(S32E17) I was tremendously surprised -- and pleased -- to hear that Shia LaBeouf would get to host SNL. Back in middle school, I would watch his Disney show, Even Stevens, all the time, because I thought LaBeouf was pretty much the funniest guy ever. I haven't seen anything he's done since Holes, but it looks like he'll soon be tough to avoid. Now, he has a new movie, Disturbia, along with Indiana Jones IV in the works. A rising star, he is. His enthusiasm and natural goofiness worked really well with the other cast members and, even though he wasn't given the best material, LaBeouf did a fantastic job.Cold Open ("To Don Imus..."): This was okay, I suppose. I liked the photos of Imus' punishments, but everything else was kind of "blah". This just reminded me that the SNL folks don't use Darrell Hammond well enough to justify keeping him on the cast for such a long time.
Monologue: I thought this was sloppily put together, but enjoyable. "Disney, Nickelodeon! Disney, Nickelodeon!" Yes, it was strange to see two kids' show guys on SNL together. I suppose not every Disney Channel star is doomed to performing crappy pop ballads for all time. And, dude, was that a llama in the back when Shia was talking to Amy? Awesome.
"Hathaway Moustache Ride Company": Alec Baldwin! Awesome facial hair! Moustache ride jokes! Umm... Yay?
"Prince Show": Prince's Spiderman impression was precious and Nancy Grace's booty-dancing was fierce. Oh, and it feels like every time they air this sketch, the hair and make-up people try less and less to make Maya Rudolph look like Beyonce. Honestly, this is very important, since her impression isn't that strong in the first place.
"ID": As soon as I saw Andy Samberg walk in with that ridiculous, crooked moustache, I knew what that sketch was going to be about. I thought this was a very funny sketch, but the abrupt ending felt like kind of a cop-out... Or maybe it was just too typical of a punchline for me to appreciate.
"The Dakota Fanning Show": The Suite Life of Zack and Cody! Kill me. And Avril Lavigne as little(r) Fanning! Double kill me. On a more positive note, Kenan's facial expressions get better and better.
"SNL Digital Short": Oh, dear. I could not stop laughing at this. It was like every bad "hip" indie film I've seen in the past three years. Sweeping, over-dramatic moments paired with Imogen Heap music ("Hide and Seek", in case any of you were wondering). Hilarious.
"Sofa King": I'm sure I would have found this a lot funnier if I hadn't already seen that "I'm sofa king we todded" sketch from Kids In The Hall. The family's unibrows were pretty sweet, though.
"Weekend Update": Apparently, all gay people from Connecticut sound like Thurston Howell, III from Gilligan's Island. For the most part, this was a mediocre WU.
"Knives": Ahh, blood spray is easy for laughs. It was during this sketch that I felt the evening begin to draw to a close and, as I watched LaBeouf scurry off-screen and leave Will Forte to bleed to death, I wished that they had used him a bit more prominently.
"An Intimate Moment with John Mayer and Jessica Simpson": Wiig did Jessica Simpson's weird baby-like voice perfectly. And Hader's facial expressions were perfect. And that was about it. This was insanely short! Y'know what? I'm just going to pretend the brevity was a reflection on the shallowness of the relationship and not because the writers couldn't think of any more material.
"Maya/Shia": Wow. What? How desperate were they to fill time?
Avril Lavigne: Her music makes me want to hurt small mammals. However, I must admit that I like how her current music is annoyingly pop-y and pretty much the opposite of all that she so adamantly stood for a few years ago.
Next time: Scarlett Johansson and Bjork. Sweet.
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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
4-15-2007 @ 2:09PM
Dave said...
You guys are crazy. It's absurd to think SNL is only now being used for crass promotional causes. Like George Carlin didn't host the first episode as a means for promoting An Evening with Wally Londo. This is what SNL has been about since day one!
Your blind nostalgia is embarrassing.
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4-15-2007 @ 2:26PM
Jen said...
