(Season 34, Episode 7)
This week we’re trying something different (big surprise). We pay attention to great comments here at CliqueClack TV and we want to acknowledge them in some way. So, this week’s SNL review comes from frequent commenter ‘ac’, who’s actually Albert Camwell, a student at Ramapo College. Albert is our first foray into guest blogging. If you want to be considered for something in the future, make sure you leave good comments — we’ll be watching!
ac’s review is below …
Tuesday is Election Day and that means that SNL went all out for its political sketches, bringing in nominee John McCain and having Tina Fey once again don the wig and the Fargo accent to play Sarah Palin. To add to this they also chose Ben Affleck, who is known for being very outspoken for his political beliefs, as host. Well, that’s the only reason I can think of as to why he hosted this week, since he has no film projects to promote until 2009. But who cares anyway? Ben has already proven he can do a good job hosting SNL before and, while this episode wasn’t the best of the season, it was still solid.
Let’s take a look at Saturday Night sketch by sketch:
Cold Open: Remember a few weeks ago when the huge hype surrounded Sarah Palin’s appearance on the show? Well unlike her appearance, where she did as little as possible, McCain showed up and was willing to get his hands dirty and actually be funny. Tina Fey continues her spot-on Palin impersonation and reminds that even if McCain loses, Palin will probably not go quietly, which is good for SNL in terms of material at least.
Monologue: Ben did his little political joke and got off the stage. This had to be the quickest monologue I’ve seen a host do in a while. His McCain quip was mildly funny but his previous hosting gigs were better.
Jar Glove: Ben’s monologue was so short I guess they had to throw this one in again for time.
The View: This one was mixed for me. With the amount of crazy rants Elizabeth Hasselbeck has made recently, it was only a matter of time until a sketch would be made, and it did its job in making her sound like a complete nutcase. Hasselbeck’s crazy rants were the highpoint; the impressions were the low. Wilson’s Jennifer Aniston impression was awful and Kenan wasn’t playing Whoopi, he was playing every female black character he’s done. The rest of the impressions were okay and not memorable.
Countdown: This was, to me, the best sketch of the night. Affleck was dead-on as Keith Olbermann and perfectly captured his douchey qualities. The rant about the apartment board had me rolling in my chair. Between the constant moving between cameras, the shots of the cat, and the reveal that he lives with his mother, Ben created a parody that possibly could be a returning sketch for him.
Target Lady: I’ve always liked these and was wondering when they would bring her back. Wiig in any role that requires mass exuberance is bound to be funny. Affleck as the creepy UPS guy hitting on her added to the hilarity and made it an enjoyable sketch. Hopefully there will be more of these in place of another Deep House Dish.
Giraffes: Remember Sloths? Well there is now a sequel and it is just as random and just as awesome.
David Cook: I stopped watching American Idol a few seasons ago so I had no real excitement at all for him being the musical guest. His first song reminded me of something Nickelback would play. I hate Nickelback.
Weekend Update: Seth Myers is doing solo duty once again due to Amy’s being on maternity leave. Since she is heading to primetime and her own sitcom, you might want to get used to solo Seth. Without surprise, McCain returned to once again roast himself. I guess he figures this will help him on Tuesday. Will Forte’s and Fred Armisan’s song on voting machine malfunctions was err … cute, thanks to Forte’s high pitch. Amy’s Aunt Linda wasn’t cute, however, and not that funny.
Night School Musical: It was a clever idea and probably is much more bearable to sit through than any of the High School Musical movies, but it just wasn’t that funny.
Brady Wilson: Kenan as an old guy simulating sex moves. Disturbing, very disturbing. I’ll have to add this to the list of things to talk about with my psychiatrist. Seriously, I need someone to wash “The Bumblebee” move out of my mind.
Movie Pitch: This sketch was not funny in the slightest. Let’s pretend it didn’t exist, along with the fartface one from a few weeks ago.
German Coat House: As Ricky Gervais says, “It’s funny because it’s racist.” Or would this be considered stereotypical?
So what did you think? Was Ben a good host? Did McCain make you forget he voted with George Bush 90% of the time? Did my review suck (Be nice — it’s my first time)? Sound off below.
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Nov 02, 2008 @ 13:13 EST5EDT
Nice job, AC!
I thought this episode was terrible. I hate Ben Affleck with the fiery passion of 1000 suns, and his performance didn’t do much to change my mind. The dude thought he was so funny that he cracked himself up a couple times. Real professional, d-bag. I thought his Alec Baldwin impression was pretty bad. Wiig was brilliant as Hasselbeck, though. I’m always impressed when people do impressions of people you would never think to do impressions of. I mean, everyone can do a Chris Walken and a Jack Nicholson, but Elizabeth Hasselbeck? Impressive.
