Recap: 'Saturday Night Live' - Louis C.K. and Fun.
Would comedy's reigning king be able to wring laughs on 'SNL'?
Louis C.K.
Credit: NBC
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I’ll be honest: I’m equally excited and terrified by the prospect of Louis C.K. hosting “Saturday Night Live” tonight. On one hand, “Louie” is one of the best, if not the flat-out best, series on television right now. But how much of that can possibly translate into the “SNL” format? Maybe if tonight’s episode is a 90-minute take on “Sad Mouse”, the short from the Bruno Mars episode, maybe “SNL” will achieve the tonality, visual flair, and emotion of a typical episode of “Louie”. Still, it’s best to treat both shows as separate beasts and see how Louis C.K. the actor/comedian, not Louis C.K. the auteur, does as host. Along for the ride is musical fun., a band designed to make my word processing Spelling And Grammar auto-correct commit suicide.
Onto the recap! As always, I’ll be grading each sketch as they air. As always, you’ll express disbelief that these grades somehow vary from your own. It’s how we roll around these parts.
A Message From Mayor Bloomberg: Why talk about the devastation of the flood when we can get some more Lydia Callis? And why have only one awesome sign-language interpreter when you can have two? Chris Christie brings in his own translator, Roxy, to update people on New Jersey’s status during the storm. (Has Bobby Moynihan done Christie yet? If not…how did this take so long?) Bloomberg then talks to his Spanish constituencies, warning them that a lack of “Homeland” may make the city’s Caucasian population more irritable than ever. Something about the NYC Marathon debacle might have given this sketch more teeth, but it’s also possible that the show has something up its sleeve later on. As it stands, this was a fine, brisk, but fairly safe opening. [Grade: B]
Monologue: Louis C.K. gets a microphone for his monologue, undoubtedly because it’s his normal way of delivering material in front of an audience. Seeing a stand-up pro onstage, delivering a monologue, feels refreshingly old-school on the “SNL” stage. (The closest we’ve had in a while to this is Zach Galifianakis.) Whereas most hosts get their monologues written for them, this feels like C.K. doing whatever material he would normally be doing tonight in any comedy club or theatre. His timing and delivery are sharp, with some particularly clever turns of phrase sprinkled in throughout. (“I thought I was helping an old lady. Now I HAVE an old lady.”) The rest of the show won’t be like this. But this was awesome. [Grade: A]
FOX and Friends: Jason Sudeikis appears as Donald Trump, which mostly just makes me miss Darrell Hammond. Trump makes an Abu Nazir joke, which makes me think the “SNL” staff is kinda sorta obsessed with “Homeland”. Louis C.K. makes his sketch debut as a FEMA agent helping people dealing with post-hurricane conditions. The star here is Moynihan, with his character getting increasingly loopy with each iteration of this sketch. (“What about piranhas with AIDS? Which I call pirAIDS!”) C.K. doesn’t make much of an impression here, but does fine as a nerdy, overwhelmed federal employee. Still, this sketch is ultimately all about the correction crawl, which features some dandies once again. (“There is no comedian named Rape Romano.”) This didn’t have the start-to-finish strength of the one that aired during the Thursday specials a few weeks ago, but it’s still one of the most consistent recurring sketches in the show’s overall arsenal right now. [Grade: B+]
Lincoln: I’m slightly torn here. Because while this was just putting a skin on “Louie”, it’s a fantastic skin to put upon “Louie”! I have to wonder how many people watching this sketch have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA about the FX half-hour program that serves as the source materials for this sketch. But I suppose if any of them seek out “Louie” on Netflix or DVD right now, that can only be a good thing. It’s hard to praise Louis C.K. for basically recreating the rhythms of the show that bear his name. After all, we’ve seen him do this before. But it’s so unbelievably hard to do what he does that calling this “easy” does him and “Lincoln” as a sketch a disservice. Lincoln’s testy encounters with his wife, some freed slaves, and the audience that’s come to watch his stand-up are all pitch-perfect. That alone would earn this a high grade. But somehow, this sketch also turns into a unique meditation on one of our country’s greatest historical figures. While it took a bit to get going, once Lincoln came out of the subway to the familiar “Louie” theme music, it was 100% gold. [Grade: A-]
Australian Screen Legends: Bill Hader and Kate McKinnon play Tess Davies and Graham Dixon, dubbed the Bogart and Bacall of Australian cinema according to host Fred Armisen. C.K. plays “Australian’s Steve Zahn,” which is about the only funny joke in this entire sketch. What a disappointment after the incredibly strong start. Having this air pre-“Update” under any circumstance seems suspect. Having this air pre-“Update” three days away from a presidential election is ridiculous. We’ve seen allusions to the political landscape, but they have focuses on Hurricane Sandy, not the state of the nation. Sandy deserves the treatment it’s received tonight thus far. But the national stage is just as important right now. [Grade: D+]
