Saturday Night Live: Josh Brolin/Gotye (4/14/12)

by Brendan Wahl

(Season 37, Episode 19)

The Show:

1. Cold Open: Campaign Reminiscing (5:41)

Mitt Romney (Sudeikis) and Rick Santorum (Samberg) sit in a bar and reminisce about their battle in the GOP debates and are soon joined by other candidates Rick Perry (Hader), Michele Bachmann (Wiig), Herman Cain (Thompson), and Newt Gingrich (Moynihan) (who the other candidates try to avoid). Every now and then, they break into similar lyrics to the Green Day song, “Time of Your Life.”

- I really enjoyed this. It was a very clever way of using every Republican candidate in a sketch without making it too wordy thanks to the bar setting. I also liked the singing and it was very enjoyable.
- My favourite parts were Sudeikis tipping the waitress and telling her to take it home to her husband (“he’ll know best what to do with it”), Hader thinking the debates were some kind of gameshow, Wiig talking about breaking up boys nights at home when she comes back early and unannounced, Kenan’s line “999 problems and a bitch was all of ‘em” and yelling “Hey! That’s my line…,” and everyone avoiding Moynihan when he shows up and steals bar nuts.
- The ending with Hader not knowing some of the lines of the song was hilarious because at first, I thought it was a blooper.
Rating: *****

2. Monologue (2:35)

Josh talks about his latest work and gives everyone a preview of Men in Black 3 with the help of Jay Pharoah’s portrayal of Will Smith.

- Josh looked very comfortable much like the first time he hosted and it made for a pretty decent monologue.
- I liked Josh’s line about being the official spokesman for the 90′s and the scene with him and Jay was very funny because of how brief it was and the fact that it gave nothing away at all.
Rating: ***

3. HBO First Look (2:04)

We take a closer look into the production of Game of Thrones where the creator George R. R. Martin (Moynihan) discusses the program along with Kit Harrington (Killam) and several others but it’s the 13-year old producer (Samberg) that’s responsible for all the sex and shots of breasts.

- Very funny take on Game of Thrones. I don’t watch the show at all but I still found it hilarious. My friend who DOES watch it found it even better.
- The constant “bathroom break” lines were very funny.
- Kate McKinnon looked really pretty in this sketch and I liked her line about her good side and then she just made a rectangle around her chest.
Rating: ****

4. The Californians (5:16)

On Soapnet, a show features a number of stereotypical Californians who communicate with each other on a basic primal level and have no real identities of their own.

- This was such a STRANGE sketch. That being said, I enjoyed it quite a bit and the acting by everyone involved was funny. Fred was so good that he seemed to crack Hader up quite a bit and it looked like Wiig was about to lose it as well.
- Josh Brolin fit into this sketch pretty well and I liked him doing his Californian accent in more of a surfer dude style. His voice actually kinda reminded me of Jeff Bridges.
- I was surprised to find out that this was NOT a parody of a real show.
Rating: ***

5. America’s Next Top Empire State of Mind Parody Artist (5:20)

Exactly what it sounds like. Weird Al (Samberg) hosts and the judges include the Chocolate Rain guy (Thompson), Ke$ha (Elliott), and Jay-Z (Pharoah), who loves every single song because he’s just overwhelmed by the notion of parodies.

- Okay, this one wasn’t amazing or anything but it was a lot better than I first thought when I watched it last night. Out of all the songs, the only one I really liked was the Fred Armisen song because he just kept listing his workout without any sort of rhyme or rhythm. However, I gotta give props to all the people playing the contestants because they each gave it their all.
- I did like a few parts of this like Ke$ha being mistaken as a parody song artist and Jay-Z giving top marks to every single pair of contestants.
- Samberg’s Weird Al impression was good.
- Kristen looked like Virgania Horsen from just the way she was standing at the beginning. Did anyone else get that?
Rating: *** 1/2

6. Digital Short: Laser Cats 7 (4:40)

This time, Andy and Bill convince Lorne to watch their next project, “Laser Cats 7,” directed by Steven Spielberg.