The cold open was brilliant. Say what you will about John McCain (on second thought, please don’t… we don’t have to make this political), but he has a great sense of humor. I loved when Palin “went rogue” and the McCain “fine gold” was genius. I don’t think there was another winner in this ep. Testament to the fact that this outing was BAD, they actually re-ran the jar glove sketch from a previous show.
I wasn’t into the Keith Olberman skit, I thought it was WAY too long, and the giraffe thing just drove me nuts. I’m not a fan of “random” humor. The video stank of Andy Sanberg, and I have had more than my fill of his “sense of humor.”
Hopefully the cast will be able to rebound with a week or two off.
I’m german and thought ze german sketch was hilarious ja!
I thought the Countdown this was “ehh” until the end with the cat and crazy camera moments. Plus they compared Mitt Romney to Stalin and that’s always good in my book. :)
Good review ac. I have to agree with you on the Jennifer Aniston “impression” on “The View” skit. Clearly they couldn’t do Sherri Shepherd since there is no diversity in this cast, but of all the celebs they could have built a “guest host” character around, they pick Jennifer Aniston? There are so many better choices. Amy Winehouse just popped into my mind. That might have been funny. But Jennifer Aniston? It certainly couldn’t have been based on the strength of Casey Wilson’s “impression” because that has to rank as one of the worst impressions of all time. I’m not a big Kristen Wiig fan, but Casey Wilson makes Wiig look like a comic genius.
p.s. – I like Ben Affleck, but I too found his laughing during a couple skits to be very off putting and affected. I would attribute it to nerves if he hadn’t hosted before. It was weird, in a desperate sort of way.
Dee,
I didn’t think Affleck did nearly as bad of a job as the writing was. It was obvious that he found his Countdown bit much funnier than the rest of us did.
Am I the only one who didn’t think that Wilson’s aniston was that bad? I mean, I didn’t think it was good, but I thought the Hasselback was pretty bad.
The only thing I liked about SNL was the musical guest! I assume you didn’t pay attention or went to the bathroom during his play. The only skits I half-way liked where the ones with John McCain. This show has gone downhill. It’s time to cut your loses and move on.
i loved david cook’s performance on SNL and i can not wait until his c.d comes out!! And i think that “lights out” will be a big time hit!!
I agree Ben Affleck was awesome as Keith Olbermann. That was a hit! McCain can be funny and approachable (at least)… But for me the best part of this episode was David Cook. He is definitely not the typical American Idol. He is a superb and original musician and he proved it all the way on that stage!
I loved the musical guest, David Cook. Thought the drummer was one of the best parts of his performances as well. Really liked Ben Afflects Target skit as well.
Ben Aflec had a few good moments, but the Best By Far was David Cook! Loved to see him and his band playing so great, and can not wait for his album to drop Nov. 18th!!
I think Affleck did the best he could with what he was given. I surprisingly thought McCain’s cold open was pretty funny, and the “sad grandpa” skit was lame but funny enough. I agree with some other posters that I actually really liked the musical guest, David Cook’s performance, I thought he rocked the house, especially on his second song, but that’s just my two cents!
I must say the musical guest, David Cook, was by far the best part of the show. I can’t believe you didn’t like it. I had no idea who David Cook was till after the show but I must say they totally rocked. I thought McCain and Tina Fey were hilarious in the beginning. McCain also did a great job on weekend update, “sad grandpa” was too funny. I thought the Olbermann skit was dead on and pretty entertaining.
Anyone know where I can find a clip of Will and Fred’s song? That was by far the best part of the show, but I can’t find it anywhere. Pleeeeease!
Can you show all the choices to vote on? You show what I guess you loved or hated and then as us to vote on other things? pfft what a sucky poll. I thought the music was great. I may not have watched going in had I known he was on that suckass show. But they rocked I thought.
I loved the opening with Fey and McCain. You must not have watched David Cook’s second song. It really rocked- loved him and his band.
I liked the Cold Open and thought McCain did a descent job of poking fun at himself. Tina Fey is brilliant at Palin and the highlight of SNL these days when she’s on. However, the best part of the show, by far, was musical guest, David Cook.He’s incrdibly talented and did a great job. Loved his new songs!
Cook rocked SNL…
David Cook was superb! The rest of the show was lame – SNL used to be so much better. The Keith Olberman skit went on forever and lost any edge it started with. Bring back David Cook after his cd drops!
Loved the target lady thing and the giraffes was really funny. I thought the Keith Olbermann skit was hilarious. Hated the sex positions thing – not funny, just nasty. The best thing was David Cook – especially his second song. I heard he wrote that song – great!
The “Movie Pitch” sketch is one of the best things to come out of snl in a long time. I Have shown this skit to many of my friends and all have said its one of the funniest skits they’ve ever seen some even said they had never laughed harder at an SNL skit in their lives. from the moment the gay guy starts talking the laughing doesn’t stop. Please give it another chance and anyone who doesn’t think this is funny should just stop watching SNL cause you really just don’t get it. Get real author of this blog beacuse you clearly are not qualified to blog about snl.