S41.E10: Adam Driver / Chris Stapleton

[formerlyfreedom]

Hosted by Adam Driver; musical guest Chris Stapleton

 

 

[nowandlater]

Adam Driver's promos are approaching 1.5 million views on YouTube, so I wondered if that was the most ever for SNL promos.

 

Nope. Turns out Dakota Johnson is No. 1.

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/SaturdayNightLive/videos?view=0&sort=p&flow=grid

 

Adam Driver = 1,457,264 views

 

Dakota Johnson = 1,505,545 views

 

It's funny how movie power, and not star power, drives up these promo views.

Edited January 16, 2016 by nowandlater

[formerlyfreedom]

Episode delay was about 20/25 minutes, fyi

[Ms Blue Jay]

Football delayed the show half and hour or so (I don't remember exactly how long).

 

It's a really good show though.  Adam Driver is extremely good at this.  You can tell that the writers have full faith in him as he stars in every sketch.  Pretty good writing; I've seen no awful sketch yet.  

 

I even liked that song "Parachute" by Chris Stapleton.

 

Does anyone know the haunting song playing in the Golden Globes sketch?

 

My one complaint is that Michael Che kind of mumbles -- he said "Colin" a few times this episode and there's no way I would know what he was saying if I didn't know Colin's name.  It was so garbled.

Edited January 17, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[Galileo908]

It begins at 12:15am!

 

Cold Open: Of course we had to do another Republican Debate after the clusterfuck that was. Jay once again kills it as Ben Carson. He just needs to smirk and he just slays me. This was overall great, but it's sad that this was not nearly as crazy as the real thing. And I hope someone (preferably Christie) gets escorted off stage like Showtime at The Apollo soon. This stuff is great for SNL, but not so much for the country.

 

Monologue: Of course he's gonna be bothered by all the Star Wars fans in the cast. Bobby's giving Adam a run for his money.

 

Green Bay: In SNL's universe, Green Bay beat the Cardinals 28-17. But hey, a sketch that comments on all the violence in football. Kind of ok. Too short.

 

Undercover Boss: Kylo Ren on Undercover Boss?! Hell yes. And he finally meets his match: Leslie Jones. I loved this.

 

Aladdin: A goose hitting Jasmine in the face will make me laugh. This was pretty stupid...until they had to land.

 

America's Funniest Cats: Why couldn't Kate McKinnon's character in this sketch be the weird cat lady from the shelter skits? Instead she & Cecily were French for some reason? I have a feeling people kept saying "boi yoi yoing" around the writers room and they wrote a sketch about it.

 

WU: It's sad when the best jokes are Che's asides to the jokes. Some good ones, but Che laughing at his own jokes made me laugh more at those than the jokes. Good luck getting the image of Mike Bloomberg & Trump being like Krang from Ninja Turtles out of your head. I am tired of Vanessa Bayer's kid newscaster character.

 

Social Puppeteeing: This was weird. Could've been better.

 

David Bowie Tribute: Fred Armisen! Man, even back then Studio 8H had lousy acoustics. And really, they didn't show the whole thing?

 

Golden Globes: And now, the other side of what happens when celebs tell their kids to go to bed when they're on TV. This was great. The bit with Liev Shriver was delightfully awkward.

 

The Doctor is in...My Butt 4: Missed opportunity to not be the porno referenced in Update. Or star the former porn stars. But this was silly, too. I think this one went better than the other porn sketch interrupted by Aidy Bryant.

 

Man, was this disappointing. Adam Driver was great, but so many of these sketches seemed to be half-baked. They could've been better, but Adam Driver was the best part of most of them. Cold open and Star Wars sketch aside, they saved all the good stuff for after Update. And where was Sasheer in this episode? She's still in the cast, right? And next week is Ronda Rousey. That'll be interesting.

Edited January 17, 2016 by Galileo908

[Irritable]

I love that they utilized Adam Driver so much.  He did a great job!  Not sure what it says that the best thing to come out of the show GIRLS is a man, but I really enjoy Adam in everything he does, so thanks Lena Dunham, for giving him visibility so that he can go on to bigger things.  The Undercover Boss sketch was fun.

