S40.E09: Martin Freeman / Charli XCX

[Iboatedhere]

I was nervous for this because I think Martin can sometimes come off dry and misunderstood (which is the polite way I'm saying dickish) in interviews but I thought he did a great job.

 

Every bit of the Christmas Mass sketch was amazing, especially the 12 year old boy who really doesn't want to be there followed by the 40 year old woman who really does and the softest joke followed by the softest laugh.

 

Update seemed short. Colin certainly grew into his looks and I'm a sucker for an FDR joke.

[Milburn Stone]

I do think this was the strongest Weekend Update of the year...

 

The more "serious" Colin Jost is, the funnier he gets.

[A Boston Gal]

Yeah, I agree Che was much better. But, I don't think his Daily Show experience lasted long enough affect him one way or the other. Whatever; I hope this represents an upward tick in his learning curve.

[lovinbob]

The technical term in Catholic churches is "C & E" Catholics.  Sometimes Poinsettia & Lily Catholics. 

The other variation is "A&P Catholics" -- ashes and palms. People like getting stuff.

 

I howled at this sketch. So much hilarious truth.

[Princess Sparkle]

Like others, I was surprised we didn't get a Sherlock sketch, but part of me wonders if they're either hoping (or have already locked up) that Benedict Cumberbatch will be hosting later in the season, and they're saving a Sherlock sketch for him.  He's an Oscar contender, so it wouldn't surprise me if he stops by after the new year.

 

I think the Christmas Mass was the best sketch of the night for me, followed closely by the wedding sketch.  I'm not Catholic, but every single one of those pieces in the sketch show up at Lutheran Christmas services too.  And while Kate was the funniest part of the wedding sketch for me, my other two laugh out loud moments were Beck's dry "Well, now that everyone else has gone, I also have my objections" and Keenan's "You have to be upfront with him!  The man just adopted the Wu Tang Clan!"

 

And I liked that first Charli XCX song, but what in the hell was going on with the second?  I know you have a crotch dear, you don't have to keep pointing at it, and Rihanna already did that move 3 years ago.  I swear, I'm not even 30, but sometimes, I feel so old when I watch some of these singers.  

 

Will there ever be a kick ass Rock band on SNL?

 

I am honestly surprised that the Foo Fighters didn't get booked already - they just had a new album come out, they have their tv show, PLUS they were just in NYC.  There is nothing more enjoyable to me than seeing Dave Grohl just jam the hell out.

Edited December 15, 2014 by Princess Sparkle

[BatmanBeatles]

It's sad how happy I got for Jacob when he gave a high five. He's growing! How can anyone dislike Jacob? I'm a sucker for that character. Most SNL recurring characters are redundant. I don't care if it makes me laugh.

I was so happy he came back. He reminds me so much of my son. He wears a Philadelphia Eagles tie to church. I hope he does other Jewish holidays like Purim and Yom Kippur.

 

Speaking of church, I'm not Catholic, but some of the church sermons I go to have some similarities.

[Princess Sparkle]

Oh, I meant to mention this before - something was just very...off about Sasheer's delivery in her WU bit.  It never quite hit the right tone, and I couldn't entirely figure out what she was going for.  It's like she was aiming for a "REALLY?" type segment, but just delivered it very blandly.  I just kept thinking about how much funnier it would probably be if Jessica Williams (from The Daily Show) was delivering that instead.    

[questionfear]

Oh, I meant to mention this before - something was just very...off about Sasheer's delivery in her WU bit.  It never quite hit the right tone, and I couldn't entirely figure out what she was going for.  It's like she was aiming for a "REALLY?" type segment, but just delivered it very blandly.  I just kept thinking about how much funnier it would probably be if Jessica Williams (from The Daily Show) was delivering that instead.    

I would have loved to see Leslie Jones deliver it...would be a nice change from her dating rants, and she would have actually added some emotion!

[Trick Question]

I really hope Aidy Bryant is using that bedspread with her face on it in her actual home.  That would be amazing.  I also really hope that her 'improvised Jamaican' character was a dig at Adrian Brody.

