SNL's Continued Downward Spiral Thread

[sgreenwell]

Puppet sketch = awesome

7 for 7. (I'm not counting the monologue.)

I think I laughed harder at that sketch than I have at SNL in a long time. At least three years.

I was almost in tears. The last time I remember laughing so hard at something was the first time I saw Flight of the Conchords. It's also a sketch that I could see them doing again, thankfully, since it wouldn't rely on Macfarlane's presence to do.

Overall, I thought this was a shockingly strong debut episode. Beyond the puppets, I thought the Eastwood sketch, Gangam Style, the monologue and Pharoah as Obama were good to great too. Then again, I was of the opinion that SNL used Wiig in too many sketches the past couple years, as a sort of crutch, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised that I liked this episode a lot more than any other one, except maybe last year's finale.

 

[DanOregon]

The puppet sketch had me in tears as well. I realize McFarlane has a day job, (or three), but man they should give him a key to the place. He was really good.
Pharoah was a definite upgrade. The writing was still kind of meh, but he sold it a little bit better. Loved the "Obama ad". Oddly, the flattest sketch of the night was the Eastwood thing. Along with the tired "producer takes over the talk show" and the Steve Harvey thing.

 

[terrier]

Big pile of meh for the most part. I expected more from Pharoah, and they have to figure out how to write for the women who are here now. The plus-size newbie got about five seconds of airtime, while the other two got more to do.
Certainly don't fault MacFarlane - enjoyed his Ryan Lochte himbo bit.

 

[TigerVols]

Having been without a DVR for more than a month, this marks the first time I truly miss it. Doesn't help that this extended stay hotel's WiFi won't allow for video downloads. #WhitePeopleProblems

 

[Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell]

The puppet skit was amazing. The rest? Not so much.

 

[Killick]

It was a throw-away, but I laughed at the wooden spoon thing, especially "The river... that took my son... (looks away, sad)..."

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Pharoah as Obama is such an upgrade. I just don't know why it took them this long to make the switch.

The puppet sketch was good, probably great by this cast's low standards.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

MacFarlane as Lochte was hilarious, but the rest of update was awful.

 

[jr/shotglass]

I swear, I'm never going to connect with some on this show.

I thought the episode was absolutely unmemorable.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I thought it was better than most, but these days that's not saying much.

 

[BigRed]

Puppet sketch = awesome

7 for 7. (I'm not counting the monologue.)

I think I laughed harder at that sketch than I have at SNL in a long time. At least three years.

I was almost in tears. The last time I remember laughing so hard at something was the first time I saw Flight of the Conchords. It's also a sketch that I could see them doing again, thankfully, since it wouldn't rely on Macfarlane's presence to do.

Funniest sketch I've seen SNL do in a while. "There was nobody laughing out loud that day in Grenada. Maybe I said TTYL - to my innocence."

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Tom Shales is not a fan of Seth MacFarlane.

Apparently a new bylaw at "Saturday Night Live," which began its 38th season this weekend, is "The worse the host, the more sketches in which he'll appear." So it was with big let-down Seth MacFarlane, multimillionaire comedy tycoon who hosted the season premiere. Once he arrived on the show's tiny (and, yes, "iconic") stage, he was punishingly omnipresent for the whole 90 minutes.
We can be grateful he didn't grab a cow bell and crash the musical act.
With the exception of MacFarlane - a man who has gone farther with less than perhaps even Tyler Perry -- the series seemed to be in tip-top ship-shape shape, especially considering that it begins a new year minus two of its greatest cast assets: Andy Samberg, off to make more movies, and the incomparably versatile Kristen Wiig, the funniest woman in television since Tina Fey. Or maybe since Gilda Radner. Or maybe since Carol Burnett. Or maybe since, dare we say it, Lucille Ball?

http://blogs.suntimes.com/shales/2012/09/sat_night_live_lives_-_still_loved_much_needed.html#.UFmm2pwvzx0.twitter