S40.E15: Chris Hemsworth / Zac Brown Band

[vb68]

 

Does anyone know when the next show is and who the host is? I haven't heard any mention of it. Usually they have a card on the show, saying what's next, even if it's a few weeks off.

 

 

I'm guessing the deals aren't set in stone yet. They might be still negotiating or even still shopping around to see who is available. Either way, I understand waiting until they have firm commitments before announcing them.

 

 

I enjoyed Taran as Robert Downey Jr though is it just me or did it seem way too much like Norm's Burt Reynolds in some of the cadence?

 

It definitely reminded me of Norm, too.  So much so that I wish they got him to cameo for it.

 

I'm glad that Chris loosened up.  The monologue had me a little nervous. I kinda wish he had just walked out on stage, flexed and said "Let's  go!" 

 

Oh yeah, The Empire parody really needed some killer Cookie zingers.  There weren't even any references to "Boo Boo Kitty" or "fake-ass Halle Berry."   The visual of Leslie as the assistant cracked me up, though.

Edited March 8, 2015 by vb68

[mtlchick]

 

Oh, and was Hemsworth ad libbing in the chicken sketch?  There were parts like when the chicken kept turning away from him and he kept calling it.  I thought Lorne hates ad libbing.

 

If anything it shows that Chris is quick on his feet and managed to not fully break given the absurdity of it all.  Plus it proves that all chicks dig him.  

[Traveller519]

Once we got through a monologue, a short, and a live skit devoted to how good looking Chris is, the show really took stride. Good lord the chicken skit had me laughing, from Chris acting off a live checked, to all the microwave jokes...That bitch.

If last week's update was the most polished of the season. This week's was definitely the loosest from the hosts. I think they benefited greatly from having all the alum around for the 40th anniversary show, plus settling into the role. And Michael got some sketch time!

The Porn stars still make me laugh. Cecily's dead eyes for this skit belong in an SNL hall of fame. I do wish they would mix the skis up a bit and send them to some new locations, Sweeney Sisters style.

[peeayebee]

Overall, I thought Hemsworth was much better than the skits. I find no fault with him.

 

It was weird watching Kate do Hilary. The hair and wardrobe were perfect -- When I blocked out Kate's face, it looked just like Hilary. The hand gestures, facial expressions, and laugh were great, but I don't know what she needs to do to make it better. Still, it's Kate, so it's pretty good.

 

I liked the simplicity of the monologue. Nothing outrageous, no singing. Just get it out of the way.

 

I thought the fake AmEx commercial was ok. Well done but forgettable.

 

I really liked Brother 2 Brother. Both Taran and Chris were really good. I esp liked Taran when he was reacting to the teacher's breakdown of how he didn't look like his brother. And Aidy's description of their butts was fantastic. 

 

I don't watch Empire, so I don't know how that impacted my reaction to this skit. It was ok. 

 

I loved how weird the chicken sketch was. I was impressed with how well it was trained. And it was pretty! I guess I'm picky, but I think this could have been executed better.

 

I don't know much about Iggy Azalea. I've heard that she's an inauthentic rapper/hip-hop singer, but I didn't know she had a feud with someone, and I don't know who Sasheer was supposed to be. The one little part I liked was when Iggy was improvising a rap, and Chris was behind her and said, "Bang bang," just like one of the tips. Other than that, this wasn't much.

 

In WU, that line misreading by Jost was fantastic. When he said 36 inches, I was all, What? Oh, three point six. Then the banter betw him and Che was great. Well done. I also loved the Dr Ben Carson bit. Very well done. 

 

There were two jokes Jost made that I thought were good -- the one about Hilary emailing about Obama and the one about Netanyahu being the Republican 2016 nominee -- but Jost's delivery of them wasn't good. They didn't land as well as they deserved.

 

I loved Hemsworth in the Avengers sketch. I loved Bobby's reaction when Thor high-fived him. And that's it.

 

The acting coach thing was so-so. 

 

I liked So You Think You Can Live With Brian. This was maybe my favorite thing in the show. I don't watch reality shows, but that didn't affect my enjoyment of it. 

