventriloquist bit, even if it was just one joke.

I even liked Weekend Update for a change.  I liked the Nazi joke about how everyone at the auction looked like they were bidding.

I like to say something about the musical guest:  King Princess did a nice job with the dancing and energy on her second song.

       Maybe, I am wrong, but I don't think it would have been too expensive to get Martin Short, Steve Martin And Chevy Chase ! Why would They be more Expensive than any body else ? Now, I Do Know that Nobody Liked Chevy Chase so that would be A Main Reason Not to do That !

On 11/24/2019 at 11:48 AM, JZL said:

I got the firm impression that the debate was supposed to be the CO but they pushed it farther back and came up with the POS that actually was the CO a half an hour before airtime.  That was the lamest CO I can remember.  That might also explain why WU was ~ 15 minutes late.

King Princess was pleasantly surprising-- she can sing and can actually play a musical instrument.

I'm no Will Ferrell fan but this show was OK.  The Vaseline bit at the end was a riot.

          Actually, The Cold open was VERY Short ! The Cold Open was Only THREE Minutes Long ! I Think the Debate Was The Real Long Sketch ! Maybe, The Debate Made Week End Update Run Late ! Week End Update Was NOT FIFTEEN Minutes Long ! Week End Update Started I think either 11:17 OR 11:20 ! ! I think they just put Too Many Sketches Before Week End Update ! Maybe, they wanted people to mainly think about the Wizard OF Oz so that was why They put almost every thing else before Week End Update except for the Ventriloquist !

On 11/24/2019 at 12:12 PM, futurechemist said:

The cold open did seem half baked. The audience cheered 5 seconds before Will showed up on camera and they never actually introduced his character as Sondland. Though I did appreciate them mocking Trump's tendency to hold press conferences near loud helicopters.

I laughed during the debate sketch despite not really liking it. It's all superficial jokes. Maybe because there's too many candidates. I feel Gore-Bush was the peak of SNL campaign humor.

           I Did NOT Like The Monologue ! I Thought There Wasn't Any Thing Going on There And I wanted Him To Move on, BUT, I Kept Laughing And Laughing During The Monologue !

On 11/24/2019 at 2:39 PM, slasherboy said:

Why is that?

      Pete Davidson Used To Date Larry Davidson's Daughter And Then They Broke Up !

On 11/24/2019 at 3:15 PM, Pete Martell said:

Cold open: Not one laugh. Shocking. The best part (besides that lady to Heidi Gardner's right who added some poise - who was that anyway?) was that this only being 4 minutes long. I know this was because of the debate, but at least it is more weaning away from Baldwin.

Monologue: Felt like a planned monologue fell through, but Will gave me some real laughs here with his old standard "did I say that?" routine. The interplay with Tracy Morgan was fun. Ryan Reynolds looked very pretty. The woman reacting to him stole the show. I wonder if the show is moving away from 5-Timers fanfare in episodes or if Will just didn't want to go into all that. I was surprised, but not really that disappointed to be honest.

Heinz: At first I wondered if Will was going to angrily leave the table like in his old sketches. The moans cracked me up, as did perpetual teenager Kyle asking to...be excused. Melissa also had a good bit maniacally laughing and giving crazy eyes. Fun.

Debate: Honestly, it's hard to even know what to say about this. Was this any attempt at getting a political point of view across? I'm sure someone will say the show is out to get Yang, or Bernie, or is blindly supporting Kamala, or Warren, or Pete, or what have you. Or was it just an excuse to have a cameo-fest and beyond that to do "turns," peppered in with a few real moments from the debate to justify its existence? That's what it felt like to me. Should I be angry they had so many cameos? It's unfair to the cast, but it's not on the level of smugness as, say, Tina Fey's last episode, where they just had celebs and alum standing in the audience to, along with Tina, basically jeer viewers for wanting to see the cast. So I'm not angry as much as apathetic. I wouldn't really love this sketch with or without the cast. For 12 minutes, this still managed to have more life than a 4-minute cold open, and I could always find some bit (Pete's white supporter joke; Maya's meme fixation; Woody's ever-vicious Biden takedown; Rachel Dratch, as she did as a cast member, making the most out of scraps). Larry David was the most fun he's been in a long while, and Cecily Strong gave her best performance of the season (even if I imagine her casting gets backlash). The first was better, more organic. And the Warren characterization still needs a lot of work. Sort these out.

