S42.E15: Octavia Spencer / Father John Misty

[Psychobunny]

I agreed with most of the above. Never liked Che although "At least you had a choice" was great. TBD was a highlight and everything Kellyanne was great. I thought the random shots of her sitting there texting were brilliant and would have been disappointed if it were an entire sketch. It took me back to the very first season (yes, I am that old), where they had funny captions over the audience members during the bump to commercials. Also, I totally loved the Kellyanne ain't got no legs callback to the original Gump movie and I laughed at the pro Bono joke. Eric Trump will never not be funny. I thought the impression sketch was a mediocre vehicle to show off the talents of their new cast and while they are good, I wish that they had come up with a better way to showcase them. Finally, while I love Strong, this episode just reinforced how much McKinnon is the rock star of this cast.

[RobertDeSneero]

5 hours ago, helenamonster said:

While I enjoyed the impressions in Zoo-opolis, I missed the premise of the sketch. Was it that the movie was so low budget that they couldn't afford the real actors and had to hire impressionists instead.

They were doing a scratch track, a placeholder that animators can work with.  When the animation is done, the real actors record their lines to match the animation.

[Ottis]

18 hours ago, WhosThatGirl said:

I liked Girl At A Bar until the end with Aidy. That wasn't needed.

If the point was to show the hypocrisy of people who say they support women and then act differently in their own lives, I thought it was needed badly. Otherwise it's simply another "men suck" skit.

12 hours ago, JZL said:

She was great for the whole Zoo-Opolis sketch but her impression of Kate was pricele

Yes, but very, very short. I would have liked to have seen more than a line.

9 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

I find Father John Misty oddly charming as well.  His hip-sway dancing is so crazy, I love it!  I don't know why but I love him.  I know he's THE mega-hipster so it's weird that I

Ah, that's why I hated his performance. I first looked closely at his face, to see if it was a gag and he was one of the cast members, a la Belushi and the Blues Brothers. But after about 30 seconds, I had had enough and FF'd, though I did see his "dancing" later and just shook my head. Hipsters, ugh.

[xander874]

I realize the cast is a bit top heavy now, but Bobby has really been sidelined it seems. And what's up with Pete? He was only in that pretaped sketch I think. I feel he barely shows up anymore. But, I do like Alex and Mikey - especially their Trump brothers.

I love Octavia Spenser, but a lot of the issues I felt were on her timing. It just felt like the sketches weren't really rehearsed for the most part.

[WhineandCheez]

Well that was a Felicity Jones-level of suck.  Octavia flubbed her lines as much as Che does.  But--Weekend Update was the best ever!  So funny! I also liked Drug Company Names and Cinnabon skits. Also, Jeff Sessions skit sucked, but the KAC having no legs (like Gary Sinese) was great.

Why did it take them Like 4 months to show that Villasenor and Moffat can do impressions?? I love impressions, reminds me of Rich Little when I was a kid.  We never saw Villasenor doing impressions until that bed skit a month ago--she's good--and Moffat's talent until he did Casey Affleck.

[peeayebee]

9 hours ago, helenamonster said:

"Hi, you don't know me. I'm from a different movie."

"You ain't go no legs, Kellyanne." I shrieked.

Those were two great lines. I absolutely loved when Sessions/Gump said, "She ain't got no legs." I bet the writers howled when they came up with that.

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I agree that this show, for the most part, was way off the the writing was really weak. Also, it felt like wayyyy too much product placement, which could explain things: Spencer's, Sticky Bun (why does this need product placement? people only to to a Sticky Bun when their flight is delayed five hours and they know it's gonna be cancelled but they just can't get themselves to leave the airport just yet)

I didn't think 'Sticky Bun' was a real place, just a fake Cinnabon. I wouldn't call it a product placement because I believe Octavia's character says she wouldn't eat that stuff.

 

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He is the actual worst. His Kellyanne apologizing was just bizarre. "She's just the airline employee you yell at when your luggage is lost." Not even close, you fucking moron. He has really turned "missing the point" into an Olympic sport.

