DarrellHammond-related stories
Posted Oct 4th 2009 2:38PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: TV Royalty, OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Celebrities, Reality-Free
(S35E02) After that Jenny Slate f-bomb nonsense and Megan Fox's not terribly original hot girl material from the
season premiere, it was exciting to see a really solid episode (and a star-studded one, at that). Ryan Reynolds did a fantastic job as host (snaps for his wavering voice during the porcelain fountains sketch and accent in
SYTYCD), though he didn't have any major stand-out roles. Did I miss the memo that Lady Gaga wasn't just musical guest but co-host as well? Such a role is normally left up to Ryan Reynolds' giant biceps.
It's been a while since we've seen such consistently enjoyable writing in an episode. Usually, there's a distinct lull during the course of the 90 minutes, but I didn't feel it this time. Hopefully, this is a good indication of the rest of the season.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Ryan Reynolds/Lady Gaga
Posted May 17th 2009 12:40PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Celebrities, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S34E23) Wow. Way to go, Will Ferrell. Maybe they should just bring back
Saturday Night Live alumni for season finales from now on, because this episode was spectacular. Ferrell brought back some old favorites and a slew of famous faces, from the familiar to the inexplicable, including Amy Poehler, Tom Hanks, Anne Hathaway and Artie Lange. Here are some video highlights from the evening (Hulu vids are US only. Sorry, kids... you can also watch these videos
at NBC's website).
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Will Ferell/Green Day (season finale)
Posted Apr 12th 2009 12:35PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Celebrities, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S34E21) When it came to everything unrelated to jazz hands, my expectations for Zac Efron were pretty low. Then again, there was part of me that kept thinking back to Justin Timberlake's first time hosting; he was just another song-and-dance good guy but the enthusiasm and craziness he brought to his performances blew everyone away. Okay, so Efron didn't do as well as Timberlake, but as the evening progressed, Efron seemed to get a little more comfortable and delivered a not-too-cingeworthy performance. Consider that a massive victory.
Here are some video highlights from the evening.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Zac Efron/Yeah Yeah Yeahs - VIDEOS
Posted Mar 15th 2009 12:45PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Saturday Night Live, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S34E19) It's a great, big homecoming party for
Tracy Morgan and he brought enough jaunty delivery for us all. I'll admit, if anyone else were to try and pull off this type of delivery, I'd be pretty annoyed. However, it's Tracy Morgan and he's got this choppy, unrealistic speech down to an art. It has
become him, I guess. This episode had a few strong moments here and there, but overall, it was an "all right" episode. At least we got to revisit some old favorites from Tracy Morgan's featured player days.
Now, check out some video highlights from the evening. Also, note to self: I will stop typing "Tracy Jordan", I will stop typing "Tracy Jordan"...
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Tracy Morgan/Kelly Clarkson - VIDEOS
Posted Feb 15th 2009 2:29PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Episode Reviews
(S34E16) It was pretty obvious there was going to be at least two sketches with the Jonas Brothers. I called it! I mean, no one apart from the people in my apartment know I called it, but that doesn't change the facts or my sad sense of accomplishment. I had to tune out once they started singing (sorry, 15 year-old girls), but their skits were all right. Alec Baldwin did a fine job of hosting as well, though there weren't any particularly striking sketches. I suppose after doing something like "Schwetty Balls", just about everything else will pale in comparison.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Alec Baldwin/The Jonas Brothers - VIDEOS
Posted Feb 8th 2009 5:02PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S34E15) Bradley Cooper, who are you and what are you doing on
Saturday Night Live? I IMDb'd him before watching the episode and despite having seen many of his projects, I still couldn't attach him to anything. Is he best known for something? Or is
He's Just Not That Into You his big break-out? Well, regardless, his performance in this episode wasn't mind-blowing, but at least it wasn't cringe-worthy either (exceptions can be considered for the Christian Bale sketch). The writers didn't give him anything terribly exciting and in the end we were left with a pretty forgettable episode. Here are some video highlights.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Bradley Cooper/TV On The Radio - VIDEOS
Posted Jan 11th 2009 1:29PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Reality-Free
(S34E12) It's just as we thought, everyone: Neil Patrick Harris is awesome. Why did it take
SNL so long to bring in NPH? It seems cruel, almost, to make us wait like this. Even though the sketches this week were not particularly spectacular or groundbreaking, NPH's delivery and enthusiasm made the ride really fun. Unless his backstage demands and antics were too crazy for the
SNL gang to handle, there's no reason to hold back on multiple returns.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Neil Patrick Harris/Taylor Swift - VIDEOS
Posted Dec 14th 2008 1:22PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S34E11) Can you hear the ladies and British comedy fans screaming? It's Hugh Laurie! The writing this week was stronger than usual, but I could not help but feel like they didn't use Hugh Laurie enough. When you get someone like that on the show, you better make sure the audience is sick of seeing him by the end of the episode. That said, Mr. Laurie did beautifully with what he was given and he's well on his way to becoming a regular host. Check out these video highlights from the episode.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Hugh Laurie/Kanye West - VIDEOS
Posted Dec 7th 2008 11:48AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S34E10) The majority of this episode was pretty good. John Malkovich didn't contain the same contagious energy as other hosts this season, like Anne Hathaway or Tim McGraw, but infused the episode with his own... Malkovich-ness. Anyone that has seen his work knows what I'm talking about. I especially liked it when he introduced the musical guest(s), because it was hilariously obvious that he's never heard of any of these guys. Speaking of the musical guests, does T.I. really have a song about waving Gucci scarves in the air instead of dancing at the club? I feel like that's more of a surefire way to get shot at a club than carrying a gun in your sweatpants.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: John Malkovich/T.I. - VIDEOS
Posted Nov 16th 2008 1:20PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Video, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S34E08) This episode was warmed up like biscuits.
