I know a few people were hoping for Sigourney Weaver to do a skit around her role on Ghost Busters. Well, may have not gotten that one, but she at least made reference to two others. Definitely a good sport all around, an OK performance, but not the most memorable guest.
Cold Open: Larry King Live — Nice to see a cold open that’s hitting the topic we all want to see and is NOT a political theme. Also, Jason Sudeikis was pretty damn funny as Letterman. On the other hand, the guy playing Leno (who was that?) was as annoying as … as … well, Leno. So, hey, I guess he did a bang up job.
Monologue: Sigourney Weaver — I had forgotten that Sigourney Weaver’s father created The Tonight Show. Anyway, a pretty unremarkable monologue, and I was surprised that she took a few missteps in there.
Grady Wilson’s Fifty and Freaky — This skit was saved by Weaver’s appearance in it, but damn, it’s still as disturbing as ever. To be a fly on the wall when that skit was pitched to her to participate in….
Summer’s Eve Lady Stars of Darts Championship — What is it about Weaver playing Eastern European women? “When your man’s in a coma from your panty aroma: Summer’s Eve … douche.”
SNL Digital Short: James Cameron’s Laser Cats 5 — I dunno what it is about these, but I love ‘em. Adding Alien‘s Ripley to the James Cameron directed movie? Brilliant! And finally a guest reprising a role from their past! Best sketch of the night, even if it was recorded.
Disco Booty Junction — I think a real Amber & Cream team needs to come around and pull the same crap these two were pulling. The scandal, at trying to figure out who’s who would last a whole week! Alright, this skit sucked.
Musical Guest: The Ting Tings — I’d never heard of these guys prior to tonight, and I’ve only heard the second song before. Although, I swear that first song was something playing during the summer of 1987 … not that that’s a bad thing.
Weekend Update — Loved Seth Meyers’s explanation for what happened with the Conan/Leno debacle, even if it was very close to what a few people have said already about the situation.
Avatar — “Plug me back in. For science! For science!” Loved the tiny little legs on poor eggplant-raped Jake. Again, I’m really happy that we’re seeing a guest connect back with something they’re known for having done … I mean the movie, not the eggplant.
Riley — Oh God, a new skit with a theme song. I really hope this is the last we’ll see of it. Oh wait, this is SNL; we’ll see it every other episode, BITCH!
Sigourney’s Internet Addiction — I love that NBC apparently bought up eyesugar.biz. NO, I was not looking for the nip slip picture! This was for research. What?
Fire and Rice — Wow, what a throw away sketch. At this point of the episode, what are you supposed to say about this two minute job? And a second mention of peeing out of Weaver. What the heck?
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Jan 17, 2010 @ 01:06 EST5EDT
Wasn’t that Darrell Hammond as Leno? It sure looked like him.
Sure it was him. Keith’s just underlining that the guy really has to leave the show. For good.
I mean this is really becoming an
alt.tv.snl.darryl.hammond.die.die.die
situation…
Anyone notice Chris Walken’s “more cowbell” reference/homage when The Ting Tings were playing “shut up and let me go”? nice touch
I loved the bizarre Titanic shout-out in Laser Cats
You’ve got it completely backward. Hammond’s Leno was pitch perfect, and Sudekis’s Letterman was an annoying unsubtle caricature. That’s the difference between someone with talent and someone who is just clowning around.
The rest of the show was a typical disaster. Just look at the sketches that made “prime time” before Update: Kenan Thompson going crazy, Summer’s Eve women’s darts, and Laser Cats. All three are 5-minutes-to-1am quality. And the post-Update stuff was worse.
You were kidding about not knowing that was Darrell Hammond, right? Sigourney even thanked him at the end.
*POST AUTHOR*
Actually, I didn’t know it was him. I didn’t sit through the ending thank yous, so I missed that she mentioned he did it.
I loved the Internet Addiction one because that is exactly how Avatar’s IMDB board is. The other best part is James Cameron offering Lauren unapotanium(sp?) in exchange of airing Laser Cats.
I haven’t seen the movie, but I assume it’s a joking usage of Unobtainium.
Seriously, you cannot critique SNL if you don’t recognize Darrell Hammond.
*POST AUTHOR*
Thanks for your opinion Jimmy.
This was a really mixed episode for me – loved about half the stuff, and disliked or hated the rest.
Loved:
Weekend Update. The Meryl Streep was a bit weak (Abby Elliott’s very pretty and is related to a past cast member, but other than that I see no reason to keep her on the show – should’ve hung onto Casey Wilson), but everything else was spot on. One of the best Updates since Amy Poehler left.
Avatar sketch, mostly for the impressions. The joke was amusing (especially Hader in the pod making sex motions), but the casting was hilarious.
Sigourney’s internet addiction. The idea of taking message board comments seriously if you’re not too familiar with the internet, and the way she played that, made me laugh.
Digital Short, Laser Cats 5. I’ve complained about recurring gags being over-used, but with Samberg behind them they just keep getting better and better. The addition of James Cameron and elements of his movies, plus Ripley, to complement the trademark Laser Cats cheesiness, had me cracking up.
Liked:
Lady Stars of Darts Championship. Funny, but we need to put an end to this and get some original material. We’re not seeing anything new except puns about feminine hygiene.
Disliked:
Fifty and Freaky. The addition of Weaver was okay, but we’ve seen it all before.
Riley. Not awful on its face, but I just know we’re going to see this character again and that ticks me off. These writers are just lazy.
Cold Open: Late Night Wars. Darrell Hammond (and yes, you should really know who he is) was okay as Leno, but nobody else did well in the sketch except Armisen as Larry King.
Musical Guest: The Ting Tings. Not a great live performance, works better on the radio.
Hated:
Disco Booty Junction. Took the “joke” way too far.
Fire and Rice. Only thing good about it was “I peed!”, and maybe the fall at the end. Definite throw-away sketch.
I think Sigourney Weaver rocked the house. She really made everything she was in work. What a great actress.
No Sigourney you don’t have to comment on this.