S40.E12: Blake Shelton

[formerlyfreedom]

Blake Shelton hosts and performs.

 

 

[vb68]

It's probably a good week for a vet or two to come back and help out or someone like Tom Hanks did when Elton John hosted.

Edited January 22, 2015 by vb68

[Princess Sparkle]

I actually wouldn't be surprised if Adam Levine showed up (probably not the vet you're thinking of, I know).  But he seems to be a friend of the show, and he's a friend of Blake's, plus you could get your Voice sketch in (you just know they'll be one).

Edited January 23, 2015 by Princess Sparkle

[Primetimer]

Will someone successfully talk him out of a pro-American Sniper monologue/tirade?

Read the story

[Actionmage]

I want to see the cheese grits food truck sketch/digital film! If we get the guys from last week's Brooklyn mayo shop film, even better!

[VCRTracking]

Country music stars have surprisingly turned out to be great guests on the show: Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton. Blake has a sense of humor so this should be good.

 

 

 

 

 

[The Crazed Spruce]

I figure the cold open will be Obama delivering an increasingly optimistic and energetic SOTU address (We've fixed the economy! We're going to Mars! I've cured cancer!), to an increasingly stone-faced Republican congress, with Joe Biden hooting and hollering in the background.

[vb68]

They could also go with Belicheck, Tom Brady, and the whole deflategate mess.

 

I don't think Sudeikis will be there as Biden, and I'm not sure if Taran or anybody else wants to step into those shoes.

 

Maybe, but I kinda doubt it.

[Slade347]

It would be a perfect time to bring back Pete Schweddy.

[helenamonster]

It would be cool if they could merge the #deflategate stuff with Obama's sassy SOTU somehow for the cold open. Hopefully they don't just take the easy route and make the Patriots thing one long "ball" joke.

 

Oh, who am I kidding? That's exactly what they're going to do.

[Brattinella]

So far, I am loving the hell out of this week's show!

[Galileo908]

Cold Open: And we start with Deflategate! You guys called it! Beck was so great as Belicheck "throwing my quarterback under the bus." Angry Kate vs Angry Bobby, who won? All of us. That was easily the best part.

 

Monologue: No idea who Blake Shelton is, but okay, good to see ya. Is he really the "Justin Bieber of Country Music." I was really disappointed that this was gonna be another singing monologue (even though as a musician, it was obvious that he'd do one), but we got a Hee-Haw bit instead. Leslie Jones was great, but I agree with her, it was uncomfortable.

 

Farm Hunk: Did not think the sketch would become as madcap as it did, but I loved this sketch for that. I do like how each (white) girl was exactly the same, mostly. Aidy, Leslie and Kate were amazing. Kate is still the best, but you know her character would've been played by Kristen Wiig and would've been insufferable.

 

Wishin Boot: Really good video. This was a really good, funny one. Was not expecting a boot to pull out a knife, but it's been that kind of show tonight.

 

Celebrity Family Feud: Pharrell got his hat from Smokey The Bear, that was great. I was not expecting this show to toss out a joke and reference like "Marc Maron 5" but like I said, it's been that kind of show tonight. I loved Kenan pointing out how Blake looked like Keith Urban "if he eaten one of those Super Mario Bros mushrooms."

 

WU: Well, it opened with a joke tying Deflategate with the SOTU, so good call with that one, too. Well that whole Riblet thing came out of left field but I liked that. Bobby's gunning for Che's job, folks. I was wondering why these features (that's what the drop-in characters are called) only talk to one anchor. There's two anchors and only one of them reacts. Riblet brought up Colin, but Colin did nothing that whole bit. But at least that came into play during that awkward bit with Che's ex (and THAT only became funny when Riblet came back)

 

According to this tweet, Riblet was cut after the dress from last week's show.

 

Red's Parole: I figured the premise would be that Red would not be paroled, but the reveal that he was the Texas Gobbler? And that he wanted to eat someone again? I liked that. Hell, I thought it was funny.

