S40.E18: Taraji P. Henson / Mumford & Sons

[Bruinsfan]

I thought it held together as one of the year's better shows in general, and appearances by Darrell Hammond, Nicolaj Coster-Waldau, and the Muppets shot it into the stratosphere. Weekend Update is finally snapping again, Leslie Jones is magic in just about everything she does, and I'm growing fond of Kyle Mooney in these dance instruction video sketches. I'm not actually sold on Kate's Hilary Clinton - Amy Poehler's version from this cold open is still the definitive impression for me - but I'll forgive a lot to see Hammond's Bill again.

[vb68]

 

The joke was that a potential presidential candidate (I think Republican? I can't remember who it was)

 

I think it was Ben Carson, the fringe guy who is also a surgeon.  I remember when they did another joke about him a few weeks ago.  He had said something stupid and Che replied to it with, "Ben Carson entered that sentence as a brain surgeon and left it as an idiot."

[dohe]

Tina Fey sure was one terrific Palin. I wonder if Poehler's weakness as Clinton and Fey's brilliance is why Fey got such more attention. Or maybe Palin is just such a caricature to begin with it is easy to mock her. Poehler is a comic genius but her Clinton looks even worse after the brilliance that McKinnon is bringing to hers.

While Carson, Jeb, and Cruz, as contemptible as they are, don't make for easy mockery through impersonations* - coldhearted bigotry is chilling, I figured they could maybe mock Paul's short fuse. However it may be too early and too obscure to start in on that yet.

*Che and Jost's tagteam a few weeks ago on Carson is far more effective than an impersonation.

Edited April 12, 2015 by dohe

[LADreamr]

but I'll forgive a lot to see Hammond's Bill again

We totally need the First Dude.

I think it was Ben Carson, the fringe guy who is also a surgeon. I remember when they did another joke about him a few weeks ago. He had said something stupid and Che replied to it with, "Ben Carson entered that sentence as a brain surgeon and left it as an idiot."

Yeah, that was the week they hit him with four or five jokes. "He says homosexuality is a choice. Unfortunately for him, so are elections."

[Peace 47]

It wasn't an awful episode, but nothing seemed to quite hit the way it should, except the Sesame Street bit.

I tend to agree. The sketch setups and performances all showed a lot promise, but the writing, other than Sesame Street, was a little weak overall (though admittedly I missed a couple of the sketches).

Like, it's brilliant that they have and can use Hammond again, and I definitely smiled during the cold open, but it wasn't at the level of being a memorable season highlight. Or that Hollywood Game Night sketch: the impressions were all on-point, but I didn't think the writing was as sharp as it could have been.

All that said, the only true disappointment was Mumford & Sons. I remember when they were last on to promote a new album, and I instantly fell in love with the songs--it became my favorite album in--and for--years. But I really am not digging their new sound at all, and they didn't sound that great doing it last night. Big bummer.

[LizDC]

Are Mumford & Sons down a guy? I remember a banjo player on their last SNL appearance and didn't see one last night. Obviously, I don't keep up with them.

[theatremouse]

So now that they've had Billy Crystal on as Jacob's father, can Jacob be done now? Forever? Please?

[helenamonster]

Are Mumford & Sons down a guy? I remember a banjo player on their last SNL appearance and didn't see one last night. Obviously, I don't keep up with them.

 

According to Wikipedia, they decided to ditch the banjo for their upcoming album, trading it for an electric guitar. They've also started using a full drum kit instead of just a kick drum. I remember hearing something on the radio awhile ago about the banjo thing. Imo, it's kinda dumb, since the banjo has been "their thing" in a sense. I get that they want to expand their horizons and try other things, but they really sounded like a generic alternative rock band last night. And speaking as someone who listens to alternative radio pretty frequently, the world doesn't need another one of those. The station I listen to plays them pretty frequently because they are a "name," but their new stuff is just not that good and is indistinguishable from a lot of the rest of it.

