Up, down, left, right... this episode was all over the place. After last week's fairly solid
effort, I was hoping we would see more of the same. But I don't think that it was necessarily the cast's fault. Matt
Dillon just wasn't very good.
There was some heavy reliance on the four new guys (Samberg, Hader, Wiig, and Sudeikis) which I was very pleased with. But other than a few sketches, this episode was a snoozer.
Cold Open - Nice change of pace here. For once it wasn't a Bush press conference or Hardball. I really can't remember the last time they opened with a regular sketch, although the pre-taped Steve Martin open was very good. Maya, Rachel, Amy, and Kristen played four college girls waiting for their spring break flight. They're gonna have group sex, smoke some hash, all sorts of fun things. The pay-off is after their flight gets called, we find out their parents were sitting next to them the whole time. Favorite line: "Last year when I got home, I found a ten dollar bill in my butt."
Matt Dillon's Monologue - Dillon chose to read the "acceptance speech" that he never got to read at the Oscars last weekend. He had been nominated for best supporting actor for his role as a racist cop in Crash. So naturally his speech was loaded with stereotypes and clichéd, bigoted remarks. He apologized to the Asians for constantly confusing them and even gave snaps to the "gays in wardrobe." This would have been better if he had delivered it more smoothly.
Prisonmate.net - Whoa, a new commercial and Finesse was in it. Prisonmate.net is a new dating service allowing lonely women to find the man of their dreams - in jail. This really wasn't that funny but I did like the tagline: "Make your soulmate a cellmate."
ESPN Sportscenter - Wait a second, Finesse was in this too. What's going on? Finesse was Stu Scott (he even had the squinty eye thing down) and Seth was Dan Patrick. They were interviewing Barry Bonds (Kenan). Pretty run of the mill, the jokes you would expect: "Boy, your head is big." The funny part came at the end when they interviewed the Giants mascot, Lou the Seal, and he was getting steroid injections in his backside.
SNL Digital Short - Will, Andy, and Seth are all on lunch break and they decide to look for people that look just like them. Will and Seth are successful but they decide that a chubby, homeless guy (played by Horatio) is the guy that looks just like Andy. But only if he took his gloves off. So Andy pulled off the homeless guy's gloves and then Will shot Andy. Okay, I described this very poorly. All you need to know? It was really funny and you should try and download it.
Two A-Holes @ a Travel Agency - Now this is how to properly handle a recurring character. I had completely forgotten about these two because they hadn't been used since Jack Black hosted back in December. Jason Sudeikis and Kristen Wiig play, that's right, two a-holes. Matt Dillon was the travel agent. This felt fresh and new, I laughed the entire time. This was definitely my second favorite sketch of the night.
How to Order Sushi like a CEO - I hated this. Anyone else and it might have been better, but Matt Dillon could not deliver the lines properly at all. The only funny thing about this was at the end when the waitress (Maya) asked Mr. Douche if he would like his check. Apparently he thought "douche" was Japanese for his last name.
Joplin Alive Podcast - This showcased only the four new faces. I love how much time they all got in this episode. Kristen Wiig especially. Bill Hader and Sudeikis are hosting their weekly podcast from a booth at their local Bennigan's. Wiig was the waitress and Samberg showed up as the town's resident party planner. Andy's French accent was hilarious and every time he said "pretty girls," I lost it.
Weekend Update - Nothing really worth mentioning here. The jokes were flat and nothing really stood out. I suppose Will's "Sunni Shia Kurd" song was worth seeing but I still didn't really laugh at it. I don't know, WU needs a lot of help.
Vincent Price's St. Patrick's Day Special - This was hands down my favorite sketch of the night. Bill Hader was Price and he nailed the impersonation. Actually I think everyone did. Even Matt Dillon as Rod Serling wasn't half bad. Bagpipes always make me laugh so that was a nice touch too. And as usual, Darrell Hammond can be anyone. When he came out as Don Knotts (as Barney Fife), if you closed your eyes you couldn't hear a difference.
The Inner Harmony Relaxation Tape - This really isn't worth talking about. Not good.
Appalachian Emergency Room - Same goes here. If you've seen this sketch at all before then you've seen this one. Same formula every time.