I didn't mind the Woman's History Month/dishes joke. I'm sure he knew that it would offend people. I thought it was funny in a groan-inducing way. But the Kellyanne as airline customer service rep was terrible. Like you said, that's not even close. Che, don't you pity her for being a Trump lackey.

 

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Might have to move this to the media thread, but I saw this (uggghhhh) and she talked about the Fatal Attraction sketch from a few weeks ago and said it wasn't accurate or somesuch. Oh, so you didn't break into Jake Tapper's apartment and seductively plead to be on the news before falling out the window to your death and reanimating? Color me shocked!

OMG, I know! Ugh. She's the worst.

1 hour ago, Ottis said:

If the point was to show the hypocrisy of people who say they support women and then act differently in their own lives, I thought it was needed badly. Otherwise it's simply another "men suck" skit.

I disagee. I don't know what a better ending would be, but to me it just came across as everyone just wants sex from everyone else. I also got the impression that the two women were friends, so why all of a sudden would the Aidy character say that. 

[potatoradio]

9 hours ago, helenamonster said:

Girl at a Bar was a great summary of 99% of the conversations I've had on Tinder.

Oh my god. Brief, off-topic sympathy post, HELENAMONSTER. I had no idea. Talk about a swamp that needs to be drained - make Mrrrca's dating pool decent again! :)

[helenamonster]

1 hour ago, WhineandCheez said:

Well that was a Felicity Jones-level of suck.  Octavia flubbed her lines as much as Che does.  But--Weekend Update was the best ever!  So funny! I also liked Drug Company Names and Cinnabon skits. Also, Jeff Sessions skit sucked, but the KAC having no legs (like Gary Sinese) was great.

Why did it take them Like 4 months to show that Villasenor and Moffat can do impressions?? I love impressions, reminds me of Rich Little when I was a kid.  We never saw Villasenor doing impressions until that bed skit a month ago--she's good--and Moffat's talent until he did Casey Affleck.

Melissa did a Sarah Silverman impression her first episode (if I recall, that was all she did). Her impressions are probably the one reason she was hired (maybe also to diversify a little).

35 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

I didn't think 'Sticky Bun' was a real place, just a fake Cinnabon. I wouldn't call it a product placement because I believe Octavia's character says she wouldn't eat that stuff.

Riiiight. I was thinking Cinnabon, got confused and thought Sticky Bun was the real pit of despair in every airport. Never mind on that one, then.

Edited March 6, 2017 by helenamonster

[Eucrid]

This was a bit of a weak episode overall. A shame the cast couldn't come up with better non current affairs sketches when given the chance and the lack of Baldwin/McCarthy for the week.

I liked Melissa Villaseñors impressions but she needs to be able to get full sketches for her characters the way other good impressionists have. She just isn't getting air time now and its a shame because she is pretty funny.

[Ottis]

4 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I don't know what a better ending would be, but to me it just came across as everyone just wants sex from everyone else. I also got the impression that the two women were friends, so why all of a sudden would the Aidy character say that.

I think that *was* the point... humans will use anything to get laid. It also felt like adding a woman at the end was a small dig at the whole cause, vs. blaming it on men, during a time when so much of the activity that is supposed to be about a higher purpose, isn't.

[Tara Ariano]

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

Watch Octavia Spencer Try To Save A Baffling, Disappointing Saturday Night Live

SNL writers had plenty of time to keep the streak going. They didn't.

[After7Only]

Hated the Joad sketch.  It felt like it was a last minute addition to the show.  Octavia was very obviously reading all of her lines from cue cards.  Where in the other sketches she knew her lines.  

[heatherchandler]

2 hours ago, Tara Ariano said:

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

Watch Octavia Spencer Try To Save A Baffling, Disappointing Saturday Night Live

SNL writers had plenty of time to keep the streak going. They didn't.

Octavia looks so beautiful and fresh-faced in her opening monologue.  It made me curious about her age - I thought she was in her late 50s.  She's only 44!  

14 minutes ago, After7Only said:

Hated the Joad sketch.  It felt like it was a last minute addition to the show.  Octavia was very obviously reading all of her lines from cue cards.  Where in the other sketches she knew her lines.  

I wasn't sure where that sketch was going... actually still not sure.  That was a bad sketch from idea to execution.  