- It feels like this will be the finale for “Laser Cats” and if so, it was a very funny and fitting finale. Spielberg was one of the best and most random cameos I’ve seen on the show in years.
- I love how Spielberg kept mentioning his “Hitchcockian cameo.”
- The obvious Spielberg film references were ridiculous and funny, especially with Andy yelling out, “Catch me if you can, the Terminal!”
- This also had a great ending with Brolin’s Nazi character’s face melting off and Andy joining EAT in space, saying “fuck them” regarding his wife and kids.
Rating: ****

7. Gotye (ft. Kimbra) sings “Somebody That I Used to Know” (3:58)

- I have definitely heard this song before. Gotye performed it very well on-stage. Kimbra was good as well.

8. Weekend Update with Seth Meyers (9:51)
Guest: Garth & Kat

Best Jokes: Obama’s buffett rule; prom costs; German cow movie; show & tell; Pizza Hut; alarm clock

- I really enjoyed Seth’s “What Are You Doing?” segment in regards to North Korea’s failed rocket launch. He had some good lines regarding the situation and it was classic satirical Seth.
- Garth & Kat again? I guess they had to do it one more time before Wiig leaves but seriously, that’s enough with these characters. They still make me chuckle a bit but I’m getting really tired of them. Okay I admit, I liked this segment a bit more than normal.
Rating: *** 1/2

9. Piers Morgan Tonight (6:16)

Piers (Killam) does a show on the Trayvon Martin case and this time chats with the head of the Florida Tourism Board (Sudeikis), new couple Kim Kardashian (Pedrad) and Kanye West (Pharoah), Florida Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen (Brolin), Ice-T (Armisen), and the Superbowl tightrope guy (Samberg) once again.

- Another great Piers Morgan sketch with Killam doing another wonderful impression of the man himself.
- My favourite interview segment was Jason Sudeikis as the Florida Tourism Board guy and his examples of some of the crazy Florida laws were hilarious like “You Snooze You Lose” (where someone can legally kill a sleeping person).
- It was incredibly random to bring back Andy as the tightrope guy but I think that’s why I found his segment so funny. It was like when they had Wiig play Triangle Sally in that Mozart sketch. I think Andy may have stepped on Taran’s lines a bit.
- Brolin was good in this sketch and I liked the accent he used as well.
- I had no idea Kanye and Kardashian were a couple now.
Rating: ****

10. Slow-Motion Hallway (3:19)

The new girl (Bayer) at school is shown around by a teacher (Hader) and introduced to the slow-motion hallway where anyone who walks through it must do everything in slow-motion.

- This was pretty funny for the most part and I liked the songs they chose to use during the slow-motion scenes.
- Everyone in this sketch did a really good job. I don’t know how they were able to keep up the slow-motion acting throughout the whole sketch, especially Taran and Nasim as they did the best job.
- Brolin was also good here and throughout the night, he’s blended in very well as a sort of castmember for the night.
- The ending was funny with the witch slowly chasing them.
Rating: *** 1/2

11. Digital Short: Gotye’s Fans (2:02)

Andy and Taran profess their admiration for Gotye in his dressing room and then show how big of fans they truly are by painting themselves and hiding in his artwork just like the music video.

- Another funny digital short though not as great as the first one. However, Andy and Taran were very funny in this and it was cool to see Taran with a lead role in a digital short.
- The “Another” tag was from Another Stakeout. Thanks Jason…
- It got really creepy and funny by the time they were naked and wearing the black wigs. Especially when they said they didn’t paint their privates because they wanted Gotye to see them.
Rating: *** 1/2

12. Gotye sings “Eyes Wide Open” (3:09)

- Another real good performance. Gotye is someone to keep your eyes on, folks.

13. Prom Announcements (5:43)

During a prom at Booker T Washington High, Principal Frey (Pharoah) makes several announcements regarding the punch bowl being spiked, the coach (Thompson) wants everyone to shut up and pay attention, and a drunk teacher (Brolin) admits to having an affair with one of his students (Pedrad).

- This one was better than a similar sketch they did last season with Paul Rudd even though I liked that one too. Jay was terrific here as the principal character he did last time but I think Brolin may have stolen the sketch as the drunken teacher who reveals way too much.
- Jay actually cracked up a bit, which made me laugh a lot.
- Kenan’s brief angry role was also very funny. Just the way he said “everybody would’ve died” was hilarious.
Rating: ****

14. Goodnights

OVERALL: This was a fantastic show. After first viewing it last night, I wasn’t all that impressed overall but I appreciated it a lot more with a second viewing. Josh Brolin was a great host and fit in very well with the fabric of the cast. He was not usually the lead role tonight but he did some great supporting work and was hilarious in several of the sketches.