[possibilities]

America's Funniest Cats: Why couldn't Kate McKinnon's character in this sketch be the weird cat lady from the shelter skits?

Genius!

[vb68]

I thought this was one of the better episodes of the season.  The only thing I  didn't care for was the social puppeteering sketch.   Adam Driver was so much better and charming at this than I ever imagined.  He was a great host, and was totally into it.

 

I love the Laura Parsons (Kid newscaster) character on Update.  I probably would get tired of it if they did it every week, but so far I think it's  very funny.

 

I do agree that they should have shown the entire Bowie performance like they did when Roy Orbison died.

 

 

But hey, a sketch that comments on all the violence in football. Kind of ok. Too short.

 

I thought the commentary was really clever.  Not just the violence, but how everyone from the network to other coaches and players to the audience feeds on it while halfheartedly saying it's awful.

 

I actually said "Oh there's Aidy" in the last sketch.  Both she and Kate really had a low-key night.

 

Kinda stunned Sean Penn didn't figure into the show at all.  He wasn't even mentioned.

Edited January 17, 2016 by vb68

[helenamonster]

Cold Open: Solid enough. I'm so glad media outlets are calling Cruz out on the clearly anti-Semitic "New York values" nonsense and I liked how SNL used Seinfeld references for it. Darrell's Trump is always good, so is Taran's Cruz, I'm kind of glad they pulled him back from Trump so Darrell could do it.

 

Monologue: I am Leslie. "Man, I didn't see Star Wars." That's the only part I laughed at.

 

NFL: Is there more to this joke that I don't get because I don't watch football or was it pretty surface? Because if there wasn't more to it that I was missing then damn that was weak.

 

Undercover Boss: Again, Leslie managed to save this. She can be my "I don't give a fuck about Star Wars" SNL proxy.

 

Aladdin: This movie came out in 1992 so as always, congrats on the timeliness, SNL. I did laugh when Cecily said, "I just peed my...thing that I'm wearing." And I immediately became way more interested in what was going on with Beck and Leslie's air traffic controllers once they were introduced. I felt like there was a better sketch there than with the Aladdin thing.

 

America's Funniest Cats: I'm totally blanking on the name of the YouTube channel now but there is one that does videos of cats but frames them like they're French existentialist noir films, and Cecily and Kate's French nihilism reminded me of that. The boi yoi yoing thing was funny I guess.

 

Weekend Update: What was that rambling nonsense masquerading as commentary from Pete? Yeesh, if you're gonna pedal your standup on this show, at least rehearse it a little bit. And I laughed at Vanessa's kid reporter character again, but I feel like we just saw her. The Glee part killed me. "CHILD PORNOGRAPHY."

 

Awareness Week: I spent this sketch googling "social puppeteering" to see if it was a real term and apparently it is so...that's about all I have to say, I wasn't paying attention.

 

Bowie Tribute: I was never into Bowie but it's nice that they did this. I was expecting them to play the whole thing because...well, I'll get to that in a second.

 

Golden Globes: Far and away the best sketch of the night. This was adorable. Kyle and Kate are really good at playing little kids, especially Kate. I liked how despite the crazy things going on with the parents it managed to maintain its sweetness until the end. I was waiting for it to all go to shit and was pleasantly surprised when it didn't. Sometimes you need sketches like that.

 

The Doctor is in...my Butt 4: This sketch was better when they did it with Amy Schumer. It felt like something she had come up with, like something she'd put in her show, and this repeat lost a lot of what she brought to the original. Aidy is really good at this kind of character though.

 

It looks like I might be in the minority opinion but whatever. I thought this episode was mostly terrible. Is Adam Driver always this bad of an actor or did he get the January Jones (I'm sorry!) SNL jitters? Even the pretaped pieces (which many hosts who are uncomfortable with the live part tend to do better in) did not show him at his best, if he has a best. Based on what I've heard of Ronda Rousey's acting I'm not expecting next week to be much better.