The DiCiccio Brothers Unicornery - Very funny concept which was once again destroyed by Matt Dillon's inability act. Bill Hader was great as the sleazier of the two salesmen. They were selling unicorns though! I'd buy one.
The Arctic Monkeys - I can't really figure out why these guys are so popular right now. I suppose that first song they played (I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor... I think that's what it's called) is all right, but it wasn't that catchy. Oh well, good luck to them I suppose. Ride the wave while it's there.
One of the promos announced that Antonio Banderas is going to host on April 8 but no musical guest was attached yet.
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
The TV Squad Podcast: The Prisoner, '80s TV, soap news and more
Let's talk about spoilers ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-12-2006 @ 1:18PM
Joel Keller said...
Was it my transcription-addled brain or did Don Pardo whiff on the name of the band? All I heard was "Musical Guest..." and then nothing. Then he said "And your host: Matt Dillon." Did anyone else notice this?
I don't even know if Pardo does his announcing live anymore; I mean, the guy's like 85 years old, and 11:30 seems to be WAY past his bedtime.
Oh, and the sushi sketch... I agree with you, Jonathan... Maya saved it. I mean, it was funny when Dillon put the "uni sashimi" in his mouth and spit it out (I mean, have you ever *tasted* sea urchin? It's like eating the ocean floor), but otherwise he was awful.
It's amazing how much an entire episode can be either elevated or dragged down by the host; Natalie Portman was game, so last week's episode was above average, but the very next week it's awful, and Dillon's a big reason why.
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3-12-2006 @ 4:49PM
Annie Wu said...
I thought they had some great sketches this night. I actually laughed so hard that I started crying during the digital short, and I also like the Sudeikis/Wiig sketch ("I wanna go to Hogwarts..."). There was also a lot of Bill Hader. That's always a good thing.
And I don't think Dillon was that bad... He had some awkward timing but I think he did alright.
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3-12-2006 @ 5:11PM
Marvo said...
I think Dillon's "bad acting" in the sushi sketch sort of made it better. Like most infomercials, it needed bad acting.
Also, bagpipes always make you laugh?
So do you laugh when "Amazing Grace" is being played at funerals?
Don't feel bad. I do too.
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3-12-2006 @ 5:14PM
Clint said...
I agree, Dillon was terrible. I mean, no one expects a guest host to nail their performances, but we do expect professional actors like Dillon to be able to at least read lines.
The Digital Short was good but not the best one, though that is setting the bar pretty high. I think I would have enjoyed the Vincent Price thing except I kept getting distracted by something: I swear that the video was behind the audio. I thought the unicornery sketch was pretty funny but I would have been laughing harder if Dillon didn't bomb so bad.
Fey and Phoeler have ruined Weekend Update. The whole concept of this segment is to deliver jokes on current events in a serious manner. Fey and Phoeler take a "look how funny we are" approach, always laughing at their own jokes. It's annoying.
Kudos to Michaels for showcasing the new guys more. Perhaps this is a foreshadowing of a housecleaning at the end of the season.
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3-12-2006 @ 8:55PM
Jen said...
I noticed the missing musical guest thing too.. but hey maybe Antonio will be singing. Oooh and it'd be sooo wonderful if they did the Antonio Banderas Show.. old skit, but still. They'd have to have Kattan on there tho.. ok nevermind. I just need to watch old SNL episodes.
"The Antonio Banderas... how do you say? ah yes.. Show."
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3-12-2006 @ 9:07PM
Nicki said...
I had no clue who Matt Dillon was before tonight, but I don't like him.
Um..I missed the first minute or two, but still failed to see why the unicornery sketch was funny.
I actually liked most of this episode; more than the last one, I think (though, of course, I do love natalie Portman, whereas this Matt Dillon guys bugged me through the whole thing). I liked this WU a lot better then the last couple, too. it's mainly Amy who's ruined it for me, I think. Tina was still good with Jimmy, and even most Jimmy haters I know admit they were great on WU together. If we could just have that back...eh, I dunno, I just really like Tina Fey. Not too sure why.
