Saturday Night Live – Recap & Review – Will Ferrell

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Saturday Night Live
Will Ferrell

Original Air Date: May 12, 2012

Jules – News Editor
jules@thetwocentscorp.com

SNL’s had a habit this season of choosing former cast members as hosts and this week was no exception. Except this time it was Will Ferrell, who has hosted twice before, both season finales and both pretty successful as I remember. So my expectations were a bit higher than normal and I was excited to write this recap. In hindsight, I should remember never to set my sights so high – but then again, they weren’t that high.

So this hosting time for Ferrell was a bit of a roller coaster, riding high in the beginning and taking a big nose dive towards the end. And this is not an understatement. But for now, let’s recap the sketches and see what returning characters Ferrell brought along that actually made the episode.

Mick Jagger Returns to SNL for Season Finale May 19

get ready for a mick jagger finale

Mick Jagger will host SNL’s season finale on May 19. This will be the rock icon and multiple Grammy-award winner’s first time as host and third appearance as musical guest.

“Saturday Night Live” is produced in association with Broadway Video. The creator and executive producer is Lorne Michaels.

SNL Finishes Out The Season With Three New Shows

three new episodes in may

SNL announces the first two of three shows finishing out their 37th season. Eli Manning will make his SNL hosting debut on May 5th. The New York Giants quarterback led his team to victory in Super Bowl XLVI, in which Manning won Most Valuable Player honors and also set a new Super Bowl record with nine consecutive completions to start the game.

Rihanna will return to the SNL stage for her third appearance as musical guest. The six-time Grammy-award winner’s latest album, “Talk That Talk” was released in November, and she can next be seen in the feature film, “Battleship.”

Saturday Night Live – Recap & Review – Josh Brolin

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Saturday Night Live
Josh Brolin

Original Air Date: Apr 14, 2012

Len – Senior Reviewer
len@thetwocentscorp.com

Tonight’s episode of SNL was like a cool, breezy Sunday afternoon at the lake – you can stare into the open space for hours and be satisfied, even though you’re not seeing anything truly memorable. It wasn’t a bad show by any means; it just never seemed to hit the high notes that most episodes usually reach in at least a sketch or two.

I’m told Josh Brolin hosted tonight’s episode, but I don’t have a lot of proof. He seemed criminally underused tonight, written into most sketches as interviewees. And the couple non-interview sketches he was in weren’t that funny, with one exception.

Keep in mind that, despite my overall opinion of the show, I did grant a couple of A’s this week. But they’re probably some of my weaker A’s, which I gave based more on fun factor than anything. And they also were the final two sketches of the night, so maybe my tired eyes had something to do with it. Anyhoo, click on the link and see how I scored everything. And be sure to leave your TwoCents in the comments at the end!

Saturday Night Live – Recap & Review – Sofia Vergara

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Saturday Night Live
Sofia Vergara

Original Air Date: Apr 7, 2012

Len – Senior Reviewer
len@thetwocentscorp.com

I wasn’t expecting much out of tonight’s SNL because of its recent track record of mediocrity when coming back from extended hiatus (i.e. Charlie Day, Charles Barkley, Steve Buscemi). I also was a little concerned because, while I like Sofia Vergara on Modern Family, I wasn’t sure how she’d handle live sketch comedy and reading off of cue cards. And how would the SNL writers treat her? She possesses some comedic chops, but would they devalue her by making every sketch have something to do with her voluptuousness and sex appeal?

Fortunately, Vergara came to play and the writers didn’t disappoint too much – except for a couple instances where they didn’t seem to have better ideas than to bring back characters that shouldn’t be brought back. This was mostly a real love-it-or-hate-it show for me, but the one constant is that Vergara kept me entertained.

Plus, we get to welcome a new cast member, Kate McKinnon, who I understand is the first openly I-guess-we’re-going-to-drag-sexual-preference-into-this-now gay performer in SNL history. It’s great and historic and all, but all we need to be concerned about is whether or not she’s funny. If you want to find out how she did, my One Direction for you is to read my recap and review! Click the jump and leave your comments at the end!

SNL Springs Into April With Two New Shows

new shows in april

On April 7th, Sofia Vergara will make her debut appearance as host. The Emmy nominated actress can currently be seen in the six-time Emmy Award-winning series, “Modern Family.”

