S41.E11: Ronda Rousey / Selena Gomez

[formerlyfreedom]

Ronda Rousey hosts; musical performer Selena Gomez.

 

 

 

[Galileo908]

Screw the snow, SNL is new!

 

Cold Open: Of course we're covering Trump getting endorsed by Sarah Palin. I bet the writers said "thank you, god" when that happened, and Tina Fey braved the snow to be here. Like I said last week, this was nowhere near as nuts as the real thing.

 

Monologue: She has this together more than other athlete hosts. Forgive me for the wordplay, but I feel she came out punching. And Kenan's advice for KO-ing the monologue was sound: Use topical humor, break out into song, and bring out a sure thing: Kate McKinnon as Justin Bieber and getting backhanded by Ronda.

 

Screen Guild Awards: Yes! A commentary on how white the Oscars are! Che and Jay giving their co-stars the stink-eye was the best.

 

Love Struck: This was great. Definitely one of Vanessa's best performances.

 

Bland Man: A nice commentary on The Bachelor and how generic it is. Aidy and Sasheer (apperance #2!) were the best. Well, they were all great. And the punchline that the Bland Man goes for Selena Gomez was something I should've seen coming. For one, she's the youngest one there at 23 (Aidy Bryant is the youngest in the cast at 28). I feel old now, I'm older than Aidy by two months, and I'm older than her and three other cast members.

 

WU: It's sad for the state of comedy that the only thing Colin and Che can do is just stare blankly at something Trump actually said. And man. I love Leslie Jones. Loved them cutting to Bobby in the snow as the friend who says that the snow "isn't that bad." And yeah, I love Willie. He really grew on me over time. His life just gets sadder and sadder, but he stays positive.

 

Three's A Crime: The times have changed: A sketch about Pete Davison getting it on with two teachers is treated like a personal victory and it seems ODD that they went that way. The subject matter just doesn't seem funny anymore. I KNOW they did this sketch in the past, and it was odd then, too.

 

Super Crew: I loved how the superheroes got lamer as the sketch went on.

 

Can You Handle Us: This was okay.

 

Town Hall: Also okay.

 

Break Room: Meh.

 

Settl: Repeat.

 

Man, this show was pretty decent and then it hit post-update slump BAD. Not Ronda's fault, she didn't get that much to do. We return February 6th with...LARRY DAVID?! Hell froze over, folks. "Hey, you might be playing the next president, how about you host?"

[Ms Blue Jay]

What a great show.  I feel bad that I had zero hopes for Rhonda Rousey but she really delivered.  The Palin stuff was great, the Oscars stuff was great, Jost and especially Che were great.

 

Died of happiness hearing about Larry David hosting on February 6.

Edited January 24, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[vb68]

I understand using Ronda like they did and not overloading her, but I actually thought they were too cautious.  I thought she could have handled more than they gave her easily.  She seemed stoked to be there, really charismatic, and honestly like a sweetheart.  I hope she had fun.

 

It started off great.  Well you can't go wrong with Tina dialing up her mockery of Palin full tilt.  It was richly deserved.

 

And I dare say this was Leslie's best Update appearance yet.  She was on fire, and this one will be on her eventual "Best of Leslie Jones" DVD.   I couldn't stop laughing when she turned on Colin.  "Well look who's jealous now!"    Leslie, I want a ham sandwich too!

 

There were a few lines I really enjoyed.   "Now I got a boo boo, girl."    I want to see her takedown the real Bieber.   And then "I'm a virgin, but I'm quick to do the things I do" in the bland Bachelor sketch.

 

I do agree the show went downhill after Update with Beck's bad rapping being the sole highlight.

 

I think they had too many ensemble "walk on, walk off" sketches for Ronda's benefit, but I did enjoy most of the episode. 

 

 

I feel old now, I'm older than Aidy by two months, and I'm older than her and three other cast members.

 

 

You feel old?  That makes me feel ancient.  Have I mentioned how much I enjoy having Leslie on the show?

Edited January 24, 2016 by vb68

[TV Anonymous]

My question throughout the show was if New York was in traffic lock down, how did the cast and crew get to the 30 Rock.

 

I felt Rousey was underutilized. On the other hand however, she was a martial artist. Having her doing her fight moves might not be so appealing for the audience.