fun. arrive onscreen to perform “Some Nights”, a song that sounds a lot better on the radio than live based on this rendition. Also? The lead singer looks just like “SNL” writer John Mulaney, which is totally throwing me off right now. While the backing vocals feel thick and rich, Nate Ruess’ lead vocals strain in the higher registers throughout, only really connecting in the quiet interlude mid-song. On the plus side, this song is like eight minutes long. So, that’s something. Look, this band divides listeners, and I’m on the outside looking in here. No harm, no foul. [Grade: C+]
Weekend Update: It took forty-five minutes, but Sudeikis’ Mitt Romney finally appears on the final “SNL” before the election. (Still no Obama, mentioned in passing but not seen onscreen yet.) Romney’s there to remind people that he’s actually running for the highest office in the land, with Sandy having blown him off the front page of all media coverage since the storm hit. While the show has struggled when putting Romney into sketches, having him speak directly into the camera works wonders, yielding some of the strongest writing (and satire) to date for the candidate. Social media expert Kourtney Barnes arrives to predict Tuesday’s results. Aidy Bryant’s crazy eyes are fabulous in her first appearance on “Update” thus far. (Between her appearance as Lincoln’s wife and thus, Bryant’s having an excellent night.) Afterwards, Cecily Strong returns with The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started A Conversation With At A Party. She brings a mixture of non-sequiturs and malapropisms to the proceedings. (“Hunger! Racism! Sma’ businesses! I’m like, maybe don’t!”) It goes on waaaaaay too long, but I really like this character on the whole. Paring it down will go a long way towards pushing it towards Stefon-esque levels by the end of the season. Blasphemy? Probably. But it’s a fantastic comic creation all the same, one I look forward to seeing in the near future. [Grade: A-]
Kylarian Mountain Pass: We learn one crucial thing in this sketch: Louis C.K. has a hard time pretending to play a ram horn simultaneously with pre-recorded sound effects. You can almost tell from the moment C.K. walks onstage that he’s dreading what he’s about to do. That’s never a good sign. Things are fairly dire until Bill Hader’s character shows up, and which point things go from “make it stop already” to “well, it could be much worse”. Hader’s assertions about what is and isn’t a weird name elicited a chuckle on this side of the screen. But overall, this is another awful segment in a show that is either feast or famine thus far. [Grade: C-]
Hotel Checkout: Here’s another one I thought I would dread, but grew to appreciate through smart writing, good chemistry, and above all, the patience to let the sketch reveal itself over time. The latter is the key thing here, as the hotel’s billing service slips into absurdity so subtly that even Moynihan’s character almost misses the shift. Sprinkled into normal charges are ones for illegal diamonds, a large shipment of argon, an incredibly cheap stuffed bobcat, and a viewing charge for “The Avengers” that almost costs as much as “The Avengers”. I don’t want to call this “Python-esque”, since it never quite gets to that level. But I could easily see John Cleese taking the place of Louis C.K. here and having it hold up just as well. Above all, it’s the patience I want to praise here, as the sketch knew it had something good and wasn’t afraid of withholding it for maximum comic impact. [Grade: B+]
fun. return to the stage to perform “Carry On”. While I stated earlier than .fun isn’t exactly my personal jam, I do admire their earnestness. It has to be difficult to be this unironic. I can easily see fans of this band going out and tipping buses over, filled with energy and optimism, after hearing a song like this. Maybe I’m just someone hoping those kids don’t tip over any bus on my lawn. [Grade: C]
Donnelly’s: I think I’ve figured it out. When Louis C.K. has been put into two-person scenes tonight, he’s really excelled. In larger, group-based scenes, he has somewhat suffered. I enjoyed his verbal dance with Moynihan, but he’s even better with McKinnon, as the two go for absolute broke in the most 12:55 am of all 12:55 am sketches thus far this season. What strikes me the most here is the dialogue, which is absurdist yet grounded in a recognizable codex. It’s absurdist because these two are drunk, but it’s also absurdist due to their respective character situations. What makes the bizarre interactions work are the moments in which they slip into prosaic honesty, which grounds the nonsensical statements scattered throughout. Looking back at my notes, I see this was the fifth live sketch in which C.K. participated all night. Only these last two saw him get the chance to shine, and he took advantage of both. [Grade: A-]
Best Sketch: “Lincoln”
Worst Sketch: “Australian Screen Legends”
Biggest Trend: The new ladies of “SNL” had a good night, with Bryant, Strong, and McKinnon all making their marks tonight. By contrast, Nasim Pedrad and Vanessa Bayer had little to do for most of the night. These things are cyclical from show-to-show, but it’s nice seeing Bryant and Strong getting more air time as the season progresses. If only we could say the same for Tim Robinson.
