This Season of SNL

Pudge714 · #1 11-06-2007, 10:23 PM

I just finished watching the Brian Williams episode on DVR and in general I have been very impressed by this season of SNL.

The LeBron episode was kind of meh, especially since they reused a bunch of old characters and forced in a bunch of skits that basically reminded us that LeBron indeed was a basketball player.

The Seth Rogen episode probably had the best skit this year in douchebag of the year. I found some of his other skits namely the one with the two annoying kids really missed and his monologue was weak.

The Bon Jovi episode was probably the best up and down and didn't have any really bad skits.

I was very surprised by Brian William's general competence and thought his monologue was really good. I didn't think there were any complete misses although some skits were mediocre.

I think Bill Hader is really talented and the star of this cast. There are lots of good supporting cast members like Sudiekis, Armisen, Samberg and Wiig.

Overall I think this season has been the best of the past two years and is a sign of good things to come.

Edit: I set the o/u at 3 posts before someone posts about how much better older seasons were and why SNL is terrible.

Golden_Rhino · #2 11-06-2007, 10:31 PM

SNL goes through cycles. I haven't watched religiously, but I agree that it got better.

Plus, everyone thinks that SNL was the best when they were in their late teens/early twenties. I say that about the Myers/Carvey/Farley era, and dudes older than me say it about the Murray/Chase/Akyroyd era. I've even heard people argue for the Farrel/Sandler/??? era.

onoble · #3 11-06-2007, 10:31 PM

SNL is terrible this year.

miajag · #4 11-06-2007, 10:34 PM

I think the cast is excellent. It's the writing that's horrible. Seriously, other than Digital Shorts, there hasn't been a good skit in like 3 years.

gumpzilla · #5 11-06-2007, 10:51 PM

[ QUOTE ]

Plus, everyone thinks that SNL was the best when they were in their late teens/early twenties. I say that about the Myers/Carvey/Farley era, and dudes older than me say it about the Murray/Chase/Akyroyd era. I've even heard people argue for the Farrel/Sandler/??? era.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think this is a huge factor.

I agree with the other poster that this cast is very strong. There are no duds. The main affliction is the SNL tendency towards recurring characters and skits, in my opinion.

ClassicBob · #6 11-06-2007, 10:57 PM

[ QUOTE ]
SNL goes through cycles. I haven't watched religiously, but I agree that it got better.

Plus, everyone thinks that SNL was the best when they were in their late teens/early twenties. I say that about the Myers/Carvey/Farley era, and dudes older than me say it about the Murray/Chase/Akyroyd era. I've even heard people argue for the Farrel/Sandler/??? era.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sandler and Ferrell were never on SNL together.

I plowed through the DVD set of season 1 a few months ago. My thoughts: awful. There were a few good bits every so often, but I was struck by how unfunny it was most of the time. The musical acts were pretty kickass, though.

I haven't watched any of this season, but from what I've watched over the past few years, Samberg seems to be the funniest, though not the most talented, member of the cast. I'm a huge fan of his Lonely Island stuff, though.

Pudge714 · #7 11-06-2007, 11:05 PM

CB,
Some of the older seasons have jokes, which age really poorly. A great example of this skit is the Buckwheat assassination skit, which was a parody television news media of course everything that was satire back them is more or less reality now and all those jokes "Whats the deal with all the news tickers?" have been driven into the ground.

ClassicBob · #8 11-06-2007, 11:31 PM

[ QUOTE ]
CB,
Some of the older seasons have jokes, which age really poorly. A great example of this skit is the Buckwheat assassination skit, which was a parody television news media of course everything that was satire back them is more or less reality now and all those jokes "Whats the deal with all the news tickers?" have been driven into the ground.

[/ QUOTE ]

I understand that some stuff doesn't age as well as others, and certainly a show that has always been as topical as SNL will have problems aging. However, basic ideas of what was funny then is terribly unfunny now. Your example (Buckwheat) was and is still hilarious to me. However, the flipside of that is the cold open for every episode of the first season. Every single open revolved around Chevy Chase falling down. A fall is kinda funny once when it seems spontaneous/accidental, but knowing it's coming 23 straight weeks is terrible.

Wires · #9 11-06-2007, 11:53 PM

[ QUOTE ]
SNL is terrible this year.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nice post.

I've been watching SNL since around '83 - good years and bad I've been a fan. 2 years ago they slimmed down the cast and brought in a bunch of new talent. Last year they started to hit their stride and are demonstrating they are one of the stronger SNL casts. Of course you aren't going to hit it out of the park every week but this group is as consistent as we have seen in a long time.

The fact is that if you don't like SNL (specifically this year and last) that's fine but it has nothing to do with SNL - you're just not a fan of sketch comedy. I've seen almost every show Second City Toronto has put on over the past 12 years and it is no different. Some of the skits are meh and others are perfect.

This is probably a better response than "SNL is terrible this year" deserves but [censored] you and here it is anyway.

Pudge714 · #10 11-07-2007, 12:04 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
CB,
Some of the older seasons have jokes, which age really poorly. A great example of this skit is the Buckwheat assassination skit, which was a parody television news media of course everything that was satire back them is more or less reality now and all those jokes "Whats the deal with all the news tickers?" have been driven into the ground.

[/ QUOTE ]

I understand that some stuff doesn't age as well as others, and certainly a show that has always been as topical as SNL will have problems aging. However, basic ideas of what was funny then is terribly unfunny now. Your example (Buckwheat) was and is still hilarious to me. However, the flipside of that is the cold open for every episode of the first season. Every single open revolved around Chevy Chase falling down. A fall is kinda funny once when it seems spontaneous/accidental, but knowing it's coming 23 straight weeks is terrible.

[/ QUOTE ]
I take it you aren't a NewsRadio fan.