S39.E20: Charlize Theron/The Black Keys

[formerlyfreedom]

Host Charlize Theron; The Black Keys perform.

 

Here are the promos with Charlize and Taran Killam.

[DowntonStabby]

I may actually tune into this one. (I've been kind of picking and choosing lately depending on host/musical guest, if I like it, or, should I choose to watch it on Hulu the next day, what I read about it later on and whether I think I should give it a shot.) I've liked her past hosting gigs (especially the one that resulted in the very first Gemini's Twin sketch back in the early-00s, when Ana Gasteyer and Maya Rudolph were both still on the show), so even if the writing's still meh, hopefully she can still elevate the material somewhat. Here's hoping...

[Tara Ariano]

Here's the Sketch Predictor!

[Galileo908]

Cold Open: Vanessa Bayer seems to be a good Hillary, "Grown-Up Miley" is a different take from Jan Hooks', Ana Gasteyer's and Amy Poheler's Hillary, but I like it. You don't see her rage side too often. Sasheer was good, too.

 

Monologue: "I can't sing, I get it...so let's sing a song about it!" SIGH. You know, a song about not being able to sing still means we have to endure someone not being able to sing. What I took from this: Beck is short.

 

Come Do A Game Show With Your Mom: Man, they really nailed "moms" so hard here. (Yeah...I'm gonna keep that) Kate's character was pretty much my mom. I relate to that Bitch round so much (minus the sex part) And I know many Lindas...

 

Girlfriends Talk Show: This one was tough to sit through, and I blame Charlize and I don't know why. You kind of start to notice Aidy's character's descent into madness over the course of these sketches.

 

Dragon Babies: Don't know why, but I liked this one. I just love the absurdity of a Chicago policeman voicing a character in a kid's animated movie. I would've liked it more if EVERY character talked like that guy, not just him and Charlize.

 

Heshy: Have we seen Heshy before? This one got really weird really fast. As in, no freaking clue what was going on.

 

WU: "What would King Joffrey Do?" makes a good lot of sense with Putin's decisions. I loved that Barbara Walters tribute (Cheri Oteri OWNED that role in those View sketches. Sorry Gilda.), and I loved her actually showing up to comment on it. She even brought the Barbara Wawa gag full circle after 39 years. And I still love Drunk Uncle, I figured that he would keep calling Colin "Seth." Also, I hope they do more weird things like Breaking Nudes. That came so out of left field.

Bikini Beach Party: This was a...weird way to incorporate that news story about the blue whale carcass that's about to explode. But when it did...damn, I laughed. (also, I thought it was great that Charlize was STILL covered in blood when she introduced the Black Keys) Also, I love how they kept bringing up that Taran was 22 and everyone else was 13.

 

Whiskers R We: Horrifying character traits juxtaposed with adorable kittens, sounds like post-WU SNL to me. Kate was great in this. "Damian is a feline sociopath" just got to me so much.

 

Tourists: This was interesting, making the cast into foreign tourists and have them interact with real NYC people. Beck had to be my favorite.

 

On twitter, I brought up that singing monologues, talk shows and game shows were the trifecta of lazy SNL writers, and tonight we got all three in rapid succession. Wasn't a good sign, even if I ended up liking the game show sketch. That WU was not only great, but BUY FAR the best part of the episode.

[Bees]

Was it just me or did this episode seem really short? I mean they also spent an ungodly amount of time on the credits/goodnights. Did they cut a sketch? I mean nothing really ran over so I'm thinking that there was a last second cut somewhere due to some material not being proper enough.

 

This episode felt very lacking to me. I mean there was stuff I liked (Weekend Update, somewhat the Dragon Babies thing, Tourists short) but everything else seemed so subpar or just plain bad. Girlfriends Talk Show was once upon a time a sketch I didn't necessarily like but kind of appreciated because it nailed that awkwardness of middle school where one friend may still be stuck in the child phase while the other is wanting to grow up too fast. Not really anymore. It's been run into the ground. The Beach Party movie sketch was amusing but I only think so because I've seen my fair share of B-Movies and it really nails the silliness of it and the age difference part too. It's ridiculous how the girl is always like 15 and the guy is always like 18 or 20 in those movies.

 

Honestly, I wouldn't be shocked if they were holding back this episode. They put out their silver medal material and saving up next week which is not only the season finale but also we're going to see an SNL alum hosting. I just hope that they're well aware that odds are they probably won't get much on because there'll be guest stars. Something about SNL alums hosting always makes the episode feel like a cast reunion. 

[Toaster Strudel]

Charlize Theron is too beautiful and elegant to be funny.  Even in a fat suit, or looking stupid with Heshy, as a bland unrequited lesbian, or covered in fake whale innards, she's just too classically beautiful.  It's a curse!  I probably could do comedy, myself...