[helenamonster]

Cold Open: Tina! Lol thank God she was available, it would have been a total letdown if she wasn't. I thought she got the tone of Palin thinking her rhymes were the cleverest thing ever just right. Wish she'd made a more obvious commentary about Palin blaming Obama for her son's domestic violence arrest.

 

Monologue: Ok, yeah, I feel bad that I assumed Ronda was gonna suck. It's just that in the promos she seemed to be trying so hard and I just wanted to be like, girl, relax, you're overthinking this. But this was a really clever monologue (one that made me wonder if they've got an intern trolling boards, cuz a lot of the tongue-in-cheek stuff about how to do a surefire monologue seemed to come from complaints we've made here and that have been made elsewhere; if that is the case, hi intern!). I laughed so hard each time Cecily walked by with the round number. Did Ronda really get brain damage from that Holm fight? I follow literally zero sports.

 

Screen Guild Awards: This sketch had no chill and totally hit the mark.

 

Lovestruck: Vanessa was really, really good in this. 

 

Bland Man: They did a similar sketch with Blake Shelton, but it still worked a second time. Was Cecily supposed to be imitating that Bachelor contestant that everyone said she looked like? Lol at Sasheer. "I'm the black one." "Oh, let me walk you out."

 

Weekend Update: Hello hi yes, if I can recite a joke word for word before you even open your mouth, it's probably not a good joke. Talking about the National Compliment Day one, I knew what was coming as soon as the image came up. That's got to be at least the third, maybe the fourth, time Colin has used that "...Dad" punchline. And why do they insist on bringing back Willie? It's awful. But I am totally Bobby, the friend that says "it's not that bad." It really isn't, y'all.

 

Three's A Crime: They've done this before.

 

Super Crew: Ok, I guess. I thought Cecily was awesome. "Ok, the more you interrupt us, the longer this is gonna take."

 

Small Penis: Pretty one-note joke, but I thought Beck sold it. Definitely enough that I got mad at him/his character when he unnecessarily shoved Kate lol.

 

Council Meeting: This is a repeat too but I like this sketch because it's an opportunity for a bunch of cast members to get some character work in. Aidy as Jan Krang makes me laugh. Drone milfs, lmao.

 

Party: This feels like it was probably originally conceived as a Good Neighbor short (Beck and Kyle, 12:55) and I wonder how much more they could have done with it if they'd pretaped it. Solid premise, though.

 

This episode had a lot of repeats (even including a goddamn Update joke) but I thought it was really strong. The cast seems to like Ronda (and Selena) and overall just really seemed to enjoy themselves; it came off like they had a really fun week together.

 

Selena Gomez is so, so pretty; I'm glad she's doing well, I know she had some health problems recently, lupus I think. And I thought both of her performances were really good. I loved how relieved/excited she looked at the end of her second song. It feels like forever ago that I was watching her on Wizards of Waverly Place.

 

Next new episode sounds like it'll be a good one. Larry David is obviously awesome. And The 1975 are pretty good. I hope they sing "Love Me."

 

 

My question throughout the show was if New York was in traffic lock down, how did the cast and crew get to the 30 Rock.

 

There were still some subways running. And based on a couple videos that some of the cast posted on Instagram, some of them might have just walked.

[bmoore4026]

So, who was the lady hosting and why should I care?

[Galileo908]

My question throughout the show was if New York was in traffic lock down, how did the cast and crew get to the 30 Rock.

 

I felt Rousey was underutilized. On the other hand however, she was a martial artist. Having her doing her fight moves might not be so appealing for the audience.

There were pictures of the cast (and presumably the crew) sleeping there overnight.

 

And I dare say this was Leslie's best Update appearance yet.  She was on fire, and this one will be on her eventual "Best of Leslie Jones" DVD.   I couldn't stop laughing when she turned on Colin.  "Well look who's jealous now!"    Leslie, I want a ham sandwich too!

 

There were a few lines I really enjoyed.   "Now I got a boo boo, girl."    I want to see her takedown the real Bieber.   And then "I'm a virgin, but I'm quick to do the things I do" in the bland Bachelor sketch.

Yes, this was one of Leslie's finest bits. I was also hoping for a bit of Leslie going toe to toe with Ronda, but it never came. I feel like we all knew that the joke would be Leslie actually holding her own (hell, last week she bitched out KYLO REN).

