(S32E11) I'm familiar with very few of Jeremy Piven's projects, but, from what I've seen, he's a great comedic actor. Unfortunately, sometimes even the great funnymen of television and film can really -- for lack of a better phrase -- totally suck it hard when it comes to live television. In Piven's case, before the monologue was even half-way over, I knew he was going to do fine. Aside from a few very minor reading flubs (I think he said "contact" instead of "connect" in the monologue, and stumbled over some lines in various skits), Piven did a flawless job. All in all, I thought this was a fairly strong episode.Cold Open (Hardball): Ah, so Hillary Clinton's ready to make a dash for the White House. Sounds like Chris Matthews is the only one pleased about this. All I could think while watching this sketch was "Wow. Could the folks at Saturday Night Live make it any more obvious that they're madly in love with Barack Obama?" The answer is no... no, they couldn't. Clinton's use of Snagglepuss' "Heavens to Murgatroid!" got the biggest chuckle out of me.
Monologue: When Piven said he wanted to do something special, I immediately groaned because I thought he was going to do a song, like every other actor or actress hosting the show. Thank goodness that wasn't the case, though. I found this whole bit to be a lot of fun and absolutely hilarious. I wonder if that lady was a real audience member. If so, she was a very lucky lady. I'm not sure which part was my favorite: "Naked supple breasts", "I once made love to a porpoise", or "I want you to enjoy this iPod, your puppy, and my child". By the way, an iPod Mini? C'mon. Those discontinued, like, fifty years ago (I'm estimating here).
"Urigro": Chronic weak stream? Ohh, man. I thought this was pretty funny, especially when Jason Sudeikis did his little "Look, Ma! No hands!" motion.
"That'll move the chains!": This was okay. I really liked Piven's forced angry laugh and "Automatic Death Disease".
"Saturday TV Funhouse": Bush Chipmunk was all right, Cheney Chipmunk was adorable. Cheney Chipmunk! It even sounds cute. The Sopranos Chipmunks were hysterical and I appreciated the Keane-esque picture.
"First Person In The History Of The World To Dance": It was hard to tell from the wacky caveman get-up, but was that Piven dancing? If so, I think I love him. It was so stupid, but I couldn't stop laughing throughout the entire sketch (the glow sticks slayed me). Despite the fact that I know virtually nothing about techno music and the song had no words for reference, I sort of managed to find the track name. During AFI's first set and various commercials, I sifted through someone's extensive techno collection on their shared iTunes playlist. After going through, like, literally a few hundred songs, I finally recognized the tune, listed as "Techno Megamix - Hybrid, Darude, Warp Brothers, Crystal Method, Prodigy, Underworld, Aphex Twin, Megamixx". Unfortunately, the owner of the playlist seems to be shit at managing tags, so I have no idea who created this mix or which artist can be attributed to which part of this 35-minute song.
"MacGruber": Heh, this was an interesting take on MacGyver. I think these pre-taped segments were Maya Rudolph's only appearances in the episode. Hm. I wonder what she's been up to.
"Two A-Holes At An Adoption Agency": Heh, the title alone made me laugh. Many of SNL's recurring characters can get really exhausting, but, for some reason, I have yet to tire of the two a-holes. My favorite parts of this week's sketch were when Kristen Wiig requested a baby that looked like Gonzo from Muppet Babies and "That painting looks like a rabbit".
"MacGruber": I don't mind silly little ideas like this when they're very brief and aren't stretched out to try and be a full sketch. This was a good way to do it.
"Weekend Update": When Amy Poehler mentioned Stephen Colbert, I had a split-second freak-out because I thought someone was going to do a Colbert impression. Instead, Darrell Hammond came out and did some impressions as Rich Little, this year's White House Correspondents Association Dinner entertainment. Just as well. "Really!?! with Seth and Amy" was amazing. Yeah, you two would know about stashing pot, wouldn't you?
"Common and Blizzard Man": Whoa, what was Common doing there? That was weird. Couldn't AFI have done it instead? I mean, I know they're not a rap group, but the writers could have worked it out, rather than bringing in a completely different musician who's not even the musical guest. And I guess it's a possibility that Common wanted to do a cameo to promote "Finding Forever" but that doesn't come out until March. [UPDATE: Oh, so Common's doing a film with Piven? That makes more sense. Thanks, reader Bart Smith] I'll stop talking about it and leave you with my favorite Blizzard Man line... "The ladies show their butts and we all touch our ding-dongs!"