 

I can't stand Cecily's voice in girlfriends, she has me running for the hills.

 

Drunk uncle!  I love you drunk uncle!  Kids these days, how do you say fish without eyes?  Fsh!

 

I'm still shaken from the aftermath of the epileptic seizures that Barbra Walter's crazy stretched out eyes gave me.  Even her eyebrows were trying to run away from the crazy eyes, but what with the botox, they were paralyzed mere millimeters from reaching her hairline, but never quite getting there.  Torture.

[Milburn Stone]

I loved that Barbara Walters tribute (Cheri Oteri OWNED that role in those View sketches. Sorry Gilda.)...

 

I agree that the parade of "Barbara Walterses" really hammered home Cheri Oteri's supremacy. It's a great loss to comedy that Oteri seems to have vanished from view.

[Nellise]

Was it just me or did this episode seem really short? I mean they also spent an ungodly amount of time on the credits/goodnights. Did they cut a sketch? I mean nothing really ran over so I'm thinking that there was a last second cut somewhere due to some material not being proper enough.

 

 

I think it took much longer for them to clean up Charlize after the whale sketch than they were expecting so probably ended up cutting something there. There was a double set of commercials right after the Black Keys played. They showed one of the cards/pictures they do before coming back but then went into another commercial instead.

Edited May 11, 2014 by Nellise

[JTMacc99]

Bikini Beach Party: This was a...weird way to incorporate that news story about the blue whale carcass that's about to explode. But when it did...damn, I laughed. (also, I thought it was great that Charlize was STILL covered in blood when she introduced the Black Keys) Also, I love how they kept bringing up that Taran was 22 and everyone else was 13.

 

Whiskers R We: Horrifying character traits juxtaposed with adorable kittens, sounds like post-WU SNL to me. Kate was great in this. "Damian is a feline sociopath" just got to me so much.

The whale blowing up and the "Damian is a feline sociopath" moments were my two favorite. Both made me laugh very honest laughs. 

 

I think with the whale, it was that I knew it was coming, but they made me forget about it with the stupid song just long enough that it surprised me when it happened.

 

And for Damian, it was the explanation of what sociopath means in Kate's matter of fact voice that really got me. 

[vb68]

I thought Vanessa's Hillary was God awful and really lazy.  Was she even trying to do an impression?  That won't cut it during election season.

 

 

I'm still shaken from the aftermath of the epileptic seizures that Barbra Walter's crazy stretched out eyes gave me.

 

 

Her eyes were seriously creeping me out.  I don't ever watch The View, so it has been awhile since I have seen her in closeup.  i guess it was nice she was on, but she still seemed pretty defensive over "Baba Wawa" to me.  I know she has admitted she use to loathe it, and I can understand.  It wasn't flattering.  She publicly came around on it after Gilda died, but i i wonder if it still bothers her a bit.   I did like the little tribute to Gilda, though.

 

I've always liked Charlize, but this episode had a weird lack of energy.  I'm not sure what was going.

 

I really hope they switch Hillary to Kate, who I think will do a better job with it. 

Edited May 13, 2014 by vb68

[DowntonStabby]

Charlize Theron is too beautiful and elegant to be funny.  Even in a fat suit, or looking stupid with Heshy, as a bland unrequited lesbian, or covered in fake whale innards, she's just too classically beautiful.  It's a curse!  I probably could do comedy, myself...

 

I disagree. I thought she did fine the last time she hosted (granted, that was 14 years ago), and part of that may have been the talent surrounding her/how she was used that episode vs. this past Saturday (which, I agree, wasn't all that great). I feel more of the problem was the lack of risk-taking overall in this episode, which I feel was an overall problem with SNL (whether it was with the writers, the director, Lorne Michaels, and/or someone else behind the scenes entirely, I'm not sure--just speculating), and, considering who was chosen as the WU guests this week, perhaps a response to the Leslie Jones backlash controversy the week before (i.e., playing it safe). The couple sketches in which they didn't (the Beach Party one with the exploding one, the Whiskers R'We sketch, which, unlike you, I thought was not just the strongest, but the only sketch I laughed consistently at throughout the night), in my opinion, were the highlights of the show.

 

As for looks = not funny...I find that to be absurd. Funny = funny, period. But of course, as I've illustrated, sense of humor differs from person to person. Still has nothing to do with looks, though.

 

Edited to add: whoever said Kate should be Hillary instead? Agreed. Vanessa Bayer seemed like one of her actor camp kids playing Hillary, instead of a grown woman.

Edited May 13, 2014 by DowntonStabby

[Maverick]

 Am I imagining things, or was Cocktail Hour inserted into last night's repeat and the goodnights were cut?