[Ms Blue Jay]

I also enjoyed that club sketch with the three guys rapping.

 

I guess they didn't want it to be too "on the nose" but the imitations of The Bland Man contestants were thinly veiled portrayals of the current contestants on the current season of The Bachelor.   A particularly unhinged-seeming contestant named "Lace" has been compared by everyone to the Girl at a Party you wish you hadn't started a Conversation with, and they had Cecily imitating her here.

 

I always think that Kate McKinnon is genius, but I thought Aidy was also particularly hilarious tonight.

 

Tweet about Nancy Kerrigan:

 

@SNLinReview  1h1 hour ago
The last time a female athlete hosted #SNL, Rob Schneider and Phil Hartman were still in the cast.

Edited January 24, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[vb68]

 

My question throughout the show was if New York was in traffic lock down, how did the cast and crew get to the 30 Rock.

 

 

I seriously bet some of them have been camping out there since about Thursday or so.  I know Seth use to have a cot he slept on.  I'm sure precautions and contingencies were planned out. 

 

 

 

@SNLinReview  1h1 hour ago

The last time a female athlete hosted #SNL, Rob Schneider and Phil Hartman were still in the cast.

 

That is really sad.  Off the top of my head, it's odd to think they've never had Serena Williams host. 

Edited January 24, 2016 by vb68

[helenamonster]

So, who was the lady hosting and why should I care?

 

I admittedly don't know much about Ronda Rousey, but her Wikipedia overview points to some seriously impressive accomplishments.

 

 

 

Ronda Jean Rousey (/ˈraʊzi/ or /ˈraʊsi/;[citation needed] born February 1, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist, judoka, and actress. She is the former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion, as well as the last Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion. She has won eleven of her fights in the first round, nine of them by armbar. Rousey was the first U.S. woman to earn an Olympic medal in judo (Bronze) at the Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008. Rousey trains under Gokor Chivichyan of the Hayastan MMA Academy, and Edmond Tarverdyan of the Glendale Fighting Club.[4] In 2015, she was the third most searched person on Google.[5]

As of December 2015, Rousey is ranked the #1 female bantamweight fighter in the world according to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC),[6] and #2 by Sherdog and Fight Matrix.[7][8] Sherdog lists her as the #3 Pound for Pound Women's MMA fighter in the world,[9] while ESPN and Fight Matrix list her #4 female Pound for Pound fighter.[10][11]

In May 2015, two magazines ranked Rousey as the most dominant active athlete.[12][13][14] Rousey was voted on an ESPN poll as the Best Female Athlete Ever.[15] In September 2015, she revealed that she is currently the UFC's highest paid fighter, male or female.[16][17]

[Bees]

Cold Open: This was nice but it really struck me how nobody from the actual cast was featured. That seems to be a bit of a thing. Granted nobody has a really good Trump and Tina's Palin is hard to top. Though man, as said before, you know the writers were thanking their lucky stars for Sarah Palin's endorsement of Trump. 

 

Monologue: I like how meta this is about the monologues. And I liked the way this was framed too like an MMA match. Also, it's cute how they seem to think that Selena Gomez can sing. 

 

Screen Guild Awards: You know, I appreciate the satire and all but all I could think was "Man, Kids in the Hall did something just like this that was much funnier" though theirs was about Best Actors where 4 of the guys were playing real life people with debilitating conditions and the other one was Shakespeare and it ends up with everybody but the Shakespeare guy winning. Also I'm not a big fan of "(insert group here), amirite?!" humor. Once again, I appreciate what they were going for (because honestly, there were some serious snubs for Oscar Isaac, Ryan Coogler, Idris Elba and Michael B. Jordan) but I just feel like this could've been done better.

 

Love Struck: I enjoyed this. It worked well for what it was. And Vanessa just keep on getting up and going back for more was awesome. Part of me kind of wished that Beck's character wasn't such a douchebag but since he was, it was fun to see Ronda get him.

 

Bland Man: I think they utilized Ronda here perfectly. She's not an actress by any means but they used her somewhat woodenness to their advantage to have her be just a generic as Bland Man. And of course he goes for the super young woman. I did kind of laugh at Ronda asking if she could wear jeans next date and him saying "No" and just how ridiculous all the contestants got. The stuff with Sasheer was especially biting which was great. 