Anyway, other than that, I didn't bother watching the Appalacian Emergency Room, Vincent Price would have been a lot funnier if I were old enough to know why all the chracters were (I knew some...but not enough), and I was really impressed with the two a-holes. I wasn't fond of them during the Jack Black episode, but that was good. I was cracking up at the Harry Potter references, but hey, I'm fantastically geeky.
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3-12-2006 @ 9:48PM
tammy said...
Sorry, the digital short was stupid this week. I thought it was horrible. I think the highlight of WU (which was very weak overall) was the Walmart emergency contraceptive joke "they changed their minds about stocking it because they clued in to who their customers were."
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3-12-2006 @ 10:07PM
Katie said...
Cold Open - Sooooo relieved they didn't do a political opening sketch. Aside from the Steve Martin ep, have they done a non-political opening all season? And did anyone catch the Natalee Halloway reference? I wasn't sure whether to laugh at it or not...:
"Last Year, my friend went to this little island off the coast of Haiti 'cause the place had an all-you-can-suck beer hose!"
"Did she like it?"
"I don't know, they can't find her!"
Contrary to the review, I thought Matt Dillon's comic timing wasn't too bad. He fared pretty well with the sushi sketch, since they don't tend to send the hosts into a sketch solo too often. This show seemed quite good. It was great to get a better look at the featured players, and fresher castmembers
The Prison Inmates sketch was cut from last week, so they had to unload it.
Sports center - Quite sure that Andy was the steroids-addicted seal. And counting Bill Hader's appearance as the injector, I think Bill Hader was in the majority of the night's sketches. He seems like he could be a good utility player
Digital Short - Once again, great work sure to be downloaded and forwarded around the net by tomorrow morning. And completely written by The Dudes :-)
A-Holes - I'm glad they brought this sketch back. It's nice and subtle, and doesn't cram lame sex jokes into your face like a mediocre sitcom-style sketch *cough*Carol!*cough*
WU - The Shia/Sunni/Kurd bit with Will Forte was the sole highlight. I just hope this is Hortio Sanz's last year. He should have left when Jimmy did.
***DID ANYONE NOTICE...***
The second performance by the Arctic Monkeys was a slower, more acoustic, song, then the more upbeat and fast pace "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor". The lead singer seemed to be scanning the audience while singing, looking from right to left as if looking for a certain someone, and during a lull in the song, he pointed out to someone in the audience and clearly stated "That man just yawned...", and went back to the song. Now, I haven't heard their entire album yet, but it seems to me that a line like that, given his behavior, this was NOT part of the song...
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3-12-2006 @ 10:13PM
Nicki said...
oh yeah, I really like Will's WU singing bits!
I downloaded the Arctic Monkey's album a while a back before it was released due to the hype that was already amassing, and while I wasn't thrilled with it, I listened enough to know that "that man just yawned" was definitely not part of the song. It really is amazing how overrated they are.
I liked the Digital Short. I dig the random humor type stuff.
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3-12-2006 @ 10:22PM
Katie said...
Maybe the guy who yawned actually was tired, given that it WAS ten to 1 in the morning. Keep in mind that all 4 guys in Arctic Monkeys are either 19 or 20 years old, and one of them didn't even know how to play a guitar three years ago, so I suppose they're still brand spanking new when it comes to on stage conduct. I'm not saying I find it irresponsible that he actually noted that a dude yawned; on the contrary, I find it hilarious. When you think of the past of SNL musical performances that were out of the ordinary, Ashlee Simpson getting caught lipsyncing and Sinead O'Connor ripping the Pope's image come to mind. It was nice to see something that was legitimately funny
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3-12-2006 @ 10:31PM
Nicki said...
Oh yeah, I thought it was funny too. I mean, musically they're quite overrated (top 5 British band- what?) but that was definitely amusing, and particularly nice since their performance- although better than Fall Out boy's ridiculousness of last week- hadn't been particularly exciting.
But then again, Ashlee Simpson really was great fun.
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3-12-2006 @ 10:38PM
Derek said...