 

My Darlin Joan: Hell, I liked this. Touching, a "screw you," and funny. "There's three more verses!" "Nope, going to commercial!"

 

Card Trick: This was dumb, but Blake's enthusiasm sold it for me. And of course Kenan's reactions.

 

I was honestly expecting this one to suck, but I was pleasantly surprised. JK Simmons hosts next week and I am very, very excited about that.

[Sader87]

Jesus....that was awful from almost start to finish....the Patriots cold opening bit was decent.

[Mumbles]

I don't watch The Voice and my country music tastes are more old school, so I wasn't familiar with Blake Shelton but found him fun to watch. His crazy eyes in the magic sketch were great. Leslie Jones stole the Hee Haw opening and I liked her appearance in the Farm Stud sketch. She and Blake seemed to have a war exchange during the close.

The line about the Voice being on TV more than the Mucinex Booger Man in the Family Feud sketch had me rewinding and laughing again, a few times.

Another Pete Davidson (who I like fine) appearance on WU where the punchline of the joke involves being gay. Odd.

Edited January 25, 2015 by Mumbles

[helenamonster]

Cold Open: The best part was Bobby and Kate (no surprise) reenacting A Few Good Men. Otherwise, meh. I hate how they feel like they have to spell out the jokes. "I'm so dumb!" "Let me throw my quarterback under the bus!" We get it, guys. Jesus.

 

Monologue: I cringed when he pulled out the guitar but this wasn't bad. After it was over I found myself wondering why they didn't have making Leslie laugh be the point. At the end he was all "Yes, we made Leslie laugh!" as if that had been the goal the whole time. Idk, that part was weird. But Leslie was really good in it.

 

Farm Hunk: Lolz at Kate with the macaw. And Leslie playing herself. This was pretty good.

 

Wishing Boot: I'm not sure how I feel about this. It kind of threw me for a loop with its randomness.

 

Family Feud: Celebrity Edition: This wasn't as good as past iterations, but I thought all the impressions were pretty solid.

 

Weekend Update: I can't decide if this was the best or worst Update of the season. First of all, way to botch the first joke of the night, Colin. Dude, wake the fuck up! And then when they first brought Riblet in, I was bouncing back and forth between "ugh, why are they trying to make Michael happen" and "hey, Bobby wouldn't be too bad at this." Then I was wondering (hoping) that this was the show's subtle way of removing Michael from his position, but I guess not. I didn't really like Pete. Really, jokes about gay men being good-looking and clean in 2015?

 

Prison: I liked Cecily in this. Idk why, she didn't do anything particularly special, but her reactions were just really well-timed.

 

Topeka Today: Taran's old man makeup was awesome. This got a few chuckles out of me.

 

Magic Show: Ah yes, 10-to-1 land, my mothership. I loved all the weird things Blake was requesting from Taran. "I wanna be a black guy but just for a day." Damn.

 

I was expecting this show to be a nightmare to get through but it was actually really good.

 

Country music is basically the bane of my existence so I don't keep up with that world, but Blake's second song sounded like a parody of country music. Talking about tobacco and trucks and whatever else. Has country music just reached the point where it's making fun of itself? I'll never understand it.

Edited January 25, 2015 by helenamonster

[vb68]

Riblet for Update!   Don't tease us.

 

I thought this one was just okay.  It wasn't my favorite, but I do think Blake put forth  his best effort  and he was fine. But it was also my impression around the Family Feud sketch that they were scraping the bottom of the barrel of ideas of what to do with him.

 

Sasheer is slowly starting to get more screentime.

 

I liked the Cold Open and incorporating the lines from "A Few Good Men" was really clever.   I couldn't decide if the monologue was meant as an actual big diss on Hee Haw.   I was leaning toward yes.

 

ETA: 

 

Prison: I liked Cecily in this. Idk why, she didn't do anything particularly special, but her reactions were just really well-timed.