 

I find it interesting that a lot of people found the Sesame Street bit the strongest. I liked it too, but even though I haven't watched Empire yet, I knew that most of the lines Taraji said were directly from the show. So the writers don't really get a lot of credit for that one. The concept, yes, but half the sketch dialogue was already written for them.

[BatmanBeatles]

I cracked up when that robot hopped around on one foot.

[LADreamr]

So now that they've had Billy Crystal on as Jacob's father, can Jacob be done now? Forever? Please?

God, yes, please. I'm on the West Coast and was following SNL's backstage photos on Instagram during the live show, and as soon as I saw the one of Jacob, I kind of yelled, "No! WHO is encouraging this behavior?"

Edited April 13, 2015 by LADreamr

[helenamonster]

God, yes, please. I'm on the West Coast and was following SNL's backstage photos on Instagram during the live show, and as soon as I saw the one of Jacob, I kind of yelled, "No! WHO is encouraging this behavior?"

 

Legend has it that there's a sort of sickness that spreads through the writers' room every once in awhile called ThirdShowWeekInARow-itis. Side effects include trotting out recurring characters that passed their expiration dates four Update anchors ago.

[LADreamr]

Side effects include trotting out recurring characters that passed their expiration dates four Update anchors ago.

I think that puts us at pre-Jacob, which absolutely sounds right. I would love for us to go back to pre-Jacob then never have Jacob.

Just for the silliness of it, though, in the Connectatron sketch I was sort of hoping that Emily the chicken captain from the Chris Hemsworth episode would come back.

[Princess Sparkle]

I actually found this episode a little "meh". Not because of Taraji, who clearly had energy in spades and went all in with what she had. But the sketches never really seemed to know how to end, so they all ended in a weird abrupt manner. The Hollywood Game Night one was my favorite, but most of that was the Vin Diesel joke and Beck's dead-on Nick Offerman impression.

It probably happened too late in the week for a good sketch to be written, but instead of the "teenager sleeps with his teacher and everyone thinks he's the man" sketch, I wish we couldve gotten some kind of snarky take on the Mary Kay Latourneau/Villi Fulau interview that happened this week. Because there was a WHOLE lot of crazy to snark on in that, and I think it would've been a clearer way of getting to the point they were trying to make in the sketch that aired.

I do think Colin and Michael are getting into their groove together on WU. The jokes are hitting and their chemistry is getting better.

[Blakeston]

Kate's character in the HSN sketch was definitely modeled on Liza Minnelli. The sketch was a barely exaggerated reenactment of a recent Liza appearance on HSN:

 

With Liza entering rehab last month, I'm guessing the writers thought it would be too mean to actually identify the character as Liza herself.

[BatmanBeatles]

That makes sense.

[Traveller519]

Taraji was fun when she got to show off. Her monologue and the Sesame Street sketches were her best work. And from a purely superficial standpoint, she looked incredible throughout the show.

It was heavy on the assorted impimpressions between the Dreamworks movie, Game of Thrones, and celebrity game show. Definitely a third week crutch. They are trying to catch the magic that was Celebrity Jeopardy, but they're missing the mark that was the ongoing Connery-Trebek struggle and Burt Reynolds' indifference .

Mumford & Gaines was just painful to watch. It seems like they took the criticism of their second album being a B-side to Sigh No More a little tough.

Sketch of the the night was the Courtroom Scene for me. It seemed like Pete had a big hand in writing it. He has this ability to take these perverted Get X and Y notions and turn them on their head with his millenial satire. The list of nicknames was a great joke (SupercalifragilisticexpalaDaMAN!) but Vanessa's Lawyer really put the button on it.

Rest up team. This week looked like you needed some freshness.