 

Weekend Update: I know not many people like Leslie Jones that much, but I enjoy her. I think it's just mostly I love her and Colin's chemistry together. They're so much fun together. Mostly I just love her hitting on him. And I kind of like how it seems that Colin got jealous of her fawning over Leonardo DiCaprio and her efforts to get with him. I liked how Colin was going "don't call her" as she was yelling "CALL ME, LEO!" I also enjoyed the" ...Dad" joke here with National Compliment Day. Willie was Willie. It's not the best but it's not the worst. 

 

Three's a Crime: Was this supposed to be the same student as before? Because if so, I actually think that would be pretty amusing. I mean just for the absurdity factor. However, it does kind of rub me the wrong way with the absolute double standards that people seem to have when women teachers sleep with male students. If this supposed to be was satirical, then they definitely missed the mark. 

 

Super Crew: This was okay. Cecily was definitely the best part with her constant "Let us all say our thing!" and then her gaydar for only black men and Beast being because he loves Beauty and the Beast. That amused me. 

 

The Club: I actually really liked this. Man, Beck has been on a ton this episode, huh? It's kind of nice to see. He must've really hit it off well with Ronda or something. He totally sold this one. Also there were some pretty nice rhymes from Jay and Taran in there which helped juxtapose the awfuness of Beck. And it appears Beck's character is a never-nude!

 

Council Meeting: This was fine. There were some fun bits like Bobby's character talking about the issues with the Drone MILFs website, Jan Krang, Ronda's character with the carnival featuring the lost Baldwin brother (I found it funny when after they said no, she was all like "Okay, that's cool!" and just left). This was just some nice goofiness that I wish went somewhere further but I guess they were strapped for time.

 

Party: I know this may sound weird, but I really think this sketch could've been so much more bizarre. I'm not sure why it didn't go off the rails like I thought it would. It just felt like the ideal sketch to just go full on bizarro. But it didn't which was kind of disappointing. Also, fun fact, my dogs totally woke up the entire house when the doorbell rang in the sketch. They started looking out the window and barking. The weird thing is that we've never had a working doorbell for as long as we've had both these dogs. It's weird.

 

To summarize this episode in a Newsradio quote: "Actually, that wasn't entirely unpleasant..." I thought this episode was going to suck but it really didn't. I mean it wasn't anything groundbreakingly good, but it was pretty damn solid. Ronda Rousey was utilized very well in the sketches she was in. However, I do wish that they used her more. They did seem a little conservative with her. Also, part of me kind of wished that they talked about her immense Pokemon nerdery but that's the Pokemon nerd in me talking. 

 

I'm looking forward to Larry David hosting SNL. It's pretty hilarious that he's been so involved with SNL lately after the way he had left all those years ago. I'm looking forward to it. Bring on the Bernie sketches!

Edited January 24, 2016 by Bees

[Judois]

That was just bad with few laughs. The HLN sketch was terrible. The rapping video was not creative. And a wee bit crude. And if I'm saying that,it must be true. Trust me.

[Ms Blue Jay]

On the contrary I feel like Leslie Jones is quite popular!  It took me a few tries to "get" her humour but now I really enjoy it.

 

I also liked "It's National Compliment Day..... Dad."

 

There was a joke I laughed really really hard at.  It was Che (I think?) talking about a woman who had 1,000 cats and her husband, when reached for comment, left 10 years ago.

[vb68]

I think with the last sketch I ended up wondering what the deal was with those two guys more than I was suppose to. I mean, it was almost like they were related to the wild and crazy guys (but NOWHERE near as funny) except there didn't really seem to be a cultural gap.   I don't know.  Maybe they were raised in a basement or something.  But it seemed like there needed to be a backstory with those two, and it shows how funny it was that that's what I was thinking.  

Edited January 24, 2016 by vb68

[helenamonster]

I think with the last sketch I ended up wondering what the deal was with those two guys more than I was suppose to. I mean, it was almost like they were related to the wild and crazy guys (but NOWHERE near as funny) except there didn't really seem to be a cultural gap.   I don't know.  Maybe they were raised in a basement or something.  But it seemed like there needed to be a backstory with those two, and it shows how funny it was that that's what I was thinking.  

 

I don't even think it was meant to be that deep, just two "losers" who had never been to a party before and didn't understand how lowkey it was. Like the humor seemed to just be, "What if two adult men who had never been to a party before were suddenly invited to one?"