BREAKDOWN:

HOST: JOSH BROLIN – 7 segments (Monologue; The Californians; America’s Next Top Empire State of Mind Parody Artist; Laser Cats 7; Piers Morgan Tonight; Slow-Motion Hallway; Prom Announcements)
MUSICAL GUEST: GOTYE – 1 segment (Gotye’s Fans)

FILMED CAMEO: STEVEN SPIELBERG – 1 segment (Laser Cats 7)

FRED ARMISEN – 5 segments (The Californians; America’s Next Top Empire State of Mind Parody Artist; Laser Cats 7; Weekend Update; Piers Morgan Tonight)
ABBY ELLIOTT – 2 segments (America’s Next Top Empire State of Mind Parody Artist; Slow-Motion Hallway)
BILL HADER – 4 segments (Campaign Reminiscing; The Californians; Laser Cats 7; Slow-Motion Hallway)
SETH MEYERS – 1 segment (Weekend Update)
BOBBY MOYNIHAN – 5 segments (Campaign Reminiscing; HBO First Look; America’s Next Top Empire State of Mind Parody Artist; Laser Cats 7; Slow-Motion Hallway)
NASIM PEDRAD – 4 segments (Campaign Reminiscing; Piers Morgan Tonight; Slow-Motion Hallway; Prom Announcements)
ANDY SAMBERG – 7 segments (Campaign Reminiscing; HBO First Look; America’s Next Top Empire State of Mind Parody Artist; Laser Cats 7; Piers Morgan Tonight; Slow-Motion Hallway; Gotye’s Fans)
JASON SUDEIKIS – 2 segments (Campaign Reminiscing; Piers Morgan Tonight)
KENAN THOMPSON – 5 segments (Campaign Reminiscing; The Californians; America’s Next Top Empire State of Mind Parody Artist; Slow-Motion Hallway; Prom Announcements)
KRISTEN WIIG – 5 segments (Campaign Reminiscing; The Californians; America’s Next Top Empire State of Mind Parody Artist; Weekend Update; Slow-Motion Hallway)

VANESSA BAYER – 4 segments (The Californians; America’s Next Top Empire State of Mind Parody Artist; Slow-Motion Hallway; Prom Announcements)
TARAN KILLAM – 5 segments (HBO First Look; Laser Cats 7; Piers Morgan Tonight; Slow-Motion Hallway; Gotye’s Fans)
KATE MCKINNON – 2 segments (HBO First Look; The Californians)
JAY PHAROAH – 4 segments (Monologue; America’s Next Top Empire State of Mind Parody Artist; Piers Morgan Tonight; Prom Announcements)

EPISODE MVPs: Josh Brolin/Andy Samberg/Jay Pharoah

Saturday Night Live: Sofia Vergara/One Direction (4/7/12)

by Brendan Wahl

(Season 37, Episode 18)

The Show:

1. Road to the White House (5:23)

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney (Sudeikis) panders to all demographics by making speeches everywhere including in Pittsburgh, at a press conference for the ASPCA, and even for the opening of Saturday Night Live.

- This was some sharp satire making fun of Romney’s desire to pander to every single demographic and the sketch pushed it in the realms of ridiculousness by having him go to things like a rally for Roleplaying Games.
- Hey, look! It’s Kate McKinnon. She didn’t do anything but it was cool to see her anyway.
- My favourite part was probably Bayer and Thompson telling Sudeikis how horrible East St. Louis is, but the ending with Sudeikis appearing on SNL and thinking that the opening line is “Hey New York, let’s start the show!” was great.
Rating: ****

2. Monologue (2:14)

Sofia introduces her son and “grandparents” in the audience while talking about what a thrill it is to be there despite the cast greeting her with “open arms and pulled-down pants.”

- Funny monologue with Sofia doing a pretty good job. I particularly liked her making everything sound sexier than it should, especially “Rick Santorum.”
- Damn, her accent is thick and, as my girlfriend said, “Holy tits.”
Rating: *** 1/2

3. Just Friends Booty Shorts (1:29)

Two guys (Samberg & Sudeikis) are constantly accused of being a gay couple can finally tell the world they are completely straight with some matching booty shorts that say “Just Friends” on them.