[vb68]

 

NFL: Is there more to this joke that I don't get because I don't watch football or was it pretty surface? Because if there wasn't more to it that I was missing then damn that was weak.

I really think I got what they were going for there.  It was rather subtle, but it was on point about how people only pay lip service on the injuries and violence.  The lifelong effect of playing in the NFL is also a very timely subject.   

Edited January 17, 2016 by vb68

[Ms Blue Jay]

I really liked the porn sketch.  It was actually turning me on.  Adam was so funny in it.  And Adam and Beck had chemistry.. haha... sorry.  Butt I saw it.

 

The Football sketch, I was laughing so much when Kenan had both a bible and a gun in his hands and was looking from one to the other.  Hahaha.

 

The undercover boss sketch was genius.

 

I really liked Adam in the Golden Globes sketch; he threw his whole self into it.  It was a lot like that Natural Born Killers-esque sketch they did around Christmas.  

 

There was a lot of Cecily.  It's weird to see so little Kate after she was so amazing in the Ryan Gosling episode.  

 

I was really happy that Fred Armisen got such an ovation.  

Edited January 17, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[Bees]

Intro: Poor Marco Rubio gets no attention. This as alright. It didn't really grab me too hard.

 

Monologue: I kind of enjoy the "Taran and Bobby act like fanboys in front of the host" monologues. They're not done super often but when they do, they're done well (case in point: Michael Keaton monologue)

 

NFL: It seems like they were going for a social commentary here but they kind of messed it up somewhere within the execution.

 

Undercover Boss: This was pretty funny. I loved how they immediately figured it out.

 

Aladdin: This could've been better but it had some amusing moments. I really thought they were going to go in a darker direction after the bomb part. I'm kind of glad they didn't because man the shit they would get from that would be unprecedented.

 

America's Funniest Cats: I too was hoping for Kate's cat lady character to come on with her new lover. God this was a boring sketch. I just couldn't get into it. Maybe it's because I'm a dog person.

 

Weekend Update: I really liked Update this week. There were some funny jokes, I like the ribbing that Che gives Jost. And the rant about the Oscars was pretty fair. Also note to Jost -- there is a Jewish presidential candidate already (Bernie Sanders). I was even fairly amused by Pete Davidson and Vanessa Bayer's character. 

 

Awareness Week: Social Puppeteering? That sounds more like Jim Halpert pranks with an unlimited budget. I did like how twisted the message was in some respects but man they kind of lost the message somewhere in the midst of it. 

 

Bowie Tribute: This was nice. Fred said some nice stuff (though the crowd cheering for him was ridiculous) and Bowie is always well...Bowie. The tribute was well done.

 

Golden Globes: This was amazing. Just the descent into madness from the parents compared to the children whom are worried as hell. Then the whole jokes about Liev Schreiber with it ending with him potentially naked with an apron on cooking eggs? Great. I loved that cameo. This was just awesome. 

 

The Doctor is In...My Butt 4: I enjoyed this version much better than the one from the Amy Schumer episode. I felt Schumer was too over the top with her acting which I suppose is how pornos work but it just felt way too hammy. Driver had a nice balance. Also, I had to chuckle because this was the second time Beck Bennett has played a straight dude turned situationally gay in a porno (he was one of the Straight Bait dudes from the video in Arrested Development Season 4). And I liked Aidy's clueless girl. And I have to agree that Driver and Bennett had a weird chemistry that worked.

 

All in all, man was this episode rusty as hell. It had its moments and Driver actually wasn't that bad, but there were some serious cobwebs being shaken off. Next week will be interesting with Ronda Rousey hosting. I kind of like her but I think a lot of that is because she's such a huge Pokemon nerd. Plus she is pretty kickass at what she does. I'm hoping it doesn't outright suck, that's all I ask for.

[VCRTracking]

Half hour point and thoughts so far:

 

Like Pete as Rubio.

 

The NFL sketch was a bit dated. Joe Thiesman's injury was 30 years ago. Sure they replay horrific sports injuries now too but it's not that big a deal. The sketch wasn't commenting about the violence of the game so much as them always replaying it even though it's supposed to be too horrific. It happens during an NBA game too.