[Former Nun]

The rapping video was not creative. And a wee bit crude.

 

 

I'm experiencing the vapors.  Something on SNL was crude?  

[possibilities]

"What if two adult men who had never been to a party before were suddenly invited to one?"

They would bring rags? Dogs? And buckets? And arrive at 3 am instead of pm? I don't think it being a first time invitation would account for that.

 

I love Leslie.

 

I liked Ronda, and she's by far the best athlete host I remember, but I thought the show overall was pretty dull.

 

Parks and Rec did public meetings way better than SNL does.

 

I agree that the cold open was waaaaay less wacky and unbelievable than the reality. It's gotten to the point that it's impossible to match, nevermind exaggerate, what's going on. Trump: "I could shoot someone and I'd still be popular." Palin: "Rah rah gobbledy wobbledy guns America pass the buck proud Rah wha!"

[Former Nun]

I know not many people like Leslie Jones that much, but I enjoy her.

 

 

I love every moment I can get with Leslie Jones.  She was a good guest on Seth Myers' show recently.

[niklj]

So lame that they pretty much recycled two of their skits but tried to pass them off as new.

 

BLAND MAN was basically FARM HUNK down to the "Can I steal him for a sec?"

 

THREE'S A CRIME was basically TEACHER TRIAL.

 

If they were some kind of series that they did, I'd understand.

 

Speaking of series, I kind of miss those segments that had their own theme song, which is probably due to the fact that all these guys don't come from character-based comedy backgrounds. None of the main cast members are from The Groundlings this time around, huh? The only one I think is Jon Rudnitsky.

Edited January 24, 2016 by niklj

[MrWhyt]

So, who was the lady hosting and why should I care?

Ronda Rhousey, until recently an undefeated MMA fighter. I don't think there is any requirement to care. i thought the show was pretty bland, the dead/empty? audience didn't help, and they didn't use Rhonda enough IMO.

Edited January 24, 2016 by MrWhyt

[VCRTracking]

The SAG sketch was funny especially Bobby as "White Guy with Camera".

 

Ronda wasn't great but I did think her acting hurt at the prank in the high school sketch was good.

 

Cecily was definitely imitating Lace(the girl from The Bachelor.who everybody says looks like her "Girl you don't want to have a conversation with" character).

 

I hope Kate brings back the crazy old Irish lady character.

[nowandlater]

My question throughout the show was if New York was in traffic lock down, how did the cast and crew get to the 30 Rock.

 

I remember a cast member recalling a previous blizzard (or was it Hurricane Sandy?) in which Lorne put them all up in a nearby hotel.

 

 

 

Aidy Bryant is the youngest in the cast at 28). I feel old now, I'm older than Aidy by two months, and I'm older than her and three other cast members.

 

 

Aidy is approximately 10 years younger than me, so there are 2 cast members older than me (Bobby and Leslie).

 

I looked to see how many cast members 10 years ago were born in the '60s. Quite a few...There was even one 50s-born cast member: Darrell Hammond.

 

 

So, who was the lady hosting and why should I care?

 

 

Really, that can be said of anybody who hosts SNL...except Ronda Rousey is pretty darn famous (and I'm writing this as somebody who's never watched an MMA -- or whatever she does -- fight in my life.)

 

 

@SNLinReview  1h1 hour ago

The last time a female athlete hosted #SNL, Rob Schneider and Phil Hartman were still in the cast.

 

Edited January 24, 2016 by nowandlater

[Blakeston]

I wasn't surprised that they were able to get the cast there - it's easy enough to find temporary lodging for them. The audience, though, was a different story. Either the powers that be got some people from nearby buildings to show up, or those are some very dedicated fans.
 

None of the main cast members are from The Groundlings this time around, huh? The only one I think is Jon Rudnitsky.

 
And the only thing he's contributed is fart jokes. And they aren't even good fart jokes.

[cambridgeguy]

If Trump really is the nominee (words I never thought I would type) then Hammond should try to bargain for pay equivalent to what he got near the end of his run when he pretty much showed up in one sketch per show anyway.  Between Trump and Bill Clinton that's enough material to last through the election.

