Be careful what you wish for... -- Saturday Night You Bull Sessions

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Date Posted: 22:44:27 02/12/06 Sun
Author: Hillary
Subject: Be careful what you wish for...
In reply to: Patrick Lonergan 's message, "REVIEWS: Steve Martin 02/04/06" on 11:34:44 02/04/06 Sat

I tend to prefer doing individual reviews, so I can be more detailed and thorough, and not be as afraid to criticize because there's always something good to point out. But sure, it's the beginning of the semester, I don't have too much work yet.
Please nobody argue with me about them, I don't have much patience for that sort of thing.

Skipping the C/O because I wrote one as well and because I really don't know what to say about it anyway

Monologue: I don't think the Andy Samberg joke works...I don't think the audience would be rude enough to laugh. It's a more direct stab than the "forgetting Kenan and Finesse" jokes the real SNL does. Punchline is pretty good, but there's a bunch of fluff that could be cut or replaced by better material. Mainly the first two paragraphs.
I'd like to acknowledge, however, that it's difficult to write a good monologue for a host who is good (in this case very good) at writing their own material.

Love Smart: Admittedly I don't know a whole lot about Dr. Phil, but it didn't even seem like an exaggeration of his character. There's no buildup, no parody...no breaking of character because we are given hardly any character to break. Doesn't work.

Diamond Dump: A sentence or two more before throwing the first punch might have been nice, makes it seem less didactic, but Martin can pull this off. It seems like the joke is that he's not sophisticated even though he appears to be, but we don't really have enough time for the "sophisticated" image to be set in our minds before it starts getting smashed repeatedly.
The slavery thing doesn't really work.
I personally would not find the thing with the corpse funny because that kind of thing makes me nauseous.
All the detail at the end is kind of unnecessary.
Great character for Martin.

Health Talk: The "euphemisms for masturbation" thing has been done a hundred times, so good for you in not immediately using the ones we've all heard before.
One inconsistency to note is that they are clearly discussing male masturbation yet at the beginning they say they are talking about young people in general. So, you need to establish that they are talking about young men.
It's good form to "build up" with this kind of thing. Meaning, start with the sort of silly ones and build up to the utterly ridiculous. You did this some of the time (like, there's a clear change when the caller appears) but even within these divisions you want to try to shape them. If that makes any sense.
Also on the topic of building up, the female part was kind of a letdown. Personally, I don't find female masturbation euphemisms as funny (probably because they tend to have a degrading tone).
Good use of old jokes to make a fresh commentary. Definitely funny, rather Python-esqe. And props for the Chappaquiddick reference! (I visit MV a lot)

Sexy Teacher: Andy Samberg should be the guy who says "dude" all the time. In my opinion. :)
Good idea for Martin. I feel like it could have been executed more realistically...because I feel like it's funnier when he tries to make an excuse for it or he takes advantage of something he's asked to do. Like when he was standing behind Jimmy, or "I like your hair."
This is minor, but Jasmine's t-shirt could have been a little less obvious...there are all sorts of ridiculous t-shirts marketed to young girls that say things like "boyfriend stealer" and stupid stuff like that...maybe you were trying to parody this, but I felt it could have been more clever.
As you can see, my advice is more on the "this is how it could be better" side.

Motel Lobby: Great character for Martin. Pretty random, but in a way that is intentional and works. Sorry I can't articulate anything more helpful.

Super Bowl: Didn't interest me too much. Not sure if it was the subject matter or that it just didn't get ridiculous enough. But it wasn't very long, so I didn't mind.

Eulogy: I feel like I would appreciate this sketch more if I watched more Nick At Night.

I'll finish this...eventually...when I have time. Oh that's right, I won't have ANY time this semester. What am I doing to myself...

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Replies:

Cheaper By The Review -- Jason, 20:43:11 02/23/06 Thu

Four reviews? It's a miracle! -- Jim Bevan, 10:26:04 02/24/06 Fri