[helenamonster]

Oh, I meant to mention this before - something was just very...off about Sasheer's delivery in her WU bit.  It never quite hit the right tone, and I couldn't entirely figure out what she was going for.  It's like she was aiming for a "REALLY?" type segment, but just delivered it very blandly.  I just kept thinking about how much funnier it would probably be if Jessica Williams (from The Daily Show) was delivering that instead.    

 

I think part of the issue is that Sasheer doesn't have much of a voice. I thought Brooks Wheelan had the same problem last year. The material is so-so (I've seen the no black emojis thing done before, it's not new; I think the Youtuber Kingsley did it awhile ago, and that guy is hysterical), but with the right voice--you mentioned Jessica Williams, someone else said Leslie--it might have worked. Sasheer, to me, is voiceless. She doesn't make much of an impression with the material she's given. I spent most of the segment thinking how stunning she looked in that yellow dress, and I hate that because it goes against all my feminist sensibilities, but that's how little she grabbed my attention. And like I said, I thought the same about Brooks Wheelan last year. Mediocre material with a snoozefest of a delivery.

[Lakewood27]

I cracked up each and every time Keenan said "red boots!".

 

Loved the wedding sketch, especially Kate McKinnon.

 

Also loved Aidy in the waterbed sketch. Guess I'm a sucker for crazy voices.

[vb68]

Here's a cut sketch.  I can sorta understand because it doesn't seem like it goes anywhere beyond the basic setup of the idea, but I think Martin does an incredible job selling it.

 

I also just wanted to mention that Martin did a terrific job working with the cue cards, especially for a first time host.  They should definitely ask him back; he's a natural at sketch comedy.

Edited December 16, 2014 by vb68

[Chickp]

The Middle Earth/Office is going to be a classic, and as everyone else has said, the Mass was spot on. I work at a church and am going to make my staff watch it today. Best episode in a long time, minus Charlie XCX.

[K2DangerGirl]

 

At the very least, he could have been bunking with Benedict

Ehhhh, can't really see Martin going for that line.

 

I had no doubt he was going to do well, even as a first-time host, quite simply BECAUSE of "The Office".  Anyone who could make 14 episodes (Is that right? Two series plus the 2-part Christmas special?) of what is essentially an SNL sketch, with Ricky Gervais, no less, was not going to have any trouble.

 

I was a bit surprised "Sherlock" didn't get mentioned in the promo but: he's there to promote "The Hobbit", there was the "Office" sketch coming (also that's really his breakout role), plus they had to get in the mention of "the thing that no Americans will have heard of".  And it's possible that anyone who's only seen "Love Actually" on television doesn't even know that Martin is in it. 

[ABitOFluff]

I'll often re-watch sketches on that I like on Hulu, but this is the first show where I've re-watched most of the sketches more than once. To me, it seemed like rather than fizzle out like they usually do, a lot of them ended on really high notes.

 

Christmas Mass Spectacular was great throughout. I know I've seen all of these people at Mass. The waterbed sketch just kept getting funnier and funnier with each jingle, and then the big ending with Janine popping her face out her own face. But the one that kills me is the Heinz Ketchup factory. Taran sells that last line so well, it just cracks me up.

[peeayebee]

And it's possible that anyone who's only seen "Love Actually" on television doesn't even know that Martin is in it. 

I never thought of that. Is that whole storyline edited out?

[VCRTracking]

Well it involved some nudity and Martin grabbing a woman's breasts(they play body doubles for a movie).

 

The Hobbit Office sketch made me revisit some scenes from the BBC show and Bobby nailed the awkward dance:

 

Also reminded watching that the British version of Jan Levinson-Gould never got involved with David and didn't go crazy!

Edited December 17, 2014 by VCRTracking

[peeayebee]

Well it involved some nudity and Martin grabbing a woman's breasts(they play body doubles for a movie).

Oh yes, I knew that. It's a porn movie. I just never thought about the whole story being edited out. I can't remember how/if it intersects with any of the other stories.

