S46.E09: Kristen Wiig / Dua Lipa

[saber5055]

12 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

It's Kristen Wiig, so...let's get it over with.

No kidding. I strongly dislike Ms. Wiig, and HATED  HATED that Sue sketch. What a colossal waste of time THAT was. Plus Wiig was "a special guest" on the Paul Ruud rerun before this new show. Way to ruin a Saturday night, Saturday Night. A double dose of her is a double dose too much.

To the poster above wondering, yes Chloe's dog is indeed a Shiba Inu.

WU was great as always, it's my favorite part of SNL. Except when Bailey shows up. I tuned that part out. But the gift jokes had me laughing so hard, I almost missed them. Colin and Michael are so good together.

I also liked the cold open with Pence. But when Biden came out, I thought "Oh, carp, Jim Carrey, YUCK" so was pleasantly surprised and happy to see Alex. The Colonel Sanders comparison was a good one.

Loved Smokey Robinson since every news report on tv and radio was all over his Chanukah Cameo, that's all I heard and saw this week. So it was golden IMO.

And the videos where I did not recognize Wiig and she acted normally instead of OTT were pretty good. So I guess there's that.

[peeayebee]

12 hours ago, Melina22 said:

Unlike most here apparently, I absolutely LOVE Kristen, because I find her so funny. She's my favourite female comic. There's a part in Bridesmaids and two in Ghost Town that I've watched over and over because she makes me laugh so much. She doesn't even have to say anything funny to make me laugh, it's just her expressions. 

I like her, too. I think she's great at creating distinct characters. 

 

6 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

I also liked the cold open with Pence. But when Biden came out, I thought "Oh, carp, Jim Carrey, YUCK" so was pleasantly surprised and happy to see Alex. The Colonel Sanders comparison was a good one.

As he walked out I too thought it was Jim Carrey, but he also looked new and improved. I thought it was the makeup. I was very pleasantly surprised to see that it was Alex. I think he did great. Loved the Willy Wonka homage.

As far as the rest of the show, overall I liked it. I wasn't crazy about the Cold Open except for Pence saying, "Eyes off my elbows."

The monologue was fine. The lyrics were weird and funny.

Secret Word was predictable, but I still like Wiig's character. I didn't like Kate's. If I was motivated I would look up some of her early sketches and compare them to more recent ones. My thought is that she's not as crisp and defined in her characters as she used to be. 

I LOVED the Christmas Morning sketch. Wiig was great, as was everyone else. Very funny. "It really really hurt, but I didn't scream because I keep the pain inside of me."

The Christmas Eve 1944 sketch was pretty good. I liked the old timey talk, and Bowen is fun to watch.

A Teacher was fantastic. Ego is fantastic. Andrew was good, too.

I thought Melissa did a great job as Macauley Culkin. The sketch was dark but funny.

I hadn't heard about the Smokey Robinson thing, but that was hilarious. I love Chris Redd anyway. I don't think I've seen him do anything that disappointed me. And it was great seeing Willie again. "But did that stop me from beat-boxing at the nursing home?" Has Kenan lost weight?

The Grinch sketch was funny to me at first, but then I just got uncomfortable and felt it couldn't end fast enuf.

I FF'd thru the music bits. I guess I'm not a fan of Dua Lipa. Is that her name? I think I've heard a song by her that I liked, but I didn't hear one on this show.

[Robert Lynch]

When Wigg started, I liked her in the beginning. It was only when it became the Kristen Wigg show that I showed boredom and complete disgust of OTT characters that I began to feel tire of her presence on SNL. No offense to her and I know she can be good in other roles, but she overstayed her welcome on the show. When she left in 2012, I breathed a sigh of relief then. I could only take her in small doses. Even when she hosts SNL after leaving, her OTT characters still grates me to this day.

[Trini]

57 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

Has Kenan lost weight?

Could be? I'm not sure; I thought he looked a bit different, also.

[Galileo908]

5 hours ago, Robert Lynch said:

When Wigg started, I liked her in the beginning. It was only when it became the Kristen Wigg show that I showed boredom and complete disgust of OTT characters that I began to feel tire of her presence on SNL. No offense to her and I know she can be good in other roles, but she overstayed her welcome on the show. When she left in 2012, I breathed a sigh of relief then. I could only take her in small doses. Even when she hosts SNL after leaving, her OTT characters still grates me to this day.

That's been my problem with Kristen Wiig. She's talented and gives 110% commitment to anything she does, and I admire that. But she can't JUST be part of a sketch. She always has to be the center of attention at all times, and every one of her characters revolve around that. Very rarely are one of her characters part of an ensemble (see: the A-Holes, The Californians), every other character's role in a sketch is to react to her. And if she's not the focus, she shoves everyone else out of the way until she is. And this show was no different.