Just two cents on the whole age thing - I'm 27 and learned computer programming back when I was in elementary school.. Basic, Fortran, Cobal, C+/C++ etc etc.. all the way up into college, and yet there are 17 year olds that can program circles around me because they know their stuff - they've researched and applied. Age doesn't matter if you've put the time into appreciating the topic - and clearly Annie has.
And for the record, I've seen Even Stevens, knew who the kid was - plus another movie I saw him in was Constantine - the first movie I saw him in (didn't watch Holes) and knew he was going to get more and more movies.
And, another two cents ;) Yes this episode (you can call them episodes - it is a television program) was a marketing push - just like every episode since day one. It was a smart thing to do. If you're going to pull in the younger kiddies because of Shia, then entertain them with a younger demo music artist. If they want to keep SNL going, you have to suck in new fans from time to time. Old fans have seen the best and worst and many stay regardless of a few stinkers here and there.
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4-15-2007 @ 3:59PM
allen said...
Jen, regarding the use of the word "episode". This is lazy english, actually.
Webster's defines the word thusly:
1 : a usually brief unit of action in a dramatic or literary work: as a : the part of an ancient Greek tragedy between two choric songs b : a developed situation that is integral to but separable from a continuous narrative : INCIDENT c : one of a series of loosely connected stories or scenes d : the part of a serial presented at one performance
2 : an event that is distinctive and separate although part of a larger series
3 : a digressive subdivision in a musical composition
None of this defines sketch comedy. There is no "connected story", it is not a serial at one performance. It is not part of a larger series. Most importantly, it is not B: "a developed situation that is integral to but separable from a continuous narrative". It's lazy. Because each SNL is an installment. Not an episode. Not part of a larger story. There is no growth to characters. Even the remotest example of dramatic or comedic televised sitcom or procedural has some, if just a little character development over time. They can qualify as "episodes". This week's "Deal or No Deal" is not episodic. Maybe, MAYBE, if they cut one contestant short and had to continue on the next program. Whereas Survivor, The Apprentice, et al, are all episodics, SNl, mos t assuredly is not. I know I am nitpicking, but wouldn't it be better to speak kerrecktly then to just try to sound smart and fail?
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4-15-2007 @ 4:09PM
allen said...
Dave, this isn't "blind nostalgia". While, yes, SNL has always been a vehicle for promotion in some form or another, it's the nature of the variety television beast, to say that the early shows were promotional vehicles is crass and without hitorical merit. In truth, the idea of television as, primarily a promotional tool is very recent. When SNL started it was actually a new idea to advertise movies on television. No one believed that one medium acknowledging and advertising on another would work. There were no syngeristic shows like Extra and Entertainment Tonight. In fact, the concept of Synergy didn't come to fruition until the mid 80's. SNL, believe it or not, broke a lot of ground. I mean, I would concede your point if Frank Zappa was promoting an album at the time he hosted in 1976, but, Michaels, O'donohue, Beatts, Franken and Davis and company were trying to be the voice of a new generation (their own) which was sorely underrepresented on television at the time. The "everything as crass promotional tool" concept you are alluding to wouldn't even be born for another 10 years.
Over the past years, yes, SNL has been more and more corporate. I would submit that that began shortly after Lorne left the show in 1980. But, last night was something different. Not only was it all about promotion. It also felt like the producers and writers realized that the only people who would tune in FOR the host weren't of the target demographic. Barely 18. Little high end disposable cash. So, it felt like they dumped the show. Didn't try all that hard. That was what felt crass about the whole experience.
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4-15-2007 @ 4:36PM
Dave said...
If memory serves, Zappa was promoting Zoot Allures when he performed in 76.
Jamming with Samurai Futaba may have been inspired, but it was still done with an eye toward promoting a product.
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4-15-2007 @ 5:32PM
Jessica said...
This epiosde was okay. The digital short was pretty good. The only funny part of the "Sofa King" sketch was when Shia Labeouf was poking the sofa and looking extremely awkward. Other than that I was not impressed.