 

I kept waiting for them to call out Kenan's character for blatantly quoting Morgan Freeman's  speech in Shawshank, but it never happened.   I guess it can be stretched that he was suppose to be (a version of) Morgan's character, but that wasn't my take.  I thought he was stealing the lines. 

Edited January 25, 2015 by vb68

[MarquisDeCarabas]

I wonder if they didn't kiss in the Family feud sketch because Blake wasn't quite willing to go that far, (which given the go down on myself bit later seems awfully surprising.)

 

Like I don't know what he's like off Camera, but on Camera he's never been afraid to play up on the love/hate bromance he has with Adam, or the innuendos  and it's not like dropping behind the podiums isn;t risque either, but implying is one thing doing it is another.

[MrWhyt]

Another example of how a so-so episode is elevated by a host who just seems happy to be there and isn't afraid to be goofy.

[Pete Martell]

I wonder if they didn't kiss in the Family feud sketch because Blake wasn't quite willing to go that far, (which given the go down on myself bit later seems awfully surprising.)

 

Considering some of his past statements, I wouldn't be surprised.

 

http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/entertainment-news/2011/05/05/blake-shelton-tweets-homophobia

 

With that said, if his views stopped yet another EW! GAY!! GAYS ARE SO ICKY IT'S HILARIOUS!!! "kiss," I can't complain.

[possibilities]

Kate wins at everything. I didn't plan to say it every week, but it can't be helped. She made the Family Feud sketch.

 

I actually thought Colin was a little better this week, but Che is getting worse. Too bad he left The Daily Show. His persona worked for that environment.

 

Funny show, I thought.

 

The "wishing boot" was genius.

[teebax]

This show needs to find humor in something other than the gays. Seriously. It's 2015, yet every freaking episode has at least one uncomfortably gay joke or implication. I've been out since 1995, and I'm not saying gay humor should be off limits, I make jokes about myself all the time. But this show goes to that well way too often, to the point where I wonder if the writers don't have any other material.

While it had a few moments (I'm starting a campaign for Riblet to take both Michael and Colin's jobs), it was an overall weak episode for me.

[absnow54]

I actually thought Colin was a little better this week, but Che is getting worse. Too bad he left The Daily Show. His persona worked for that environment.

I thought the same thing. I don't know if they write their own jokes, but Michael's were all terrible too. (What was the one about King Abdullah getting hit and killed by a female driver?) I think Colin is getting a bit better with his delivery, I especially liked his "National Hug Day... DAD!" delivery. It was an easy joke, but it worked. I think they could both take a lesson from Bobby, who actually knew how to set up a joke and then deliver a punchline with the right inflection and pacing. Che and Jost seem to try and plow through every joke with the same "can you believe this?" candor that makes all their jokes fall flat.

[hendersonrocks]

(What was the one about King Abdullah getting hit and killed by a female driver?)

 

 

I wondered in the moment if there was a technical blip on this one--I have seen stories this week about Queen Elizabeth driving King Abdullah in her Range Rover and how unusual it was, so when he first said the joke I expected a photo of her (or the two of them in the car) to pop up.

 

On the whole, that was terrible. And:

• Kate McKinnon is a national treasure. She sells everything she's in, even if she can't salvage it.
• Kenan Thompson is going to leave a massive void. Never thought I'd say that, but he's going to be missed.
• Colin Jost should make a dad joke every few weeks. It seems to be him at his best.
• Pete Davidson...I really think you can do better. And do it soon, please, because I'm not really down with your scared-to-be-gay bit anymore.

 

Onwards & upwards to J.K. Simmons and D'Angelo. I kind of squee'd!

[allboys]

Women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia.  I guess that's the joke?

[peeayebee]

The line about the Voice being on TV more than the Mucinex Booger Man in the Family Feud sketch had me rewinding and laughing again, a few times.