 

I guess I'm over the pornstars. The malapropisms are kind of tiresome. 

 

And Douche and GoBananas was amusing.

 

I thought Chris said Douche and Go Bye-Bye. I also liked the pornstars' Dolky Gababa.

 

I like Leslie, but her bit here wasn't that funny or fun. I'm tired of Cecily's Girl At a Party character. I really hate listening to her. As she droned on, I started thinking about other WU characters based on the same joke: Drunk Uncle, the "I'm pretty sure" guy… Seems like there are others.

 

But again, I really enjoyed Chris. Good personality, very game, lots of energy.

[blueray]

I liked this episode, which surprised me. I missed the beginning but that's okay.

 

The Disney one was funny, especially since they often get adults playing kids.

 

 "drunk" Thor. That was awesome, lol. I thought that the cast did a good job being the other characters, it's to bad they could get them to do cameos.

 

Captain Chicken:  I was actually loling at this. I'm amazed how the cast was able to keep a straight face the whole time. And how Chris didn't get distracted when the chicken wasn't doing what it was suppose too.

 

I also liked weekend update. That black woman (sorry I don't know her name...) was awesome. It seemed like she was doing standup, which was really funny.

Edited March 8, 2015 by blueray

[absnow54]

I wasn't a fan of Kate's Hilary Clinton, the kookiness just didn't fit the way it has for other impressions. I much prefer Amy Poehler's version, because it was the right level of smug and competence to make it funny. Kate's seemed like she was trying so desperately hard to make the character funny, that she ignored the fact that Hilary Clinton is a real person that she was supposed to be imitating. I don't think anyone else could do Clinton beside Kate, and I'm glad they're using her, I just hope she tries something different next time.

 

Usually the sketches are way too long and go on well past when the punchline has played out, but I found a lot of sketches last night to be too short. Like the Brother 2 Brother sketch felt like it was missing the third act, like they only got half way through writing it and thought, "fuck it, it's good enough." I guess it's better than overstaying one's welcome, but when the sketch ended, I was caught off guard, because I was expecting Chris to come back for a bigger payoff.

[mtlchick]

 

I wasn't a fan of Kate's Hilary Clinton, the kookiness just didn't fit the way it has for other impressions. I much prefer Amy Poehler's version, because it was the right level of smug and competence to make it funny. Kate's seemed like she was trying so desperately hard to make the character funny, that she ignored the fact that Hilary Clinton is a real person that she was supposed to be imitating.

 

For me, it's Kate's eyes. I do think she has beautiful eyes but sometimes they can look a bit "manic."   So for MOST of her impressions, they work well because most of her characters they verge into that territory.  For this impression, they didn't.  Plus when Amy made a huge impact with her impression, it's going to be hard to measure up to that. 

[M. Darcy]

Luke! My favorite brother!

I admit it - I laughed when I first saw the chicken. That bitch.

[Miss Scarlet]

I'm really not a fan of episodes where the theme of the episode is "this person is sooooo hot". And I get that this wasn't totally true of Chris Hemsworth because he's also funny and a good sport, but generally I'm just not into it. I don't care what the hosts look like. I just want them to be funny. I will say that at least SNL seems to do this with as many male hosts as they do female hosts. 

 

Similar to this, there were comments on the internet after Dakota Johnson hosted about how she isn't hot enough to host or to be an actress and I thought those comments were gross. She shouldn't have to be hot for either of those things. She should just have to be a good performer.

[grooveshinney]

When that picture of the portrait of Bill Clinton came up, I thought it was Ted Koppel! I'm not sure about the 'no pants' part, but from the neck up, they look exactly the same.

[VCRTracking]

I haven't seen The Jeffersons in a long time but I feel this is pretty accurate to the acting styles of Sherman Hemsley!

 

Did they just spoil Avengers 2 in regards to Thor's relationship status with Jane?

 

Kate McKinnon as Hilary Clinton was a little weird. Probably because in comparison to Amy Poehler as someone posted, but lots of other Jan Hooks or Ana Gasteyer have been successful. I think the key to Hilary is that she usually has a foil to react to like Bill Clinton, Sarah Palin or Obama. Just her by herself I don't think is funny.

