I watched the Biden-Murtha & the Barack-Michelle Variety Show skits this morning when I got home from work. What did Murtha actually say to prompt that? And if the Obamas actually did that this week, they might just get my vote.
Anyway, both were hilarious. But no thread here? Why? Because Tina Fey wasn’t on?
And congrats to Amy Poelher & Will Arnett on the birth of Archie! 8 lb, 1 oz.
Jon Hamm is adorable and oddly, did a dead-on impression of James Mason, of all people. Liked the Jon Hamm John Ham. We laughed, anyway. The 2 A-Holes at Sterling Cooper was pretty funny. Guest cameos from Elisabeth Moss and John Slattery were great to see, though they didn’t have much to do. Bill Hader as Sal was fantastic.
Did Coldplay really need to play three times?
Amy Poehler was sorely missed, esp. on the Weekend Update. Is it true she’s leaving the show?
The Mad Men spoof was a stinker (despite some welcome cast cameos) but the Trick or Treat spoof and Vincent Price skits were quite funny. The Biden/Murtha bit went on too long (Murtha called W.PA “racist” recently, btw) but the Variety Show kept things short and sweet. Amazing Amy did that electric rap only a week ago (though I wouldn’t be surprised if the sheer energy accelerated the delivery). Overall, Hamm was fine though clearly out of his element, and his JFK & James Mason impersonations were spot-on (in a satiric just-off sorta way). And Coldplay got 3 songs, to boot. A fun ep, it looks like Fred Armisen is likely to have a comfy 4-year gig (unless they hire a black castmember who can do a better job–a dubious prospect). Final grade–not stellar, but solid (like Barack).
I think Amy Poehler is going to star in the series spun off from The Office. And I thought this was a surprisingly strong episode, with several funny sketches, including some good stuff at the end. (It used to be a safe rule that you could turn off the show after Weekend Update without missing anything.)
How did that Jon Hamm John Ham line go? Something like, “Remember, if it’s pink and squishy, don’t wipe your ass with it!”
I ROFLed. (It helped that I was already sitting on the floor.)
The highlight was Gloria Swanson: “Pirate…arrrrrrr.” With no costume, no pirate voice, just that horrifying grimace. Cracked me up. “I’m an actress. If I want to be a pirate, I just say ‘pirate’.” The final skit with Hamm was completely sophomoric and stupid, and is more in line with what I’ve come to expect from the 'tards at SNL.
The John Ham skit would’ve been funnier if they didn’t hit the word repetition meme so hard. And if Jon Hamm would’ve choked on the “delicious” ham and had to spit it into the commode.
The problem with the political skits is that the Democrats gave them one-line gaffes, and even those were only seen by the most cable-watching political junkies. Making fun of Sarah Palin after 85 million people watched her debate and tens of millions more saw her flubbed interviews provided dozens of lines to work with and an audience familiar with them all. She’s a whole character. John Murtha? At first I couldn’t figure out who the characters in the skit were supposed to be and then I had Biden and Murtha reversed. You can’t do satire that way.
Darn those Democrats for not cooperating in their own parody. 
Don’t worry. If the Democrats win, I’m confident that they will provide lots of opportunity to be parodied. Joe Biden, for one, seems to regularly say something embarrassing.
My guess is that they had to cut several sketches due to Amy going into labor and so they got Coldplay to fill some of the time w/ an extra song.
I wish they’d do the Vincent Price skit more often than once a year on Halloween. But not so often I get sick of it.
When was the last time SNL had a popular recurring sketch? Some of the most memorable stuff from the show are the breakout sketches, like Wayne’s World or the Church Lady. And if they can develop a new one, it would do a lot for the viability of the show.
Closest thing to recurring sketches I can think of recently is the “Two A-Holes do <whatever>” and the MacGruber sketches. You can see them at Hulu: http://www.hulu.com/saturday-night-live
I was a little bit disappointed with this last Price skit. I was hoping it would have Orson Welles as a guest but I guess nobody in the current cast could do Welles.