(S32E20) I'm not a crazed Zach Braff fan, but I'm familiar enough with his work on Scrubs and Garden State. As the weird fantasy sequences in Scrubs have shown, Braff and the bizarre totally work. So, I was disappointed that he didn't play any outrageous characters in this episode. He was always playing some version of himself. Even in the "Prom Committee" sketch, when he had the chance to portray some completely out-there character, he played the Garden State kid with the Natalie Portman headphones. Oh, well. At least he didn't blatantly stare at the cue cards all night.Also, there was so much Maya Rudolph love in this episode, it sort of felt like she was hosting. I wonder if this is a sign that she's planning on leaving after this season? This then leads me to wonder if Darrell Hammond, who only appeared two or three times in this episode, is ever going to leave.
Cold Open (Message from the President): Oh, come on! It's the season finale. Couldn't they have started this with a bang? I didn't evil smile at any point in this sketch. And I really wish they had found someone better to do the Bush impressions. I love Jason Sudeikis and all, but he's just not doing the Bush-thing with enough personality.
Monologue: Zach Braff sent another love letter to his homestate of New Jersey. You know when the best part of a sketch is Andy Samberg dressed as a sandwich, the night's getting off to a slow start.
"SNL Digital Short": Ohh, god. This was... no. Hot Samberg on dog action.
"Prom Committee": I enjoyed this sketch, mainly because of the (half-reluctantly) abstinent couple and Will Forte's sweet hair. Whoo, they almost went into Garden State overload, though. Two sketches about it within twenty minutes? The fact that I had already chosen a Garden State image for this post doesn't seem to help. Oh, and Sean Connery! When was the last time we saw this fellow? Seems strange to suddenly pull this character out. Hmm... Could this season be Darrell Hammond's final hurrah?
"Deep House Dish": I usually find the songs mildly amusing in this sketch, but I don't think they even tried this week. They did, however, manage to work in a brown-eye joke. Good lord.
"Saturday TV Funhouse": This was okay. Although Hillary's face was pretty great, the McCain/Giuliani fight was the best.
"Take a Load Off, Annie": I choose to believe the usage of this song was a shout-out to me and a reference to how I won't have to do any more SNL reviews for several months. I also choose to believe that the final faceful of sequins and pasty skin was done to purposely blind everyone watching in Hi-Def. They did a similar sketch during the Rainn Wilson episode, for which I said it seemed like a piece that would normally be left towards the end of the night. Same comment stands.
"Weekend Update": It was smart of them to keep the Aunt Linda act short because -- Holy crap, there's going to be a Rush Hour 3?! Ahem. I mean, uh, "Weekend Update" was above average this week. I found myself laughing out loud for once. Rudolph's Whitney Houston appearance was funnier than usual; probably because everyone was cracking up onscreen.
"La Rivista Della Televisione con Vinny Vedeci": The premise for this sketch should be really funny, but, for some reason, it always falls short of delivering. I think maybe it runs on a bit long?
"Bronx Beat": I still don't find this sketch as amusing as everyone else does. Also, as the night began to draw to a close, I anticipated Braff to come out and play someone (or something) crazy, but then he wandered out as a mild-mannered intern and I pretty much gave up hope.
"Melissa": Whoa... All right, if you took the looks of Betty from Ugly Betty and the voice of Kelly from The Office and threw them into a Creepy Machine, you would get Fred Armisen as Melissa. I think if they did a little more work with the Melissa character, she could have been extremely funny.
Maroon 5: Wow, everyone in Maroon 5, apart from lead singer Adam Levine, has ridiculously long hair. Like, almost Bee-Gees' long.
Braff didn't do a crappy job because the writers didn't give him anything we knew he couldn't do. It's a shame that I can't give a finale, what is normally the crowning glory of any program's season, a 7 out of 7, but that's what SNL gets for drawing most of the night's laughs from man-on-dog and man-on-man kissing. I give this episode a 5 out of 7.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-20-2007 @ 12:35PM
Nick said...
I actually thought this was one of the better episodes of the season, thanks to the TV Funhouse cartoon and the fact that Weekedn Update was better than usual (although I would like to see them be able to do a tree frog joke without any interruptions).
Also, I saw the trailer for Hot Rod during this show. 2 seasons on SNL and Andy Samberg is already starring in his own movie? That must be some sort of record.
Oh yeah. They should get rid of Bronx Beat. I saw every joke coming from a mile away.
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5-20-2007 @ 12:56PM
Mandy said...
I thought this was a fairly good episode for this season, but that isn't saying much. I feel as though I am watching this show out of some sense of loyalty even though I no longer really enjoy watching it.
The only time I really laughed last night was during the cartoon. Some of the other sketches were mildly amusing, but like the rest of the shows this year, the sketches all went on too long.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but unless you are changing your name to Fanny, the sketch after the cartoon wasn't a shout-out to you. Sorry.
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5-20-2007 @ 1:14PM
Annie Wu said...
I had to Google the song while writing this post. Apparently, it's a common misconception that they're singing "Fanny", when it's really "Annie".
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5-20-2007 @ 1:27PM
Clint said...
I think you're right about Mya Rudolph, she got way more air time than usual, so I would be shocked to see her back next year.
I think Hammond sticks through the next election period, then calls it quits.
As for the episode, it was fair. At times seemed like a commercial for Garden State. I loved the Take a load off skit, especially because we haven't seen it in a while.
