SNL 5/21/11

All right, the "Three Way" thing was arguably the funniest thing I've seen in a long, long time. Funnier than the song is the way they channel every R&B video made between 90-93. More convincing with Gaga in there rocking biker shorts and a bikini top.

 

Yeah, I'm not seeing that. I thought that show clicked on almost every turn. No joke here.

 

Thank you. I actually thought better of the show than you did, but not enough to gush and rant and rave over it. The digital short was a shitty homage to Madonna's guest stint on Wayne's World. Barely chuckled.

Timberlake is great, and the Barry Gibb skit at the end was fucking gold like usual, but otherwise it was mostly filler. I thought the highlight of the show was Weekend Update. "Donald Trump still thinks he can win the Republican nomination, he can't even win his own time slot."

 

The Nick Cage bit? Glad someone brought it up. It was mildly funny, IMHO, but I kept thinking that the kid from Big Bang Theory (Simon Helberg? sp?) did it MUCH better as a throwaway bit when he was on Aaron Sorkin's ill-fated "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." He rocked the impersonation, and though it was only on screen for about 10 seconds, was MUCH funnier.

 

When JT hosted two years ago, it was one of the best start to finish shows I've ever seen.

This one was good, but it wasn't even close to that one.

I'm surprised JT is not a bigger movie star. I'm guessing that changes this summer.

 

His new movie appears to be the same premise as "No Strings Attached," just with different actors and a different but similar title. Not sure what else he has in the works, but I'm not sure this is going to launch him into movie superstardom.

 

He has Friends with Benefits with the lovely Mila Kunis and Bad Teacher with Cameron Diaz.

The guy is insanely talented. If he hasn't been asked to host the Oscars, the producers should be slapped. I don't think we've had a star like him during my lifetime. Someone who is just a performer and could win an Oscar or a Grammy in any year.

 

I'm sorry, did you say WIN an Oscar? I can see him as host of the Oscars, judging by how well he did at the ESPYs a few years back, and he's one hell of a performer. But I think winning an Oscar would be a little too tall of a task ...

Then again, if Jamie Foxx can do it .... ugh.

 

This will probably come across like a shameless name drop, but I know a guy who was a writer for SNL for many years. I wouldn't say we're friends, but we're friendly. And the way he explained the show is that writing is the foundation for everything. If you can't write your own skits, you need to partner with someone who is good at sketch comedy, someone who is a veteran, because sketch comedy is really, really hard.

Pharoah may still be figuring out the politics of the writing room. His background is all in standup, not with something like Groundlings or Second City. If you can't write skits with other cast members that will consistently impress...

1. The head writer (currently Meyers)
2. Lorne

... then you're kind of at the mercy of the writing staff and rest of the cast.

I think Pharoah's time will come. If Armesien is leaving, it's possible the rest of the cast and writing staff felt protective of him, and that will be gone once he leaves, thus maybe letting Pharoah be Pres Obama, and get in more sketches.

I thought Timberlake was very good in The Social Network, for what it's worth. There was some Oscar buzz for Best Supporting Actor too, for awhile.

 

Agreed. Timberlake was average in Social Network, almost annoying at times. But if Foxx can do it......

 

He's not there yet. I think some big producers still think of him as Britney Spears' ex-boyfriend or that kid from N-Sync.

I thought he was great in Social Network. Keep in mind, the guy he was playing is a complete annoying douchebag.

 

Yo, yo, yo ... what's the matter with being Britney's ex-squeeze? Bet you didn't know you get 10 percent off the rent on your double-wide!