Saturday Night Live Season 35.

[Rourkefan]

When watching Mad Men, I always wondered if January Jones was a stiff actress or just playing her character well.

After tonights SNL, I no longer wonder...

She's wooden. Ashton Kutcher was right.

Edit: 2 sketches where she plays a 1950's/60's woman. What RANGE!

[dajuice7]

Didn't enjoy the Rear Window sketch except for January Jones trying to keep a straight face and wondering if SAG will take back her trophy for best ensemble cast.

The instructional video was awesome.

I love Kristen Wiig, but I haven't loved the characters she's done the past few weeks.

[Rourkefan]

I can't wait to see how a great actor like Joseph Gordon-Levitt will try to save garbage writing like seen tonight.

I think Levitt will be awesome, but I wish this show had good writing.

[Felt Pelt]

This seems uniquely absymal. The recast Hoda was sorely lacking. I liked the inside joke of Armisen saying "I like Peggy." The DQ interview sketch did well, I thought, with the same old Wiig character. But it built to nothing and its only innovation was for Wiig to take her shirt off.

Jones should get props for being willing to do the fart sketch. It seemed like something that would ordinarily play in the last ten minutes.

[Rourkefan]

Wow, The Black Eyed Peas are so awesome they deserve a third song!

Remember when they were a legit band, before Fergie?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJimFvjra78

[Anyawatchin Angel]

I think they were really reaching with January Jones as a host. EW, which is horrible at lists, came up with 20 they'd like to see and all would have been better than JJ.

High hopes for JGL.

*

Originally Posted by Rourkefan

I think Levitt will be awesome, but I wish this show had good writing.

I thought NPH would be awesome. Just hope the writing staff gets lucky.

[Mangy]

I watched Rear Window last night on TCM, and smiled as the sketch began. Then there was a fart, and I sighed and changed the channel.

[Paul755]

And we have a new "worst episode of the season"

[Hammerhead]

New Girl #2 earned her keep with the Kardashian impression. But there's no excuse for that bit being the highlight of the night.

[Richard Dickson]

It's like you people keep going to a restaurant where you hate the food but everyone once in a while the appetizer ain't bad.

[Felt Pelt]

We've always eaten here, it's free, there's nothing else open.

The portions are too large.

[LisaNY]

Originally Posted by Richard Dickson

It's like you people keep going to a restaurant where you hate the food but everyone once in a while the appetizer ain't bad.

True, but you never know when you're going to get a great show. If I gave up on it entirely, I would have never seen the Taylor Swift episode, which I thought was pretty damn funny. I always give it a chance - and besides, it's not the viewers' fault that it normally sucks.

[Richard Dickson]

But aren't the "great" shows more a case of shows that aren't as bad as the rest? I don't think I'd bring the word "great" anywhere near this show right now.

And it IS the viewer's fault if they continue watching something that normally sucks.

[LisaNY]

My honest opinion? Yes, the Taylor Swift show was pretty great, not just good. Color me surprised, but there you have it.

And yes, we can always change the channel, but again - that's my point that you may miss something along the lines of "Firelight". I mean, sure, it sucked wind last night, no argument there. But if I'd stopped watching when that show first tanked, I'd have given up on it during the Charles Rocket years and totally missed out on the Eddie Murphy years. Sometimes, you have to be patient and hope that it re-invents itself. Normally though, if it's sucking before "Weekend Update", I do turn it off.

[Richard Dickson]

I've just reached the same point with SNL that I've reached with comics -- if something really good happens, I'll watch the clips/read the trade.

[Diva]

Sorry Lisa, the Swift show was garbage.

Originally Posted by Paul755

And we have a new "worst episode of the season"

Seriously. WTF? Are castmembers on vacation, or do they just have a stripped down cast? It seemed like Sudekis and Wiig were in every skit. Forte needs way more screen time.

Richard, I DVR and fast forward through it each morning. I've just committed so much time to the show (literally like 15 years) that its just something that I do. I keep hoping that it'll pick up, but yeah, at some point I'm just gonna have to cut my loses. And not to make it seem like previous seasons were "better". But at least in the 80's & 90's, I enjoyed the cast. So even if there were shitty skits, I enjoyed seeing my favorite cast members try and salvage it. There's not a single cast member these days, save for Forte, that I look forward to seeing each week. It's sad.

[DaveB]

Originally Posted by Richard Dickson

But aren't the "great" shows more a case of shows that aren't as bad as the rest? I don't think I'd bring the word "great" anywhere near this show right now.

The last "great" episode was the Jon Hamm episode last season, which wasn't that long ago. I didn't expect Jones to deliver on that level, but I was hoping that the writers would get hit with some of the same inspiration that hit them with the last Mad Men star.

I don't think this proves much of anything about Jones' acting ability on Mad Men (where I think she's fucking great). For one, some good dramatic actors just don't have comic chops, and, two, no one was funny on this episode, including the comedians.

