(S32E14) Rainn Wilson is probably best known from NBC's The Office, in which he plays the incredibly funny Dwight Schrute. As always, just because an actor does well in a sitcom doesn't necessarily mean it all translates on Saturday Night Live. Fortunately, Wilson delivered a great performance that was on par with the show's actual cast members. This was a pleasant surprise for me, so I really wish that the weeks' writing had done better justice to Wilson's talent.Cold Open ("The Situation Room"): This was a nice take on the news networks' ridiculous obsession with the Anna Nicole Smith case. Why did they use Rainn Wilson so early? I mean, he did a really good job, but I'm always a little disoriented when they have the host do a skit before the monologue.
Monologue: Haha, this take on The Office was hilarious. The most bizarre bit was seeing how much Kristen Wiig and Jason Sudeikis looked like Pam and Jim. Sudeikis' annoyed face was dead-on. Kenan as Oscar Stan (sorry, I was thinking "Stan" but typed "Oscar" for some reason) was also a cool addition, as was the brief cameo by Rashida Jones.
"Danny's Song": This seemed like a sketch that would normally appear at the end of an episode, so I was surprised to see it as the very first one. And what a weird choice of song (Loggins and Messina's "Danny's Song"). "I laughed so hard that the other guy's pee came out of my nose!"
"An SNL Digital Short": Again, this was a super-weird short, but it was brief enough to accept and enjoy. My favorite bit was the Gigantic Turkey Sub.
"Nuni and Nooni": The toast chair was good, but I liked Maya Rudolph's springy seat the best. Despite the fact that I've seen these characters loads of times, I'm not sure what to think of them anymore. They're terribly formulaic, but I guess their weirdness mixes it up just enough?
"Peeping Tom": This was a fun sketch. It wasn't spectacular, but fun. I really liked how Sudeikis' character was oddly specific with his fake-showering.
"Weekend Update": Save for the Aflac joke ("They rape ducks..."), I didn't think WU was anything special this week. And that Anna Nicole Smith judge is going to get so much crap for the rest of his life...
"New Guy": I'm still not totally sure how I feel about these characters but I think I like them. I think. I know I had a good chuckle at Will Forte's horrified "Jean! That's the Lord's message..."
"White Possum Scream": Good lord. As if the real Black Snake Moan didn't look creepy enough. I don't think this sketch panned out as funny as the writers had expected.
"New Age": Ever wonder what happens when New Age musicians get angry? Of course you have.
Arcade Fire: I've never really listened to Arcade Fire before, so I'm not familiar with their music. However, a lot of my friends are fans and, after the night's performances, I could kind of see why. Anyone know why Arcade Fire seemed somewhat aloof this week? Usually, the musical guests are involved with the week's commercials in some form or another (even if they're just standing behind the host), but they were nowhere to be found. I thought that they may have been busy the day of shooting the commercials, but they didn't show up at the end-of-episode group hugfest either. Hmm. I suppose their appearance in the Digital Short kind of made up for it.
Next new episode: Julia Louis-Drefyus and Snow Patrol.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-25-2007 @ 11:08AM
Santiago Leon said...
Kenan was playing Stan not Oscar
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2-25-2007 @ 12:00PM
Nate said...
It was OK, like you said the writers didnt do anything to show off Rainns talent which is a damn shame.
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2-25-2007 @ 12:13PM
Melanie said...
That was a really great episode. I hope they bring in other Office players from time to time. Has Steve Carell ever hosted? Because I think he'd be fantastic.
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2-25-2007 @ 12:30PM
greg said...
Anyone know the phrase taped to the guitar that was smashed after the first Artic Fire song?
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2-25-2007 @ 12:25PM
Katie said...
I loved this week's show. Rainn actually seemed like a former cast member, he was just that good, and he actually *became* his written character in each scene, rather than just reading his cue cards correctly like most hosts. I was afraid that the writers were just going to put him into a bunch of sketches where he played a Dwight-like character, but luckily that didn't happen, as evinced by the New Age sketch, and the Danny's Song sketch. I really hope they have him back on again next year!
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2-25-2007 @ 12:27PM
Katie said...