It's a good way to stand out in a cast, but after the more senior female cast members like Amy left, it just became all Kristen, all the time. And when she comes back to host, she HAS to be the star of every sketch.

I liken it to Poochie from the Simpsons. "When she's not on screen, everyone has to ask 'Where's Kristen?'" 

Edited December 21, 2020 by Galileo908

[Robert Lynch]

47 minutes ago, Trini said:

Could be? I'm not sure; I thought he looked a bit different, also.

He must be on the same diet like Al Sharpton. I noticed when people who were originally chubby on shows and movies do a complete 180, it's always big head or a small body. I applaud him for it, but, man, he looks so tiny now.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Alex Moffatt's Biden sounds like Bush (43) to me.

Rimming the tree. 😮

I love Bowen Yang. He is so game for everything.

That Scarlett Johansson joke tho. Maybe the next time she gets it in her head that she can play any race of character she wants her husband can talk some sense into her.

A three-way with the Grinch. I did not have that on my Can You Just Imagine? list.

A little Kristen Wiig goes a long way but it was okay to end 2020 I guess.

Quote

When they had the USO sketch I thought that was Gal Gadot

So did I. The way the audience cheered I was thinking it had to be someone unexpected.

Edited December 20, 2020 by Joimiaroxeu

[Fostersmom]

2 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

That's been my problem with Kristen Wiig. She's talented and gives 110% commitment to anything she does, and I admire that. But she can't JUST be part of a sketch. She always has to be the center of attention at all times, and every one of her characters revolve around that. Very rarely are one of her characters part of an ensemble (see: the A-Holes), every other character's role in a sketch is to react to her. And if she's not the focus, she shoves everyone else out of the way until she is. And this show was no different.

It's a good way to stand out in a cast, but after the more senior female cast members like Amy left, it just became all Kristen, all the time. And when she comes back to host, she HAS to be the star of every sketch.

I liken it to Poochie from the Simpsons. "When she's not on screen, everyone has to ask 'Where's Kristen?'" 

This, 1000%! She can't part of a sketch, she has to BE the sketch. Which is fine here and there, they all are looking to develop characters, but she chews scenery like a rabid hamster every time she's on screen. She just seems like the kind of person who is soul sucking to be around, like you dread the encounter since you know you're going to be physically and mentally drained afterwards. 

4 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I hadn't heard about the Smokey Robinson thing, but that was hilarious. I love Chris Redd anyway. I don't think I've seen him do anything that disappointed me. And it was great seeing Willie again. "But did that stop me from beat-boxing at the nursing home?" Has Kenan lost weight?

I heard the Smokey Robinson audio the other morning when I was driving to work and I was dying. I get the Chanukah spelling isn't the most common or pronounced like it looks, but you'd think celebs would go over the Cameos with someone on their team before hitting record. I mean it's like 30 seconds of work, at least practice it a few times! LOL! I've like Redd in all of the sketches I've seen him in. 

I think Kenan started losing weight last season. I noticed it well before this season, maybe even before their from home episodes in the spring. 

[Galileo908]

5 minutes ago, Fostersmom said:

This, 1000%! She can't part of a sketch, she has to BE the sketch. Which is fine here and there, they all are looking to develop characters, but she chews scenery like a rabid hamster every time she's on screen. She just seems like the kind of person who is soul sucking to be around, like you dread the encounter since you know you're going to be physically and mentally drained afterwards.

What We Do in The Shadows calls someone like that an Energy Vampire, and I'm 100% certain she is one.

[Thumper]

I am happy for a Kristin and her twins.  The People article photos, however, seem to focus on how thin and hot she is.  Can’t a woman have children (even via surrogate) and not have to wear a tight white bodysuit?

[lovinbob]

14 hours ago, Ottis said:

That was ... not funny. Even the audience seemed disconnected. I fell asleep.

And I would like to know where these homes are where the mom gets only a robe at Christmas. At our house, the mom gets better presents than anyone else. The dad is the one with socks and a tie. That seems much more common.

 

 

No presents on Christmas and filling my own stocking are the story of my life. Judging from my FB feed, I am not alone by a long shot. 

[JZL]

The CO was good. 

Then I suffered through what may have been the worst monologue in SNL history.  Was the January Jones monologue that bad?

Then I suffered through the first 30 seconds of Secret Word, just long enough to watch Kate enter and try to out-Kristen Kristen.

Then I thought, "There must be 1,000 other things to watch besides this piece of shit," and turned off SNL so I could watch Chris Rock and Jason Schwartzman in s4 of Fargo.

[scrolls to top of thread to see if there's any chance I missed something in this episode worth watching]

Edited December 21, 2020 by JZL

[Milburn Stone]

I love Mindy Grayson. I actually wanted that sketch to go on longer, and I NEVER feel that way about SNL sketches.