 

The Kylo Ren "Undercover Boss" sketch was amusing.

 

Cecily Strong looked HOT as Jasmine! Wow.

 

I hope Kate and Cecily come back as the morbid French ladies.

 

Ronda Rousey hosting next week! Hope she makes fun of her recent loss.

 

ETA:

 

I'm not familiar with current country music but Chris Stapleton sounds great. It's got that nice rock and bluesy feel mixed in that I like.

 

Loooooved the Golden Globes sketch. Adam and Vanessa were great as the hard partying parents and Kate and Kyle were so cute and poignant as their kids.

 

Aidy is back as the girl who interrupts porno filming, and this time it's a gay porno! "Dr. Rockhard" heh. This is actually a lot better than the first one with Amy Schumer. I was just astounded at how far they were willing to go. "I was the best top of my class!"

[nowandlater]

I thought Laura Parsons was hilarious...I rewound to watch it twice...then I find out here that Vanessa has done this before. I guess I missed it.

[absnow54]

I could have watched 90 minutes of Adam Driver narrating cat videos. 

[peeayebee]

I thought Adam did fine, but the material wasn't always that great.

 

The Golden Globes bit was hilarious. I figure someone wondered about award show winners telling their kids to go to bed as if the kids were all alone, and there the sketch was born. Both halves of this were great -- Adam and Vanessa as the award-winning, hard-partying writers, and Kate and Kyle as the kids. I laughed a lot.

 

I also liked the Undercover Boss sketch. I haven't seen Star Wars yet, nor watched Undercover Boss, but I know the gist of both. 

 

The Doctor is in My Butt was also very good. When Aidy walked in, I suddenly realized that was the first she appeared on this ep. She was great. I love this premise. Oh, and when the other doctors walked in, I didn't recognize Taran. I thought he was TJ Miller.

 

Vanessa as the kid newscaster was funny.

 

The Cold Open was pretty good. I continue to dislike Jay's Ben Carson impression. Pete was very good as Rubio. Everyone was good as their respective candidate. My favorite part was Bobby edging his podium away from Jay.

 

The football sketch was kind of boring. I did laugh the first time we see Pete's pic as the new quarterback. 

 

I liked the idea of Aladdin, but this wasn't executed all that well. Although Cecily looked good as Jasmine, she was really lacking in the physical comedy skills. Also, I just think more could have been done with this.

 

The social puppeteering thing was so-so.

 

I FF'd thru the musical performances.

[vb68]

When Vanessa as Laura Parsons got to Glee, I was on the floor.   It just totally fit the character to a tee.  And then it hit me that the whole thing is like a vague takeoff of Lea Michele/Rachel.  That's who she reminds me of with the "Talkin' 'bout neeeews..." bit.

Edited January 17, 2016 by vb68

[Princess Sparkle]

When Vanessa as Laura Parsons got to Glee, I was on the floor. It just totally fit the character to a tee. And then it hit me that the whole thing is like a vague takeoff of Lea Michele/Rachel. That's who she reminds me of with the "Talkin' 'bout neeeews..." bit.

I have to eat my words on Vanessa, because I was not feeling her at the beginning of the season, but her kid news character is one of my favorites from all season. I liked her last time as well, but "AND THEN HE RAPED THEM!" made me laugh so hard I startled my cat. I also like the slightly flat "talkin about the neeeeews", because it perfectly fits with the character. I also really loved her in the Golden Globe sketch; her pratfall, combined with Adam Driver deciding just to leave her there had me in stitches.

Adam Driver has been one of my favorite things about Girls, and he did an outstanding job. Even his exasperated "I'm Adam driver, not Minnie driver!" killed me.

The Undercover Boss sketch was just masterful. "Kylo Ren is a punk bitch" killed me, along with Adam Drivers wistful "I earned this today" while holding the teamwork sign. And the happy rainbow card with "Sorry I killed your son" with a frowny face was a great sight gag. I did notice there is a different version on the app than what's on Hulu - the one on the app has more back and forth between Adam Driver and Bobby before Adam Driver whips out Kylo Ren's light saber, and it explains why Kylo Ren goes to get the light saber. I'm not sure which was the one that aired on the show.

