November 23, 2013 – Josh Hutcherson / HAIM (S39 E7)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

PIERS MORGAN LIVE
George Zimmerman’s latest trouble is discussed

— For some reason, I have no memory of Kate’s part of this cold opening from my previous viewing.
— A pretty funny coy smile from Kate after saying “He stole my heart.”
— Good part with the ankle monitor footage of George Zimmerman.
— Bobby gets his usual laughs.
STARS: ***

MONOLOGUE
host dissuades cast members from killing each other a la Hunger Games

— Pretty funny Hunger Games-themed idea of the cast about to violently battle each other.
— Ooh, I like the idea of Noel getting airtime as herself, as well as the mention that she’s a new featured player.
— Aww, and, in what’s sadly very fitting, as soon as Noel stands onstage and optimistically says, “At least I’ll get some screentime”, she’s IMMEDIATELY interrupted by Cecily (who’s basically this season’s “It girl”) jumping in front of her and taking the attention away from her, causing her to sheepishly exit the monologue. I know that’s just a gag, but damn, SNL. There’s way too much unfortunate reality subtext in that gag for me to laugh at. Besides, didn’t poor Noel already have this same thing basically happen to her in the Miss Universe sketch from the Kerry Washington episode? SNL’s not very good at hiding their waving-off of most of this season’s newbies.
— Very funny brief walk-on from Kenan.
— When Josh Hutcherson tells Cecily, “Now you’re gonna have to carry me into the next sketch”, it would’ve been nice if they followed that up by actually showing that happening instead of just fading to a commercial break as Cecily carries Josh off the home base stage.
STARS: ***

GIRLFRIENDS TALK SHOW
Morgan’s crush (host) puts her in the friend zone

— This is the first (and I think ends up being the only) time in an on-air installment of this recurring sketch that the guest who’s being interviewed is a male. (I say “on-air installment” because there was previously a cut-after-dress-rehearsal installment of this sketch with Zach Galifianakis playing the guest.) Hopefully, that’ll change up this recurring sketch’s formula, because, despite me liking all of the prior installments of this sketch, the formula of it is definitely in risk of getting tired and overly formulaic.
— Yeah, as I was afraid of, the usual bit with Aidy being blindsided by Cecily bringing on a guest has gotten way too old hat. How many times is she supposed to be surprised by the same thing happening in every edition of this sketch?
— Another now-tired staple of this recurring sketch, with Aidy and the guest each saying a different thing in unison when revealing what today’s topic is.
— At least the romantic connection between Aidy and Josh is indeed taking this sketch into somewhat of a different direction, though even with that, there’s still a bit too much of a same-iness to the feel of this sketch. I think the problem is the stale talk show format that this sketch is always stuck in. It’s not necessary for this particular recurring sketch. Why can’t we see Aidy and Cecily’s characters in just normal, real-life situations, without the TV show setting?
— At least Aidy is still providing a good amount of laughs for me, as usual in this recurring sketch.
— Meh, Cecily’s “My boyfriend’s crazy” story wasn’t as funny as usual. That appears to be yet another staple of this recurring sketch that’s gotten tired.
STARS: **½

BABY BOSS
new employee (host) finds boss Mr. Patterson (BEB) has body of a baby

— The debut of Beck’s Mr. Patterson character, far better known as “Baby Boss”.
— Great physical humor from Beck, who’s doing spot-on and funny imitations of typical baby mannerisms. And I love that such a physical sketch starring a new cast member is placed in such an early spot of this episode, offering further proof that, even as most of his fellow new featured players struggle badly for airtime, Beck is immediately fitting in on SNL.
— I love Taran remaining humorously straitlaced and deadpan while Beck, who’s in Taran’s arms, is sloppily splattering spaghetti all over Taran’s face.
STARS: ****

MATCHBOX 3
subway performers specialize in dancing in crowded cars

— A promising concept, and I like the mockumentary angle.
— Some good laughs from the extreme adjustments the guys have to make to their dance routine in crowded trains, such as substituting their “Stir the pot” move for a “Stir the Expresso” move, and substituting their “Running man” move for a “Running neck” move.
— Good bit with Josh getting lost in the crowd.
— Kinda fun seeing John Milhiser get to show a little of his knack for physical humor, even if just a throwaway role at the end of this film.
— An overall solid little mockumentary, continuing this season’s strength in the short films department.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Wire”

WEEKEND UPDATE
The Worst Lady On An Airplane’s (AIB) travel tips have a tendency to annoy

— Seth’s “No one came to my party” joke about Justin Bieber is killer, and I’d like to think is the show’s way of airing out their frustrations over what a Grade-A douche Bieber was when he hosted in the preceding season.
— When Seth introduced Aidy’s commentary by saying, at one point, “Here with some helpful travel tips…”, I got worried and thought it was going to be yet another Judy Grimes commentary (even though I have no real problems with that character), until I remembered  Kristen Wiig is long gone from the show.
— Aidy’s playing her role really big, which I have very mixed feelings about. However, I am getting some laughs from her commentary.
— Cecily’s Update delivery, which showed nice signs of improvement in the preceding episode’s Update, is kinda taking a step back tonight. I find that her Update delivery typically has a lot of potential, but there’s something about the way she delivers her punchlines that kinda takes me out of it, as does the toothy smile she usually gives the camera after certain punchlines. That smiling habit is a little too cutesy and “I’m just kidding, folks”-ish for my likes, and reminds me of some of Amy Poehler’s weaker tendencies as an Update anchor. I think it’s just nerves on Cecily’s part.
— Short Update.
STARS: **½

80’S SONG
in the 1980s, (host) lip-syncs “Your Love” in the course of wooing (VAB)