Dance biscuits. I swear to God, I will find a way to work that into a conversation some time in the near future. This was certainly the strongest episode of the season, as the writers didn't seem quite so afraid to have fun with the more pointless or tasteless jokes. Sometimes, they try to do something bizarre but stop just short of a satisfying pay-off, leaving a palpable awkwardness. In this episode, they really pulled through and, thanks to some special appearances (hello,
Justin Timberlake), gave Mr.
Paul Rudd a very memorable episode. Check out some highlights from the episode.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Paul Rudd/Beyonce - VIDEOS
Posted Oct 24th 2008 11:00AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
Well, that concludes
Saturday Night Live's three week run of "Weekend Update Thursday." There were some good jokes here and there, including tonight's especially strong cold open, but looking back, we really could have done without these three episodes. Most of this material, election-related and otherwise, could have been bumped to the regular Saturday program without any problem. I'm sure we could come up with a list of sketches in the past few
SNLs that deserved to be replaced. Someone fix my time machine and let's get this job done. I don't want to hear any of that "There's no such thing as a flux capacitor" bullcrap.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Weekend Update Thursday (October 23, 2008) - VIDEOS
Posted Oct 19th 2008 12:02PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S34E05) First of all: It felt like Josh Brolin wasn't really hosting the show, but just kind of hanging out until Mark Wahlberg and Sarah Palin got their business done. He did a fair job with what he was given, though. Secondly: Fartface. Why? Why would they do that? I'm glad NBC.com didn't post that video, because it was so bafflingly bad that everyone that was in the room with me, watching the episode, was reeling from the effects. Please note that I am someone who still laughs at "duty," so a sketch revolving around the word "fartface" should have killed me. Instead, it just left me a little confused and wondering what stuff ends up on the
SNL writing room floor. Anyway, this was a big episode, so here are some video highlights:
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Josh Brolin/Adele - VIDEOS
Posted Oct 17th 2008 10:26AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Celebrities, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
I liked it. I laughed. Sure. I also laughed last week, but I can't quite remember what was so funny. These specials are pretty forgettable, bleeding into my
Saturday Night Live memory and then dropping into the recesses of my mind. Again, I understand the need to jump on the debate coverage as soon as possible, but I honestly could have held on until Saturday. Or maybe they were worried that everyone would be sick of Joe the Plumber by then. Well... too late.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Weekend Update Thursday (October 16, 2008) - VIDEOS
Posted Oct 10th 2008 8:28AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Celebrities, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
Well, that was a little strange... and maybe a little unnecessary. All right, it was definitely unnecessary. I wasn't quite sure how they were going to work out these Thursday election specials, because even though they called it "Weekend Update Thursday", I didn't believe they were just going to show a twenty-some minute long "Weekend Update" segment. As it turned out, the special consisted of one cold open and the rest was "Weekend Update." This is where I got super-confused. Half of these jokes had absolutely nothing to do with the election, leaving me to wonder if there is anyone out there that could not have waited until Saturday night to hear the relevant jokes. I don't think anyone's going to forget the election or the economic crisis any time soon, let alone by Saturday.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Weekend Update Thursday (October 9, 2008) - VIDEOS
Posted Oct 5th 2008 2:02PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S34E04) This season so far has been more than a little iffy, but Anne Hathaway managed to make things slightly less painful. Even though the writing still wasn't quite spot-on, Hathaway's enthusiasm brought a light to the show that made even the most irritating sketches a bit more bearable. Honestly, I had my doubts about her hosting abilities, mainly because her good girl giddiness clashes heavily with my black-hearted bitchiness, but I didn't mind her. I'm sure she could even easily make the jump from "pretty good" to "absolutely spectacular," given the right material. Also, she managed to read the cue cards without looking like a complete idiot, which most other hosts have somehow turned into a massive ordeal lately. Mmm, literacy plus natural reading: a combination so deliciously rare, the writers don't even know what to do with it.
Continue reading Saturday Night Live: Anne Hathaway/The Killers - VIDEOS
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