I missed that line. Very funny. The best thing about this sketch was the lines from Kenan as Steve Harvey. I thought the impressions were… unimpressive.

 

 

I kept waiting for them to call out Kenan's character for blatantly quoting Morgan Freeman's  speech in Shawshank, but it never happened.   I guess it can be stretched that he was suppose to be (a version of) Morgan's character, but that wasn't my take.  I thought he was stealing the lines. 

 

I like the way they did this. Kenan sounded like Morgan Freeman, and his lines were from (or sounded like they were from) Shawshank, so it was a big, hilarious surprise when it turned out that his crime was eating people. I'm very glad nobody actually pointed out that he sounded like Freeman. Excellent sketch.

 

I guess I should have watched the Belichek/Brady press conference. Maybe I would have appreciated the Cold Open more. Of course Kate and Bobby yelling at each other was great.

 

I thought the Hee Haw bit was ok. I'm sure lots of viewers are too young to remember that show where the jokes were really that bad. I loved Leslie in the blonde wig.

 

I thought Farm Hunk was pretty funny. I've never watched The Bachelor or any of those dating reality shows, but the humor still came thru. Although I like Leslie, I didn't like the way this sketch ended. BTW, she consistently messes up lines in sketches. I wish she could fix that.

 

I thought the Wishing Boot video was the best. Hilarious. I don't know if Blake, Kate, and Aidy were supposed to be real singers or just generic country singers, but I was struck by how much Aidy looked like Wynonna in that wig.

 

WU had that great line and delivery by Colin about National Hug Day. 

 

 

 

I wondered in the moment if there was a technical blip on this one--I have seen stories this week about Queen Elizabeth driving King Abdullah in her Range Rover and how unusual it was, so when he first said the joke I expected a photo of her (or the two of them in the car) to pop up.

I think the joke was just supposed to be ironic, that Saudia Arabia forbids women from driving, so the king was killed by a woman driver. Not funny, poorly delivered.

 

Topeka Today was pretty good. The song lyrics were funny.

 

The magic show sketch was ok. For some reason I loved how Blake just stood there behind Taran and said, "Make me rich." SNL needs to work on how they end sketches.

 

I thought Blake did an ok job, but this wasn't a particularly successful ep. Tara's ideas for how the show would go were fantastic. She needs to write for them.

 

Oh, and I loved in the Family Feud sketch how Kenan's Ving Rhames joke bombed. It wasn't a bad joke, so I don't know why the audience didn't laugh. Do they not know who Ving Rhames is?

Edited January 25, 2015 by peeayebee

[Chit Chat]

I thought the Hee Haw bit was ok. I'm sure lots of viewers are too young to remember that show where the jokes were really that bad.

 

I thought it was a cute way to pay homage to the show while poking fun of it a little bit.  Back when we only had 3 channels to watch, Hee Haw was something we tuned in to every once in a while.  People on TV didn't call each other bitches or SOBs, so although the Hee Haw jokes were always corny, they were harmless and the whole family could watch it. 

 

I thought Blake did a really good job as host.   He seemed prepared and didn't mess up his lines.  He did better than some of the regulars!   Although I'm not a country music fan, I thought he and his band sounded good. 

Edited January 25, 2015 by ChitChat

[helenamonster]

I wonder if they didn't kiss in the Family feud sketch because Blake wasn't quite willing to go that far, (which given the go down on myself bit later seems awfully surprising.)

 

Like I don't know what he's like off Camera, but on Camera he's never been afraid to play up on the love/hate bromance he has with Adam, or the innuendos  and it's not like dropping behind the podiums isn;t risque either, but implying is one thing doing it is another.

 

I think it might be a similar thing as to why Chris Martin didn't really kiss Andrew Garfield in that sketch from last season...they're musicians, not actors. I think, sexuality aside, someone who doesn't act might feel really uncomfortable kissing someone they don't really know or who they aren't attracted to.

 

I think Colin is getting a bit better with his delivery, I especially liked his "National Hug Day... DAD!" delivery. It was an easy joke, but it worked.

