Betty White Hosts SNL

[Wile_E]

@DMark

Already have my DVR set to record, and will try to watch it live.
BTW, has anyone else seen the promo for the new series, “Hot in Cleveland” starring Betty White, with Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick. The clip I saw was actually pretty funny - begins airing on TV Land June 16.

That was real? I wasn’t sure if it was a fake ad, then again it would have been the least funny part of the show.

@xenophon41

I’ll admit I’ve only heard JayZ with Alicia Keys singing that New York song… Does he really suck at everything else, or does he just suck tonight?

I’m not a fan of rap either but even I was surprised at how bad he sounded.

@choie

I can’t speak for King of Queens, but, erm… did we watch the same Seinfeld? Because Stiller’s role as Frank Costanza most
certainly didn’t talk “non stop about sex.” The most I remember him opining on the subject was his “shopping short” in the car with that Korean ex-girlfriend of his. He wasn’t foul-mouthed either. Loud, yeah. He was an annoying, quirky jerk… like most of the other characters on the show.

I think you’re wise not to continue the debate, because your examples aren’t very… well… good examples.

I’ve watched both Seinfeld and King of Queens, Stiller’s characters in both are loud and obnoxious but neither focused on sex. In KoQ, his character was always more interested in get rich quick schemes, I can only recall a handful of episodes that dealt with Arthur having a sexual relationship with anyone.

So yeah, bad examples.

I can rarely get NBC thanks to this great digital tv thing but I’m glad it was actually coming in on Saturday night so I could see the show. It was the funniest SNL in a long time.

[panache45]

I wouldn’t be surprised if Betty White herself declined to participate in a *Mary Tyler Moore Show *or *Golden Girls *skit. Those were the most memorable roles in her “body of work,” and I can see her wanting to leave them un-tampered-with . . . especially since two of her *Golden Girls *costars are deceased. Even when they sang her the *Golden Girls *theme, they sang it straight, saving the humor for her response.

[cgg419]

Good episode for sure, I really liked it.
But I gotta say, Christopher Walken did the census taker better

How To Complete A Census

[xenophon41]

@VinylTurnip

I came to ask the same question. To my rap-phobic, Jay-Z-agnostic ears, that sounded so bad it was embarrassing. If someone were doing that “yeah,” “uh-huh” shit along with song on my car stereo, I’d tell him to shut the fuck up or get out.

I’m not rap phobic, but I don’t exactly seek out hip hop for enjoyment. I do appreciate talent, though. Good rap is engaging and stimulating (speaking as a southern caucasian male passing through late middle age). Jay-Z’s performance was… neither.

By the way, the woman singing the Alicia Keys part… Bridget Kelly

[maladroit]

@MPB_in_Salt_Lake

Glad you find that kind of “humor” funny—I will be glad to send you 8 dollars that you can use to have some old lady in your neighborhood piss and shit in a coffee can for you, if you are in need of more big laughs…

That’s sick, and not in the good way.

[multimediac17]

I’ve only ever seen bits and pieces of Saturday Night Live (I don’t think it’s shown on free to air Australian television) but I adore Betty White and had to seek out this episode. I thought she was absolutely hilarious, although I don’t think I’d tune in for a regular, Betty White-less episode.

Blarrrfengar Blarrrfengar had me in hysterics!

Jay-Z is one of my all time favourite artists but he wasn’t exactly on top form.

[DoctorJ]

@xenophon41

I’m not rap phobic, but I don’t exactly seek out hip hop for enjoyment. I do appreciate talent, though. Good rap is engaging and stimulating (speaking as a southern caucasian male passing through late middle age). Jay-Z’s performance was… neither.

By the way, the woman singing the Alicia Keys part… Bridget Kelly

I just don’t think Jay is a great live performer. His flow on his better studio tracks is really precise, and the extra energy and inherent sloppiness of the live setting takes a lot away from it. That’s especially true on TV, where the sloppiness gets magnified, and especially when he’s having to censor so many of his lyrics out. I’ll see him at Bonnaroo next month, so I can see if that’s true.

I thought his first set just went on way too long. He should have done “Public Service Announcement” -> “99 Problems” during one segment and “Empire State of Mind” in the other one, and cut “Young Forever”; the sentiment was appropriate, but it’s just not a good track.

I thought Betty was awesome. The show wasn’t great throughout, but when has SNL ever been? In its heydays it still had a lot of filler. This one had a better quality:suck ratio than they’ve had in years.