[possibilities]

22 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

How do you know she wrote her own monologue? 

I don't know who wrote it, but she performed it. If she didn't write it, then I'm disgusted with both her and the writer.

[VCRTracking]

7 hours ago, Fostersmom said:

This, 1000%! She can't part of a sketch, she has to BE the sketch. Which is fine here and there, they all are looking to develop characters, but she chews scenery like a rabid hamster every time she's on screen. She just seems like the kind of person who is soul sucking to be around, like you dread the encounter since you know you're going to be physically and mentally drained afterwards. 

I just wish for as much derision as Wiig gets,  cast members who are generous team players would get as much appreciation. Like I know some people don't like Will Ferrell but he was a great partner to female cast members during his time on the show. Even when he hosts he always does one sketch with Kate or Cecily and they have fantastic chemistry.

Love the Weekend Update joke swap and Che making Colin say that Scarjo joke was gold!

 

Edited December 21, 2020 by VCRTracking

[possibilities]

I did love he ScarJo joke. Sometimes, you have to just go for the kill.

[Dr.OO7]

On 12/20/2020 at 1:05 AM, saoirse said:

So it’s the SNL Christmas show and we get...no Christmas/holiday song and no ice skating? As far as I’m concerned, 2020 can f*ck right off

I'm glad I'm not the only one ticked off at that (though I understand that the pandemic may have made it impossible).

That's always been my favorite part of the Christmas show--the extended credits playing over everyone skating on the rink and the final shot of the camera panning up to the Christmas tree.

The last time they did it was in 2017:

A behind the scenes look:

For a comedy show, it's interesting how often they play the Reality Ensues trope--I liked the teacher putting her lusty student in place and telling him that nothing was going to happen between them.

Edited December 21, 2020 by Dr.OO7

[TV Diva Queen]

23 hours ago, JZL said:

The CO was good. 

Then I suffered through what may have been the worst monologue in SNL history.  Was the January Jones monologue that bad?

Then I suffered through the first 30 seconds of Secret Word, just long enough to watch Kate enter and try to out-Kristen Kristen.

Then I thought, "There must be 1,000 other things to watch besides this piece of shit," and turned off SNL so I could watch Chris Rock and Jason Schwartzman in s4 of Fargo.

[scrolls to top of thread to see if there's any chance I missed something in this episode worth watching]

UGH!!!  yes, I saw the same thing.  Enough already....

I'm so pissed that I didn't get the WU joke about ScarJo until after reading comments.. and I even knew the backstory - it just didn't click for some reason.  Shame on me.  

[Tdoc72]

On 12/20/2020 at 6:52 AM, Ottis said:

 

And I would like to know where these homes are where the mom gets only a robe at Christmas. At our house, the mom gets better presents than anyone else. The dad is the one with socks and a tie. That seems much more common.

 

 

My husband (and now my older kids) get me gifts but I’ve had to stuff my own stocking for 20+ years. I do remember one Xmas he put 1 candy bar in there. 

To me, it was about mom’s doing everything for Xmas and no one nothing. We might discuss a big item and the budget, but shopping and wrapping are all me. He doesn’t even know what most of the 3 kids presents are until they open them Xmas morning. 

Edited December 22, 2020 by Tdoc72

[helenamonster]

Meh. Kristen can be exhausting but she usually brings some energy with her. Most of the episode just fell flat, and she didn't seem like she had her regular mojo.

Yes to giving Ego more starring roles, she was fantastic in A Teacher. "Are women still doing this???"

Bowen is also such a joy to watch no matter what he does.

And Alex is definitely the logical choice for Biden. I'm glad they're finally giving it to a cast member. It started a little shaky but it definitely has room to grow.

I'm a big fan of Dua Lipa and even I thought she was Gal Gadot when she showed up in the USO sketch. I never realized how much they looked alike, but maybe since Kristen was promoting WW84 I had Gal on the brain. I'm not surprised at the dearth of cameos/guests. People are probably more reluctant to travel right now, and as cases go up in New York SNL might want to put a limit on how many people are clogging up the backstage area.

[possibilities]

Even if the new Biden impression wasn't the most satisfying impression ever, it was a lot better than what we've been getting recently, so I call that a win. 

 

[LuvMyShows]

On 12/22/2020 at 2:43 AM, possibilities said:

Even if the new Biden impression wasn't the most satisfying impression ever, it was a lot better than what we've been getting recently, so I call that a win. 

On 12/20/2020 at 4:54 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Alex Moffatt's Biden sounds like Bush (43) to me.