First Thanksgiving: I assume the idea was to point out the hypocrisy of people who go on about "our country" by reminding viewers that Native Americans would have had the same complaints. Of course when you have a white man giving this lesson, it becomes very muddled, although I did like the joke about white men playing Native Americans ("what is this...2014?"). A rare example of an SNL self-own working. I'm not sure why Maya and Fred were in this (unless it was to rebut further racism accusations). An interesting idea and OK execution, I guess? 

Party Song: Between Alex in a letterman jacket and the premise of the teacher at the party, I kept thinking back to Lin Manuel Miranda's ep. Nice to see Chloe get a few lines. This worked best at the end when they focused less on the party aspect and more on Will's despair.

Pizza: I rolled my eyes at what seemed like a Kate McKinnon wacky-fest, but once we got into the passive-aggressive (boy was that part believable) and nonsense portions, I found it more enjoyable. Will and Kate work well together, and Heidi and Kyle were good as the kids.

Update #1: I love Alex Moffat, but the same variation of "my dick is small and I'm sleaze" makes me shrug. This one completely doubled down on the grossness, and added Ryan Reynolds (perfectly cast here), so...it actually worked? I don't need to see this one again though.

Update #2 Che and Jost's shift away from politics and into corn (and Che trying to piss off Twitter) continues. I probably enjoyed the Buttigieg, Nazi and awful ultra-black jokes the most. This really feels like the type of dumb fun Jost prefers over woke posturing.

Cinema Classics: The concept worked much better than it should have, thanks to the performances from Will and the other Munchkin actors. I wish Melissa had played Dorothy, but that weird voice Kate uses does suit the role. Other than the weak ending I liked it.

Ventriloquist: Will's cracked-out straight man performance (Will is a master at this), along with Cecily's hysteria (first episode this season that has properly used her) made this build from too easy to genuinely good, especially the lube and that tag at the end.

Cut scenes: The Mexico sketch deserved the cut. The jeans ad was fun but presumably cut for censorship. The play sketch should have been included - great to see so many in the cast playing against type, and good energy with Will. Should've replaced the Thanksgiving piece.

Final thoughts: Political material was a drag. The rest had good points - the strongest two sketches closed out the night. I wish they'd included Celeb Jeopardy, but I thought Will and his very unique energy were properly used. I just want to see more focused writing. B/B-

Pete dated Larry's daughter until shortly before he began dating Ariana Grande.

      NO, Melissa Does NOT Look like Dorothy Because She Is Hispanic and Dorothy Is A Midwestern American Girl ! I guess you thought maybe that Melissa would sound more like Judy Garland is why you wanted Melissa To Play Dorothy ! !

[xls]

WTH? At the end no masks, no  distancing, everybody hugging? did covid just disappear? 

[ebk57]

48 minutes ago, xls said:

WTH? At the end no masks, no  distancing, everybody hugging? did covid just disappear? 

Sorry if I've missed a joke here, but this show was from November... in the "before times. 

Edited September 20, 2020 by ebk57

[xls]

12 hours ago, ebk57 said:

Sorry if I've missed a joke here, but this show was from November... in the "before times. 

Oh okay, I was mistaken, I thought it was new😏

[Jody]

22 hours ago, xls said:

Oh okay, I was mistaken, I thought it was new😏

 

      IT Is Easy To Do That ! They Have Been Repeating Saturday Night Live Since May ! IT Might Be March ! One Thing Is That There Was That Thanksgiving Sketch And They Would Not Do A NEW Thanksgiving Show In September !