S39.E18: Seth Rogen & Ed Sheeran

[Tara Ariano]

Seth Rogen hosts (again); Ed Sheeran musics.

[Song of Roland]

None of this cast can do a decent impression of any of the current political 'leaders' (and that includes Obama), which would seem problematic for a show that relies a lot on political commentary/humour. Keenan can't even manage Al Sharpton, really.

The monologue would have been entirely laugh free if it hadn't been for the surprise cameos- particularly with the Franco/underage hookup reference. Otherwise, complete yawn.

I wish the show would start picking hosts because they might be interesting or funny instead of because they have a new movie out; if Seth Rogen were a new cast member, I'd be recommending that they not renew his contract.

ETA: I loved the Blue River/Buffalo dog food parody- those ads have been major eye-rollers since they started running. All the pet owners are 'angry' that they've been deceived as to the content of the food, and act like they've saved their pets from a fate worse than death by switching to B.B.

Edited April 13, 2014 by Song of Roland

[Brattinella]

Song of Roland,  spot-on review.  One of the most unfunny episodes in quite a while, the lone exception being the Blue Buffalo spot.

The last show that was funny was Louis CK's effort, worth every viewing minute!  Please choose your hosts more carefully, SNL, you are

running out of viewers.

[Dots And Stripes]

Update and the taped pieces were the highlight for me. Keenan was great as the baseball player. Bonus points for reminding me of his all that days. Something about the accent and the gleam in his eye that just made him seem like a kid again.I'm still not warming up to Colin at the Update Desk even though he is getting more comfortable. He's just so bland and doesn't have chemistry with Cecily yet.

The Mike O'Brien piece reminded me of the piece where Bruno Mars played one of those Times Square characters. I still enjoyed it though. I didn't hate Kyle's taped piece as much as I usually do. It had a few good moments, although overall it still seems like ammeter hour better suited for youtube.

I really liked Challen in part because we've had so little of Nasim lately. I really hope Mullaney becomes a hit because I like her.

That sketch with the guy at the engagement party was awful. One of the worst things I've seen on this show in a long time. Not only was it unfunny, but the stuff involving the sleeping guy was disturbing. Just terrible all around.

I agree that the political impressions aren't very good. Beck even looked more like McConnell.

[Toaster Strudel]

Meh, not enough Kate, too much Cecily.

The only skit that made me laugh was the sperm bank closing and needing to clean the equipment before turning into a yogurt stand because the government would come down on them if they had more than 9% sperm in the yogurt... they'd (gasp!) still qualify as a sperm bank for tax purposes.

[EdnasEdibles]

I can't handle that Challen sketch. I've never found it funny and don't get why it's recurring.

I am also tired of the sports impersonations in the Weekend Update. I never have any idea who those people are and the segments go on forever.

I loved the Mike O'Brien short. Weird but funny. I also liked the CNN pregnancy test. Blue River dog food could have been funnier but Cecily was off and Seth Rogen is terrible at SNL. I love his movies but on SNL, it always comes across like he hasn't read the script until now and is just reading the words on the cards for the first time ever. His timing is always off. Cecily might have been overcompensating for that.

[xander874]

Not a big fan of Challon either, although I like Nasim. My biggest issue with these recurring sketches (and most of the recurring ones on SNL) is that they are always the same. Sure, you have a couple of different characters and the overlying topics is changed, but the scenario is the exact same. Move Challon to a birthday party or have her hanging out at the mall. It's not the characters that are necessarily bad, it's that they don't mix it up. Rant over.

This episode mostly stank for me. There were a few funny bits, and lots of potential, but it didn't work. They need to trim the cast and Lorne needs to hire sketch writers, not stand up comedians who look good on screen.

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

Challon is turning into the new Gilley ("Gilley?  Gilleeeeyyyy?")

The impersonations at the beginning were awful. I thought Jeb Bush was supposed to be Stephen Colbert.