Second Biggest Trend: The overall number of segments per episode feels low lately, no? The number shouldn’t ultimately matter as much as the quality over the 90 minutes. But it does feel like each episode isn’t as packed as it once was with varied content.
Biggest Surprise: No Pharaoh as Obama in the final show before the election.
What did you think of Louis C.K.’s hosting performance? Did the show let him down with the material it gave him? How did the show handle the political scene 72 hours from Election Day? Sound off below!
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November 4, 2012 at 1:44AM EST Reply to Commenti'm gonna wreck it! - wreck-it ralph
Chris
November 4, 2012 at 1:45AM EST Reply to CommentThe first Fun. song is called Some Nights
jake
November 4, 2012 at 1:46AM EST Reply to CommentI enjoyed the episode overall, but found the cold open distasteful with the mock sign language. If that were done with another language (say someone pretending to translate Chinese and just making random stereotypically Chinese noises), it would be generally viewed as offensive. I am not sure why that does not seem to be the standard reaction to that sketch.
Mike Because it isn't a taboo. There's no sign language version of Mickey Rooney in yellow face.
November 4, 2012 at 1:55AM ESTGuest also because the skit is not mocking the deaf but rather mocking the strange over exagerated movements and facial expressions of the sign language people.
November 4, 2012 at 3:00AM ESTMarquan It's also a very specific parody of Bloomberg's particularly over the top translator. Check it out.
November 4, 2012 at 1:57PM ESThttp://gifboom.com/x/5569483a
mgrabois A few of my friends who know sign language said that she was using real signing mixed with stuff designed to get a laugh. I can't believe she learned all that in just the last few days, I'm more inclined to think that she said "hey, I know sign language, let's come up with a skit where I get to play the translator". The NJ translator was obviously not doing any real signing.
November 5, 2012 at 12:39AM ESTguest Actually, they did mock Chinese translation just a few years ago, with Armisan as Obama, someone else playing the Chinese Premier, and Nasim Pedrad playing the translator. And you know what? That was hilarious as well. It's SNL - Chevy Chase once said the N word in a sketch. Calm yourself.
November 5, 2012 at 2:24PM ESTguest http://www.hulu.com/watch/110317
November 5, 2012 at 2:27PM ESTSarah
November 4, 2012 at 1:50AM EST Reply to CommentOMG I couldn't believe how much the lead singer of fun. looks like John Mulaney. I'm glad someone else noticed it too! You weren't alone, it compltely threw me off too!
Lee Harvey On the 2nd song, I saw a little Mark Wahlberg mixed in with Mulaney, too.
November 4, 2012 at 4:09AM ESTbreezy
November 4, 2012 at 1:53AM EST Reply to CommentI'm surprised you like Cecily Strong's girl at a party character so much. Not because it isn't funny, but because it's essentially an alternate take on Fred Armisen's political comedian, Nicholas Fehn.
I'm also surprised "Kylarian Mountain Pass" didn't win worst sketch of the night. The Australian bit wasn't a highlight, but at least the actors got decent laughs throughout. By comparison, the Kylarian thing appeared to leave the audience scratching their heads- especially since the only funny aspect was unintentional (Louis C.K. having trouble with the audio cues.)
Daniel I agree but I loved the girl at a party and Nicolas Fehn. I'm glad someone else saw the similarity.
November 4, 2012 at 2:58AM ESTJohn Cecily Strong's girl at a party character was HORRIBLE!
November 4, 2012 at 5:52PM ESTAlex L.
November 4, 2012 at 2:29AM EST Reply to CommentThe number of segments per show being low is very important. Notice the long ones are always the bad ones. SNL is supposed to quick and snappy. You should feel comfortable with the comedy but when you start to feel antsy it's an issue. Don't get me wrong, comedy can be long and uncomfortable but still be funny like, at least for me, "The Californians." But I don't understand why they insist on writing unfunny sketches that are also really long.