Okay, I guess there's some humor to be found in how thoroughly untalented the Black Eyed Peas were unequivocally shown to be. I'd like to think that at least some of their more perceptive fans (if such an animal exists) would watch this show and realize that the band just does not deliver on any level. Not talented, not fun - kind of clumsy and amateurish, even. I'm, frankly, surprised that a band who's toured this much and performed in front of big crowds can come off worse than some high school show choirs I've seen.

[bendrix]

Originally Posted by DaveB

Okay, I guess there's some humor to be found in how thoroughly untalented the Black Eyed Peas were unequivocally shown to be. I'd like to think that at least some of their more perceptive fans (if such an animal exists) would watch this show and realize that the band just does not deliver on any level. Not talented, not fun - kind of clumsy and amateurish, even. I'm, frankly, surprised that a band who's toured this much and performed in front of big crowds can come off worse than some high school show choirs I've seen.

I saw them live a few years before the Fergie onslaught, and I remember been impressed with then. They were into it and put on a really tight show. I'll agree that they were a travesty last night, especially compared to my earlier reference point.

[Ratty]

The show was terrible, but I'll give it this: it was 100% Keenan-free.

I will admit the final sketch with the clouds was faintly amusing. It at least had a semblance of real life to it.

[Richard Dickson]

A lot of this just sounds like the battered wife who forgives her husband when he remembers their anniversary.

[LisaNY]

Originally Posted by Diva

Sorry Lisa, the Swift show was garbage.

Hey, you have your opinion, and I have mine. I don't think either of us have laid down the law on that.

[Jcassady]

I just watched last night's ep and holy balls was that bad. It was just a parade of unfunny premise, followed by unfunny writing, followed unfunny performances. Everyone deserves an F for that effort.

The unfortunate part is that Jones is going to take the worst hit for this. SNL is pretty much bulletproof, but while Taylor Swift is getting second looks for even more mainstream projects based on her performance, I wouldn't be shocked if Jones' name was crossed off of a few lists of potential projects (or at least dropped further down on the depth chart). Yes, I think great/poor SNL performance actually has that much weight.

Don't get me wrong, she deserves a heap of blame. She was stiff and had difficulty performing off cue cards, which for a young actor trying to establish herself is pretty inexcusable. However, the writers did her absolutely no favors and the actors seemed to be mailing it in (Hader was shockingly uninspired in the Dr. Jekyll sketch)

Also the Black Eyed Peas were horrific, but in the right hands (artist and producer), their second song could be entertaining.

[Rourkefan]

Originally Posted by Jcassady

I just watched last night's ep and holy balls was that bad. It was just a parade of unfunny premise, followed by unfunny writing, followed unfunny performances. Everyone deserves an F for that effort.

The unfortunate part is that Jones is going to take the worst hit for this. SNL is pretty much bulletproof, but while Taylor Swift is getting second looks for even more mainstream projects based on her performance, I wouldn't be shocked if Jones' name was crossed off of a few lists of potential projects (or at least dropped further down on the depth chart). Yes, I think great/poor SNL performance actually has that much weight.

The Rock has an acting career mainly due to the awesome job he did hosting SNL in 2000.

A lot of good actors have been bad on SNL: Deniro comes to mind.

JGL should be good cause he grew up doing a sitcom in front of a live studio audience

[Jcassady]

Originally Posted by Rourkefan

A lot of good actors have been bad on SNL: Deniro comes to mind.

Completely agree. I was going to mention that well-established actors have nothing to loss, but had already exceed my limit on parentheticals.

A well-established actor can only gain from a SNL appearance. If Will Smith hosts and the show sucks, no one is writing him off, because he's Will Smith. But like Dwayne Johnson (and I suspect Taylor Swift), someone can use a great SNL performance as a catapult.

Unfortunately, the inverse can be true as well.

[Raspberry Leper]

They need to completely tear this show down to its foundation and rebuild. Writers, cast, everything (Hader is pretty much the only real loss). Even if it requires taking a year sabbatical. Scour the country and find talented, funny people. 'Cause what they have now thought the shit from last night was funny.

[Jake]

lol the backlash

This thing has been awful for a while. I feel sorry for Kenan every time I see him on because it seriously feels like he never outgrew All That.

[sin-eater]

I think Keenen just really really misses Kel.

[Nexus-7]

Originally Posted by Raspberry Leper

They need to completely tear this show down to its foundation and rebuild. Writers, cast, everything (Hader is pretty much the only real loss). Even if it requires taking a year sabbatical. Scour the country and find talented, funny people. 'Cause what they have now thought the shit from last night was funny.

And get rid of recurring characters that aren't political figures, and sometimes even them.

But then Lorne wouldn't have characters with "film potential", so it won't happen.

[CaptainZahn]

I think of SNL like a piece of live theater. It may not always be great, but you never know what's going to happen, and that gives it an edge.