# SNL April 5 C. Walken **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093 "2008-04-05T17:07:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/1 "2008-04-05T17:07:19Z")
I’m looking forward to the episode tonite as Christopher Walken is one of the guests SNL pulls out all the stops for. I just saw a promo (“I just had lasagna”) and he acts so quirky as to barely qualify as human. I enjoyed many of the SNL episodes last year, and haven’t liked any show yet this year. I am also getting tired of white Obama impersonations. Here’s hoping for more Cow Bell. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/2 "2008-04-05T20:07:50Z")
I too am looking forward to tonight- its pretty much impossible to have a bad episode hosted by Walken. And it would have been lame of SNL to hire a black ringer just to do Obama- especially when Fred can do it well. And note, Fred is I believe literally less white than Obama is. ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/3 "2008-04-05T20:39:55Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] I too am looking forward to tonight- its pretty much impossible to have a bad episode hosted by Walken. And it would have been lame of SNL to hire a black ringer just to do Obama- especially when Fred can do it well. And note, Fred is I believe literally less white than Obama is. [/QUOTE] I agree that Fred does a good Obama impression. Just make him look black. Getting the hair right, the eyebrows right, the expressions right, and then forgetting the skin color is stupid. I know this has been discussed before, but this is supposed to be an edgy show not afraid of offending people. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/4 "2008-04-06T01:08:07Z")
Christopher Walken is hosting SNL this week? Wow! Wowie-wow-wow! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/5 "2008-04-06T01:17:39Z")
[QUOTE=Mikemike2] I agree that Fred does a good Obama impression. Just make him look black. Getting the hair right, the eyebrows right, the expressions right, and then forgetting the skin color is stupid. I know this has been discussed before, but this is supposed to be an edgy show not afraid of offending people. [/QUOTE] It’s also a live show. It may be trickier than it’s worth to change an actor’s skin color between one sketch and the next. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/6 "2008-04-06T01:23:51Z")
I have a sudden urge to prank somebody with a tire iron. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/7 "2008-04-06T09:39:26Z")
You’ll just have to settle for a giant invisible bird. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/8 "2008-04-06T14:01:17Z")
I fell asleep before the Update. Did I miss any good skits. Even the High School play was funny and I think only Walken could have pulled that off. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/9 "2008-04-06T14:56:46Z")
I forgot it was on and only saw the last half hour. Walken couldn’t take his eyes off the cue cards for a second. Nor could the cue card guy, apparently, move to a position that would allow Walken to appear to be speaking to the other actors. I’m not saying it wasn’t funny, just a little awkward. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/10 "2008-04-06T15:10:17Z")
Walken has never, in any of his 100 (sic) appearances on the show, looked a fellow actor in the eye. He doesn’t even pretend to or give a quick cheat in their direction. He stares directly at the cue cards always. And he still can’t get more than a bare majority of his lines right. It’s probably the least professional behavior of anybody in the history of the show and that includes Ashlee Simpson. How stoned do you have to be to find this funny? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/11 "2008-04-06T15:19:16Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Walken has never, in any of his 100 (sic) appearances on the show, looked a fellow actor in the eye. He doesn’t even pretend to or give a quick cheat in their direction. He stares directly at the cue cards always. And he still can’t get more than a bare majority of his lines right. It’s probably the least professional behavior of anybody in the history of the show and that includes Ashlee Simpson. How stoned do you have to be to find this funny? [/QUOTE] Damn, that’s harsh. I was cold stone sober and just tired. 😉 I found the pre-made audience questions and the High School skit funny. It is Walken’s demeanor that does it. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/12 "2008-04-06T16:12:20Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I fell asleep before the Update. Did I miss any good skits. Even the High School play was funny and I think only Walken could have pulled that off. [/QUOTE] Much of the show was like that: Funny, even laugh-out-loud funny, but I have my doubts that it would have worked at all without Walken. And even he couldn’t save the surprise party sketch. And the Walken family reunion, though mildly amusing, was clearly on because everyone in the cast wanted an excuse to do a Walken impression. The plants with googly eyes sketch, on the other hand, was classic Walken. ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/13 "2008-04-06T16:24:19Z")
I agree that I found Walken’s laser lock on the cue cards to be distracting to the point of being uncomfortable. Glance at the other cast members once in a while, and maybe memorize a few of your shorter lines. I wonder if he memorizes his lines when he is on a movie set. The two sketches I thought were funny were the scared of plants scene, and the farewell sketch of an office employee. When Walken stuck out his tongue for a kiss we pretty much gasped. Laser cats wasn’t too bad, but we have seen two other shorts with the same story. I watched it this morning. Thank goodness for fast forward. I don’t think any of these sketches will be making unto future compilations., so kinda disappointing as I was hoping for one excellent show this season. Also they repeated the Tina Fey once a year period sketch, which was funny, but they had just done it. ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/14 "2008-04-06T16:32:24Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] It’s also a live show. It may be trickier than it’s worth to change an actor’s skin color between one sketch and the next. [/QUOTE] Ya but they used a lot of makeup for previous Frankenstein and Cave Man sketches. I don’t think inconvenience is why they are scared of making a sorta of white guy look black. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/15 "2008-04-06T17:10:36Z")
I missed it so… was there a visit from … The Continental? “Cham-pahg-nyay?” ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/16 "2008-04-06T18:08:00Z")
Walken said on TV that he was having dinner in a restaurant in Singapore. A diner at the table next o him told the waiter "you know what this salad needs. It needs more cowbell’. He says he can not get away from it. ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/17 "2008-04-06T21:40:36Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] Much of the show was like that: Funny, even laugh-out-loud funny, but I have my doubts that it would have worked at all without Walken. And even he couldn’t save the surprise party sketch. And the Walken family reunion, though mildly amusing, was clearly on because everyone in the cast wanted an excuse to do a Walken impression. The plants with googly eyes sketch, on the other hand, was classic Walken. [/QUOTE] Completely agree - my boyfriend and I were laughing hysterically at the monologue - just something about Walken waxing so enthusiastically about the GIANT invisible BIRD really got to us - and yes, we were stone-cold sober. Certainly one of the best opening monologues I’ve seen in a while, and overall a pretty strong show. But I felt that Andy Samberg’s Pregnant Man was a little too similar to his Diablo Cody impersonation. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/18 "2008-04-06T22:33:16Z")
Did you catch Kristen Wiig’s ass as Padma Lakshmi in _Top Chef_? That had to be a silicone prosthesis. Only in view for a split second, but **so** worth it! ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/19 "2008-04-07T01:26:22Z")
[QUOTE=randwill] Walken couldn’t take his eyes off the cue cards for a second. Nor could the cue card guy, apparently, move to a position that would allow Walken to appear to be speaking to the other actors. I’m not saying it wasn’t funny, just a little awkward. [/QUOTE] To me it’s distracting. I was really looking forward to him hosting, but about 20 minutes in I wandered over to my computer and never came back. He’s almost as bad as Fran Drescher. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093/20 "2008-04-07T02:11:42Z")
[QUOTE=Krokodil] Did you catch Kristen Wiig’s ass as Padma Lakshmi in _Top Chef_? That had to be a silicone prosthesis. Only in view for a split second, but **so** worth it! [/QUOTE] Wow, thanks. I hadn’t caught that the first time, but so worth a slow replay. I also enjoyed the surprise party sketch, maybe because I’m in lurve with Kristen. The ending was laugh-out-loud funny for me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-april-5-c-walken/444093.md?page=2)