[Former Nun]

Darrell Hammond is on every SNL show...even though we might not see him.  He's the announcer, taking over after Don Pardo died in 2014.  So...he's probably on hand to do any on-air stuff they need.

[Peace 47]

I don't think they underused Ronda: she did rise to the occasion during the monologue, but in other sketches, you could tell that her limited use was really helping camouflage how very wooden her acting was. I will admit to having never heard of her before last night's show.

I will also admit, that like others, I kept obsessing over how they got an audience and what hotel the cast and crew must have stayed/ be staying at to be there that night. I kept telling myself to chill out and focus on the show.

I thought Tina looked and sounded like Sarah Palin more than ever before (and it was previously already an uncanny impression). The hair and costume and voice were 1000% on point.

It's been said, but that "student sleeping with his teacher" sketch needs to die ASAP. Let's see how many writers who are fathers would really be thrilled that their underage son was being taken advantage of by his teacher. Ugh.

My favorite part of the superheroes sketch was Leslie's character who could only fly as fast as you can walk, for 10 seconds at a time, twice a day. That was great.

[revbfc]

Speaking as a guy, a spiral cut ham sandwich would keep me around for at least a few more hours.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I wonder how the ratings will be -- should they be higher as everyone should be stuck at home watching TV?

[vb68]

 

None of the main cast members are from The Groundlings this time around, huh? The only one I think is Jon Rudnitsky.

 

Taran came from the Groundlings.

 

I don't watch MMA or Ultimate Fighting either, but Ronda gets a lot of press.  She's definitely famous enough to host.

 

Tina was a good sport to come.  I bet she's saying "please don't be the running mate again" inside her head, though. 

Edited January 24, 2016 by vb68

[Ms Blue Jay]

I find that Jon Rudnitsky fellow to be quite the looker.

[AriAu]

i thought the show was pretty bland, the dead/empty? audience didn't help, and they didn't use Rhonda enough IMO.

 

Funny, I thought they used her TOO much. Her acting (or over acting) was awful. Her PR people have done an amazing job getting people to think that she has an engaging personality and it certainly didn't show here. She was stiff and wooden in every scene she appeared in other than the video where she got to pretend to kick Vanessa's behind....where she was supposed to be stiff and wooden.

By the way after seeing her all greased up for her fight (not to mention afterwards), I will never view her as hot, no matter how hard they sell her in skin tight dresses and body paint (for SI Swimsuit). 

 

This was about the worst episode I have seen in awhile...almost as bad as Trump's episode. Maybe it was the lack of energy from the most likely stranded audience or from the performers but there were just no good laughs. It wasn't helped by the fact that the lines from Tina's Palin were not as bat shit crazy as the real thing.

Edited January 24, 2016 by AriAu

[Spartan Girl]

So was I the only one that thought for one horrifying second that it was the real Sarah Palin and not Tina? The resemblence was even more striking now that Tina updated the look.

[Princess Sparkle]

And I dare say this was Leslie's best Update appearance yet. She was on fire, and this one will be on her eventual "Best of Leslie Jones" DVD. I couldn't stop laughing when she turned on Colin. "Well look who's jealous now!" Leslie, I want a ham sandwich too!

I agree; this has been my favorite WU bit she has ever done. I freaking lost it at the exact same time Colin did, when she talked about Leo "washing his junk in the sink", followed by her "slicing a ham sandwich" song. I will say, Leslie has always been solid in her WU bits, but I think in the sketches outside of update, you can see how much she's grown as a performer - you can see how much more comfortable she is in sketches.

Ronda Roussey did a good job, especially on the scale of "athletes as hosts". One benefit of them relying on ensemble sketches for her was that we got to see all the cast members in multiple sketches, which is always nice - this is probably the most Sasheer had been in a show since she joined the cast.

Willie isn't always my favorite, but for some reason "Nice try, but we're not gonna put you down Willie!!" got a good long laugh out of me.

I do have to say, I really enjoy Kyle Mooney as a performer (and I don't think we see him enough), so his face when he received cake in the monologue cracked me up.

I find that Jon Rudnitsky fellow to be quite the looker.

This is not a knock against his looks per se, but I find Jon Rudnitsky to be a less attractive version of Colin, and for what Jon Rudnitsky contributes, you could just stick Colin in his place. I do kind of wonder what Jon Rudnitsky showed off in his audition, because if his best material/character was that happy pirate one from the Chris Hemsworth episode, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot there. Edited January 24, 2016 by Princess Sparkle

[Mya Stone]

Leslie on Update was the best thing I've seen on the show in a long time. Cold opens not included.