"MacGruber": Three seconds. Short and sweet.
"The Unicorn": This was crazy weird. Yeah. Not just "crazy", not just "weird", but "crazy weird". I'm not quite sure what I thought of it. I didn't like it... I think.
"Nurse Nancy": A great jab at Eddie Murphy's Norbit (and I suppose The Nutty Professor, as well). Spot-on!
"Lansford Brothers & Associates: Hangmen at Law": Ooh, weakest sketch of the night... I think. I still haven't decided whether or not the unicorn sketch was any good.
AFI: Wow. The lead singer wasn't wearing pancake make-up for once. Astounding! Honestly, I can't stand this band. I muted the television about a minute into their first act so that I could search for the caveman dance track. I did, however, hear their second set and I've got to give the singer props for staying steady and giving his all even with the multiple sound problems (his mic was off for the opening and kept cutting in and out throughout the song). Nice work, Davey.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1-21-2007 @ 11:53AM
Bart Smith said...
Common was there because he's co-starring in SMOKIN' ACES with Piven.
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1-21-2007 @ 12:49PM
Nate said...
I just do not understand the consistany of this show. One week is awesome that next one is horrendous. Obviously the writing talent is there as is the acting (we can see this in the Timberlake episode and this one IMO). I mean does Seth take every other week off or something? GET IT TOGETHER.
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1-21-2007 @ 1:22PM
Tim Dorr said...
BTW, the song from the caveman sketch was Sandstorm by Darude. It's a pretty popular Trance song that was pretty much ALL over the scene a few years ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSYxT9GM0fQ
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1-21-2007 @ 1:31PM
Dee said...
I have to say that although my husband and I love Jeremy Piven, we thought this episode was blah at best. There were some slightly amusing but totally forgettable scenes. And most of Jeremy's skits involved him playing the straight guy and getting pissed off, what is that about? They could've given him more variety in his roles in the sketches. He would've made a perfect A**hole friend in the "Two A**holes..." sketch!
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1-21-2007 @ 1:34PM
Tammy said...
I absolutely love Jeremy Piven, but I cannot understand the love of last night's episode of SNL. I really wish I could get back that 90 minutes of my life.
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1-21-2007 @ 2:59PM
Melissa said...
Thanks for the review Annie! I'm really glad that someone is even reviewing SNL.
I don't particularly like Jeremy Piven, but I liked this episode. I loved MacGruber, two A-holes, and the Nurse Nancy sketches the best. I agree about the unicorn sketch, though it was pretty funny when Jason Sudekis was like "you think I LIKE having to tell people I got this beer by wishing it from a unicorn?!"
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1-21-2007 @ 5:01PM
Buckly said...
I don't think that it was Piven in the cavemen sketch. He looked to be a bit too tall. I'm thinking the dancing caveman was perhaps Jason Sudekis?
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1-21-2007 @ 4:21PM
MacGuffin said...
B-O-R-I-N-G
Christ that was an awful show. I had high hopes because I generally like Jeremy Piven. Love him as Ari Gold (what an iconic character!).
But they didn't leverage any of his previous characters which would have been funny. I tuned out after 45 minutes.
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1-21-2007 @ 8:38PM
Wanda said...
It's official: I've turned into my mom. During the AFI performance I couldn't stop thinking, "Why is this guy trying to mimic Jessica Simpson's singing gurgle?" And, "He should cut those bangs so he doesn't have to wipe them off his face every 2.5 seconds."
Needless to say, I am old now and I don't get it.
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1-21-2007 @ 9:20PM
adhonus said...
I thought this show was good, minus the opening sketch. It was a fun, absurd show, with funny sketches for the most part. It does seem as if they realize that sketches go on way too long, and they're trying to do something about it.
I loved the Unicorn sketch.
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1-22-2007 @ 8:08AM
BillS said...
MacGruber! I loved it. And I also thought dancing caveman was Sudekis.
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1-22-2007 @ 11:17AM
Bill Mitchell said...
Fyoo-WEE that was a stinker! This paled in comparison to the Baldwin & Timberlake episodes. Opening: long and awful and anti-Hillary. Monologue: embarrassingly bad (was that his mom?)! It's sad when urination humor is the funniest thing on the show. In the case of MacGruber, it was poop and pubes humor. I hoped that at least the band would bail them out. Nope.
