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Date Posted: 21:04:30 02/17/04 Tue
Author: CCS
Subject: Re: Top SNL skits of the season?
In reply to: JPIII 's message, "Top SNL skits of the season?" on 12:47:44 02/05/04 Thu

I'll just break it down, by what in retrospect I thought was the funniest sketch from each show of the first half. It makes it easier for me to organize that way. Commercials will be done afterwards.

<b>jack black</b> - Telemarketers. Good sing-song in a way that had to happen with Jack Black hosting. Was pissed it got cut off towards the end. Was singing this for a few days. Runner-up: Queer Eye for the Straight Gal

<b>justin timberlake</b> - Rainbow Connection. This is vintage Forte. We'll be looking back at this like Choppin' Broccoli or Get Off The Shed. Runner up: Barry Gibb Talk Show

<b>halle berry</b> - Speedreader. Though from what I've seen, universally accepted as the one good sketch from this ep, rumor has it that this didn't make the one-hour cut. God knows why. Runner up: Versace (everything was terrible, this had one funny line about the bat)

<b>kelly ripa</b> - Greenbriar County Animal Rescue Shelter. I guess technically a commercial, as listed at snl.jt.org, this was more of a sketch to me. It was damn funny too. Runner up: Live with Regis and Kelly

<b>andy roddick</b> - SNL Update. Parnell and McEnroe commenting on the night's SNL just came out gigantically awesome. "Chris, I haven't had sex with Beyonce Knowles before, but if I got the chance, I wouldn't choke up like this guy." Need more be said? Sure. "Heeeere's Johnny." Runner up: Tennis Talk

<b>alec baldwin</b> - Prince Charles' Secretary. When SNL does sexual innuendo, they do it with a depth of content and intelligence you don't see anywhere else. Runner up: Zinger v. Burns

<b>rev. al sharpton</b> - Candidate Party. Creative setting to bring the candidates together, and the personalities SNL gives to some of them just work incredibly. Most notable were Forte as Edwards and Fallon as Clark. Runner up: Three Wise Men (on concept alone, really)

<b>elijah wood</b> - Hardball. While a hair worse than the previous Hardball, it still was a solid outing in a show full of average recurring bits. The Carol Mosely Braun part of this was hilarious. Runner up: Queer Eye for the Straight Guy

<b>jennifer aniston</b> - Appalachian Emergency Room. Horatio Sanz did his damndest to sabotage this sketch, but Parnell and Poehler would not be denied. Runner up: Raw Talk

<b>simspson and lachey</b> - Dynacorp. This sketch launched itself, with absolutely perfect pacing. It sets you up a bit, and then once the punches start flying, they just don't stop. I guess also technically a commercial, I feel if it was performed live, it's a sketch. Oh, and Forte rocks. Runner up: Dean Headquarters (Jeff left with a bang)


So that pretty much does it for the sketches. Some good stuff. Some eps were tougher choices than others. Onto the commercials. There weren't too many, so I'll rank all that qualify.

<b>1. Tel-e-link</b> - Why people don't find this funny baffles me. It was an incredible parody of the Cingular One commercials, in terms of both dialogue and photography. It cracks me up when Jeff goes on his bizarre listing of why it's great for him, and just has this great, 'it's so simple' look on his face.

<b>2. DirecTV</b> - Huh, odd that Jeff wound up the star of my two favorite commercials. This rocks. Nuff said.

<b>3. Tressant Supreme</b> - This is funny stuff. I didn't know what to expect from Kelly Ripa as a host, at this point in the show I figured she was just kind of this highly inoffensive person that old ladies can watch without becoming agitated and stuff. And then out of the blue she's just going nuts and cursing up a storm. If only they wrote for her as well in the rest of the episode as in this.

<b>4. Sunday National Enquirer</b> - The headlines in this were brilliant. "I can't read - John Grisham's Dark Secret." Too bad it had Halle Berry in it so that they won't show it a deserved second time.

<b>5. Gaystrogen</b> - This was very funny, but I'll tell you why I didn't rate it higher - It's been shown three fucking times in just the first half. Seriously, enough already. But they won't listen; it's probably gonna show up this Saturday too.

<b>6. Mom Jeans</b> - It had been a half-year since the initial running, which is appropriate, and it was funny, so good on them for showing this again. They added a bit to it to make it topical again.

<b>7. Huggies Thong</b> - Initially funny, but same problem as Gaystrogen. The third showing was technically second half of the season, though, so it stays at #7 instead of dropping one more.

<b>8. MTV Future</b> - A moderate laugher - I had to consider a bit before tossing it in due to length, but it <i>was</i> pretaped, and a commercial, so here it is.

<b>9. Tylenol Extreme</b> - Not the funniest thing ever done, but decent enough. This commercial is, to me the borderline between good and bad commercials.

<b>10. Cryogenix</b> - Well, it looks like something had to fall on the bad side of the line. The punch in this was really pulled, it could have been a lot stronger. The graphic would be funnier if it didn't remind me so much of Gaystrogen. Furthermore, this was bizarrely run twice.