Edited April 13, 2015 by Traveller519

[ratgirlagogo]

 

Sketch of the the night was the Courtroom Scene for me. It seemed like Pete had a big hand in writing it. He has this ability to take these perverted Get X and Y notions and turn them on their head with his millenial satire. The list of nicknames was a great joke (SupercalifragilisticexpalaDaMAN!) but Vanessa's Lawyer really put the button on it.

Every one of these jokes was pretty much identical to the ones that appeared in the Leno and Letterman monologues (and SNL sketches) during the time period when the Mary Kay LeTourneau trial was on the air in the 90's.  It's not that I didn't find the jokes funny, it's that I kept waiting for 1)an acknowledgement that these were old jokes and 2)some  kind of surprise ending to the bit.  Neither  happened.

[BrittaBot]

This episode was so bad my husband and I couldn't even finish it. That's never happened before. 

[Blakeston]

Sketch of the the night was the Courtroom Scene for me. It seemed like Pete had a big hand in writing it. He has this ability to take these perverted Get X and Y notions and turn them on their head with his millenial satire. The list of nicknames was a great joke (SupercalifragilisticexpalaDaMAN!) but Vanessa's Lawyer really put the button on it.

 

It was even better than that - "Supercalifragilistic-You-are-such-a-dope-kid!"

 

I don't know if I'd say that sketch turned anything on its head, though. It was just, "Men think it's a good thing when a teenage boy sleeps with his hot teacher." Which is pretty well-worn comic territory.

[Janimo]

I'm probably in the minority but I LOVED most of the show. I started clapping and whooping and hollering at the beginning when Darrell came out as Bill Clinton, also when Billy Crystal appeared as Jacob's dad. ( I know I'm in the minority, but I kinda like Jacob). Did anyone else catch when Billy started to say (to Jacob) "You look......." and I soooo thought he was gonna finish with "mahvelous" like he did on SNL in the 1980's when he'd do his Fernando Lamas?

I thought Taraji was full of all kinds of wonderful energy, and threw herself into the mix quite well.

I fast forwarded thru Mumford and Sons. Still don't like Colin and Michael on Weekend Update.
 

FWIW, I'm one of those "old fogies" who's been watching the show since the beginning. :)

[M. Darcy]

Maybe it was because I had earlier read an article about Letourneau but I hated the Courtroom sketch.  To me it was just a sketch celebrating child rape.

[vb68]

 

Did anyone else catch when Billy started to say (to Jacob) "You look......." and I soooo thought he was gonna finish with "mahvelous" like he did on SNL in the 1980's when he'd do his Fernando Lamas?

 

Yes, that was very deliberate.  He knew exactly how to milk it.  I also loved his and Vanessa's smiles back and forth.  This was good.  When Jacob came out, I admit I had kinda an "ugh" feeling.  They really  did need to switch it up somehow.

 

Glad to know I wasn't crazy that that character in the QVC sketch was suppose to be Liza! IT was dead on!

 

I didn't think it was the best episode ever, but it was hardly January Jones territory either.

[Traveller519]

It was even better than that - "Supercalifragilistic-You-are-such-a-dope-kid!"

 

I don't know if I'd say that sketch turned anything on its head, though. It was just, "Men think it's a good thing when a teenage boy sleeps with his hot teacher." Which is pretty well-worn comic territory.

 

 

Thanks, I had a feeling it was even better than I recalled. And you're right, it worked.

 

What I think moved this sketch beyond the standard late night fodder or "funny" comments on news articles. Was it's commitment to the ludicrous nature of this being an actual defense in court. The Gen X/Y standard comedy take on these relationships was the "He's such a man, why didn't he just keep his mouth shut!" which is how the sketch sets up, but then it blows right through all of that with the judge and the father, hamming it up, and finally with Vanessa's defece attorney stating that they're "all good with this"

 

The way I saw it wasn't that it was satirizing a "Hot Teacher/Male Student" trial, but rather satirizing the jokey attitude to which this has been played up for the past 20 years. (Yikes, it's actually been 18 years since the Letourneau trial!)