[cactus_waltz]

@DoctorJ

I just don’t think Jay is a great live performer. His flow on his better studio tracks is really precise, and the extra energy and inherent sloppiness of the live setting takes a lot away from it. That’s especially true on TV, where the sloppiness gets magnified, and especially when he’s having to censor so many of his lyrics out. I’ll see him at Bonnaroo next month, so I can see if that’s true.

Possibly, but he’s good on his “Unplugged” album. I’m thinking he was out of shape. He looked exhausted and estranged when the credits rolled.

[Starving_Artist]

“Concrete jungle where dreams are made of” ??

That drives me crazy! (I know, I know, short ride.)

Still, would it really have been that much harder to think up “Concrete jungle that dreams are made of” instead?

[Starving_Artist]

Anyway, here’s another version that has so much Alicia Keys goodness that I guess I can forgive her for that line after all. She really sells that song! Good stuff!

[control-z]

@MPB_in_Salt_Lake

Yes, I do (seriously, I don’t think she would say “no” to anything no matter how vulgar or degenerate) actually feel that way about Betty White, but I have the SAME opinion about Cloris Leachman (who has done many similar cameos on Jimmy Kimmel, one simulating anal sex with Jack Black) or the old guy in all the Judd Aptow movies who seems to always ONLY have lines that feature the word “fuck” 7 or more times in them.

How do you simulate anal sex? Do you mean “doggy style”?

[vertizontal]

…Still, would it really have been that much harder to think up “Concrete jungle that dreams are made of” instead?

Never use a preposition to end a sentence with.

[Slow_Moving_Vehicle]

On a bit of a tangent, I have to give props to the two actress who played the NPR announcers in the “Dusty’s Muffin” skit. (No idea who they are, since I haven’t watched SNL since Tim Kazurinsky was a regular). They really nailed what Stephen Colbert called “the steady barbituate drone” of some NPR hosts - almost a Terry Gross parody. Betty White of course killed in that sketch, but the other two showed off some chops.

[MsWhatsit]

@Slow_Moving_Vehicle

On a bit of a tangent, I have to give props to the two actress who played the NPR announcers in the “Dusty’s Muffin” skit. (No idea who they are, since I haven’t watched SNL since Tim Kazurinsky was a regular). They really nailed what Stephen Colbert called “the steady barbituate drone” of some NPR hosts - almost a Terry Gross parody. Betty White of course killed in that sketch, but the other two showed off some chops.

Yeah - the muffin stuff was funny, although you could see it coming a mile away. But I laughed the most at the earlier banter between the two hosts:

“Quinoa.”

“Whoa.”

“You thought I was going to say barley, didn’t you?”

[Walloon]

@Sam_Stone

Her Sue Ann Nivens character on the Mary Tyler Moore show was the nice, sweet-sounding old lady who always had raunchy one-liners.

You heard it here: Women in their 50s are old ladies.

[AClockworkMelon]

Just saw this episode and it was GREAT. I’ve been really disappointed in SNL for a long time but this one was amazing. I was actually laughing out loud when Kenan started the Oompa Loompa parody.

[BigT]

@AClockworkMelon

Just saw this episode and it was GREAT. I’ve been really disappointed in SNL for a long time but this one was amazing. I was actually laughing out loud when Kenan started the Oompa Loompa parody.

That part I liked. A lot of it I didn’t. I see you guys saying she really committed to the roles, but, to me, she seemed off the entire time. And, unfortunately, this often pulled me out.

And while I like her brand of humor, I’d have liked a bit of variety in it. Humor thrives on subverting expectations. When you start to anticipate the joke, the humor decreases.

[AClockworkMelon]

@BigT

That part I liked. A lot of it I didn’t. I see you guys saying she really committed to the roles, but, to me, she seemed off the entire time. And, unfortunately, this often pulled me out.

And while I like her brand of humor, I’d have liked a bit of variety in it. Humor thrives on subverting expectations. When you start to anticipate the joke, the humor decreases.

I can’t recall every skit, of course, but the only one that I can remember disliking was the skit where Betty kept calling the girl a lesbian. It was funny the first time but then I realized that that was pretty much the entire skit.

A plus was it had the amazing Nasim Pedrad doing a funny accent. She and Maya Rudolph are fucking gorgeous.

[descamisado]

@vertizontal

Never use a preposition to end a sentence with.

Yeah, that is something up with which I will not put.

[notfrommensa]

FWIW, Betty White is a guest on Leno tonight. For those who can’t get enough of Betty White.