Daniel
November 4, 2012 at 2:56AM EST Reply to CommentI almost agree with you 100% I feel the EXACT same way as you about the Hotel Checkout skit. I groaned at the beginning but ended up really enjoying it due to the writing, I particularly loved the part where Fred showed up carrying the bobcat because he had this weird protective look on his face. Actually the only real difference between what you thought of the show and what I thought of the show was I liked but didn't love Lincoln and I loved fun. and thought they were one of the best musical guests I've seen in a while. That said I'm a kid and I assume you are not. Also I'm just pointing out that you said Lincoln was the best segment but gave it an A- while giving Louis' monologue an A.
goodvibe61
November 4, 2012 at 4:00AM EST Reply to CommentFun sucks!
You know, I've watched SNL for just about the entire run. And what I've learned is this: while the comedians on the show will come and go, and there will always be another batch up superbly talented comedians breaking through with their talent, the same simply cannot be said regarding the musical talent.
Believe it or not, SNL was known for its musical heritage back in the day. I remember epic performances from The Rolling Stones (The Some Girls Tour of 1978), Van Morrison, Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, and many, many more truly great artists. These days we get Fun. Or Rihanna. Or Vampire Weekend, or Nicky Minaj, or some other crap; it's an endless run of untalented, hackneyed acts that have lowered SNL's musical standards to the point where you don't remember they had one at all.
Lee Harvey I may just be dreaming, but I hope the Stones do SNL in December when they're in the New York area.
November 4, 2012 at 4:04AM ESTCarl Fredericksen Yes, Fun sucks. SNL shouldn't let any band on if they were formed after 1980. Kids these days don't appreciate good music. Turn that crap down and get off my lawn!
November 4, 2012 at 1:51PM ESTgoodvibe61 No; SNL shouldn't have bands on their show that suck. Fun? Frank Ocean? Maroon 5? It's a colossal waste of space.
November 4, 2012 at 2:33PM ESTCarl Fredericksen Look, Goodvibe, I don't like Rihanna or Nicki Minaj either, but they're too of the biggest acts in the world. Maroon 5 and Fun. have the number 1 and number 3 singles on Billboard right now. Do you want SNL to reject the most popular acts in the world just because they don't meet the high artistic standards set by such early season greats as Abba, Leo Sayer, and the B-52s?
November 4, 2012 at 3:07PM ESTgoodvibe61 You're right; they should have zero discernible taste whatsoever.
November 4, 2012 at 6:13PM ESTDown the road people will watch last night's SNL on DVD or on cable and they'll go, "who in the world is this FUN, they suck", and it will cheapen the overall feeling people will have about the episode, and that's it. If they want to bring the show down each week by preferring Justin Bieber over anyone with some actual talent then that's their business.
Some Guy Carl Fredericksen is right, SNL has always booked musical acts because they are popular (including crappy flash in the pan artists from back in the day you forget about in favour of the legends). Just because you don't like modern popular music, doesn't mean they should suddenly change their model.
November 5, 2012 at 2:32PM ESTBesides, what standard could they possibly judge the musical acts by so they could live up to the "quality" level you demand? You brought up Vampire Weekend as an example of untalented crap, and yet, musical tastes aside, both of that bands albums got a score of "universal acclaim" on Metacritic. If you don't like them fine, but who is the arbiter of quality when you still don't like bands that are highly critically acclaimed?
lizzardpisces77
November 4, 2012 at 4:03AM EST Reply to CommentThey like this
Flippy You just won the "putting random words together that don't make sense" award. If you're gonna post, don't just say random sh!t, retard.
November 4, 2012 at 12:20PM ESTBrad
November 4, 2012 at 4:14AM EST Reply to CommentI thought this was a really good episode overall. The opening bit was pretty funny, the monologue I thought was one of the best I have yet to see, loved lincoln. F&F was solid. I actually like the Australien Screen Legends. Donnelys was hilarious. Hotel checkout was okay.
Also when Louis was on Fallon this week, he commented that there was a sketch that was extremely embarrising, that he just had to do, and that he was dredding in a good way, which was probably the horn sketch. So with that knowledge, I probably enjoyed the sketch more then you haha. Thanks for the recap as usual!
