S43.E08: James Franco / SZA

[helenamonster]

On 12/10/2017 at 1:36 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

- Cathy Anne called Al Franken "Al Franco" each and every single time.  Was she trying to do a dig at James.... that whole thing was SO weird to me.

She always mispronounces name. Never forget that her hero is "Michelle Robama."

On 12/10/2017 at 2:19 PM, Quickbeam said:

Me too! I literally walked out of the room once I saw where this was going. I never find it funny. I’m a nurse so it isn’t squeamish, it just didn’t work for me. 

I'm generally not squeamish about blood either (vomit is another story, shoutout to Leslie for choking it down). It doesn't bother me at all in real life (whether it's mine or someone else's) and it doesn't bother me in movies (Scream is one of my favorite movies of all time and that shit is brutal), but something about it on a sketch show or in theatre just gets to me. I think it's because in movies or most tv shows, it's done so stylistically that my brain can process it's fake. But even though I know the blood in this sketch was fake, there's nothing stylistic about it, you can't hide it behind artsy camera angles, it just really looks like the person is severely hemorrhaging and I can't handle it.

On 12/10/2017 at 2:32 PM, peeayebee said:

BTW, I was pretty disappointed in all of Kate's contributions on this ep. I don't know what's happened (either with me or with her), but I didn't think her elf character, gift wrapping character, or spelling bee radio character were funny. It could just be the material and not the performances.

I had the same feeling. Kate can do straight-woman characters well but none of these felt like the right fit for her. The elf especially felt much more like something in Cecily's wheelhouse.

On 12/10/2017 at 6:58 PM, possibilities said:

She also kept saying NBC instead of embassy. I thought it was just my ear, but the captions confirmed it (though captions are also often wrong).

I heard her say NBC too. From what I can remember she was one of the younger ones and may have gotten confused; she's in a building where NBC is written and said all over the place and was also too young to know what an embassy is. Ugh, I thought about that sketch all day at work today and just felt so bad. Just hire child actors, SNL! SAG has a scale for payment, it doesn't have to cost you an arm and a leg! Because the mess-ups obscured what I thought was a really great idea.

[JZL]

Regarding blood in humor, I find some of these bits hilarious.  To me the Black Knight scene in Holy Grail is one of the funniest bits ever written.  Similarly, I loved the Julia Childs sketch in the early SNL years and the Dead Poets Society spoof of a year or two ago. 

However, I'm totally not into Schadenfreude generally, and bloody dismemberment has to be one of its most extreme examples.  Go figure.

[Ms Blue Jay]

8 hours ago, helenamonster said:

She always mispronounces name. Never forget that her hero is "Michelle Robama."

Okay.... Thanks?  And I still find it weird that she kept mispronouncing the name of an accused sexual harasser/abuser as the name of the host of the show at the time.  Personally if I was the host I would find it even weirder and find it hard to concentrate.

Edited December 12, 2017 by Ms Blue Jay

[cpcathy]

Last night on a Family Guy rerun, Peter stuck stabbed his nose with scissors, blood everywhere. I couldn't watch. I had no issue with the giftwrapping sketch, however. Go figure.

[Racj82]

I didn't realize the sexual harrassment sketch was going to be a issue but I should of known. I didn't see anything wrong with it. 

But, I didn't take it the way others did.

At the end of the day, harrassment can come from different areas but it will never read the same for everybody. It could be because of your relationship with the person or many other factors. To one person, what Kenan was doing is harassment. For others, he was just that lovable old coot that no one takes seriously in the office. He's just being him. 

For me, it was just the comedy of one getting a pass over the other but just using extreme contrast for comedic effect. 

There is also the power element. Franco is their boss so what he says and does has a heightened importance. It's not to say that what Kenan does is okay, it's just perceived differently by others because of their relationship with him and the circumstances. 

I know plenty of people I can joke around with in the same way. I don't mean harrassing. But, just joking with someone. Some people you can do certain types of jokes with and some you have to censor yourself. There are lots of reasons for that which makes all of this extremely complicated.

I just think some people aren't ready to laugh at this at all. I did just because the absurd contrast was so ridiculous.

[cleo]

I love James Franco, but didn't like this. The fact that he broke laughing in almost every sketch ruined it for me. Dude, you've hosted 4 times. Get it together.