[Lindy Dear]

The voice SNL is giving to mock, expose  and reveal all that is most vile at present far, far outweighs its shortcomings and weak links. I find,  and this one was no exception.  The cold open  was a brilliant send up of much that is sick about Sessions as attorney general, here portrayed as a  dimwit masquerading as as a simple but dear Forrest Gump.  Kate was masterful at the task and the others were  spot on.  Can't get enough of that Putin....even if just for a momentary a fist-pump.  Weekend Update kept the drumbeat alive: the craziness of the incumbent's rants, proper perspective on Trump's over-kudoed  congressional address  ("Its not encouraging that we're holding the President of the United States to the same standard as any Bar Mitzvah boy", the Democrat's exceptionally  lame response,  and best of all----to discuss "ethics": the two Trump boys as vapid, entitled juveniles.  Bravo ! Loved the boys little aside to the anchor's questions  about possible conflicts:  " Yeah... you mentioned that on the golf course last week when I was beating you by nine strokes" .----but a brief homage to the media's odd, highly inappropriate  social coziness with the Trump's from time to time.   The Kellyanne  references?  Fine with me. There were a few highs and some lows in the other threads,  but as long as SNL is willing to wade into the current political nightmare, I'll be more than happy to fast forward through the lame stuff and celebrate what it  is currently doing best. 

Edited March 6, 2017 by Lindy Dear

[Princess Sparkle]

10 hours ago, xander874 said:

I realize the cast is a bit top heavy now, but Bobby has really been sidelined it seems. And what's up with Pete? He was only in that pretaped sketch I think. I feel he barely shows up anymore. But, I do like Alex and Mikey - especially their Trump brothers.

 

I posted the link in the media thread, but Pete just posted on Instagram that the reason he's been MIA on the show is because he was getting off drugs (I'm assuming he means he was off at rehab). 

[lovinbob]

19 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

I wasn't sure where that sketch was going... actually still not sure.  That was a bad sketch from idea to execution.  

Totally agree with this. They seemed to be saying that Octavia's character and Cecily's were a totally odd couple and that it was weird that they were such good friends, but Joad didn't seem that weird to me. They made a joke about her hair that just fell flat because her hair wasn't really that weird. It was as if they were afraid of making Octavia look bad, so they didn't go far enough with her character. 

Octavia is a truly brilliant actress but she seemed ill at ease with the live aspect of the show, which doesn't translate into a strong performance. Her tentative-ness, along with that absolutely dreadful medication sketch, left me feeling that it wasn't a great show. But then considering Jefferson Forest Gump Sessions, Girl at a Bar, the Trump Brothers, and Update overall, there was some great stuff on this show.

[possibilities]

RE Joad, I thought they were doing a take on how sometimes white people act really weird around POC, overselling how NOT RACIST they are and in the process coming off looking basically totally racist and making everyone uncomfortable as hell. It wasn't haha funny, it was more like a cringey expose. But then they kind of tried to twist it around at the end and I wasn't sure what they were doing, exactly.

I don't mind too much when they try to do things like this once in a while and it doesn't quite make it, because I'd rather have them try something that seems like it might be trying to say something complex or subtle, which fails because it's not fully cooked, instead of seeing them go back to the well of full-baked crass simplistic psuckitude that isn't even trying to say anything. But of course it's better if they would keep editing til they get it right, instead of going to air too soon and leave folks wondering if they really meant what they said and if we understood what it was supposed to be.

[PatternRec]

On 3/5/2017 at 2:14 AM, burner said:

And Melissa is so good at impressions that I'm glad they found an easy way to let her run thru a bunch of them. But man, I wish someone would tell her to use a fake voice all the time. Her real voice (super mumble mouth) is very distracting.