Update continues to be great this season. Colin's dorky thumbs up after Michael said he (Colin) would be excited if Staten Island Summer was nominated cracked me up. As did Michael's "I'm kidding, I would never get tired of masturbating in your office".

I do hope that Taran's switch to Ted Cruz is permanent, because his Trump was bad - even Colin's two second Trump imitation in WU was better than Taran's.

I also thought Fred was a great choice to introduce the Bowie tribute. Fred was a musician before he was a comedian, so it makes sense to me that as a young kid, that performance would be memorable.

Edited January 17, 2016 by Princess Sparkle

[Primetimer]

Did he manage okay without his mask?!

Read the story

[MrWhyt]

Update continues to be great this season. Colin's dorky thumbs up after Michael said he (Colin) would be excited if Staten Island Summer was nominated cracked me up. As did Michael's "I'm kidding, I would never get tired of masturbating in your office".

I liked Colin's "I sleep in there" and Michael's reply of "I'll be quiet". Pretty solid show I thought, any flaws certainly came down to the writing of the sketches and not Adam's performance.

Edited January 17, 2016 by MrWhyt

[MerBearHou]

The thing I enjoyed about Adam Driver overall is his rehearsed awkwardness. He is just slightly off in his delivery -- on purpose -- and it worked so well in most of the sketches where he was a weirdo. Undercover Boss just killed me -- his barely contained intense rage, his attempts to connect with the staff, Taran sucking up and Bobby criticizing the boss. Loved, loved this one.

The Golden Globes skit was hilarious and Adam and Vanessa were into it fully. Kyle and Kate were adorable as little kids.

The Kitty Video skit was weird, particularly adding French grim commentary from Cecily and Kate -- but I liked (didn't love) the quirky idea.

The Aladdin skit was odd but I laughed at the landing model of Aladdin and Jasmine -- so cheesy and amateur. Beck and Leslie were hilarious as the backstory air traffic controllers.

Loved Adam showing the photo of himself as a Marine -- such a skinny, baby face -- fascinating road to becoming a very successful actor.

I don't know Adam Driver from "Girls" (I like Lena Dunham in small doses, but just cannot stomach that show) so I was not super drawn to Adam being the host, but I ended up liking him and really enjoying much of the show.

[AdorkableSars]

 

And I laughed at Vanessa's kid reporter character again, but I feel like we just saw her. The Glee part killed me. "CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.

 

The Glee part got me too...I used to watch that show (please don't judge me...), and was wondering if SNL would touch on the Mark Salling news. Then they did! Vanessa's kid reporter character makes me laugh. 

 

 

I'm not familiar with current country music but Chris Stapleton sounds great. It's got that nice rock and bluesy feel mixed in that I like.

 

Unfortunately, Chris Stapleton is the exception, and not the norm in current country music. And I say that as a huge country music fan. I'm hoping with his appearance on SNL, and his performance with Justin Timberlake at the CMA Awards in November (which is how I was first introduced to him), more people will be exposed to him, and buy his music. He is amazing, and his album "Traveller" is by far the best album purchase I've made in quite some time. I loved both of his performances last night.

 

 

Update continues to be great this season. Colin's dorky thumbs up after Michael said he (Colin) would be excited if Staten Island Summer was nominated cracked me up. As did Michael's "I'm kidding, I would never get tired of masturbating in your office".

 

That dorky thumbs up cracked me the hell up, and the "Michael masturbating in Colin's office" as well. As their chemistry and rapport keeps improving, Weekend Update is one of the things I most look forward to every week. I know some people don't like this, but I like that they chime in with commentary on each other's jokes, and that you can hear them laughing at each other's jokes.

 

I think the Golden Globe sketch was my favorite of the night. Kate and Kyle were actually so cute as the kids, and Vanessa and Adam as the hard partying parents was hilarious. Overall, Adam Driver impressed me as the host. 