Having tried to watch Palin stump for Trump before, truth was truly stranger than fiction here. But my god, Tina. I still can't believe "He can command FIRE" is a real thing that was said.

[peeayebee]

Jon Rudnitsky adds nothing to show, unless he's written some good stuff. But as a performer, he's a ghost. Nothing there. Maybe he would make a better impression if they gave him characters with more time to impress.

 

I didn't think much of this show, though there were some good parts. Rhonda did what they asked her to do, and that's about it. She can't really deliver a joke. Too bad.

 

Loved seeing Tina as Palin again. As someone else said, it's amazing how much she looks like her.

 

The Screen Guild Awards bit was pretty good. Love Struck was ok just for Vanessa's performance. I always like her and think she's under-appreciated for her body of work. I liked Bland Man. I don't watch The Bachelor (though I did watch UNReal), but each woman was enough of an archetype that pre-knowledge of The Bachelor was unnecessary.

 

I LOVE Willie. Kenan's sunniness combined with tales of his terrible life just cracks me up. "It's like when the asbestos removal crew said, 'My God! There's somebody alive in here!'"

 

The Super Crew was pretty good. I liked all the characters they created. I liked Beck's performance in the Girls' Night thing. The best thing about the City Council skit was when the camera cut to Leslie's character and she said, "Bye," and walked away.

 

I really liked the sketch with Beck and Mooney being strange guys at work. I think it would have been even better with someone other than Rhonda. Still, "We don't have a car. Thanks, Obama!"

 

Even though it was a repeat, I liked seeing Settl again. 

 

I hated the HLN/sex abuse sketch. The first time they did this, it was bad too, though IIRC, I thought that one worked a little bit better than this one. The writers really need to turn this more into a critique of how wrong it is for people to think it's ok for adult females to have sex with underage boys, esp contrasted with adult men having sex with underage girls.

 

I see there's quite a few things I liked about this ep, so maybe my main complaint is Rousey.

[Princess Sparkle]

I really liked the sketch with Beck and Mooney being strange guys at work. I think it would have been even better with someone other than Rhonda. Still, "We don't have a car. Thanks, Obama!"

I liked that one too. It was a strange little sketch, but it worked. Kyle happily exclaiming that he would bring the towels, followed by him explaining what towels and rags were was hilarious.

[Mya Stone]

Oh, I forgot to add that I actually liked Selena Gomez. I thought she was fun. I'm not exactly her demo audience (34, female), but she brought it.

I did spend the second song thinking how amazing it would have been to have Kate as Justin in the bed too, though.

[vb68]

 

I wonder how the ratings will be -- should they be higher as everyone should be stuck at home watching TV?

 

 

They were indeed pretty good.   

[Primetimer]

Yes, she was the host. But if you blinked, you probably missed her.

Read the story

[helenamonster]

They would bring rags? Dogs? And buckets? And arrive at 3 am instead of pm? I don't think it being a first time invitation would account for that.

 

I agree that the cold open was waaaaay less wacky and unbelievable than the reality. It's gotten to the point that it's impossible to match, nevermind exaggerate, what's going on. Trump: "I could shoot someone and I'd still be popular." Palin: "Rah rah gobbledy wobbledy guns America pass the buck proud Rah wha!"

 

Well, I think the base idea was exaggerated for comedic effect. I just think it was supposed to a wacky, Good Neighbor type thing, no serious character work or deeper meaning behind it.

 

This election is getting to the point where it's so out of control that it's kind of crossed over to the other side where any imitation just pales in comparison. I'm glad Tina was available but honestly the only way they could have truly matched the crazy was by playing footage of the real endorsement without commentary.

 

So lame that they pretty much recycled two of their skits but tried to pass them off as new.

 

BLAND MAN was basically FARM HUNK down to the "Can I steal him for a sec?"

 

THREE'S A CRIME was basically TEACHER TRIAL.

 

If they were some kind of series that they did, I'd understand.

 

This is not new for the show, especially in recent years. It's kind of the trickle-down effect of the Wiig era, where the writers would pad the show with three of Kristen's characters doing the exact same thing in a slightly modified setting to lighten their load.