Edited December 17, 2014 by peeayebee

[Miss Scarlet]

Cold Open - I liked this. It had some good lines, like when they're talking about how the psychologists got paid this ridiculous sum of money and they go, "well, actually it was 80 million for BOTH of us" or divided in half or something. The delivery there was pretty funny. The list of the other things designed by these psychologists did go on a little long for me though.

 

Monologue - The first part seemed a bit incohesive with the whole "everyone in Britain knows each other" part, but I loved Kate's Maggie Smith. People are writing about what a great impressionist Taran is and he can be, but I thought his Alan RIckman was awful.

 

Sump'n Claus - Kind of a funny premise, but not a very catchy song.

 

Wedding - Not a very original idea (they did something sort of like this in the Seth Rogen episode), but this was really funny. Nice to see Leslie play a more understated character and, as usual, Kate stole the show. Loved the way she said "dooooown". It had the older woman cadence completely on-point.

 

The Office: Middle Earth - I've never seen the LOTR or The Hobbit movies, but I love the Office so much and am a sucker for any parodies of it. This was great. I loved the callback to the office supplies in jello and I died when Bobby moved the ring up and down his finger and went "oohh, sexual". That was so Michael Scott/David Brent that I died.

 

Right Side of the Bed - Didn't care for this one. Again, Kate stole the show coming in as Keith Urban. So, so funny. Could see this one becoming a recurring sketch.

 

Christmas Mass - This one was great. I loved everything about it and the realness of it. The atheist teen, the soft laugh, the overly enthusiastic reader. All totally on-point. SNL has been really good lately at capturing and finding the humour in the realness of these situations, similar to the ideas behind the Thanksgiving one from a few years ago "Your Hometown", "Twin Bed" and that student drama sketch from the Cameron Diaz episode. 

 

WU - I pretty much only comment on the guests now. So I think Sasheer's delivery was off because she was nervous and so that led to her being a bit stiff/low-energy. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just feel like given the right opportunities she could be very funny. I thought that with Brooks, Noel and John too. It makes me sad to see people that are fired before given a chance, but maybe they were given a lot of chances and had a lot of writers willing to work with them, but just couldn't make it fit. I just think they all had the potential to be just as funny as some other cast members they've had. I thought it was funny that Cecily played the One Dimensional character, considering that it seems like she is forced to play one-dimensional ditzes in tight/revealing dresses on SNL all the time. Does no one who works there realize this? I thought it was a funny premise, but nothing new. It was too similar to even the Daisy Rose/Vanessa romantic comedy character from a few weeks back. I don't think Cecily's monotone delivery worked. Che mimicked Seth for the entire Jacob segment. I kind of groaned when Jacob came out, but at least they changed it up a little bit with the lawyer joke and the high fives. I thought his crying about Derek Jeter was kind of funny.

 

Heinz - The ending would have worked better for me if I had gotten so bored during the first part of this sketch.

 

Roman - So this was What Up With That on crack? Where instead of silencing Lindsay Buckingham, we want to saxophone player to talk, but he refuses to? This didn't work for me.

 

Waterbed - This felt very thrown together, but it had some funny parts. I like the part about how Aidy's character won a local talent competition and basically now thinks she could run the world. The props were pretty hilarious too. This was a welcome break from some of the more over-used 10-to-1 sketches, like the Porn Stars or Good Neighbor. 

[Princess Sparkle]

I never thought of that. Is that whole storyline edited out?

Yeah, the whole storyline is completely cut out when it's on tv.  I don't think it intersects with anything else, so if you've never seen the movie, you wouldn't really know you're missing anything.

[lulee]

Martin Freeman's accents were admirable I thought.  He really showed a range.  I only really know him as Tim from The Office so this was kind of cool to see.

He did do quite well with the accents. There was 1 noticeable slip: when he said "LEE-ver, I mean LEH-ver" in the Heinz sketch, but that's no biggie and it charmingly reminded me of years ago when Alan Cumming hosted and he had a line as an American character about having had "calf implants" and he said "CAHF" rather than "CAF." It's hard work to do an accent well and they just had those little slips.