[Fisher King]

Undercover Boss, The Golden Globes & Vanessa's character on Weekend Update: 3 solid bits that had me rolling.

 

I really hope to see Jebidiah Atkinson soon.

[helenamonster]

When Vanessa as Laura Parsons got to Glee, I was on the floor.   It just totally fit the character to a tee.  And then it hit me that the whole thing is like a vague takeoff of Lea Michele/Rachel.  That's who she reminds me of with the "Talkin' 'bout neeeews..." bit.

 

I love how when she would sing the "neeeeews" part her voice would kind of, I don't know, crack or something, which she, as a child, probably thought sounded good and mature. You know what, I can't even hate on them bringing this back so soon because it really is funny.

 

*talking about Bill Cosby*

Michael: Do you even know what he did?

Vanessa: Kind of. I know he gave people medicine they didn't need. AND THEN HE RAPED THEM.

 

One thing I really thing I really think helped the Golden Globes sketch to work was the fact that Adam and Vanessa's characters were unknown writers, as opposed to one or both of them doing an impression of real celebrities. It added to the ridiculousness of them partying backstage.

 

The cat sketch was kind of difficult for me because I wanted to just watch the funny cat videos and got distracted trying to listen to the commentary as well. Idk, it was an interesting thing that they tried but I don't know if it works for this show.

[BatmanBeatles]

Undercover Boss - I loved Kylo's cheap wig. Just like in the real show, the bosses disguise looks so cheap.

[Peace 47]

Does anyone know the haunting song playing in the Golden Globes sketch?

It is "Charlie Darwin" by The Low Anthem. I was obsessed with that song about 5 years ago, and so it made the sketch all the more funny to me to hear the juxtaposition of that mournful song against the debauchery of the Globes revelry. And it's a bummer that they cut the song and substituted another on the SNL app, because that song really helps make the sketch. Music rights issues are such a downer: it's like how that "Black Widow Trailer" sketch is forever missing something by not having the universally recognizable pop music in the background like you would expect a romcom to have.

The only thing that I had seen Adam Driver in prior to this show was Star Wars, where I was not a particular fan of the role: I didn't expect to find him so likable and charismatic. He really has some comedy chops.

Edited January 18, 2016 by Peace 47

[VCRTracking]

Rewatching the "Undercover Boss: Kylo Ren" I liked it a lot more. I may have had some expectations for what the Star Wars would be originally but Adam Driver's performance gets funnier every time. It's pretty much how Kylo Ren is in the actual movie!

 

I loved his deadpan reading of: "Oh no he's choking on food."

[Princess Sparkle]

That dorky thumbs up cracked me the hell up, and the "Michael masturbating in Colin's office" as well. As their chemistry and rapport keeps improving, Weekend Update is one of the things I most look forward to every week. I know some people don't like this, but I like that they chime in with commentary on each other's jokes, and that you can hear them laughing at each other's jokes.

I like that too, because it clearly makes them both more comfortable behind the desk, and it shows the rapport they have offstage as well (as I learned from their interview with Terry Gross, Colin was the person that got Michael to join the show). And I actually think it shows a level of trust that Lorne must have for them, since Lorne famously hates improvising, but he clearly doesn't mind them improv-ing their asides behind the desk.

[ratgirlagogo]

 

I do agree that they should have shown the entire Bowie performance like they did when Roy Orbison died.

It was kind of insulting.  Plus, that guy on the left who looked like Klaus Nomi?  That was Klaus Nomi.

[vb68]

Apparently Tim Robinson was the main writer of the  Golden Globes short film.

[babyPhat279]

I guess it's a nitpick, but I don't know why they had Fred Armisen do the tribute. I'm sure any of the current cast have a story they could share about being a Bowie fan. I feel like having an older cast member up there took away from paying tribute to Bowie.

[Ottis]

It's a really good show though.  Adam Driver is extremely good at this.  You can tell that the writers have full faith in him as he stars in every sketch.