Edited March 8, 2015 by VCRTracking

[MarquisDeCarabas]

For me, it's Kate's eyes. I do think she has beautiful eyes but sometimes they can look a bit "manic."   So for MOST of her impressions, they work well because most of her characters they verge into that territory.  For this impression, they didn't.  Plus when Amy made a huge impact with her impression, it's going to be hard to measure up to that. 

Yes I don't know if they are just really bright or slightly large but she does get a manic look.  I want Uzo Aduba to  host so that they can do who has the craziest eyes

[peeayebee]

That's a good point about Hilary needing a foil for the sketch to really work. I can't recall all the impressions of Hilary, but isn't she usually portrayed as sane and smart? I don't see humor in portraying her as crazy re political matters. 

[Irlandesa]

I wasn't a fan of Kate's Hilary Clinton, the kookiness just didn't fit the way it has for other impressions.

Me neither.  I thought the writing for the segment was pretty good but Kate was trying to inject something bizarre or exaggerate something into the character that isn't recognizable to something real in the person didn't work for me. 

 

Leslie Jones as Porsha was the best part of the Empire sketch.

 

Weekend Update was better but for some reason all the off-the-cuff stuff still felt very calculated to try to address the chemistry issue.  I guess I'm going to need to see a lot more before I feel them.

[vb68]

I thought Kate's Hillary was fine.  I just showed it to my Mom, a diehard Hillary supporter and she thought Kate it, especially the laugh.  I'm sure it will get more refined, but it certainly wasn't bad by any means IMO.

[Fostersmom]

Usually the sketches are way too long and go on well past when the punchline has played out, but I found a lot of sketches last night to be too short. Like the Brother 2 Brother sketch felt like it was missing the third act, like they only got half way through writing it and thought, "fuck it, it's good enough." I guess it's better than overstaying one's welcome, but when the sketch ended, I was caught off guard, because I was expecting Chris to come back for a bigger payoff.

 

I found a couple of them too short too. The monologue seemed like the shortest in recent memory, the Brother 2 Brother sketch, even the Iggy Azela, as bad as it was, seemed to just end. I didn't exactly mind the shorter sketches though. For once it was nice to want more than to be hoping for it to just end. 

 

I floved the chicken sketch, Captain Poulet for the win. That was one well trained chicken and Chris really sold it well. It could have been ridiculous, and it was, but at the same time I bought that he loved the chicken. 

 

Update was almost okay. The mistake by Jost actually made the entire Update worth it. And god help me, I'm dreaming of the day we get Cecily's party girl and Riblet together. They would have the most amazing conversation. 

 

I wish they would give Beck more to do, he was the highlight of the Brian sketch. 

[Jonathan Seagull]

I have two things I wanted to note:

 

1) I'm glad I'm not crazy, or at least not alone, in thinking that Update was more entertaining. Full disclosure, I'm actually pretty okay with Jost/Che in general, but I still thought it was a noticeable improvement.

 

2) So...is no one going to mention the seemingly very actually naked guy in the shower during the reality sketch? I'm assuming it wasn't actually Chris Hemsworth, but I'm a little surprised no one has brought it up.

[Fostersmom]

I actually assumed it was Hemsworth in the shower and I was okay with that!

[Jonathan Seagull]

I guess it could have been, I just thought it would be odd to have him strip down completely for a 2-second shot and then immediately change. Though I guess the logic could be that if he had to change anyway he might as well get naked first.

 

Though if it is Hemsworth (or if people assume it is), that makes it even more odd to me that no one brought it up, what with all the pre-show talk. :-)

[paul4295]

I thought it was a pretty good show. The chicken sketch was totally absurd and total genius. They need to be doing more sketches like that. I also enjoyed the Empire sketch, and it's nice that they now have enough black performers that they could to do it. I'm not a huge Kenan Thompson fan, but his Terence Howard impression was very good.

[cpcathy]

My husband walked in on Kate doing the Hillary sketch, he thought she was Angele Merkel again!

