I have a weird sense of obligation at times -- Saturday Night You Bull Sessions

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Date Posted: 23:27:18 06/06/04 Sun
Author: CCS
Subject: I have a weird sense of obligation at times
In reply to: Patrick Lonergan 's message, "REVIEWS: Snoop Dogg 05/08/04" on 14:54:38 05/08/04 Sat

About a month late, but nonetheless, here is the first part of my Snoop reviews.

cold open - the premise of Bush having difficulty on the intellectual side of foreign affairs may be a tad commonplace, but it has gotten where it is through results. You an easily build a mild-laugher sketch like this through a few misinformations on Bush's part. Nonetheless, it's a well-worn path and if it seems like my review is struggling for significance on the issue, I would contend that this is because the sketch does too. This sketch did display strong characterization and a knack for dia(mono)logue, especially in the air strike reveal, yet somehow I just can't help but feel like I'm reading last year's news.

monologue - as always, this part of my review will state that fan-writtern monologues rarely work anyway, in hopes that it will mitigate the negative tone the review will assumedly take. The MC Hammer cameo didn't do much for me, but it was snappy so no big problem there. The Snoop Dogg Does Shakespeare reminds me more of the type of bit Letterman or Conan would do, over SNL. It feels like you have the set-up, but didn't exaggerate the concept enough for the punch. Granted, overbearing "gangsta" speak rarely works, I just felt the Hamlet was too easy. Everyone makes "To be or not to be" puns, and as such, for something truly memorable you need to look elsewhere. There are plenty of lines in Romeo and Juliet and (my personal favorite) Macbeth that are well-known enough that most of the audience would respond while being still able to make them laugh. Thinking about it, that Summer's Day poem would probably work as well. Good monologue, just needed to reach a little farther.

cheerios - three reads, and I still have no clue what to make of this.

connotations - often, sketch comedy comes in the form of a reveal, of a twist you didn't necessarily see coming. While this sketch is rambling along, the audience is watching (reading), knowing that something is gonna twist somewhere. The set-up of words with unfortunate negative connotations is a great comedic device, and the anticipation for that word that breaks your paradigm is high. You deliver in two forms - with blow job, which works by not having an obvious possible positive connotation and then successfully building one; and with wife beater, by taking the negative connotation as the positive one. The flow was good, and while you break the "rule" of three, it still works because the comedy crescendoes. I feel it could still do with a punch-up however, as some areas were a bit flat. The corporation explanation, though structurally necessary, is a low spot for laughs. This is a sketch that could do well with a few more strong call-backs; you used the Cutie and Sweetness thing - which was a spectacular way to introduce the sketch - sporadically, but I think you missed tossing in a kicker. After Cutie has revealed that he slept with Sweetness's wife, how about something along the lines of, "There's no way I can call you Cutie anymore."? Oh, and a final note, I think the concept seems more primed for a radio program over a television one, but that's not really too important.

dogg - before I get started, I just want to mention that I have always found Underdog's narcoleptic rhyming meter to be the dullest and most irrelavent voice overs ever recorded for a superhero cartoon. Give me Hong Kong Phooey over that sleeper any day. Nonetheless, your choice of Underdogg was not so much based on its cartoonitory merits, but rather how well it meshes with the host's persona. Kenan only has one 'e' in his name. I let spelling errors get to me at times when I know I should just leave them alone. While I must say I am unfamiliar with the Snoop song you reference in one line, and half thank you for pointing it out, I have to ask if that would really be a recognizable tidbit that would generate a reference laugh, applaud or even nod. As is, I could see "you're so beautiful" coming from hundreds of songs. Hmm, I seem to be running circles around this review. I think what's getting to me is that there's no sense of implicit danger involved in this scene. I feel like I could have come up with many better comedic things to happen to a bunch of people taking invasive pictures from under a sewer grate. All of the dilemmas, conflicts and problems presented in this sketch were solved too quickly, disintegrating its momentum.

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Replies:

Re: I have a weird sense of obligation at times -- CCS, 18:03:32 06/10/04 Thu