 

I thought Freeman was great and that it was the strongest ep all season. I don't know if Jost and Che had better material, better delivery, or some combination, but even they seemed to be doing well.

 

Adding more love for Taran. As someone who watches Charlie Rose on his show or CBS This Morning on occasion, I can say that Taran got his unique drawly cadence down pretty well.

 

And the Christmas mass was spot on. I was reminded of a particular reader who may have been Cecily's inspiration. This woman read like she had just been handed the Bible by an archangel every time she read. Every. word. was. so. magnificently. important.

They could have given Jay a cold rather than sweaty hands. Everyone has the experience of seeing an outstretched hand two minutes after you saw that person sneeze.

Edited December 17, 2014 by lulee

[ratgirlagogo]

While I was disappointed by the lack of Sherlock this really was one of the most breathtakingly awesome episodes in fucking years. It just has seemed for years that this show thought being funny and working to punchlines was kind of hacky, or something. For whatever reason the writers were just on FIRE for him and nothing dragged on and on without any real ending in the traditional SNL fashion. Special high marks to The Hobbit in the Office sketch and the Church sketch.

[mizkat]

I thought it was funny that Cecily played the One Dimensional character, considering that it seems like she is forced to play one-dimensional ditzes in tight/revealing dresses on SNL all the time. Does no one who works there realize this?

 

Apparently not, even though it's 1000% true. 

[dbro]

I have no idea why Che seemed so nervous early this season since he held down his Daily Show duties very well, but I think he's finding his groove.

I think both Che and Jost have improved a bit throughout the season but it's just not good enough for me. I think Kate has really displayed her awesome talent and would love to see her replace Che on WU.

Edited December 19, 2014 by stacey
Fixed quoting issue

[morgankobi]

I would hate for Kate to be on WU only because it would lessen her appearances in other sketches! (Plus, I'd miss her Russian lady on WU.)

[helenamonster]

While I'd definitely miss Olya (and, of course, my personal favorite, Angela Merkel), I don't think her sketch time would be cut. Cecily maintained plenty of facetime in sketches when she was an anchor. So did Amy Poehler back in the day. Honestly, they have nothing left to lose with Update at this point. I say try it.

[Fergula]

I loved when Leslie broke during Kate's wedding speech.  It wasn't even as if she were trying to suppress the laughter, it looked for a split second as if she forgot she was in sketch and was just enjoying the zaniness of Kate.  This makes me wonder how different the dress rehearsal is from the live show. 

 

My immediate thought when Sasheer started her WU bit was that she was trying to follow in the footsteps of Leslie, which of course is ironic because Sasheer was on camera first.   I agree with the poster above that her delivery was very non-descript.   I feel badly for Sasheer because there was such hype when she came on the show, but now there's more talk about Leslie.

 

 And I don't know the timing of personnel, but was Leslie a writer before they hired Sasheer?  If so, it seems odd no one noticed that Leslie has a wonderful persona that translates well on television.  But I'm glad she's on now.

[theatremouse]

I loved when Leslie broke during Kate's wedding speech.  It wasn't even as if she were trying to suppress the laughter, it looked for a split second as if she forgot she was in sketch and was just enjoying the zaniness of Kate.  This makes me wonder how different the dress rehearsal is from the live show.

It looked to me sort of like she let herself laugh/didn't catch herself right away because she thought the camera was just on Kate, so she was sort of lax for a second, and then realized she actually was on camera and tried to pull it together. I mean, who knows what was really in her head, but I don't think she forgot she was in the scene, it seemed like she just didn't realize they'd cut to her.

[peeayebee]

Before I deleted this from my DVR, I rewatched, or at least rewatched all the sketches that I really liked. I think I only FF'd past the Right Side of the Bed one. What a fantastic ep.

 

Oh and this morning when I opened my steel-lidded kitchen trash can, it squeaked, and I swear in my head I instantly heard Aidy in the waterbed commercial say, "JaNEEEEEEEEEEEN." :D