 

I don't mind recurring characters/sketches, but I do wish they'd change things up a bit to make it seem more like a series. They used to do that, or at least have characters versatile enough where even if the shtick was the same, the writing could be changed up enough to make it seem new and like effort had been put into it. I think a recent example of something like that that really worked was Stefon. He did the same thing each time he came out, but it still always felt fresh, imo. There was also a serial element with his lust for Seth that eventually paid off with the wedding.

 

Tina was a good sport to come.  I bet she's saying "please don't be the running mate again" inside her head, though. 

 

She's not alone.

 

Also, from way upthread...Aidy isn't the youngest person in the cast right now. Pete is, he's 22. Unless we're only talking about regular cast members.

[AriAu]

will say, Leslie has always been solid in her WU bits,

 

Because she is a standup comedian and not an actor and her update bits are basically her doing standup, albeit while sitting down.

 

So was I the only one that thought for one horrifying second that it was the real Sarah Palin and not Tina? The resemblence was even more striking now that Tina updated the look.

 

You betcha! I actually thought it was Palin at first, especially since she has come on a few times to show what a good sport she is/was.

[Galileo908]

Also, from way upthread...Aidy isn't the youngest person in the cast right now. Pete is, he's 22. Unless we're only talking about regular cast members.

 

I mentioned that Aidy was the youngest woman in the cast. I have at least 7 years on Pete and it just makes me sad to think about it.

 

So was I the only one that thought for one horrifying second that it was the real Sarah Palin and not Tina? The resemblence was even more striking now that Tina updated the look.

 

I had to keep reminding myself that it's only Tina Fey, that's not Sarah Palin up there.

[Bruinsfan]

My question throughout the show was if New York was in traffic lock down, how did the cast and crew get to the 30 Rock.

My assumption is that, as with the Alec Baldwin joke, Tina Fey actually lives at 30 Rockefeller Center.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by Rousey. I expected the whole show to be painfully bad, but she had a couple of good turns and seemed pretty charming in the opening monologue. It turned around my personal opinion of her; previously I was not a fan. And I thought she looked eerily like Julia Stiles in the Lovestuck skit.

 

The cold open was, of course, the best, with Hammond and Fey both having grade A prime craziness from their respective politicians to work with. The Screen Guild Awards and Bland Man skits were also hilarious.

Edited January 24, 2016 by Bruinsfan

[Former Nun]

I mentioned that Aidy was the youngest woman in the cast. I have at least 7 years on Pete and it just makes me sad to think about it.

 

 

Simmah down...simmah down.  Guys, I'm old enough to be their grandmother...and then some.  I hope you get the "simmah" reference.

Because she is a standup comedian and not an actor

 

 

Leslie Jones' many acting credits disagree with the comment.

[vb68]

 

Because she is a standup comedian and not an actor and her update bits are basically her doing standup, albeit while sitting down.

 

Leslie has been doing fine in her sketch work, too.  I think it's just that she's funny.

[Lexxy]

Because she is a standup comedian and not an actor and her update bits are basically her doing standup, albeit while sitting down.

That's pretty standard for WU, like any time Pete Davidson is on it. 

[whatsatool]

I agree that the cold open was waaaaay less wacky and unbelievable than the reality. It's gotten to the point that it's impossible to match, nevermind exaggerate, what's going on. Trump: "I could shoot someone and I'd still be popular." Palin: "Rah rah gobbledy wobbledy guns America pass the buck proud Rah wha!"

Stephen Colbert was also great on his Sarah Commentary

And one of the Jimmy's did a great takeoff on white dating site. Reminded me of Stuff White people like. It was like a combo of SNLs The Bachelor and the Screen Guild Awards

Edited January 24, 2016 by whatsatool

[whatsatool]

So was I the only one that thought for one horrifying second that it was the real Sarah Palin and not Tina? The resemblence was even more striking now that Tina updated the look.

No. I did too.

[dubbel zout]

The travel ban in NYC didn't get serious until later in the afternoon, by which time I bet everyone is already at the studio. And as someone mentioned, I'm sure Lorne got a bunch of hotel rooms for the cast and crew. I'm still wondering about the studio audience. They couldn't all live within walking distance of 30 Rock. Did someone got to the Times Square hotels and give away tickets?