[Bruinsfan]

To be fair, they did establish that the kid character was 16 and actively pursued the hot teacher. While I think it's still spectacularly bad judgement on the part of an adult authority figure to fool around with a student like that, the situation wouldn't fill me with the same outrage over a child being molested and psychologically damaged for life that Letourneau's case did. I'm pretty comfortable with asserting that no 12 year old is capable of giving informed consent, whereas I think for 16 year olds it's more of a case-by-case gray area.
 

Or that Hollywood Game Night sketch: the impressions were all on-point, but I didn't think the writing was as sharp as it could have been.

Actually, I take issue with the Vin Diesel impression. Both Taram and Jason Sudekis before him play Diesel as if he's one of his glower-y testosterone overloaded movie characters, but in every real life interview I've seen with the man he's been charming, funny, and self-depreciating.

Edited April 13, 2015 by Bruinsfan

[Blakeston]

To be fair, they did establish that the kid character was 16 and actively pursued the hot teacher.

 

Did they? It sounded like all he did was ask for extra-credit, or something to that effect, and to his surprise she came on to him.

[kassa]

I'll watch Taraji do anything.  And now I have!  She covered all the bases.  Just seeing her holding a broom was awesome.

 

Cinema Classics: Idk why they couldn't just have done this as an alternate ending to A League of Their Own like they did with Casablanca. Still, it made a very good point about early women's rights movements not including black women because getting rights for white women was "hard enough."

 

 

Am I making things up in my head, or was there a scene in the actual League of Their Own movie where a black woman catches a foul ball and throws it back to Geena Davis or somebody?  And she's got an awesome arm?  And there's a momentary recognition that she's left out of this experience that we're all hailing as such a step forward?  

[Traveller519]

I don't know if they could have pulled it off, but I think the League of their Own sketch could have worked better if they treated it as a deleted scene from the actual movie, and had all three Black Females (and maybe Kennan in Drag to offset Bobby) play the white women and whoop them, and then have the white women, shocked spin the, "I can't give up what I just fought for" theme they went with.

 

Also, I didn't give enough love to Aidy in the QVC sketch, she played that posing model so well.

[Princess Sparkle]

 

 

Am I making things up in my head, or was there a scene in the actual League of Their Own movie where a black woman catches a foul ball and throws it back to Geena Davis or somebody?  And she's got an awesome arm?  And there's a momentary recognition that she's left out of this experience that we're all hailing as such a step forward?  

There definitely is, and the woman was dressed just as Taraji was in the sketch.  I assumed it was supposed to be her.

[helenamonster]

Am I making things up in my head, or was there a scene in the actual League of Their Own movie where a black woman catches a foul ball and throws it back to Geena Davis or somebody?  And she's got an awesome arm?  And there's a momentary recognition that she's left out of this experience that we're all hailing as such a step forward?  

 

I must have watched this movie 2908340239 times when I was a kid, and I'm ashamed of the fact that I totally forgot about this scene. Yes, it did happen, and it was cool of SNL to expand upon it (again, I think it would have worked better if they'd gone the alternate ending/deleted scene route like they did with Casablanca instead of making it a whole different film).

[Ohwell]

Taraji P. Henson.  Bless her heart.  She had tons of energy but the woman is just not that funny.  That's Ok, but she should just stick to "serious" acting.  The show overall was just meh.

[blueray]

So now that they've had Billy Crystal on as Jacob's father, can Jacob be done now? Forever? Please?

Why? That seriously was the best skit of the whole episode. It's cool the she never breaks character, she really sounds like a kid doing a Bar Mitzvah speech.

 

The rest of it was kind of meh, I liked the opening and the one where she kept getting the people's name wrong.

Edited April 14, 2015 by blueray

[topanga]

I enjoyed the ep. Taraji seemed to be having fun, and most of the sketches were pretty funny. But why was Kate in almost every sketch (though she's hilarious), while Bobby (who's equally hilarious) was only in a few?