 

My problem is that he told an almost identical joke last season, something like, "Cheerleading has officially been declared a high school sport...DAD." And that wasn't the only repeat joke that they told tonight. Michael had one that ended with "your momma," and it's got to be at least the third time he's done one of those. Also, when he stumbled over a joke and then went "Riblet, everybody," just like his "Prince, everybody" from a past stumble.

 

I like the way they did this. Kenan sounded like Morgan Freeman, and his lines were from (or sounded like they were from) Shawshank, so it was a big, hilarious surprise when it turned out that his crime was eating people. I'm very glad nobody actually pointed out that he sounded like Freeman. Excellent sketch.

 

Having only seen bits and pieces of The Shawshank Redemption, I didn't even pick up on that. I didn't think he sounded like Morgan Freeman at all. I feel like if they had wanted him to, they would have just had Jay do it.

 

I think one of the best lines of the night goes to Aidy in the Farm Hunks sketch: "I was kidnapped as a child! But it happened the same day as JonBenet so no one cared!" It was dark and the audience groaned (they actually groaned a lot last night, I feel) but I appreciated the risk.

[VCRTracking]

Kate and Bobby re-enacting "A Few Good Men" in the cold open, the Bachelor sketch, "The Wishin' Boot' was great but went on too long, Kate and Aidy's look I believe was based on Reba McEntire and Winona Judd, I liked Pete Davidson on Update, the final magician sketch. I laughed when Blake said

 

Again I mentioned this previously but other country stars like Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton had great episodes, but then I realized they had better writers. I'm tempted to get Hulu Plus just to see the Dolly episode again and the "Mountain Stories" sketch.

Here's the transcript and reading it I had forgotten this bit. Dolly's line delivery and Phil Hartman's reaction were so funny:

 

 

Dolly Parton: Oh, we made our own fun, Dennis! Why, we'd sing, and we'd play games.. and Momma would dream up stories for us, I mean stories that were a whole lot better than anything you could watch on television today!

Phil Hartman: [ smiling ] She must have been quite a woman!

Dolly Parton: Well, you don't have to patronize me, Phil. [ Phil appears confused]

Edited January 25, 2015 by VCRTracking

[vb68]

 

Having only seen bits and pieces of The Shawshank Redemption, I didn't even pick up on that. I didn't think he sounded like Morgan Freeman at all.

 

 

Exactly.  If it was suppose to be an actual impression, I didn't get it.  But Kenan's impressions always sound just alike to me anyway.

 

 

My problem is that he told an almost identical joke last season, something like, "Cheerleading has officially been declared a high school sport...DAD."

 

I remember that.  I thought it was one of his few good jokes from last season.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised he went to that well again, but I thought it was  less effective here.

 

I can't believe that they went to the trouble of doing an opening with Riblet.  That's teasing people.  I wonder if it made Che a little uncomfortable.   And I'll say it.  The joke about the female driver is the type of joke he shouldn't go near.  Awkward.   To me, it seemed like he knew it as soon as he said it.

 

Were there less taped pieces last night?   It seemed like it .  There definitely wasn't a Good Neighbor one.  That just seems funny with a host like Blake Shelton where you would think they would want more insurance.

Edited January 25, 2015 by vb68

[futurechemist]

Here's what Weekend Update taught me last night.

1 - Colin and Michael have no chemistry, and SNL has acknowledged this by having them never interact, and practically never appear on camera together.

2 - Bobby would be a good anchor, definitely better than Michael.

3 - Humor should punch up, not down.  So when Saudi Arabia bans women from driving, you should make fun of the Saudi leadership, not Saudi women.

 

I don't like country music, so none of the musical stuff did anything for me.  Blake was funny, but this episode didn't have nearly as much energy as last week.

 

I'm not a fan of the Family Feud sketch.  They have to spend so much time getting through the 8 impersonations that there's barely any time for any sort of plot.