I love Kate Mackinnon but tired of seeing her in every sketch, or so it feels.

Loved cathy ann. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

I'm a big McKinnon fan but I also noticed she seemed to be in every sketch.  I honestly wondered if James was a big fan of hers or if they seemed to get along really well or something.

Edited December 13, 2017 by Ms Blue Jay

[Fostersmom]

On ‎12‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 1:10 PM, Racj82 said:

I didn't realize the sexual harrassment sketch was going to be a issue but I should of known. I didn't see anything wrong with it. 

But, I didn't take it the way others did.

At the end of the day, harrassment can come from different areas but it will never read the same for everybody. It could be because of your relationship with the person or many other factors. To one person, what Kenan was doing is harassment. For others, he was just that lovable old coot that no one takes seriously in the office. He's just being him. 

For me, it was just the comedy of one getting a pass over the other but just using extreme contrast for comedic effect. 

There is also the power element. Franco is their boss so what he says and does has a heightened importance. It's not to say that what Kenan does is okay, it's just perceived differently by others because of their relationship with him and the circumstances. 

I know plenty of people I can joke around with in the same way. I don't mean harrassing. But, just joking with someone. Some people you can do certain types of jokes with and some you have to censor yourself. There are lots of reasons for that which makes all of this extremely complicated.

I just think some people aren't ready to laugh at this at all. I did just because the absurd contrast was so ridiculous.

For me, it's a matter of intent behind the statements. I've had bosses who did sexually harass employees, you felt like your every breath was an opportunity for ogling or comment. And I've also had bosses, who much like Kenan's character, might say things that can be taken as harassment, but they mean it in any thing but a harassing way. 

[helenamonster]

On 12/12/2017 at 7:14 AM, Ms Blue Jay said:

Okay.... Thanks?  And I still find it weird that she kept mispronouncing the name of an accused sexual harasser/abuser as the name of the host of the show at the time.  Personally if I was the host I would find it even weirder and find it hard to concentrate.

I just think they just took the opportunity of the fact that James Franco was the host, Al Franken's been in the news, the names sound pretty similar, and Cathy Anne always mispronounces people's names. I don't think there's much more to read into it than that. I don't see how it would have distracted James, he can clearly take a joke (and has his own somewhat sketchy history with women so he's really not in any place to get defensive).

On a related note, every time Kirsten Gillibrand's been on tv this week (which has been a lot, she's on the goddamn warpath), I hear Cathy Anne calling her "Kristen Jellybeans." So, uh, sorry Senator, I take you seriously I really do, but. Heh. Jellybeans.

[JZL]

Reminds me of our DVR this time of year . . .

[Irlandesa]

As a self-professed Hallmark addict (even though 99% are a waste of time) I think that might be my favorite skit of the year and they cut it.  So wrong.

[Phishbulb]

It is interesting sometimes the choices they make with what to cut and what to keep in. Usually Beck and Kyle's films end up getting cut a lot of the time, but in this case their "Scrudge" film made it in. I would argue that this commercial parody is a lot more laugh out loud funny and wide audience friendly; it would have had a natural place between Franco's monologue and the first sketch.

I'll even go out on a limb and say this would have been better than keeping the film with Cecily helping the homeless guy who turns out to be Franco. That was a lot of build up for not that great of a punchline.

[vb68]

They definitely should have left that one in the show.

[cpcathy]

I always end up liking the cut piece better than one of the sketches. Perhaps the blood sketch could have been cut (pun intended!)

[DXD526]

"It's quantity over quality, people, and we are just blasting your ass with these!"

"All filmed in one month in Ottawa! Can you spot the sets we used multiple times?"

"We got Chris Bearstick to be in two of these with no pay!"

Hilarious! How on earth did that get cut?

[Galileo908]

Yeah, that's a potential classic, and they just cut it!

Is it bad that I wish that next year's Christmas special includes it somehow? It could cut out the Serial sketch (seriously, it left in that long-ass sketch and cut out Robert Goulet's Christmas. No justice.)

[VCRTracking]

Agree with everyone that they should not have cut that. I don't watch Hallmark movies but seen enough commercials for them that I both dread and look forward to them each Christmas!

Favorite line: "He works too much so it's okay if I cheat on him."

[JZL]

Hallmark presents . . . "A Cookie-Cutter Christmas."  (Starring Chris Bearstick)