Overall, one of the worst episodes in recent memory.
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1-22-2007 @ 11:32AM
Stas said...
Cold Open (Hardball): Yet another Darrell Hammond impression of Chris Matthews... These stopped being funny after the first 2 times. Poehler was mildly funny towards the end with all the bleeped swearing - will this be available on their web site in uncensored version? If so - I'm sure it's still funnier bleeped - just like Dick in the Box.
Monologue: Great concept. Loved the monologue. It had me laughing out loud. The it all went downhill from there...
"Urigro": This was rated blah - at best. I like Sudeikis a lot but just didn't get the humor in this. They could've done more with it, but really this should've been cut.
"That'll move the chains!": This seemed like it went on too long, while it didn't - not really that funny. Samberg has retard impersonations down pat.
"Saturday TV Funhouse": Interesting and mildly amusing.
"First Person In The History Of The World To Dance": This and the monologue really took me back to the earlier days of SNL. Flawlessly executed concept. Undoubtedly, this was one of the show's highlights.
"MacGruber": I agree with Annie - short & sweet is the name of the game on these. Although they could've cut the middle one wit hthe same end results.
"Two A-Holes At An Adoption Agency": I already professed my love for the 2 A-holes in an earlier comment for a previous show. This one was a bit bland though. Too predictable.
"Weekend Update": No comment - pretty trivial, with the exception of "Really!?!" - I guess the pot jokes are an attempt to bring back the core demographic back to the show. Didn't do it for me, but I could see how it could appeal to others. Loved the sarcasm of it though.
"Common and Blizzard Man": Making fun of white people rapping is as old as the music genre itself. The funniest part of the sketch for me was the Blizzard Man's outfit. Would be very appropriate on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air - the early episodes.
"The Unicorn": I fell asleep at this one - had to continue watching on Sunday...
"Nurse Nancy": Almost every SNL Digital Short is good for a few laughs. They better hang on to Andy Samberg and his crew.
"Lansford Brothers & Associates: Hangmen at Law": It was way too long for the punchline to pay off - "A division of Halliburton".
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1-22-2007 @ 2:20PM
Michael E. Rubin said...
My wife and I are still cracking each other up by saying, "Shahalia" to each other.
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1-22-2007 @ 8:16PM
AdamRock said...
The song in the caveman sketch is Sandstorm by Darude, i use to get jiggy with that song all the time lol good ole days!
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1-22-2007 @ 9:54PM
JPL said...
For those who missed it, "First Person in the History of the World to Dance" is up on YouTube now. The dancing is funny but I especially love the second caveman's primative reaction to Sudeikis getting his groove on.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CCreLtZMIsA
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1-25-2007 @ 11:12PM
neil tanner said...
I can't say I'm a BIG fan of Jeremy Pivens, but when I heard he was to host SNL, the first thought that popped into my head was a skit such as...Piven sitting in the audience (Wearing his 'comfortable' ascot) with his 'mom' while the "Oscars" or any awards show, Best Actor award is being given. The camera pans to Piven and mom, holding hands...When his name is announced as the winner, he turns gives the obligatory handshakes and kisses, and then kisses his mom..And hugs his mom...And kisses his mom on the lips..And starts groping his mom..And then starts tongue kissing his mom...I don't know, I think it's funny.
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1-22-2007 @ 11:03PM
Mike Brown said...
MacGruber was funny. They almost managed to kill the Blizzardman by not having the sketch differentiate enough from the first sketch. Rest was pretty meh.
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1-28-2007 @ 2:58PM
Nathalie said...
I actually enjoyed Blizzard Man. I hope they bring him back more frequently. I laughed myself to tears on that ignorance. Why? Don't know - but I'm also a fan of Richard Cheese. Maybe that explains it.
Otherwise the show was forgettable. MacGruder was stale. Dancing Cavement was stupid. Glad I TiVo'd it - I fast forwarded through most of it.
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4-09-2007 @ 5:02PM
dbieon12 said...
The song in the scene with the dancing caveman, also known as "The First Person In The History of The World To Dance", is by Finnish artist Darude. The track's name is Sandstorm, given by it's sandstorm sound effects.
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