- I enjoyed this quite a bit and the chemistry between Andy and Jason was good. I feel like we don’t get to see them interact in sketches on the show that much.
- Taran had a very funny part here but my favourite part was at the end with Jason and Andy wearing “Not” and “Gay” shirts, respectively, before Sudeikis walks away and Andy is crowded by a number of hairy men.
Rating: ****

4. Bein’ Quirky (5:35)

Zooey Deschanel (Elliott) and co-host Michael Cera (Killam) welcome guests Drew Barrymore (Wiig) and Fran Drescher (Vergara) while discussing all things quirky. We also get a pre-taped message from original quirkster, Mayim Bialik (Samberg) along with Joey Lawrence (Armisen).

- I didn’t expect this to return so soon especially with news of Abby possibly leaving the show at the end of the season, but I enjoyed this almost as much as the first sketch.
- Abby is cute as a button playing Zooey Deschanel and Taran was awesome once again as Michael Cera.
- I knew Wiig would be great as Barrymore but Sofia really impressed me here by doing a bang-on impression of The Nanny aka Fran Drescher. She actually managed to tone down her accent quite a bit as well.
- The pretaped message from Andy and Fred was okay but slowed the sketch down a bit.
Rating: *** 1/2

5. Almost Pizza (1:19)

What is described as “almost pizza” results in strange things happening like the food shattering and then reforming together on the floor.

- I loved this parody. Wiig was perfect and laid-back as the mom and Hader was great here too, as he kept questioning what the pizza was REALLY made out of.
Rating: **** 1/2

6. News Promo (3:49)

While shooting a promo for the news, the eye-in-the-sky traffic reporter Hope Hines (Armisen) has trouble responding to direction while the others (Vergara & Sudeikis) follow direction fine.

- This was way too repetitive to be that funny or anything but Armisen had a couple of funny moments despite the weak material. I liked him suggesting thought bubbles over his head but then not knowing what would be in it so he gives up on the idea.
- The music was the same that they used in that pointing reporters sketch from the Jack Black episode in Year 31.
- I also liked Fred giving Bill his wallet instead of turning, which was ridiculous.
Rating: **

7. Gilly (4:31)

Gilly (Wiig) is back, raising hell in her Sex Education class and torturing fellow students Liam (Moynihan), Sam (Thompson), and her teacher (Vergara). The teacher asks Gilly where her life is headed, causing Gilly to have a flash-forward and then apologize at the end for going too far with her insults.

- I was never the biggest fan of Gilly but I give them all the credit in the world for doing something completely different with this recurring sketch.
- Wiig’s dancing always amuses me.
- The flash-forward was quite funny with Wiig faking her death and then the ending of the sketch was great too with Wiig admitting that she went too far by calling Sofia a “bitch.”
Rating: ***

8. One Direction performs “What Makes You Beautiful” (3:18)

- This was whatever. I don’t like boy bands. I thought that era was all over.

9. Weekend Update with Seth Meyers (8:27)
Guest: Drunk Uncle

Best Jokes: Romney frontrunner; Matt Lauer; Bond/product placement; American Eagle airline; oldest clown (2nd joke)

- I was really glad to see Bobby come back as Drunk Uncle again. I really enjoy that character and he always makes me laugh with the various crazy drunk things he says. I can’t even pick out my favourite parts because I liked the whole thing. I will say that his rabbit ears were great though.
Rating: ****

10. The Manuel Ortiz Show (4:15)

Manuel (Armisen) attempts to help his guests reconnect when a young woman (Vergara) wants to find out the identity of her mother (Wiig).

- I predicted that they would do this sketch with Sofia hosting but this is starting to wear thin on me. I did get a few laughs out of Taran and Bill’s characters and Wiig’s appearance as the mother was amusing, but otherwise, this was whatever.
- Kenan’s dancing always amuses me in these sketches because he merely just shakes his head.
- The appearance by One Direction was actually pretty funny and it was a clever way to insert them into the sketch.
Rating: **

11. Lil’ Poundcake (1:18)

- Repeat from Melissa McCarthy/Lady Antebellum (10/1/11).

12. Watch What Happens: Live (5:51)

Andy Cohen (Killam) hosts this Bravo talk show where he mostly ignores his guests, GG (Vergara), Mercedes (Pedrad), and Desmond Tutu (Thompson) and talks about how adorable he is.