Curtis I have to believe it was the bar scene with the embarrassing part being the kiss/face eating
November 5, 2012 at 12:35AM ESTLee Harvey
November 4, 2012 at 4:19AM EST Reply to CommentJust FYI, the "Lincoln" sketch was written by Seth Myers according to former SNL writer Mike Shoemaker on Twitter.
Lee Harvey Also, I just found out that there is a "director's cut" of Lincoln on-line. It's slightly longer and includes a little more between Abe and Mrs. Abe.
November 4, 2012 at 4:29AM ESTSon of Mecha Mummy
November 4, 2012 at 4:24AM EST Reply to CommentThe Mountain Pass one was incredible for just how completely and totally it fell apart. I wouldn't be shocked if that was a sketch that got pitched a couple times in the past, went down in flames, but due to the nature of this week's show they just threw it in anyway. I can't remember the last time I saw a host outright break character because they forgot a line.
My favorite Fox and Friends correction this week was "there are many black people, not just one who is a master of disguise."
Lee Harvey Louis said on Fallon Thursday night that there was a sketch he hated, but asked them not to cut because he wanted to do something that made him uncomfortable. I'm guessing it was this one.
November 4, 2012 at 4:31AM EST
November 4, 2012 at 4:37AM ESTHaynie
November 4, 2012 at 4:34AM EST Reply to CommentWas the absence of Obama a respect move in appreciation for his work in the wake of Sandy? Or maybe it was because of some problem with Jay Pharoah, who only appeared in the pre-taped "Lincoln" and in none of the live sketches? I didn't pay attention to whether or not he was with the gang during closing credits.
Emily
November 4, 2012 at 7:22AM EST Reply to Commenta an australian, that australian sketch was not only not funny, but pretty insulting, and I agree, if there was nothing happening in the news, I would totally get it, but they had so much material to work with!
November 4, 2012 at 8:38AM EST Reply to CommentLoved the Australian Screen Legends skit. The material wasn't funny at all, but love it when you guys have a crack at our accent. Hader almost had it!
John
November 4, 2012 at 5:49PM EST Reply to CommentWeekend update was horrible this week. I hope we never see Cecily Strong's horrible character again. And Kylarian Mountain Pass was an F. The worst.
Old King Clancy
November 4, 2012 at 7:41PM EST Reply to CommentSaddling Louis C.K. with a horrid musical guest is the most "Louie" part of the show. That said, this episode hit more high notes than any other.
Jbagels
November 4, 2012 at 11:01PM EST Reply to CommentMoyninhan's done Christie a couple times, and does a good job every time.
I also though the hotel sketch was Pythonesque mostly because it reminded me of the famous dead parrot sketch. They tried to recreate that on SNL once and it bombed, something about their rhythms and subtleties don't work well with SNL audiences for some reason but the audience seemed to react to this sketch. Initially I thought they were going to go with the easy joke of reading a guy's porn charges out loud but I was pleasantly surprised. Overall, I think Louis was successful but was also surprised at the lack of Obama and marathon related material.
Carlos R. Was also a little worried they were going the "porn" route, but I figured Louie wouldn't allow himself to be inserted in such an obvious joke.
November 5, 2012 at 12:17PM ESTAnd yeah, Moynihan's Christie is great. The only other time I remember him doing it was during the Republican primaries when he implied that he had some skeletons in his closet he had to take care of before he could run for President in 2016. :D
Mike
November 4, 2012 at 11:47PM EST Reply to CommentWell written, agree with you on pretty much everything. Please stop writing these reviews though.
Ted Schmoesby this is the best comment I've ever seen about anything on the internet. well played sir, well played
November 5, 2012 at 3:03PM ESTryanmcgee Sure. Wait, what???
November 8, 2012 at 5:16PM ESTMike It's that kind of sarcastic, funny remark that shows exactly what I'm talking about.
November 8, 2012 at 7:08PM ESTAntonio Gramsci
January 6, 2013 at 12:49PM EST Reply to CommentI guess you don't know many Aussies or have much understanding of their culture--the "Screen Legends" sketch is truly one of the funniest the show has ever put on. Bizarre, and not really trying to connect with USA pop culture, it was just stunningly hilarious. I play cricket with Aussies and that "yeh!" business had me in tears. Fred's Bob whathisface from TCM impression (as an Aussie!) was genius. "So, so touching! So beautiful! So brave!" Subtle, yes, but hysterical. And the last "Brokeback" Aussie style bit was so funny, and when Louis says "K then, time to go crazy on me butt then for ya!" I was just destroyed. I guess it's all lost in translation for you. Yeh!