Ok, so I guess I should rank the WU bits, cause JPIII did. To be honest, I don't remember them all that well. Forte was excellent with his sex video and Tim Calhoun. Armisen gave some laughs as Billy Smith. Gunther Brothers are proving the economic principle of declining marginal utility. Sanz made a disgrace of the whole correspondent thing early on, but it looks like they've finally stopped involving him in WU.

How bout some cast member thoughts? Here we go:

<b>rachel dratch</b> - Has she been on the show this year? Not so's you'd notice. Like Julia Sweeney, she seems to be going out with a fizzle. I think she's a very funny person, but this season just hasn't produced the Rachel Classics last season did.

<b>jimmy fallon</b> - The more I watch him, the more it just seems like sketch comedy isn't his thing. He's not a character actor. He can be somewhat funny, sometimes, and he can do some good impressions, but he just can't seem to get into and stay into character. Check out Appalachian Emergency Room, where he seemed afraid to commit to his character beyond the accent. Also, his increasing need to do musical parodies is becoming irritating.

<b>tina fey</b> - Jimmy brings out the worst in her. She seems solid enough at the WU desk sometimes, but then she'll get all goofy for nothing. I'd like to see her try WU next season alone.

<b>will forte</b> - Talented, and creating some of the most memorable stuff of the season. Too bad they seem to be holding him back somewhat, and I find it odd he hasn't developed a new recurring bit this season.

<b>darrell hammond</b> - With a rocky start, he's been fighting insignificance all season. It's a losing battle, he really should be planning his exit route.

<b>seth meyers</b> - Generic. He tends towards not-really-that-edgy humor, and does most things adequately. With Jimmy's iminent disappearance, and Seth's general aptitude, he could become a go-to guy of sorts. Kerry's strength in the primaries will definitely help him out, especially now that he's really getting into the impression. I think the cast member of yesteryear that he's most akin to is Tim Meadows. Hopefully he'll find his <i>Perspectives</i>.

<b>Chris Parnell</b> - Though a talented performed, he gets placed in a lot of unglamorous roles. I don't think he's necessarily that underused, and quite often sketches are written to his strengths: the puppy sketch, his commentary w/ McEnroe. Playing straight man is difficult, and a bad straight man can spoil a sketch (*cough*JimmyFallon*cough*) but I'd like to see Chris playing a few more roles where he gets to be the whacky one.

<b>Amy Poehler</b> - She can play brilliant characters, but it seems like a lot of the time she's being tapped to do impressions. They're getting better, but honestly she could be so much more than Sharon Osbourne, if only the appropriate sketches get written. Nonetheless, she is getting decent airtime, and while not having said LFNY yet, she has been prominent in a few CO's (both Hardballs and the Barbara Walters segment).

<b>Jeff Richards</b> - While a talented impressionist, his characters suck. All season he was being written fairly terribly, found a brief surge of power in Howard Dean towards the end, but then let go. To be perfectly honest, you won't see me crying many tears, even if the midseason firing was a bit odd. He's certainly gotten exposure on SNL, certainly moreso than say, Chris Rock. Best of luck to him. On a side note, he had the coolest montage scene.

<b>Maya Rudolph</b> - One of the central figures of this cast, I find it tough to rate her. She can do both excellent and excruciatingly irritating work. I've heard she's not as much a writer as many of the other cast members, so it's possible she has the acting talent but sub-par comedic instincts. She's also frequently being placed in bizarre talk show settings. This season alone, she's done Lelaina Burke, Latoya Jackson, Tennis Talk, Coco and Matsui Super Show, and The Prince Show. Basically, she won't kill a sketch, but isn't able to rise above bad material.

<b>Horatio Sanz</b> - Dead weight. He brings out the worst in Jimmy Fallon, and brings out little laughter in me. He seems to constantly be in the thick of god-awful sketches. To top it off, I've hated all the movie appearances I've seen him in.

<b>Fred Armisen</b> - Last season, he had one impression in twenty episodes. The season, he's done a lot more impressions, include a few half-baked, fill-in impressions. The Billie Jean King was hilarious though, and I'd like to see them try using that one again. He's one of the best I feel at placing himself in character, really becoming someone else. To see this, just watch his face as he tap dances in the Simpson and Lachey mono. Even when it's relatively minor, you can see it's all out for him. I've also noticed he seems to be pairing up with Maya in a fair number of sketches. Nothing's really hit it big yet, but at least we can stop worrying about Maya not really being black when she's working with him.

<b>Finesse Mitchell</b> - He's a stand-up comic in his first season. He still feels like he's feeling his way through this sketch comedy thing. Others aren't writing for him, and it shows. Basically, he really has this "rookie" aura about him, and I'm interested in how I'll perceive him at this point next year. On a side note, his montage scene is the one I'd most like to be in.

<b>Kenan Thompson</b> - Never though I'd see this guy on SNL. Can't really say much, he's gotten more air time than Finesse, and has done a few impressions I thought pretty funny, but it's still hard for me to treat him seriously. I don't know why I want to treat him seriously, I mean, this <b>is</b> a <b>comedy</b> show. He hasn't had any characters that seem remotely close to recurring though.

So, um, that's the first half of the season. I figured someone else should weigh in on this thread, and I also figured that I'm really not looking forward to the studying I have to do...

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