Yes, Steve Carrell has hosted
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2-25-2007 @ 12:39PM
Tom said...
From gothamist:
During the first song, "Intervention", Win Butler strummed a guitar that donned a Haitian proverb written in tape. It said: "Sak vid pa kanpe", which translates to "An empty sack can not stand" - which is used to describe the children struggling to survive in a country of mass starvation (Butler's wife, an Arcade Fire member, Regine Chassagne, was born in Haiti).
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2-25-2007 @ 1:42PM
Thomas said...
It appears to me as a British viewer who only gets to see every other episode, that irrespective of who they have hosting, the writing is pretty much crap. At best there are only 1 or 2 good sketches a week. Compare it with things like the Colbert Report of the Daily Show who are on 4 times a week and although they don't do sketches, they do bits and they're universally good, if not brilliant.
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2-25-2007 @ 1:54PM
Bill said...
I thought the writing was pretty decent. Or at leas the Danny's Song sketch had me cracking up long enough to miss the weaker stuff. And I agree with everyone that Rainn Wilson was fantastic.
http://popculturejunk.blogspot.com/
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2-25-2007 @ 2:13PM
dk said...
Remember when SNL was shocking and cutting edge - the show is boring the only good part was the office bit in the monologue
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2-25-2007 @ 2:24PM
beanspants said...
i thought the peeping sketch was pretty good. i'm going to have to see if i can work 'peeping' into regular conversations this week. - i don't look, i PEEP!
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2-25-2007 @ 2:45PM
ac said...
Anyone notice that except for the Nuni/Nooni sketch they all had random endings? Danny's song had it end suddenly with them robbing a bank, the digital short suddenly had the building collapse, peeping tom had a girl on girl action out of nowhere, and new guy had a plan of murder. Nothing wrong with the endings I just never seen so many sketches end like that on 1 show.
On the review side, I like Rainn Wilson and he did a great job with what was given to him. He was hilarious on the cold open, monolougue, and digital short. White Possum Scream was so strange it was good. Wilson in a half cut tee and the chain was what made it laughable. The rest were ok because of the writing, not the acting. Also next week is Elaine-sorry Julia Louis Dreyfus which will hopefully be better than her sitcom which I haven't even seen on TV lately. Was it cancelled? What about the whole breaking the curse thing? I'll because I like Snow Patrol though.
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2-25-2007 @ 6:41PM
GhaleonQ said...
I actually thought that it was the 1st complete quality Saturday Night Live in 3 years. Frankly, the absurdist nature of the "Business Meeting" sketch was perfect. Whether one enjoyed it or not, it cannot be denied that it was a perfectly scripted and created sketched.
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2-26-2007 @ 12:16PM
Jim said...
The justification for having Digital Shorts on a "live" show is to go out and do things that won't work live in the studio. Did this week's version fit that description? Apart from the quick-changes that required editing, it could have been a regular sketch.
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2-26-2007 @ 12:48PM
Solsbury said...
Arcade Fire was on stage right at the beginning of the goodbye, but once Wilson said "thanks" they literally ran off the stage.
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2-26-2007 @ 7:15PM
P. M. said...
DOES ANYONE KNOW THE NAME OF THE SECOND SONG THAT ARCADER FIRE SANG???
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2-27-2007 @ 12:42PM
Timoree said...
The second song played by Arcade Fire was Keep the Car Running...great song!
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4-02-2007 @ 12:17AM
jonathan said...
the prince harry bit on Weekend update sucked. I agree with whoever said the writing on snl sucks. It does. The prince harry bit was a rip off of the puking lady on Little Britain. The show is much much better than last year and the last few years - but it definitely is still lacking. Arcade Fire rocked though.
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4-09-2007 @ 1:41PM
Mike said...
According to Stereogum, the reason why the Arcade Fire ran off stage was to do a "mini-concert" for the audience. So I'm guessing "aloof" turns out to be quite the opposite word to describe them.
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4-20-2007 @ 6:26PM
Raymond said...
In the Office spoof, watch carefully: As soon as Rainn leaves, "Jim" walks over to talk to "Pam"!
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