 

OK show, loved the American Express commercial and the So You Think You Can Live with Brian. AVClub said Beck and Kyle aren't long for this show, as they haven't been promoted after last season--it always takes two seasons to be promoted. I still think they are contributing, Kyle is getting in more sketches lately, Beck was in the sketch they cut last week (shouldn't have been cut, IMO). I thought the Brian sketch was clever and fresh, I would hate to see Kyle and Beck get the boot, I was happy they got to stay this season.

 

God help me, I laughed during Update--any joke that starts with "this just in!" cracks me up.

 

Oh, and on a shallow note--Chris Hemsworth has little dot eyes.

[jjj]

 Good lord the chicken skit had me laughing, from Chris acting off a live checked, to all the microwave jokes...That bitch.

"Chicken skit"  Heh. 

[methodwriter85]

I really loved the American Express commercial because I watch the Mindy Show so I've seen the actual commercial many, many times.

 

I think this is an example of an episode that works not because of the writing, but because the host was just so game and clearly having a ball. The chicken sketch would have not worked with a bad host.

 

 

Disney Channel Show: Once again, I got where they were going with this and Hemsworth is charming as hell and I liked the whole constant comparison. I felt like they could've done much more with this. I mean it's a Disney Channel sitcom...make it as sanitary and ridiculous as possible.

 

 I thought they could have done a better job with making it feel like a real, current Disney show. They should have watched that one Patty Duke Show rip-off they're doing now, and they also should have included horrible autotuned singing.

[vb68]

 

AVClub said Beck and Kyle aren't long for this show, as they haven't been promoted after last season--it always takes two seasons to be promoted.

 

I think they are reaching on that.  It's still their second season, and I think they brought in the third Good Neighbor guy for the writing staff and to help with the shorts.  

 

I thought this was one of their better shorts, too.

[WendyCR72]

For me, it's Kate's eyes. I do think she has beautiful eyes but sometimes they can look a bit "manic."   So for MOST of her impressions, they work well because most of her characters they verge into that territory.  For this impression, they didn't.  Plus when Amy made a huge impact with her impression, it's going to be hard to measure up to that.

 

I'm even older school. I loved Hartman's Bill and Hooks' Hillary Clinton. Maybe Hooks wasn't much like her, but I loved her give-and-take with Hartman. (I remember, in one sketch, they played the Clintons as white trash in a COPS episode. It was awesome.)

 

All I have, besides that, from last night was Chris Hemsworth seems so damned charming. And endearingly goofy.

[Trini]

 

The acting coach thing was so-so.

 

Nope; it was bad. BAD.

 

 

2) So...is no one going to mention the seemingly very actually naked guy in the shower during the reality sketch? I'm assuming it wasn't actually Chris Hemsworth, but I'm a little surprised no one has brought it up.

 

I (eventually) assumed it was a body double, so I didn't see the point of bringing it up. ::shrug::  Now, if someone from the show can confirm that was Hemsworth's naked booty, then we have things to discuss!

[helenamonster]

Cold Open: Not bad, but if a) Hillary does run and b) wins, I think Kate and the writer(s) are going to have to work together to figure who "her" Hillary is. She's the obvious choice for the impression, but I feel like political impressions need to be developed very carefully so that they can walk that fine line between actual impression and original character. I think her Angela Merkel is a great example of this; she has the voice and whatnot down, but she's also turned her into a lovable goofball. The potential's there, they just need to expand on it.

 

Monologue: Hemsworths! I think there's a fourth brother (that's not Kenan in an awful wig). Oh, and is it just me, or is Liam starting to look like Dan Stevens (Matthew on Downton Abbey)? Something about the eyes.

 

American Express: Meh, whatever. I don't think the airing of the actual Mindy Kaling commercial afterwards really helped much.

 

Brother 2 Brother: Um, did Wally drop the cue cards and they just decided to end the sketch where it was? It was building such a nice momentum and then boom! Over.