 

 

Also who was that on the horse? Was that someone from Game of Thrones? I'm thinking so but I can't figure out who. One of the Lannisters?

 

 

That was Jamie Lannister himself.

 

Wow. How did SNL swing that?

[formerlyfreedom]

Also who was that on the horse? Was that someone from Game of Thrones? I'm thinking so but I can't figure out who. One of the Lannisters?

That was Jamie Lannister himself.

 

Wow. How did SNL swing that?

 

Well, two years ago on the even of the season premiere, Peter Dinklage showed up for a Drunk Uncle sketch during Weekend Update. So I'm thinking someone knows someone...

[editorgrrl]

I take issue with the Vin Diesel impression. Both Taram and Jason Sudekis before him play Diesel as if he's one of his glower-y testosterone overloaded movie characters, but in every real life interview I've seen with the man he's been charming, funny, and self-depreciating.

But Sean Connery and Burt Reynolds (sorry, Turd Ferguson) are nothing like the characters on "Celebrity Jeopardy," either. That's what makes it funny.

I wasn't sure if that was Darrell Hammond or Beck Bennett.

Bill Clinton has evolved to not actually looking like Darrell Hammond anymore. Clinton's old and very skinny now.

Yeah, I was struck for a moment by the physical difference—but Darrell has the voice & mannerisms. That said, I'd love to see someone new try the "First Dude"—Beck? Taran?

[BatmanBeatles]

 

But Sean Connery and Burt Reynolds (sorry, Turd Ferguson) are nothing like the characters on "Celebrity Jeopardy," either. That's what makes it funny.

And I'm pretty sure Tom hanks is smart enough not to get caught in a dry cleaning bag.

[Bruinsfan]

I just think they're taking the easy, thoughtless way out. Vin is a proud Dungeons & Dragons-playing geek, there's loads of comedy to be mined from playing him like one of the characters on The Big Bang Theory.

[theatremouse]

Why? That seriously was the best skit of the whole episode. It's cool the she never breaks character, she really sounds like a kid doing a Bar Mitzvah speech.

Well, clearly we have a difference of opinion, but since you asked. Why? Because they've done it to death; it's the same joke every time, and there's only so much mileage you can get, for me, out of that kind of bit. The first few times it was funny how they found new ways to have the bar mitzvah type spiel in non-bar mitzvah situations. But at this point, it's beating a dead horse. It's not funny any more because there's no more ways for them to surprise me with it. I was hoping this was the last one because the appearance of the oft-mentioned but never before seen father felt sort of bookendish to me, a good way to end it.

I completely disagree that it was the best sketch of the episode. I thought Crystal's bits were a mix of completely predictable and pandering. Basically, at this point, that sketch is an easy, lazy, cheap way to get a laugh. Like someone said above at a certain point, the writers go to the well of repeat characters because it's something they know they can get done. It's a shortcut. It read very much to me like maybe they'd had other pitches for stuff to put in that spot, and none worked, so they said "meh, let's just do Jacob, that'll fill three minutes", got to check that off their list and move on.

[vb68]

 

Well, two years ago on the even of the season premiere, Peter Dinklage showed up for a Drunk Uncle sketch during Weekend Update. So I'm thinking someone knows someone...

 

 

I don't think it was difficult.  He was out doing publicity for the season premiere the next night.  Remember when they got Aaron Paul the weekend of the Breaking Bad finale?  

[Traveller519]

 It's a shortcut. It read very much to me like maybe they'd had other pitches for stuff to put in that spot, and none worked, so they said "meh, let's just do Jacob, that'll fill three minutes", got to check that off their list and move on.

 

I agree with your take. Again, I think it's a by-product of the third week in row show. There's a lot of fall back on recurring characters and Celebrity Impressions as they need to round things out. I think the show would benefit from a two on, two off rotation, but it would lose steam, and I doubt NBC would ever go for that.