- This was a funny sketch anchored by a great performance from Taran as the obnoxious Andy Cohen.
- Kate McKinnon makes her ‘speaking role’ debut here and she did a pretty good job as Tabatha Coffey in the quick little video clip.
- Kenan was very funny here as Desmond Tutu. It was such a strange role for him to play but I enjoyed how excited he got at various points of the sketch.
- My favourite part was Nasim thanking people for watching Real Housewives and then forgetting to turn the TV off when they take a shower.
Rating: ****

13. One Direction performs “One Thing” (3:12)

- Second verse, same as the first. I can’t believe I heard someone on the news compare them to the Beatles. Are you KIDDING me, America?!

14. Pantene Commercial (4:46)

Sofia Vergara shoots a Pantene commercial with Penelope Cruz (McKinnon!), who seems to have trouble with some of the more difficult words that she has to pronounce.

- Here we got Kate starring in her first sketch and I gotta say that she did quite a good job here with her impression of Cruz. The premise was okay but made funnier by the performances. Sudeikis was good as well as the director.
- For some reason, Bobby made me laugh every time he slated even though he didn’t say anything funny in particular.
- I like how Sofia wasn’t shy of poking fun at herself either in terms of her intelligence and familiarity with the English language.
- This was pretty much the same ending as the news report sketch from earlier.
Rating: ***

15. 74th Annual Hunger Games (3:14)

As the announcers (Armisen & Hader) discuss the festivities, reporter Maria Gutierrez (Vergara) reports from the island where the Hunger Games are occurring and tries to interview several of the participants despite the fact that they are trying to hide from the others.

- If you haven’t seen the film, you may not have 100% understood the sketch, but for those who did it was pretty damn funny. Sofia carried this thing for the most part.
- Abby did a pretty good impression of Jennifer Lawrence’s role in the film.
Rating: *** 1/2

16. Goodnights

OVERALL: It was a good show with a surprisingly good host in Sofia Vergara (I didn’t expect her to be too versatile) and a whatever musical guest, but they didn’t detract too much from the final product anyway. The cold open, both new commercial parodies, Update, and Killam’s Andy Cohen segment were all great with some average material surrounding it but only two near-clunkers, which is nothing to sneeze at.

BREAKDOWN:

HOST: SOFIA VERGARA – 8 segments (Monologue; Bein’ Quirky; News Promo; Gilly; The Manuel Ortiz Show; Watch What Happens: Live; Pantene Commercial; 74th Annual Hunger Games)
MUSICAL GUEST: ONE DIRECTION – 1 segment (The Manuel Ortiz Show)

CAMEO: MANOLO GONZALEZ – 1 segment (Monologue)

FRED ARMISEN – 4 segments (Bein’ Quirky; News Promo; The Manuel Ortiz Show; 74th Annual Hunger Games)
ABBY ELLIOTT – 4 segments (Road to the White House; Bein’ Quirky; Gilly; 74th Annual Hunger Games)
BILL HADER – 4 segments (Almost Pizza; News Promo; The Manuel Ortiz Show; 74th Annual Hunger Games)
SETH MEYERS – 1 segment (Weekend Update)
BOBBY MOYNIHAN – 4 segments (Road to the White House; Gilly; Weekend Update; Pantene Commercial)
NASIM PEDRAD –  6 segments (Road to the White House; Just Friends Booty Shorts; Almost Pizza; Gilly; Watch What Happens: Live; 74th Annual Hunger Games)
ANDY SAMBERG – 5 segments (Just Friends Booty Shorts; Bein’ Quirky; Gilly; Watch What Happens: Live; 74th Annual Hunger Games)
JASON SUDEIKIS – 4 segments (Road to the White House; Just Friends Booty Shorts; News Promo; Pantene Commercial)
KENAN THOMPSON – 4 segments (Road to the White House; Gilly; The Manuel Ortiz Show; Watch What Happens: Live)
KRISTEN WIIG – 6 segments (Road to the White House; Bein’ Quirky; Almost Pizza; Gilly; The Manuel Ortiz Show; Lil’ Poundcake)

VANESSA BAYER – 3 segments (Road to the White House; Just Friends Booty Shorts; Lil’ Poundcake)
TARAN KILLAM – 6 segments (Road to the White House; Just Friends Booty Shorts; Bein’ Quirky; The Manuel Ortiz Show; Watch What Happens: Live; 74th Annual Hunger Games)
KATE MCKINNON – 3 segments (Road to the White House; Watch What Happens: Live; Pantene Commercial)
JAY PHAROAH – 1 segment (74th Annual Hunger Games)

EPISODE MVP: Taran Killam