It did sound like Bush at first, and then morphed into just generic nothingness, and he didn't physically resemble Biden at all -- truly awful.  Alex Moffatt's Biden made me yearn for Jim Carrey's Biden, and that's saying something!  

[Quickbeam]

No one does Biden like Sudekis. 
 

I had to fast forward through the Aunt Sue sketch, it made my skin crawl. 
 

Cutest Shiba Inu ever! 

Edited December 24, 2020 by Quickbeam
Typo

[Pete Martell]

On 12/23/2020 at 9:35 PM, LuvMyShows said:

It did sound like Bush at first, and then morphed into just generic nothingness, and he didn't physically resemble Biden at all -- truly awful.  Alex Moffatt's Biden made me yearn for Jim Carrey's Biden, and that's saying something!  

Considering he had a few minutes of screentime, whereas Jim had about 30, it's difficult for me to compare them.

I thought he was a decent enough resemblance, physically and vocally - the voice was closer than I gave him credit for at first. I know a lot of people compare it to GWB but he didn't have the twang. With that said, the last time I enjoyed a Presidential impression on SNL was in 1994, so I am not getting my hopes up. I just hope Alex gets some other roles on the show that let his talent be used.

On 12/24/2020 at 2:56 PM, Quickbeam said:

No one does Biden like Sudekis. 

Jason was fun to watch, but it's hard for me to picture him playing today's Biden. 

On 12/21/2020 at 9:59 AM, Dr.OO7 said:

I'm glad I'm not the only one ticked off at that (though I understand that the pandemic may have made it impossible).

That's always been my favorite part of the Christmas show--the extended credits playing over everyone skating on the rink and the final shot of the camera panning up to the Christmas tree.

The years I grew up watching SNL, and most heavily watched it, they rarely if ever had the ice skating. I don't know if they had it at all from about the third season to 1996, and then there was another fairly long gap. I guess they must have started to have more after I stopped watching, but I was surprised this year at how many fans seemed to think it's an annual event. As far as I can see they just had it twice in the last decade (2011 and 2017), although I may have missed one. 

On 12/20/2020 at 11:14 PM, JZL said:

[scrolls to top of thread to see if there's any chance I missed something in this episode worth watching]

The teacher and robe pre-tapes and the Home Alone sketch were my favorite parts of the night, along with Update. The rest is probably not worth watching.

On 12/21/2020 at 11:02 PM, Tdoc72 said:

My husband (and now my older kids) get me gifts but I’ve had to stuff my own stocking for 20+ years. I do remember one Xmas he put 1 candy bar in there. 

To me, it was about mom’s doing everything for Xmas and no one nothing. We might discuss a big item and the budget, but shopping and wrapping are all me. He doesn’t even know what most of the 3 kids presents are until they open them Xmas morning. 

The man who wrote (or co-wrote) the sketch tweeted that it was a way of showing his guilt for the times he'd gotten his mother a robe.

Various mothers posted on Christmas morning about the robes they got (I make it sound depressing but they were made in humor, I assume).

 

Edited December 30, 2020 by Pete Martell

[possibilities]

I don't get the robe thing. If you raise spoiled brats or have a loveless marriage, sure, I guess you'll be sad on holidays. The whole martyr thing is not funny.

[JZL]

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

I don't get the robe thing. If you raise spoiled brats or have a loveless marriage, sure, I guess you'll be sad on holidays. The whole martyr thing is not funny.

It's hard to give xmas and birthday gifts to the love of your life, because you've already given them so much!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[theatremouse]

On 12/21/2020 at 6:59 AM, Dr.OO7 said:

For a comedy show, it's interesting how often they play the Reality Ensues trope--I liked the teacher putting her lusty student in place and telling him that nothing was going to happen between them.

I don't necessarily disagree, but that sketch in particular was riffing on another current TV show. It's less Reality Ensues for the hell of it and more "isn't this other show preposterous? 99.9999% of the time it goes like this."

[Jody]

On 12/20/2020 at 10:14 PM, JZL said:

The CO was good. 

Then I suffered through what may have been the worst monologue in SNL history.  Was the January Jones monologue that bad?

Then I suffered through the first 30 seconds of Secret Word, just long enough to watch Kate enter and try to out-Kristen Kristen.

Then I thought, "There must be 1,000 other things to watch besides this piece of shit," and turned off SNL so I could watch Chris Rock and Jason Schwartzman in s4 of Fargo.

[scrolls to top of thread to see if there's any chance I missed something in this episode worth watching]

 

        Yes, January Jones WAS That Bad ! January Jones Did Not Say Anything And I Think She Just Stood There And Then Said Don ! I Thought Chris Rock Mainly Stood Around And Was Worse Than Kristen Wiig ! I Think The Audience Was Dead With Harry Styles ! Other People Have Been Worse !