[mikem]

The lyrics to "Boys 'Round Here," Blake's second song, are really, really bad.  I almost thought they were doing a sequel to "Wishing Boot."  

[Fabricationary]

The lyrics to "Boys 'Round Here," Blake's second song, are really, really bad.  I almost thought they were doing a sequel to "Wishing Boot."  

 

Yeah.  I really enjoy when musicians-as-hosts parody their own songs or make them into a satire of a current event, sometimes very successfully (case in point: Miley Cyrus's SNL parody We Did Stop).  I don't think Blake Shelton has any mainstream well-known songs for this purpose, but more inspired writers could have attempted to work one of his better-known songs into DeflateGate or Obama's "I won both" (crossover with Blake Shelton's winning record on the Voice maybe?).  Instead we just got the lame Family Feud Voice judges sketch.

Edited January 25, 2015 by Fabricationary

[Padma]

This show needs to find humor in something other than the gays. Seriously. It's 2015, yet every freaking episode has at least one uncomfortably gay joke or implication. I've been out since 1995, and I'm not saying gay humor should be off limits, I make jokes about myself all the time. But this show goes to that well way too often, to the point where I wonder if the writers don't have any other material.

 

No kidding. How is that material even funny, it's so dated (and as unfunny as it was, it went on so long). Adam Levine and Blake making out at least had the context of the show, where they joke about their bromance a lot. But, seriously, there've got to be some people who realize this isn't the easy "go to" any more when you need a laugh..\

 

But the worst "skit" was the one about the serial killer who was a cannibal and was released from prison, then got his victim drunk in Mexico and killed and ate him. Did I miss some hilarious context for this in the news lately? I thought everyone's acting was very good, but the writing? Yikes. Where was the humor supposed to be found in that one?

 

But I really enjoyed Blake Shelton--you could see he knew his lines better than some of the regulars, only occasionally needing a look at the prompter, and he did a great job acting the various parts, I thought, really a natural for the show. I enjoyed the HeeHaw bit because they all sold it, likewise FarmHunk, which I found pretty funny, too. But the Wishing Boot?  That was so different from SNL, imo--so original and funny and, I have to say, as absurd as it was, that song was better musically than many that are actually playing on country radio now. They were all so good in it (and I thought Blake looked very amusingly similar to Alan Jackson).

 

Overall, it had more highs than lows for me, so...a better than usual SNL.

Edited January 25, 2015 by Padma

[Dancingjaneway]

I thought last nights show was good. I noticed that Blake didn't have a ton of lines during the prisoner sketch and the Bachelor spoof sketch. I think that was smart because it kept him from flubbing a shit ton of lines(which happens to a lot of first time hosts). The only spot on impression from the American Idol side during the Family Feud sketch was Kates version of Keith Urban other than that it was horrible!  I have to say though I did laugh at Keenans descriptions of each celebrity and the Blake/Adam bit was funny to me as well. Wishing Boot was spot on not only in the lyrics but the video as well. I thought Kate was Martina McBride, Aidy was Winona and Blake was just some random country guy. The deflategate opening was funny and I particularly liked the guy playing Bellicheck stating that he had "dressed up" for the conference yet was still wearing his same attire. I also loved Kate and Bobby re-enacting the "Few Good Men" scene. The faces after he admitted to it were priceless. I'm really going to miss Keenan because his reaction faces save sketches half the time. Leslie was hilarious during the Bachelor spoof. I wasn't sure what was going to happen during the Topeka Today/Joans song sketch. At first I thought the pics were going to be graphic or it was going to be scary but then the song changed and it was really funny. The magic show sketch cracked my shit up and that's thanks to Blake for going all out and also the different things he wished for.  Riblet needs to replace Michael Che because he was SO much better at being funny and at delivering the jokes. I enjoyed the Hug Day joke Colin actually did well with the timing on that joke. Michael Che is a mega douche and last night didn't help get rid of that label. Once again Kate is a freaking treasure and I have to say Taran is also doing a bang up job. All in all a good show. 