She's an amazing impressionist. She has a reel of impressions on YouTube from before she was on SNL and the Owen Wilson one was there as well as a few others. I can't really fault her for her actual voice - that's just what she sounds like. As a matter of fact she had another pre-SNL YouTube video that was called "this is my voice" where her boyfriend brings it up. She re-worked it for the episode with Aziz Ansari. Here's the original:

Edited March 8, 2017 by PatternRec

[PatternRec]

On 3/5/2017 at 9:56 AM, peeayebee said:

I like Laura Parsons. Of course, Vanessa is fantastic whatever she does. "And a seaside handjob!" "The govt wants to lift up your skirt and check for ding-dongs!" "When you look down at your privates and say, 'Why I oughta.'" "The prank was murder!"  "You might want to google it before Nana gets raped!"

I didn't really like the bit while watching it but reading the quotes you put and hearing the cadence of her voice in my head I was chuckling. Reminds me of a character from SNL in the 80s, where a lot of the bits were funnier to do with your friends than actually watch :D 

[Phishbulb]

A funny thing about Laura Parsons: She actually originated in the episode that Scarlett Johansson hosted in 2010 (which was Vanessa's first season on the show).  It was a sketch called "Stars of Tomorrow" where she and Scarlett played child actresses who over-enunciated everything in that typical way that bad child actors do. They did this sketch a few times and now Parsons has found new life as a Weekend Update character.  I actually find the character a lot funnier in this context, with the juxtaposition of her cheerful attitude and the horribly depressing news stories she chooses to report on. 

I guess because they just did it in the last episode they probably wouldn't pair Parsons up against Scarlett in this week's episode but it would be a funny nod to the character's beginnings if they did.

[rmontro]

Loved Melissa's impressions of Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Owen Wilson. 

Father John Misty wasn't the worst musical performer I've seen on the show by any means, but I am underwhelmed by most of the musical guests these days.  I'll probably get flamed for saying it, but the level of inspiration in today's music just isn't there.  IMO it's because all the genres have been worn out and overexposed.  

So Kellyanne Conway kneeled on the White House couch.  I've never been one of those "keep your feet off the furniture" people, so I can't really bring myself to see it as a big deal.

[JZL]

I wouldn't want to sit where Kellyanne's stinky feet have been.

[rmontro]

15 hours ago, JZL said:

I wouldn't want to sit where Kellyanne's stinky feet have been.

What about Kate McKinnon's?

[Inquisitionist]

On ‎3‎/‎6‎/‎2017 at 6:53 PM, Princess Sparkle said:

I posted the link in the media thread, but Pete just posted on Instagram that the reason he's been MIA on the show is because he was getting off drugs (I'm assuming he means he was off at rehab). 

Or drugs for whatever illness he has?

18 hours ago, rmontro said:

So Kellyanne Conway kneeled on the White House couch.  I've never been one of those "keep your feet off the furniture" people, so I can't really bring myself to see it as a big deal.

If anyone from the Obama administration had done this, Fox Not-the-News would never have let their viewers hear the end of it.

On ‎3‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 11:51 PM, helenamonster said:

"Hi, you don't know me. I'm from a different movie."

"You ain't go no legs, Kellyanne." I shrieked.

Definitely a highlight!

[Princess Sparkle]

3 minutes ago, Inquisitionist said:

Or drugs for whatever illness he has?

 

He used the phrase "I quit drugs and am now sober", so I took that to mean he wasn't talking about anything aiding him with his Crohn's disease.

[rmontro]

10 minutes ago, Inquisitionist said:

If anyone from the Obama administration had done this, Fox Not-the-News would never have let their viewers hear the end of it.

Maybe, but as I said I'm not one of those "feet off the furniture" people, so I still wouldn't see the big deal.

Interesting to set up SNL and Fox News as polar opposites.  Can't say I disagree.

[fastiller]

18 hours ago, rmontro said:

Loved Melissa's impressions of Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Owen Wilson. 

Father John Misty wasn't the worst musical performer I've seen on the show by any means, but I am underwhelmed by most of the musical guests these days.  I'll probably get flamed for saying it, but the level of inspiration in today's music just isn't there.  IMO it's because all the genres have been worn out and overexposed.  

So Kellyanne Conway kneeled on the White House couch.  I've never been one of those "keep your feet off the furniture" people, so I can't really bring myself to see it as a big deal.

&

19 minutes ago, Inquisitionist said:

Or drugs for whatever illness he has?