— Some funny exaggerated 80s-isms in the opening conversation that the girls have, especially Aidy’s line about note-passing.
— An excellent random concept of Josh only speaking by lip-syncing particular “Your Love” lyrics as responses to Vanessa’s lines. I love how out-of-the-ordinary and unique this premise feels, and it also helps that “Your Love” is such a damn catchy song.
— I love Vanessa negatively breaking down the “And I’ll never keep it undercover” lyric that Josh lip-syncs to her at one point.
— This sketch is so much fun so far.
— An absolutely perfect “Jessie’s Girl” ending.
— Overall, a very strong sketch, and, after my current re-watch of it, I now feel it’s probably one of my all-time favorites.
STARS: *****

BEST BUY FIRING
Best Buy employees Niff & Dana bad-mouth their co-workers

— The third and final appearance of this recurring sketch.
— Something about Cecily’s furious delivery of “Planet of the Apes-lookin’ bitches!” tickled the hell out of me, especially the particularly angry emphasis she put on the word “Apes”.
— I wish they wouldn’t always have Bobby say “We goin’ out on top like (insert TV show here)!” early in these sketches, as they’ll never top him saying “We goin’ out on top like Seinfeld!” in the first installment of this.
— Funny bit regarding Beck having mysterious orange stains around his mouth.
— A decent Edward Scissorhands bit.
— In a previous episode review, I expressed confusion over why Taran’s creepy-smiling character’s name was changed from Andrew in the first installment to Randrew in the second installment. Well, now in this third installment, his character’s name has been changed to Mandrew. The hell??? Guess it’s some kind of weird running gag.
— This sketch is sadly missing something without Tim Robinson’s old man character, Carl, who appeared in the previous installments of this.
STARS: ***

DANCING
(KYM) rapidly gains & loses fame without leaving his apartment

— I like how the Beck/Kyle shorts that have aired so far by this point have each opened with a simple black title screen stating the title of the short (examples below).

This tradition helps give these Beck/Kyle shorts their own identity, differentiating them from other SNL short films. Unfortunately, that title screen trademark of these Beck/Kyle shorts would soon get dropped a little later this season.
— Hilarious dancing from Kyle when Beck is filming him. I also love that a clip of that would later be shown during the “short films” montage in SNL’s 40th Anniversary Special, as a nice representation of the solid film work that Beck and Kyle were currently bringing to SNL in the modern era (and it felt nice seeing that clip among older film clips from other SNL eras).
— I love the random gag in which Beck sloppily throws a VHS tape at the VCR and the VHS tape then falls on floor, only for the TV to still somehow play the tape.
— Much like the Miley Sex Tape short from earlier this season, this is another Beck/Kyle film that gives us a very funny display of something progressing at an insanely rapid speed during a very short timeframe.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Don’t Save Me”

ANIMAL HOSPITAL
animal hospital workers (host), (KAM), (CES) casually announce pet deaths

— A laugh from the first casual “Your pet is dead” reveal.
— Okay, after a decent start, this is unfortunately taking a weak one-note route, just repeating the same “Your pet is dead” joke over and over.
— Something about Kenan’s mock-emotional delivery of “My Tiffany!” cracked me up.
— Josh’s “Well, call me a dead uncle’s monkey” line was seemingly a flub, as he was presumably supposed to say “Well, call me a dead monkey’s uncle”, as per the dead animals theme of this sketch. You can tell by how haltingly he delivered that line, as well as the way he smirked afterwards, that he knew he flubbed the order of the words.
— A dumb and unfunny twist with the “dead” pets turning out to be alive after all.
STARS: **

WINSTON SAM BASS – INVESTIGATIVE REPORT
Winston Sam Bass (MOB) conducts investigative report on why bugs hurry

— Well, this certainly looks interesting. It’s also a further sign of how heavily reliant this season is starting to become on short films.
— A very dumb but funny concept, being very well-executed by Mike, with some good assistance from Josh.
— Funny bit with the degrading sound effects being played for the fat bug’s movements.
— I like the occasional turns with Mike having a sad, emotional moment. An early display of Mike’s predilection for displaying some pathos in both a genuine AND comical way in his short films.
STARS: ****

THANKSGIVING GUEST
Thanksgiving meal with (host)’s family upsets his turkey girlfriend (VAB)

— The camera accidentally prematurely gives away the reveal of Josh’s date being a turkey, then the camera tries to cover for it by awkwardly panning away from the turkey.
— An off-beat and silly but somewhat interesting premise, and Vanessa seems well-cast in this role.
— I love Taran’s angry delivery of “I didn’t know your girlfriend was a GOD-DANG TURKEY!”
— A good mock-emotional/poignant speech from Vanessa.
— The execution of this is making this potentially-somewhat-iffy material work pretty well.
— There was something I oddly really liked about Taran’s delivery of “Weeellllll….” when Josh angrily tells him “Thanks a lot, dad!” while we’re shown footage of an animated turkey exiting the house.
STARS: ***½

GOODNIGHTS

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A good episode that, like the last few episodes prior to this, featured little to complain about, and had some strong high points.
— Aside from the Bruce Willis episode, this season so far has been doing better than I recalled. Unfortunately, I think this season’s struggles start to kick in during the upcoming December stretch of episodes, but we’ll see.

MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS

RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
80’s Song
Matchbox 3
dancing
Baby Boss
Winston Sam Bass – Investigative Report
Thanksgiving Guest
Piers Morgan Live
Best Buy Firing
Monologue
Weekend Update
Girlfriends Talk Show
Animal Hospital

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Lady Gaga)
a very slight step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW
Paul Rudd