[helenamonster]

I feel like the Riblet thing severely backfired and I find that kind of hilarious. I think what they wanted it to do, especially paired with Sasheer's ex-girlfriend, was make Michael more palatable. But all I'm seeing about it is, "Bobby as Riblet doing Update is better than Colin or Michael." Talk about missing the mark.

[Machiabelly]

The ending voiceover for the parole sketch was more Shawshank reference. Andy was the other character

[reggiejax]

I think one of the best lines of the night goes to Aidy in the Farm Hunks sketch: "I was kidnapped as a child! But it happened the same day as JonBenet so no one cared!" It was dark and the audience groaned (they actually groaned a lot last night, I feel) but I appreciated the risk.

 

 

I thought that joke was funny, but of course it is easy to see why others would not. Though that is twice in recent weeks that I have been reminded that JonBenet, were she alive, would be old enough to be on The Bachelor, and would probably have grown up to be the type who would have appeared on the show.

 

By the way, I don't mean that as a criticism, I rather tend to like the women who appear on the show, for the most part. But a lot of them do have similar backgrounds to JonBenet, particularly in beauty pageants, whether as a child like JonBenet or as adults. 

 

I wasn't sure about Blake Shelton hosting, but he gave it a good try and did not embarrass himself. And for those unfamiliar with Shelton, he was only joking when calling himself the Justin Bieber of country music. He is sort of the happy medium between walking stereotypes like Toby Keith and artists who some might call country in name only, like Keith Urban, so ably impersonated by Kate McKinnon. 

[Grammaeryn]

I figured something out about Weekend Update (it's news to me and futurechemist noticed). Michael and Colin never interact, it just switches from one shot to one shot with no wide shot that shows them together. I would have really loved to see Colin's face when the Saudi Arabian woman driver joke bombed. We would have seen Tina and Jimmy or even Amy glance at each other and shrug or do something. Instead we just had Michael's face to look at as a turd died.

Edited January 25, 2015 by Grammaeryn

[Toaster Strudel]

Yeah, Michael Che has got to go.

 

A "your momma" joke?  Please.  That stopped being funny when I was in first grade.  Some time around 1922.

 

The Saudi "joke" is not the first whiff of misogyny that he exhudes.  It was profoundly unfunny.

 

It looked to me like they were forced to interact on the level of laughing at each other's jokes more obviously, or maybe getting more caught on camera doing it.

 

But all in all, I really don't like Che.  His humor is juvenile or straight up offensive, his constant fumbling is off-putting, he looks under-rehearsed, and his enunciation is lazy.  What was Lorne thinking?

[Katmai]

 

On the whole, that was terrible. And:

    Kate McKinnon is a national treasure. She sells everything she's in, even if she can't salvage it.

    Kenan Thompson is going to leave a massive void. Never thought I'd say that, but he's going to be missed.

    Colin Jost should make a dad joke every few weeks. It seems to be him at his best.

    Pete Davidson...I really think you can do better. And do it soon, please, because I'm not really down with your scared-to-be-gay bit anymore.

Kate is very versatile and she only adds to everything she's in.

I'm still not seeing any range in Leslie, she does the same thing all the time.

Kenan will leave a huge void due to him being in most every skit, but personally, I've not ever liked him and will be glad when he goes.

Pete's WU bit felt like his first WU appearance 2.0. It wasn't great the first time he went there and it wasn't last night either.

 

I'm not a country music fan at all, nor do I watch The Voice, but I'm aware of Blake Shelton. I wasn't looking forward to his musical bits and ended up muting them. Sure, he was enthusiastic being there, but this wasn't a funny episode for me & MrMac at all.

 

Our one bright spot turned out to be Riblet! I turned to MrMac and said Bobby should, and could, do WU all by himself, but then that would cut his skit time and that wouldn't be a good thing.