Plus the Samburg movie looks like it will either be really good or really bad.
http://www.tvdeuce.com
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5-20-2007 @ 2:11PM
Mandy said...
"I had to Google the song while writing this post. Apparently, it's a common misconception that they're singing "Fanny", when it's really "Annie"."
I would appreciate it if you could reference a website, not because I doubt you but because I am doubting myself. I always thought it was Fanny, and everything I found from Wikipedia to The Band's official website (http://theband.hiof.no/) has Fanny in the lyrics. I would really hate to be using the wrong name!
My apologies for going off topic a bit.
This review has got me wondering about who might be leaving the show. I could see Hammond sticking around to be a cast member the longest, but I think he already holds the record. In reading a little about him lately, he sounds like all he really wants to do in life is perfect his comedy. So maybe he wants to stay until he think he is doing the best he can?
I hope Maya Rudolph doesn't leave. I think she really brings a lot to the show.
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5-20-2007 @ 2:12PM
Jen said...
Weekend Update? Sucked. Hard.
It hasn't been good in years...but this year it's been extraordinarily bad.
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5-20-2007 @ 2:43PM
PurpleSlog said...
"Plus the Samburg movie looks like it will either be really good or really bad."
Its a SNL movie. The odds are that it will suck bad.
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5-20-2007 @ 3:48PM
Randy said...
No Scrubs parody?
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9-10-2007 @ 6:34PM
James said...
Purple,
Not only that, but Samberg has zero talent and even less box office appeal
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5-20-2007 @ 9:52PM
Bash said...
If the song was "The Weight" by "The Band" from 1968 it most likely is "Take a load off, Fannie".
Almost all sources I found have Fannie in them and the only mention I found about "Annie" was a page where somebody claimed he was emberrassed when he used Fannie all the time while it was Annie who was then corrected by another user in that thread.
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5-21-2007 @ 1:02AM
Paul Little said...
"Its a SNL movie. The odds are that it will suck bad."
It's not *really* an SNL movie. It was written by Pam Brady of "South Park", and then re-written by the Lonely Island guys. It's basically the first full-length Lonely Island movie (re-written by them, directed by Kiv, and starring Andy and Jorm). I have high hopes for the film, but that's because I really enjoy TLI humour.
This episode was kind of blah for me. Being such a big Zach Braff fan, and enjoying SNL quite a bit, it just didn't meet expectations. I too hoped for some zanier characters from Braff, and for that I pretty much blame the writers, not Braff himself. The digital short was so ridiculously creepy AND hilarious, though.
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5-21-2007 @ 11:16AM
SpaceVenus said...
I thought Zach did a very good job with the material he was given.
It was just so vanilla...
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5-21-2007 @ 12:15PM
David said...
Watch for a new African-American male in the cast next year, because Kenan Thompson -- who has even less range than Horatio Sanz, if that's possible -- will NOT be able to play Barack Obama during election season.
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5-21-2007 @ 3:47PM
Jim said...
I missed the finale because I was out of town and my DVR filled up. Sounds like I didn't miss much. Another Bush opening and Deep House Dish? No thanks.
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5-21-2007 @ 5:26PM
ac said...
Cold Open: need a new Bush impersonator
Monolougue: Funny because as I write this I'm in NJ and I just came from a strip mall.
Prom: Garden State again?!
Digital Short: So strange, just very strange. Funny but strange.
Deep House Dish: I really didnt like it.
TV Funhouse: lousy
Annie: I liked this although I didnt laugh out loud.
WU: Above average, but I never liked the whitney Houston impersonation.
Italian Talk Show: silly, thats it
Bronx Beat: Amy Poelher should play Edie Falco in a sketch.
Mellissa: Weird, just weird.
Maroon 5: Changed the channel 1 minute into the songs.
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5-22-2007 @ 1:33PM
Bill said...
This show stunk...stunk bad. Zach is so funny and they couldn't write for him or he wasn't allowed to.
Bush Iraq sketch, seen it, seen it, seen it. Still isn't funny. Opening bit sets the tone right away and knew right off the bat that it wasn't going to be good.
Writing for the show is getting tired and there isn't a strong character/comedian leading the show. SNL is going through one of those cycles again. I'm expecting heads to start rolling. BTW, been watching since the beginning. Always will like SNL, but going through the pain again.
B
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5-22-2007 @ 1:35PM
osky_ said...
I hate La Rivista because I know Italian and I keep trying to understand what he says... but it's all gibberish.
At least Armisen really speaks Spanish.
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5-22-2007 @ 2:37PM
random said...
I actually thoguht that the Prom Committee meeting was genius. Or is it because I always crack up at "BJ" jokes... The best parts of the show are the first half hour and the last half hour, which to me always happens.
I did enjoy Brox Beat last Saturday. But I agree with you guys that a lot fo the ideas for this episode were recycles from past ones this season, and with a purpose.
And the Smigel cartoon dragged on. It was shit.
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5-23-2007 @ 3:33AM
Kimberland30 said...
Does anyone know where I can find the American Idol spoof that was done on SNL the night of 5-12? I missed it and hubby didn't keep it on the DVR.
Thanks!
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5-23-2007 @ 7:22PM
Nick said...
"Watch for a new African-American male in the cast next year, because Kenan Thompson -- who has even less range than Horatio Sanz, if that's possible -- will NOT be able to play Barack Obama during election season."
I agree. Kenan Thompson would be too over the top as Barack Obama. They'll have to get a black guy who can do a good impersonation of a white person.
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