 

 

I thought he was overly intense in just about every skit. It's either his delivery or he was nervous. It was like he was channeling the Kylo Ren tantrum off and on. Props for singing, though.

 

Agree that Che either mumbles or doesn't enunciate enough. I had to play several of his lines back because I couldn't quite make out a word.

 

Maybe it was just me, but Kate was super hot as a brunette French woman with glasses.

 

The Undercover Boss skit was a great idea but suffered from pacing. They should have had "Matt" use the force to retrieve his wrench after the passing guy kicked it, not later to choke the blase dude. It was weird that "Matt" would bring the light saber in, wave it threateningly in the blase dude and the blase dude would still say it looked like a kid made it. Also, the guy who got promoted should have given the audience a sign that he knew Matt was Kylo Ren immediately when he was talking about how Kylo was doing something no one in the universe has done. The skit had the pieces, it was just off. 

 

The Golden Globes sketch was very dark. 

[vb68]

 

I guess it's a nitpick, but I don't know why they had Fred Armisen do the tribute.

 

 

I'm guessing that was mostly due to Fred being a musician in his own right, and I'm sure he did indeed remember the performance.  If he asked Lorne and told him what it meant to him, I don't think there was any reason to deny Fred that.   I thought it was fine.

Edited January 18, 2016 by vb68

[VCRTracking]

Maybe it was just me, but Kate was super hot as a brunette French woman with glasses.

 

It's not just you.

[Traveller519]

So, apparently I still know all the lyrics to "A Whole New World"

[AriAu]

I guess it's a nitpick, but I don't know why they had Fred Armisen do the tribute. I'm sure any of the current cast have a story they could share about being a Bowie fan. I feel like having an older cast member up there took away from paying tribute to Bowie.

 

Let's face it, Fred is one of Lorne's favorites and can show up just about any time he wants and do something. In addition, he is sorta known as the guy who handled musical "stuff" on the show and is the bandleader for Seth's show.....which is a Lorne Michael's production. Therefore, wasn't all that surprised. Plus, I am not sure which of the current cast members could have presented it with the same gravitas.

It is not unprecedented to have a non-cast member handle a tribute/ In Memorium moment like this-didn't Steve Martin do the tribute when Gilda died.

[dubbel zout]

Steve Martin introduced a clip in which he performed with Gilda, IIRC, so it made a bit more sense. I think anyone in the current cast could have handled the Bowie tribute. The cheering and applause Fred got was a bit jarring given the circumstances, though the audience wouldn't necessarily have known why he was there. But still.

Edited January 19, 2016 by dubbel zout

[lovinbob]

Vanessa's kid characters crack me up. She was really good. I simultaneously identified with her (since I was a kid who liked to show off) and loathed her (as a mom who can't stand kids' TV).

 

I LOVED Adam Driver. I loved his energy and felt they wrote a lot of good stuff. A Whole New World was a little random, but still funny.

 

Comment about Jay's Ben Carson: The Real Dr. Carson actually does do that weird hands thing. I noticed it in the real debate this week and almost came here to post about it!

[candall]

Underwhelmed, here.

 

I thought the single most interesting thing was the clothing/styling for the French women.  So. . .French.  And how "odd" absolutely becomes "chic" by virtue of being French.  And how fun it would be to be a 20-something chic Frenchwoman.

 

But, for the first time in 147 seasons, I've never even heard of next week's host, so clearly all versions of that boat have sailed.

[nowandlater]

I guess it's a nitpick, but I don't know why they had Fred Armisen do the tribute. I'm sure any of the current cast have a story they could share about being a Bowie fan. I feel like having an older cast member up there took away from paying tribute to Bowie.

 

Fred is contracted to appear on SNL 5 times a year.

 

This week, he'll introduce a Glenn Frey tribute, even though the Eagles never performed on SNL.

[questionfear]

I realized watching the cold open that Cecily Strong doesn't get enough credit for her impressions. She did a dead-on Sarah Koennig in the "Serial" spoof last year, and her Maria Bartiromo was eerily accurate too (Bartiromo used to be an anchor on CNBC, so I spent a lot of time hearing her drone on and on). 