 

Empire: I haven't gotten around to Empire yet, so I'm not sure whether or not I would have enjoyed this more if I'd actually seen it. But I've been impressed with other parodies of shows/movies I haven't seen, so maybe this one just missed the mark? I did laugh when Chris's character had a backpack on with the chest strap buckled, but only because that was an inside joke between me and my high school friends.

 

Chicken: First of all, how this sketch managed to air any time before 12:50, much less before Update, is startling. But I loved it. That chicken was ginormous! And, like, kind of pretty? And very well-behaved; I was afraid she was gonna freak when Chris picked her up. But then when she got cooked in the microwave...oh my God. This is exactly the kind of brand of wtf-ery that this show needs more of. And the fact that no one broke is super impressive.

 

The Iggy Azalea Show: I thought Kate had Iggy's mannerisms down, especially the difference between her speaking and rapping voices. But I don't know why they didn't take an opportunity to let loose on her; she's a documented bigot. So is Azealia Banks, for that matter. Don't be afraid to step on some toes, Show.

 

Weekend Update: As much as I hate to admit it, the Colin/Michael chemistry has vastly improved. However, as usual, I come in with a litany of complaints. First of all, what was with the "what's up?" from Michael as the segment was starting? This better not become a thing, I hate it with a passion. Also, the delivery for most of the jokes from both guys was so abysmal. I demand they both be locked in a room from when they finish Update during rehearsal to when they're ready for the live segment and they just read the jokes over and over and over. Their stumbling/misplaced emphases is so fucking distracting. And while it was impressive that Colin was able to bounce back from that "36 inches" stumble, the fact that he stumbled at all took away from the joke he was trying to tell and was just super annoying. Leslie was awesome as always. My family from out of town came to visit me this weekend and we did a lot of sightseeing which included a lot of walking, so my cousin was enjoying and cracking up at almost everything Leslie said. "I've been on 5th Avenue for 12 hours? When the hell am I gonna get to 6th?" And I still love Girl At A Party. "Hey, it's Carina. Haha, she's dancing. No, wait, she's having a miniature seizure."

 

Avengers: Boring.

 

Acting Coach: Boring.

 

So You Think You Can Live With Brian?: Genius. They crammed pretty much every single reality TV trope into a three-minute sketch. Very, very impressive. I don't like everything the Good Neighbor guys do, but when it lands, it lands.

 

Porn Stars: I love them and I'm not ashamed.

 

Objectively speaking, the episode really wasn't that good, but I enjoyed it. Chris seemed to be having a blast and everyone's energy was great. Kate got a lot of screentime, which was awesome. But the writing really needs to improve. They have such a great cast who can elevate some really shitty material, but it would be nicer if they actually had more decent stuff to work with.

[theatremouse]

Oh, and was Hemsworth ad libbing in the chicken sketch?  There were parts like when the chicken kept turning away from him and he kept calling it.  I thought Lorne hates ad libbing.

I didn't think he was ad libbing so much as he got thrown off and was trying to compensate? Or something to that effect, or rather, if he were ad libbing, it wasn't just for the hell of it.

I actually thought Kate's Hillary was fairly accurate, possibly too accurate? This is hard to explain. So there's one level of super accurate impression where it's SO spot on realistic it's freaky so even if it's not especially funny, if it's just that good it still has an impressive factor of just "so real". Jay does a number that I'd say go into that category. On the other hand, there are impressions that actually aren't super accurate, but make you feel like they are because they take a trait or three and exaggerate them, but in a hilarious but still recognizable way. Kate's Hilary wasn't exaggerated enough to be funny just because of that. And it wasn't quite accurate enough to stand on accuracy alone. Or possibly Hillary, even accurate alone, just isn't interesting enough to be funny. You need to exaggerate her to make it funny.

The parts of the Hilary bit I laughed at were basically Kate's facial expressions, but the funny facial expressions were the least Hilary of it, breaking from a sort of straightforward realistic sounding Hilary for contrast. And I just think it wasn't quite enough contrast. They really just played the "she super wants to be president, duh" angle and the "refuses to say she's running" angle. So, I think it has a solid foundation and think it has room to potentially get better, depending on what happens with Hilary next.