If anyone from the Obama administration had done this, Fox Not-the-News would never have let their viewers hear the end of it.

Definitely a highlight!

I saw someone recently -- Bill Maher maybe? -- who showed first showed the photo of KAC and called out the current/recent 'fake liberal outrage' about it and just after showed a photo of President Obama with his feet on his desk and called out the contemporaneous 'fake conservative outrage' about that photo.

As to the quality of recent musical guests: I was totally underwhelmed by The XX when they were on, but love one of the two songs they did, when I hear it on the radio.  I do think much of the apparent lack of quality of the musical guests can be laid at the feet of the terrible mix that comes through the broadcast.  With The XX, their guitars were lost and were very quiet which made them sound like they weren't playing, but they were clearly making chords and tapping the strings.  I'm holding out hope for Michael Kiwanuka (since his song Cold Little Heart is used as the theme for Big Little Lies).

[JZL]

On 3/9/2017 at 10:56 AM, rmontro said:

What about Kate McKinnon's?

She's too perfect in every way to have stinky feet.

On 3/9/2017 at 0:05 PM, fastiller said:

As to the quality of recent musical guests: I was totally underwhelmed by The XX when they were on, but love one of the two songs they did, when I hear it on the radio.  I do think much of the apparent lack of quality of the musical guests can be laid at the feet of the terrible mix that comes through the broadcast.  With The XX, their guitars were lost and were very quiet which made them sound like they weren't playing, but they were clearly making chords and tapping the strings. 

I totally agree, the sound person for the MG's has needed a good sacking for years.

To beat a dying horse, it hasn't been that long ago SNL had a healthy dose of rock/alt/indie MG's-- a mere three years.  Has this music fallen so quickly in the culture generally or does SNL have it's head up its patootie?  S39 had Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon, Imagine Dragons, Beck, The National, Coldplay, The Black Keys, and, IMHO, a kick-ass outing by St. Vincent for the closer.   And again, if they want fresh/cutting-edge just go knock around bandcamp.com or something.  Jay Som just dropped her second album and she's friggin' fantastic.  It's out there if they care to look, but alas, noper. 

Edited March 12, 2017 by JZL

[wknt3]

11 hours ago, JZL said:

I totally agree, the sound person for the MG's has needed a good sacking for years.

Agreed. I'm not an audiophile or anything, but I have noticed a drop off in sound quality since I started watching the show in the late 90's. I do think it's odd that it hasn't been corrected since the engineering and technical aspects of the show are otherwise amazingly good and I don't notice it everywhere (just the usual variations of acoustics and technical skill) so I don't think it's inherent in digital or whatever.

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To beat a dying horse, it hasn't been that long ago SNL had a healthy dose of rock/alt/indie MG's-- a mere three years.  Has this music fallen so quickly in the culture generally or does SNL have it's head up its patootie?  S39 had Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon, Imagine Dragons, Beck, The National, Coldplay, The Black Keys, and, IMHO, a kick-ass outing by St. Vincent for the closer.   And again, if they want fresh/cutting-edge just go knock around bandcamp.com or something.  Jay Som just dropped her second album and she's friggin' fantastic.  It's out there if they care to look, but alas, noper. 

I wonder how much is cultural, how much is SNL's internal process, and how much of it is industry changes. I've heard it mentioned a few times in interviews with various show alumni that record labels often pay some/most of the costs of the musical guest's performance. Perhaps in today's marketplace the management of rock groups feel that their promotional budgets are better spent elsewhere while other genres are still willing to pony up for exposure to an audience that might not be familiar with them?

[JZL]

It's hard to believe the MG's are paid other than a minimum scale or something; SNL must be some of the best free advertising for musical acts anywhere.

[Bruinsfan]

On 3/6/2017 at 8:33 AM, WhineandCheez said:

Why did it take them Like 4 months to show that Villasenor and Moffat can do impressions?? I love impressions, reminds me of Rich Little when I was a kid.  We never saw Villasenor doing impressions until that bed skit a month ago--she's good--and Moffat's talent until he did Casey Affleck.

In addition to Villasenor's prior impressions,  I know Moffat has done Eric Trump and Conor McGregor impressions before to hilarious effect.