One Direction will make their debut appearance as musical guest. The group’s BRIT Award-winning debut single, “What Makes You Beautiful,” was the highest debut for a UK group in over 15 years on the Billboard HOT 100. The group released their debut album “Up All Night” in the United States on March 13th. “Up All Night” is already a global success entering the charts at number one in six countries.

Saturday Night Live – Recap & Review – Jonah Hill

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Saturday Night Live
Jonah Hill

Original Air Date: Mar 10, 2012

Len – Senior Reviewer
len@thetwocentscorp.com

Throughout tonight’s episode of SNL, I kept thinking one thing – “Man, I wish Lindsay Lohan had the kind of fun Jonah Hill is having.” Hosting SNL should be a joyous thing, a time when you cast your worries aside, go out and dress up in crazy costumes, play goofy characters, and just have fun.

And tonight’s show was just fun. For a minute, I felt like I was back in the early 90’s when, for me, SNL was a magical thing. The sketches were all good-silly (save one that I didn’t much care for), and everyone seemed to be energized by having a host who was pretty much down for anything. There seemed to be an especially strong comedic chemistry between Jonah Hill and Kristin Wiig – go back and take a look at their banter in each of their sketches and tell me they shouldn’t be best friends!

Do yourself a favor and click on the link so we can score his beauty! And be sure to leave your TwoCents in the comments section!

SNL Returns In March With Two Back-To-Back New Shows

two new eps in March

Lindsay Lohan returns for her fourth time to the SNL stage as host on March 3rd. Joining Lohan, Jack White will make his first appearance as musical guest. White’s debut album, “Blunderbluss,” due out April 24th features the critically acclaimed single “Love Interruption.”

On March 10th, Jonah Hill returns for his second time as host. Hill is currently nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the feature film “Moneyball,” and will next be seen in “21 Jumpstreet” in theatres March 16th. The Shins will serve as musical guest on March 10th. Making their second SNL appearance, The Shins’ fourth album “Port of Morrow,” due out March 20th.

Saturday Night Live – Recap & Review – Maya Rudolph

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Saturday Night Live
Maya Rudolph

Original Air Date: Feb 18, 2012

Len – Senior Reviewer
len@thetwocentscorp.com

I don’t think an episode of SNL has ever given me so many immediate post-show thoughts as this one, so forgive me if I get a little more long-winded than normal. But let’s start off with the main one – this episode was pretty fantastic from start to finish and for me, it beats out Jimmy Fallon as episode of the year. In addition to some topical sketches done well, the entire night started out on a dizzying laughter-high (thanks to Maya Rudolph and the writers of the cold open) and never really came down from it. We also have my new favorite for sketch of the year.

My major concern is the same as the one I had for that Jimmy Fallon Christmas Spectacular – the two best episodes this year now have been ones hosted by former SNL cast members. And in those episodes, they’ve brought along some additional friends from casts past. It doesn’t necessarily bode well for SNL Present if it becomes over-reliant on cameos and nostalgia sketches.

Anyhoo, let’s not dwell on that for too long because tonight’s show was a genuine pleasure to watch and will be a genuine pleasure to recap and score. Click on the LINk to read the rest and leave your TwoCents at the end!

Saturday Night Live – Recap & Review – Zooey Deschanel

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Saturday Night Live
Zooey Deschanel

Original Air Date: Feb 11, 2012

Len – Senior Reviewer
len@thetwocentscorp.com

Sometimes you get a Valentine’s Day gift that absolutely floors you – like plane tickets to an exotic destination, or an engagement ring in your champagne, or having your sweetheart spray paint your name on an overpass (it’s a DIVERSE country, people).

Other times, you just get a very simple gift that, at second glance, turns out to be a really sweet gesture that puts a smile on your face. And that, to me, was tonight’s episode, hosted by actress, musician, and New Girl star Zooey Deschanel. I like Zooey Deschanel. At first, I felt underwhelmed by most of the show. But then when I thought back to every time she was in a sketch tonight, I smiled. I may not have LMFAO’d (more on that later), but I lit up a wee bit.

And that’s fine, because I only ask SNL to follow one simple maxim: Make me laugh. Or if you can’t make me laugh, at least make me smile. If you were looking for the huge belly laughs tonight, you probably didn’t find everything you were looking for. But I still thought it was a pretty good show overall, even though a few dead roses got lumped into the floral arrangement.

So click the link and read my Valentine’s gift to you. And if you didn’t get me anything, that’s cool. Just post your TwoCents in the comments at the end, and we’ll call it even!