Edited March 8, 2015 by theatremouse

[Bruinsfan]

I may be the only one loved this sketch in spite of its stupidity but I don't care. It was just great for me.

I lost it when they cut to the captain under the red light rotating on the turntable. Anything after that was just (chicken) gravy.

 

The update was a lot more high-energy than usual, between Leslie, the repeated dogging of Ben Carson, and Jost's recovery from his flub. I liked it, and hope they can continue.

 

I wish they'd skewered Azalea Banks as well during the Iggy Azalea sketch - maybe had Shasheer in some truly horrendous wig and had her remark that her hairdresser must read Twitter.

 

The porn stars thing is getting pretty old (though I chuckled at "arivadonkey!") but Chris was the real saving grace for it this time around.

[absnow54]

I forgot, the best part of the episode was during the "Brother 2 Brother" sketch when Chris and Taran went to high five and they totally missed and Taran accidentally smacked Chris in the face. There was the briefest pause where they stood there all "well that happened" before jumping back into the sketch and it was really, very charming. I think Chris's charisma alone could maintain an entire episode without any content necessary.

[Chit Chat]

The porn stars thing is getting pretty old (though I chuckled at "arivadonkey!") but Chris was the real saving grace for it this time around.

Did anybody else hear this as "I reamed a donkey?"  I love the Porn Star sketches.  They crack me up every time.

[Princess Sparkle]

OK show, loved the American Express commercial and the So You Think You Can Live with Brian. AVClub said Beck and Kyle aren't long for this show, as they haven't been promoted after last season--it always takes two seasons to be promoted. I still think they are contributing, Kyle is getting in more sketches lately, Beck was in the sketch they cut last week (shouldn't have been cut, IMO). I thought the Brian sketch was clever and fresh, I would hate to see Kyle and Beck get the boot, I was happy they got to stay this season.

What an odd reason for the AV club to think that. Aidy, Ciecily and Kate were promoted after a season, but I think that was more because there were two seasons straight of significant cast loss, and if they'd stayed as featured players, there wouldve been nine featured players. But other than that, it's more the norm for cast to be promoted after two seasons, and I honestly don't think either Beck or Kyle are going anywhere. In addition to the Good Neighbor sketches, they're both good utility men, which you always need - especially because I'm sure sooner or later, Bobby and Taran will leave.

The "Who wants to live with Brian" cracked me up. It so perfectly nailed all the best/worst parts about reality TV, especially people getting mad at each other over the dumbest stuff. That sketch was tied with the Chicken sketch as my favorite of the night.

The chicken sketch was perfect in its absurdity. I love that a 10 to 1 sketch was basically at the top of the show. And Chris Hemsworth totally bought into it, which was perfect.

That's what made a lot of the sketches work IMO - Chris Hemsworth just sold the shit out of everything and did it so enthusiastically. Even in the "Brother 2 Brother" opening credits, he was perfectly over the top and cheesy in the pictures.

There's been a run of guests who have elevated material just by being game for anything (Kevin Hart, Blake Shelton, JK Simmons, and now Chris Hemsworth) and I hope that continues.

I will say - Colin Jost flubbing the "36 inches" line and then his off-the-cuff follow up was the most personality I've seen him have his entire time behind the desk. And his ad-libbed line was funny, so I wish he'd be a little looser behind the desk - weirdly, I noticed his delivery this week was a lot like John Mulaney's stand up delivery, so maybe that's why I liked it.

Edited March 9, 2015 by Princess Sparkle

[vb68]

 

And his ad-libbed line was funny, so I wish he'd be a little looser behind the desk - weirdly, I noticed his delivery this week was a lot like John Mulaney's stand up delivery, so maybe that's why I liked it.

 

 

There was something about his delivery of "daaaam" to Leslie that cracked me up.  

[peeayebee]

Monologue: Hemsworths! I think there's a fourth brother (that's not Kenan in an awful wig). Oh, and is it just me, or is Liam starting to look like Dan Stevens (Matthew on Downton Abbey)? Something about the eyes.

Now that you mention it, yes. There is a resemblance.

 

Did anybody else hear this as "I reamed a donkey?"  I love the Porn Star sketches.  They crack me up every time.