I can't stand Avril Lavigne and her music is terrible.
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4-15-2007 @ 7:11PM
Paul Little said...
Holy crap, what is wrong with some of you people?
I mean, I love TV. I watch about 15 television shows regularly (not including late-night TV) and enjoy it immensely. I like to consider myself fairly cultured overall, but I've been a TV-head since I was a young lad.
But why take these things so SERIOUSLY? This is a simple recap/review of an EPISODE of a television show. Yeah, it's sketch comedy, and yeah, it's been around for decades. But it's just a TV show that's trying to make people laugh, and it should be judged solely on its ability to that.
Yes, comedy is subjective, as is ALL art, but nobody's opinion should be worth any more or less than anyone else's.
By the way, the digital short was probably my 2nd favourite short of all time. It was an absolutely brilliant skewer of The O.C. directly, and a bunch of other shows and movies indirectly. And it was just goofy and silly and over-the-top, to boot. This is the kind of stuff I fully expect from the guys from TLI. I can't wait for their movie this summer.
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4-15-2007 @ 8:34PM
Mike said...
Hypocrisy continues! NBC has some suddenly righteous news suit can Imus from MSNBC (after making $$ for years off of him), then SNL (Lorne & Co) goes on to use the incident for cheap laughs (BTW, it wasn't that funny!) in the opening (with Jesse and Sharpton skit), as well as on Weekend Update, with a groveling, then ranting Imus imitator. Ah, capitalism at its worst! How come there were no parodies of the language used in a number of rap songs??
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4-15-2007 @ 9:18PM
tricia said...
Thank you, Paul Little. Well said!!!
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4-15-2007 @ 10:55PM
ac said...
Mike every other show on every other network that does current event comedy made fun of the story. Why should SNL not just because they are on NBC?
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4-16-2007 @ 1:20AM
Taylor Hathaway said...
The Hathaway Moustache Ride Company commercial with Alec Baldwin is an instant classic. http://www.cafepress.com/hathawaycompany
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4-16-2007 @ 9:38AM
Scott said...
I'm in the late end of the Gen X demographic (38) and I knew who Shia was...from a season of "Project Greenlight" on HBO a few years back. He gave it his all, but with material that lame, Alec Baldwin or Steve Martin would have bombed. SNL is only bearable with TiVo. I got through this show in about 20 minutes. That's the opening sketch, the monologue (or studio tour), "Weekend Update", the recorded bits (awful) and the first 30 seconds of each sketch until the agony starts and I hit the fast-forward. It's really not worth it anymore, no matter who the host is. And I think Avril's albums have gotten more shallow each time--I actually like her first one. Couldn't stomach her barking on SNL.
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4-16-2007 @ 10:01AM
Ender said...
Annie, I appreciate that you are younger, as I am only 22. That is not to say any shred of immaturity comes through in your writing. I really enjoy your style of review for SNL and The Daily Show. I think it works well for our age group, and for the spirit of blogging. To be honest, I don't get a lot of the references some of the older writers on this site make because I didn't watch 'their' TV. Which is fine. I like the variety.
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4-16-2007 @ 2:48PM
chris said...
I think this season has been the funniest season in many MANY years. And those digital shorts kill me.
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4-17-2007 @ 2:50PM
Chris said...
Don't pay them any attention Annie. They just hatin'.
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5-19-2007 @ 11:12AM
Nick said...
I finally got around to watching that 'Dear Sister' short.
All I can say is...wow. It wasn't so much funny as it was creepy. Pretty dark for SNL.
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7-14-2007 @ 10:38AM
Amanda said...
i think the show was good. i agree that Shia wasn't given good material and i agree that he worked well with what he was given. every sketch made me laugh or at least chuckle.the Digital Short was rele funny, and thanks for mentioning the artist i've been dieing to download the song. i just think that some people expected him to be a little more goofier (is that a word?) b,c of the character he use to play on Even Stevens. i wish Shia great sucess for the rest of his career, he deserves it.
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