 

Also, I kind of feel like we've seen Jacob hit for the cycle here (much like his beloved Derek Jeter). He's touched on most of the Jewish celebrations on the calendar, though as I Goy I'm probably completely ignorant on the other events they could mine with the character.

[helenamonster]

I enjoyed the ep. Taraji seemed to be having fun, and most of the sketches were pretty funny. But why was Kate in almost every sketch (though she's hilarious), while Bobby (who's equally hilarious) was only in a few?

 

Eh, the show tends to rotate the players pretty regularly. Some weeks someone will be featured pretty prominently, and the next week they might be switched out from someone else. Kate was pretty background for a lot of the earlier part of this season (I think because she was working on that Fey/Poehler movie that Paula Pell wrote).

 

Also, I kind of feel like we've seen Jacob hit for the cycle here (much like his beloved Derek Jeter). He's touched on most of the Jewish celebrations on the calendar, though as I Goy I'm probably completely ignorant on the other events they could mine with the character.

 

I think he's hit some of the Jewish holidays more than once. This has got to be at least his second Passover. The character is done. They've passed the point of no return as far as changing it up as concerned, Billy Crystal not withstanding. For me, the difference between Jacob and a character like, say, Stefon is that Stefon had, for lack of a better word, character development. Each time he came out, they upped the ante with regards to his relationship with Seth and then had the huge payoff of the wedding. Also, despite the extremely repetitive nature of any SNL character, we never knew what he was going to say. Hell, Bill Hader didn't know what Stefon was going to say half the time. Jacob's shtick doesn't change up enough for him to be even remotely interesting anymore. Yeah, they had Billy Crystal. They also had the moment with Cecily where he got all nervous, and when he tried not to cry when Jeter retired (which they've now repeated several times and has become just as tired as the rest of it). But any novelty that the character ever had (and the first iteration was truly hilarious and inspired) is long gone. It looks just like what we've all said it is: the writers filling time because they're too exhausted to come up with anything else.

[blueray]

I honestly don't want SNL that much all the way through, I end up turn it off in the middle usually. I liked this a lot, but it wasn't repetitive to me and they did a good job with it. However, they need to improve the writing in general and it probably is easier to redue something that you know has worked well in the past.

[mtlchick]

 

Wow. How did SNL swing that?

 

He was doing press last week (he was on Fallon Thursday) so I bet it was easy to walk down a few floors and say "We got something for you...interested?"

 

I didn't mind the episode.  I did think Taraji tended to shout a lot but she was having fun.  And I may have squeed that the Cookie Monsters had a moment together.  

[topanga]

 

He was doing press last week (he was on Fallon Thursday) so I bet it was easy to walk down a few floors and say "We got something for you...interested?"

Cool. I never watch behind the scenes stuff about GoT. I like maintaining the illusion that it takes place (and is filmed) in some faraway, magical land.

[BeatLA24]

I just turned on my dvr recording of this episode, but found that there was no sound. The commercials between all had audio, but not the show, itself. I am on Comcast in the Bay Area, and tried to look up if this was a problem for others, but didn't find a thing on it. I guess my recording just messed up and will have to watch the sketches online.

[Blakeston]

It's cool the she never breaks character, she really sounds like a kid doing a Bar Mitzvah speech.

 

It's easy to avoid breaking when the material doesn't have anything funny in it to laugh at.

[Pete Martell]

I watched the cold open again and it just confirmed my feeling that the show is much more comfortable writing for Bill (of course he gave them 8 years of classic material) than Hilary. 

 

I thought Kate McKinnon was committed to the role, and there were a few bits where I laughed (like when she took off her jacket to reveal another jacket, and her saying Martin O'Malley sounded like a name from The Simpsons), but mostly it seemed more like a generic "ambitious woman" caricature than an impersonation. 

 

If they're this bare on ideas now I can't imagine where they will be by this time next season.