[VCRTracking]

But, for the first time in 147 seasons, I've never even heard of next week's host, so clearly all versions of that boat have sailed.

 

I'm not that into either MMA(Mixed Martial Arts) or the UFC(Ultimate Fighting Championship)but I've heard of Ronda Rousey because she's been in a lot of other media lately. She's already been in a couple of movies like Expendables 3, the Entourage movie and the latest Fast and Furious movie. She's also appeared on a lot of talk shows. Before being in the UFC she won the gold medal for judo in the 2008 Olympics. Her latest loss made a lot of news because she'd been undefeated for a long time.

 

I didn't mind Fred doing the tribute because he was always the resident hipster of the cast. The one known for his alternative music taste. His show Portlandia is all about it so It thought it was apt he do it. 

Edited January 19, 2016 by VCRTracking

[vb68]

 

I didn't mind Fred doing the tribute because he was always the resident hipster of the cast. The one known for his alternative music taste. His show Portlandia is all about it so It thought it was apt he do it.

 

 I also don't think there's anyone in the cast now who is old enough to remember it.  In my humble opinion he was the appropriate person to do it.

Edited January 20, 2016 by vb68

[Ottis]

But, for the first time in 147 seasons, I've never even heard of next week's host, so clearly all versions of that boat have sailed.

 

 

Wow, you must not spend much time online. She has been all over it the past several months, since she lost her first fight. I've never seen that sport, nor her other than still images in articles, but the headlines were everywhere for a couple of weeks. She also is considered attractive and has appeared in SI-like photo shoots of athletes. Come to think of it, I've never actually heard her talk. I wonder what she will sound like on the show?

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

Watch The Most Notable Moments Of Adam Driver's Saturday Night Live Hosting Début
Did he manage okay without his mask?!

[nowandlater]

 I also don't think there's anyone in the cast now who is old enough to remember it.  In my humble opinion he was the appropriate person to do it.

 

Armisen said he was in high school when he stayed up to watch the Bowie episode, but he was 13 when it first aired. Yeah, yeah, he probably saw it as a rerun.

 

Also, Leslie Jones was 12 at the time. (I have no idea if she was watching SNL at the time.)

Edited January 20, 2016 by nowandlater

[VCRTracking]

Wow, you must not spend much time online. She has been all over it the past several months, since she lost her first fight. I've never seen that sport, nor her other than still images in articles, but the headlines were everywhere for a couple of weeks. She also is considered attractive and has appeared in SI-like photo shoots of athletes. Come to think of it, I've never actually heard her talk. I wonder what she will sound like on the show?

 

Here she is on Fallon:

 

 

She actually looks like a REALLY buff Julia Stiles.

[ktwo]

Armisen said he was in high school when he stayed up to watch the Bowie episode, but he was 13 when it first aired. Yeah, yeah, he probably saw it as a rerun.

I was 13 as a freshman in high school - December birthday. So it is possible.

[Princess Sparkle]

I was 13 as a freshman in high school - December birthday. So it is possible.

Exactly, and Fred Armisen does indeed have a December birthday, and in fairness, the performance over 35 years ago; I'm not going to hold his feet to the fire because he said "high school" as opposed to "junior high". I think the key is that he considers himself a musician as much as a comedian, and clearly music heavily influences a lot of his comedy (one of my favorite sketches of his is Ian Rubish and the Bizarros), and since he doesn't actually revisit SNL that often after leaving, I chalk this up to him asking Lorne if he can introduce the clip.

.....And, I've already put more thought into this than anyone involved in the decision making did.

Edited January 21, 2016 by Princess Sparkle

[kassa]

I am tired of Vanessa Bayer's kid newscaster character.

 

 

I think the writing is really sharp -- "... and then he RAPED them!" -- but unfortunately it loses major points for me because it's so similar to her Jacob the Bar Mitzvah boy.   And her Nickelodeon Kids Acting school character.  Voices are not her thing, apparently.  The material is good enough that I still laugh, but what's keeping it from being knocked out of the park is the one note similarity to other stuff she's done.