I thought she did say "I reamed a donkey." No?

[helenamonster]

I heard "I rimmed a donkey."

[Fostersmom]

I forgot, the best part of the episode was during the "Brother 2 Brother" sketch when Chris and Taran went to high five and they totally missed and Taran accidentally smacked Chris in the face. There was the briefest pause where they stood there all "well that happened" before jumping back into the sketch and it was really, very charming. I think Chris's charisma alone could maintain an entire episode without any content necessary.

 

I loved that part. It was so dorky and cute. If it had been scripted, it would never have come off just the way it did. It would have been so forced, so it really was the perfect little accident. 

 

Did anybody else hear this as "I reamed a donkey?"  I love the Porn Star sketches.  They crack me up every time.

 

That's how I head it too. 

[Princess Sparkle]

He was briefly in that football sketch at the beginning of the season.

[Bruinsfan]

I do love that the cast has enough black members now to actually do that Empire sketch. Though it would be hilarious to see them tackle the sitcom black-ish with a skit, then have someone announce "Now stay tuned for Fresh off the Boat!" and cut to the stricken faces of Lorne and all the decidedly non-Asian cast members.

[ChromaKelly]

Cold Open - I liked Kate's Hillary Clinton. It was a different take on her. Hillary Clinton is seen generally as very together, sane, and competent. So it was that (the overly formal emails) plus her starting to lose it with a stupid scandal coming out just as she's beginning to run for President again. I felt like it worked.

 

Brother 2 Brother - I love mocking bad Disney shows, so this was great. I liked that it kept going on with the comparisons while Taran just stood there.  I also thought it ended abruptly, I was waiting for word on how Chris did talking to the girl in the cafeteria. Maybe it got cut short for time?

 

WU - Another vote for the best WU in quite a while. Silly thing that made me crack up was Jost's "nice transition" to Leslie Jones. I really liked The Girl You Wish... too.

 

Fake Reality Show  - I groaned when I saw Mooney, thinking it was another stupid Good Neighbor bit, but this was great. I liked all the fake angst about stupid things, cuts to flashbacks from two seconds ago. Really hit the crappiness of reality shows on the head.

 

Porn Stars  - Never gets old to me.

[Lakewood27]

All I have, besides that, from last night was Chris Hemsworth seems so damned charming. And endearingly goofy.

 

His 'Chip' character in the Empire sketch was my favourite of the night, because he was so charming and endearingly goofy in his earnestness. Passing around the office birthday card for Cookie, and then slowly backing out of the room with the helium balloon bouquet as she wails on Hakeem with the broom.

 

Loved WU, especially the Ben Carson pile-on and Leslie wigging out over this cold ass winter and our terribly long avenues.

Edited March 9, 2015 by Lakewood27

[DollEyes]

   My verdict: loved it. Chris Hemsworth proved that he's as game as he is gorgeous.  While not all the sketches worked as well as they should have, that wasn't Chris' fault. "Brother 2 Brother" was cute, but I couldn't help wishing that it was Liam in Taran's place. The American Express parody was so spot on that I think that they should hire Chris to do the real thing.

 

 The Avengers parody was fun, especially when Thor did the running man and made faces behind Captain America. The acting coach sketch was meh. Now, if they had tried to walk like George Jefferson, that would have been different.

 

   As an Empire fan, the Empire spoof was pretty funny and mostly spot on. Too bad it didn't have a scene of Chip at Ghetto-Ass Studios.

 

  The Iggy Azalea Talk Show was meh-worthy. ITA that they should have gone after Azalea Banks, whom most people couldn't pick out of a line up. However, any sketch that has Chris Hemsworth twerking can't be all bad.

 

  "So You Think You Can Live With Brian?" was hilarious, with its taking reality-show clichés and turning them upside down. The porn star sketch is usually hit-or-miss for me, but it worked this time because of Hemsworth and not just for the obvious reasons. From now on, every time I see Dolce & Gabanna, I'll think "'Dukey' & 'Go 'Bye-Bye.'"

