Justin Timberlake has earned himself quite the reputation through hosting Saturday Night Live. He’s actually carved out a bit of an acting career, and I think most of it started from his time on SNL. I am a bit ambivalent toward his hosting, though. I think he really sells everything, obviously has fun, and is not afraid to poke fun at himself; these are all great things. At the same time, however, I think he sometimes crosses the line between “selling it” and “hamming it up” and becomes self indulgent. Maybe it’s just me and my bad attitude, as I know tons of people love it when he hosts SNL.
After watching the episode, however, I thought it was a good installment. There were guest appearances galore, and a couple sketches that hit it out of the park, which is rare for SNL. Let’s break it down….
Cold Open: I thought that this was one of the better cold opens since the end of the election. So many of the recent political skits have seemed to be holding back a bit, but tonight’s Geithner skit certainly didn’t. I could have done without hearing the crew in the background during the last half, but I guess that’s the kind of thing that happens on live TV.
Monologue: Medium on the funny, high on the self indulgence.
Mom Celebrity Translator: I thought this was a clever, and timely, idea for a sketch. The fake commercials always work well because they don’t have to milk an idea for around 3 minutes, only about 30 seconds.
Target Lady: I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the Target Lady. I think she’s funny in small doses, and thankfully she hasn’t been around too often this season. I thought this was one of the better Target Lady sketches, actually, and Justin Timberlake did a great job (see, I’m not a complete hater).
Cornelius Timberlake: I have to give credit where credit is due, and this was a very funny sketch. All the credit goes to Timberlake for poking fun at himself.
Plastic Surgery: I’ve always hated this character, and I think it has generated a lot of the ambivalence I have toward JT. Judging by the reaction of the audience, I’m in the minority on this one, so feel free to flame away at me in the comments.
Weekend Update: Week after week, Weekend Update is still the only part of the show that I can count on for making me laugh out loud. This week was no different. Poor governor Paterson. I’m not from New York, but SNL really skewers this guy… often. The only thing I have more sympathy for is New Jersey. We were also treated to an appearance from the cast of the new Star Trek movie, in a very funny bit. It was totally missing a William Shatner joke, though.
The Barry Gibb Talk Show: More bizarre than funny, I’ve never really fully understood these skits.
Somali/Disney Pirates: Meh. A funny idea, but the inclusion of completely unnecessary stereotypes dragged it down for me. Too often, SNL discredits itself with easy stereotypes (see: Italians eating meatballs, etc).
Yeah, Bob, I have to disagree with Omlette/Homeless/Plastic-Ville. One of my favorite characters on SNL. This installment, IMHO, wasn’t as funny as the previous, but still pretty good.
And while the stereotypes were a bit much on the Pirate’s sketch, I’ve worked in the Amusement Park industry my entire career. When Wiig’s character said the line about wanting to kill tourists, I forgave all.
I thought this was the best episode I’ve seen in a long time. I didn’t care for the Target Lady sketch or the musical guest. But everything else was great. It was awesome seeing Leonard Nimoy say Dickheads.
I admit I am also a hater of Justin Timberlake musically. On SNL however I like him, he’s a great host. Whenever he gets together with Samburg something happens and comedy gold is made. That was evident with the Motherlover short. It has replaced Im On a Boat as the song thats stuck in my head.
As for the Omletteville/Plasticville sketches I like them. This one I enjoyed for the part that made fun of the Lady Gaga song Poker Face. Partly because I hate that song and also because I was in a poker game while watching this.
The pirate skit was great. I actually worked at disney for a while and I have to say that it was kinda funny how accurate it was. JT knows it too. I will put money down that he totally made that idea up
“It will be gone and he’ll bring it back!”
“But where did it go?”
“Just trust me people will be on board!”
*snicker*
“… but privately, he’ll hit it”
“Then he’ll make love with women so beautiful and so often that it won’t be enough for him and maybe he’ll… I don’t know, try some stuff with guys…”
Great, just great. Loved this. Best episode of the season.
Justin Timberlake has earned himself quite the reputation through hosting Saturday Night Live. He’s actually carved out a bit of an acting career, and I think most of it started from his time on SNL. I am a bit ambivalent toward his hosting, though. I think he really sells everything, obviously has fun, and is not afraid to poke fun at himself; these are all great things. At the same time, however, I think he sometimes crosses the line between “selling it” and “hamming it up” and becomes self indulgent. Maybe it’s just me and my bad attitude, as I know tons of people love it when he hosts SNL.
Yeah, Bob, I have to disagree with Omlette/Homeless/Plastic-Ville. One of my favorite characters on SNL. This installment, IMHO, wasn’t as funny as the previous, but still pretty good.
And while the stereotypes were a bit much on the Pirate’s sketch, I’ve worked in the Amusement Park industry my entire career. When Wiig’s character said the line about wanting to kill tourists, I forgave all.
I thought this was the best episode I’ve seen in a long time. I didn’t care for the Target Lady sketch or the musical guest. But everything else was great. It was awesome seeing Leonard Nimoy say Dickheads.
I admit I am also a hater of Justin Timberlake musically. On SNL however I like him, he’s a great host. Whenever he gets together with Samburg something happens and comedy gold is made. That was evident with the Motherlover short. It has replaced Im On a Boat as the song thats stuck in my head.
As for the Omletteville/Plasticville sketches I like them. This one I enjoyed for the part that made fun of the Lady Gaga song Poker Face. Partly because I hate that song and also because I was in a poker game while watching this.
The pirate skit was great. I actually worked at disney for a while and I have to say that it was kinda funny how accurate it was. JT knows it too. I will put money down that he totally made that idea up
“It will be gone and he’ll bring it back!”
“But where did it go?”
“Just trust me people will be on board!”
*snicker*
“… but privately, he’ll hit it”
“Then he’ll make love with women so beautiful and so often that it won’t be enough for him and maybe he’ll… I don’t know, try some stuff with guys…”
Great, just great. Loved this. Best episode of the season.
Excuse me Bob, but what clichés do you see in Pirates skit? I don’t get it.
Got to agree that if you have ever worked at a theme park – I and did for over 20 years, the pirate sketch was funny as hell.