 

Looking forward to next week's show and trying to forget this week...

[MrWhyt]

 

But the worst "skit" was the one about the serial killer who was a cannibal and was released from prison, then got his victim drunk in Mexico and killed and ate him. Did I miss some hilarious context for this in the news lately? I thought everyone's acting was very good, but the writing? Yikes. Where was the humor supposed to be found in that one?

In the absurdity of a cannibal thinking he was at a parole hearing, and that he actually had a shot when he ate a guy just a few days ago, and still thinking he was going to be paroled all through the sketch.

[Toaster Strudel]

Didn't they call him the "Texas Gobbler"?  That is such a goofy moniker for a macabre character, and he was so hilariously child-like.

[peeayebee]

Exactly.  If it was suppose to be an actual impression, I didn't get it.  But Kenan's impressions always sound just alike to me anyway.

For me, he evoked Morgan Freeman's character just the right amount. He had that wise, calm demeanor like Freeman, but he was a monster underneath. And I'm soooo glad Jay didn't do the skit. I just don't find Jay funny except in filmed segments.

[Princess Sparkle]

I want the Wishing Boot to be my new ringtone. I'm not gonna get that song out of my head for awhile. I couldn't stop laughing at "The whole dang time that dog was the boot."

The Bachelor sketch was spot on, right down to the "can I steal him for a second?" Everything Aidy and Kate said had me dying, from Aidy's baby weight lifting competition line and Kate continually bringing him random gifts.

I think Bobby has to be at WU every week - not as the anchor, but as some kind of character. He just kills me. He is, by far, my favorite cast member, followed closely by Kate and Aidy.

[stonehaven]

The Hee haw bit made me angry in that the guy who was playing banjo was faking...and I was hoping for real banjo....plus, I wanted to know who it was that played the banjo...

Sorry, I rarely see banjos on TV and when I do, they take all my attention..

'Other than that..meh...and I really have grown to hate Update....at least they could throw in "Girl at a Party" once in awhile..

[theatremouse]

Bummer it was fake banjo? Not that I'm a fan of the constant pop-ins, but come on, if you don't have one in the band, grab Steve Martin.

[stcroix]

The Wishing Boot skit......  was this just supposed to be a random funny skit, or am I clueless about something they were lampooning or referring to?

[theatremouse]

I thought it was a generic "country songs sometimes make absolutely no sense" lampooning, and parody of the types of country singers there were portraying (Aidy was clearly styled to look like Winona Judd, Kate had a Reba vibe) but not a spoof of any specific song/person.

[niklj]

The Hee haw bit made me angry in that the guy who was playing banjo was faking...and I was hoping for real banjo....plus, I wanted to know who it was that played the banjo...

Sorry, I rarely see banjos on TV and when I do, they take all my attention..

'Other than that..meh...and I really have grown to hate Update....at least they could throw in "Girl at a Party" once in awhile..

Are you sure he was faking, though? He was playing the banjo during Blake Shelton's performances.

 

Why was there no J.Lo in the Family Feud skit? Why did they use Nicki Minaj when she's not even on the show anymore? I could see her not being game to have an impression being done of her (Vanessa could've played her maybe).

 

The amount of Sasheer in this episode further cemented that she is quite limited. Whether she's doing standup at the WU desk or doing an "impression" (which, to be fair, are probably as good as any of Kenan's impressions), her delivery always comes off quite flat and uninspiring.

 

Blake was a good host, though. He had pretty good comic timing, especially during the magic skit.

[theatremouse]

Why did they use Nicki Minaj when she's not even on the show anymore?

Usually in that sort of situation they try to figure out not only who does the best impression of whomever but who has an impression of possible people. So, I'm just guessing, either nobody could do Jennifer Lopez, or they thought the Nicki Minaj impression we saw was a better Minaj impression than the Lopez impression was of Lopez, assuming anybody even attempted a Lopez impression.