 

  The Chicken sketch was epic. How "Emily" could keep her composure with Hemsworth is beyond me. That was the first time I ever wanted to be a chicken-except for the ending, of course.

 

  The WU pile-on/takedown of Ben Carson was priceless. Looks like Michael and Colin have finally found their groove.

Edited March 9, 2015 by DollEyes

[JTMacc99]

I don't know what to think of "The Chicken is our Captain" sketch.  That was one of the most bizarre sketches I've seen in awhile.

I was enjoying the hell out of it and then I was practically perched on the edge of my seat at the end waiting for the microwave "PING" to happen. And then it did. Hee!  And then I was rewarded with the "bitch" comment as well.  Good stuff.

 

There were a bunch of little things in this episode that made things better. Sasheer's "a little bit" comment about whether or not she liked the dancing, Ironman and Thor giving Nick Fury a Gatorade bath, Aidy's awesome description of how the brothers were different, and Hemsworth's line during the Amex Commercial of "And then they gave me a check for $8,000,000."

 

Sometimes it is the little things that make me happy.

[mizkat]

I don't think the Thor sketch gave a spoiler about Jane--although I'd love it if Jane was kicked to the curb; she's most boring girlfriend in the galaxy. Thor deserves better--he can date a scientist, just give her a personality already. 

 

I LOVED the chicken sketch--the absurdity reminded me of Josh Hutcherson being in love with a turkey (I forget who dressed up as the turkey, was it Vanessa?) I think Chris has done the best porn stars guest spot out of all of them. He's definitely not just a pretty face, he's very talented. I was really impressed. 

 

We need more Beck. I keep saying that, and I'm going to keep saying it until he's featured more.

[Ottis]

I thought Kate's Hillary veered toward Oprah too much. It's best when she does the serious aside, such as Clinton's plan to be president from the womb.

 

The chicken sketch is an instant classic. Definitely a call back to old school SNL.

 

I don't watch Empire, so I don't know how that impacted my reaction to this skit.

 

 

I don't think most of the live audience does, either. It felt like the actors were trying so hard but no one had enough context to understand the jokes.

 

I had to read three comments here about "The Acting Coach" before I could remember what the skit was - and I actually had watched it! It needed to build more on absurd 70s acting choices, and as another post mentioned: How can you possibly mention George Jefferson and acting  and not do the walk? That's the main think that character is fondly recalled for.

Edited March 9, 2015 by Ottis

[MrWhyt]

.. Hemsworth's line during the Amex Commercial of "And then they gave me a check for $8,000,000."

 

I loved his delivery of "I bounced around Hollywood for days"

[Bruinsfan]

The one thing that bothered me about the AmEx sketch was Chris talking about sleeping with lots of women when he's been married since a year before Thor hit theaters. I'd have preferred it if they had a nod to him marrying a Spanish model/action heroine instead, as that would have dovetailed quite well with the whole charmed life thing the commercial had going on.

[Spartan Girl]

I loved the Avengers sketch and seeing the Hemsworth brothers in the  monologue, but they threw away a perfectly good opportunity to have Tom Hiddleston come on as Chris' other brother.

 

As stupid as the chicken sketch was, I laughed.

[LADreamr]

The chicken sketch has stayed with me. I wondered what mind-altering substances they were on when they wrote it, but it's just great.

"Can I have a moment alone with her?"

"Of course you can, but then we're going to eat her, ok? Because she smells so good.... and she was such a bitch."

LOL, I wish I could have been in the room when they were coming up with this.

[Scott]

And Douche and GoBananas was amusing.

 

I thought Chris said Douche and Go Bye-Bye.

 

He said it both ways, actually.

[kassa]

I thought Empire was awesome -- being a fan of the show definitely would have made a difference in your enjoyment, I think.  The cast really, really nailed most of the impressions.  Keenan doesn't look a thing like Terrence Howard, but he nailed the voice.  Cookie and her assistant were dead on.  And the broom scene actually happened in the show, so having "the white guy" walk in on it (and back out) was extra funny.

 

I have no doubt it will get a lot of internet hits, whether the studio audience grasped it or not.