Right & Wrong:
Last week's epsiode was better, but the Matt Dillon episode was good (mainly) for the a reason mentioned in the article: The focus on the featured players. I think the 2006-2007 season is going to be the one where everyone talks about how SNL has gotten so good again. Hader, Wiig, Samberg, and Sudekis can all bring the funny and the truth is right now they are the future of SNL. I think SNL is in capable hands with these fresh faces...
My top sketches from the episode(in no particular order):
Vincent Price's St.Patrick Day's Special
The DiCiccio Brothers Unicornery
The Inner Harmony Relaxation Tape
SNL Digital Short
Joplin Alive Podcast
While Matt Dillon's timing was off in several of his sketches, and he was flubbing lines all over the place, at least he picked roles for himself that made sense (you know mostly jerks/macho types like the characters he plays in the movies)
Long Live SNL
-Will Forte Rules (but not in the last weekend update, that song was unfunny)
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3-12-2006 @ 11:49PM
Tammy said...
I'm still laughing at the digital short.
"Which one do I shoot?"
"Why do you have to shoot anyone?"
And if I wasn't sure before I am now -- Wiig and Samberg are my favorites.
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3-13-2006 @ 12:11PM
David said...
Don Pardo indeed slipped on the name...my friend and I noted this. Arctic Monkeys are fresh, but drummer is no Phil Collins. WU is the best part of SNL today.
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3-13-2006 @ 12:31PM
BGDC said...
Vincent price thing sucked - as it did the first time they did it. Old movie stars do not equal funny. I'm an old movie fan and I still find this sketch painfully bland. Liked the two a-holes bit the most.
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3-14-2006 @ 4:19PM
Chadly said...
Weekend Update and the digital short were the only things worth watching. And out of that, I could have done without Will's Shia Sunni Kurd song. I normally like his songs but that one was just lame, and it felt like even Will wasn't that into it.
Matt Dillon was really terrible. It really ticks me off when actors get up there and don't bother to rehearse and know their lines. I know lots of these guys are busy, but they shouldn't agree to do the show if they aren't going to committ to doing the job right. When athletes come on and host and are terrible, well...they are athletes, so it's not really their job. But it really irks me when actors come on the show and constantly flub their lines and have to check the cue cards. (Nevermind that I don't think they SHOULD have athletes host the show). I wouldn't be upset if my dentist had no idea how to fix a broken pipe under my sink. But if my plumber showed up and did a lousy job, I'd be annoyed.
I like some of the new cast members, but, sadly, I feel like the show has only continued to decline the last few seasons. I'd like to see it get good again. I still watch it every week but weeks like this one, I barely make it past Weekend Update before wiping it off my DVR.
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3-15-2006 @ 5:12PM
joshijoshi said...
Show was pretty sucky really and the artic monkeys didnt play all that well. Thought it was hilarious though when the singer commented on the guy in the crowd yawning. "you look good on the dancefloor" was ok but the second song bombed a bit (which the singer obviously noticed) seemed like the bass was out of tune. Did anyone notice the bit at the end when they pat say goodnight and thank all the other acters how the two guys from artic monkeys just hugged. Made me laugh.
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3-24-2006 @ 5:22PM
dan said...
wot are you crazy americans on about? the arctic monkeys are awesome, and the whole yawning thing was cos they dont give a toss. i think it might be a british thing, but i got it and i love em
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5-04-2006 @ 6:14AM
Rob said...
the arctic monkeys hate making televison appearences, mainly because they feel the only reason they should get exposure is by doin gigs, and gigs that people want to watch. why should they have to go on snl or other tv programmes when they could be somewhere else playin to people that care. i guess the record companies forced them to do this, and i say well done to the lads for the show because they didnt lose any integrity.
now... onto what has made the band famous.
1. NME has overblown them to the nth degree, and personally i hate the NME for there contant bigging up of bands.
2. their lyrics are tinged with northern english dialect and actually say something, or give you a story of something that is genuine, and more or less are of a very british nature with the social commentary. i guess us brits just want to listen to things that we can relate to.
3. theyre not great musicians. why should they have to be perfect to be successful. theyre just 4 kids who started a band to make some music and i think that comes across great.
theyre the reasons i guess they became big over here in england. dont know so much about why in america. i hope more of you get it and stop not liking them because youre not the only person to have heard of them.
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