04/05 - Christopher Walken/Panic at the Disco, Official Review Thread Options

[DG3]

Actually it's probably around 24 hours or less that they have to memorize what they can of the sketches that will make it to air in addition to two or three additional sketches that will never make it to air.

I totally don't expect anyone to memorize their lines on SNL, for the reasons you mention. And obviously, the cast members will always have the advantage over the host because they have much more practice at making quick glances to the cards and then back to the other actors.

But if you remember Annette Bening's show, she simply could not advert her eyes from the cards. It was awful to watch. Even De Niro was like that when he did it. I'm sure they are terrified they will lose their place on the card if they look away for a moment. I can understand that, but no one's forcing these people to host the show. If they think they can't do sketch comedy, they shouldn't agree to the gig.

So it makes me appreciate that much more the hosts that can do this without difficulty. But with Walken, it's the first time that he never looked at another actor for the entire show. The dude's getting senile.

[threeholepunchji...]

God, I am so sick of people dogging the cast members for looking at the cue cards. The cast members aren't machines.

The hosts doing it, like Walken, yeah it was glaringly obvious but it's a new cast, it was his first time in 5 years, and it's part of his way of being weird, almost. Whatever.

ETA: Oops, forgot my review!

Cold open - Getting tired of political cold opens (with the exception of the Spitzer one, which wasn't about the election and was a clever take on what could've been pretty lame) but this one isn't that bad and it's short. B

Monologue - Good to see the writers onscreen for a bit, and this is the perfect match to Walken's personality. Starting mundanely then escalating into crazy. A

Grease - We never changed the words in my high school production... A little long, but still, "have you ever seen a dragon?" is 1000000 times better than the original lyrics. I loved his "save the drama for the stage" t-shirt. A little long though. C

Office stalker - Amazing likeness of Jason. "I love the radio, it's so random!" left me rolling. And I can't see anybody but Walken in this. I liked the fact that the other office workers react non-chalantly. Kristen: "Go to him." C

Lazer Cats 3 - Hey random political cameo. This one went on a little long, but was still funny, and much more character-driven than the others..as much as a movie about cats that shoot lasers could be. Also the pug puppy? Flipping adorable. B

Surprise Party - Man, I love Kristen Wiig. Her face and mannerisms sold this sketch. And when she yelled surprise and did her little hand-movements over her face, I died. A

Panic song 1 - Dang it, I really like this song now. Thanks SNL. A

Update - Yes, another short one!I hate the ones that are so long and have "guests." Andy's part should've been cut or shorter. Good jokes, quick and fast. B

Walken Family Reunion - I'm glad I got to see Hader do his Walken because it's A+ but way too many cast members. I loved that there were "Walken children".. should've cut Fred's part, and maybe another. B

Indoor Gardening Tips - LOVE IT. Reminded me of something I'd see on SCTV or the Ferrell years. Where did they find the giant googly eyes? A

Top Chef - Excellent impression of Padma by Kristen with the dead eyes and sucked in cheeks. But nothing else really stands out. Just kinda eh.. Reality shows are always easy targets, surely SNL can go after the more candid reality. Suggestion: JON AND KATE PLUS 8 C

Panic song 2 - Heard it before, no comments

Larry King Live - My favorite Larry King is the Dumbledore one. Other than that, I don't find anything good with this recurring sketch. Shame because Fred's impression is perfect.

[bahramu]

So it makes me appreciate that much more the hosts that can do this without difficulty. But with Walken, it's the first time that he never looked at another actor for the entire show. The dude's getting senile.

how can we judge senility from a 90 minute comedy show?

[ComedyWriter]

how can we judge senility from a 90 minute comedy show?

Here's the formula:

[(Number of cue card glances+Accidentally funny moments)/Planned funny moments]*The Host's Age

The higher the number the more senile the person is.

-Nick

[DG3]

I'd say that's about right.

[MaddAddams]

Panic at the Disco - "Nine in the Afternoon" and "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" I like these guys so I enjoyed it. I noticed they changed the lyrics....to me it sounded like, "Closing the HARD damn door". I was surprised they did that - I mean, people say OMG and similar sayings all the time on TV and it's not a problem. Oh well, the fact it was changed and for whatever reason, doesn't affect me, just thought it was odd.

FCC lets you say god, and they let you say damn, but they don't let you say the GD. It's silly. Most radio stations do air edited versions of the song that blank it.

The GD has been said on SNL before, but only by accident. I remember Jimmy dropping it during the bar sketch with Jennifer Garner and I think Seth has stumbled and said it on update. But they're all cleaned up for the rerun. Apparently it'll corrupt our babies to say such foul language at midnight on Saturday :/

Anyways, just saying it's nothing new under the sun to be censoring that pairing.

[ComedyWriter]

FCC lets you say god, and they let you say damn, but they don't let you say the GD

I wish SNL would try to push the limits of what is allowed to be said on television again. It is because of SNL that it is okay to use the verb form of the word b!tch to a limited extent. Yet, there are so many words left which are simply considered taboo. I want to set those words free. And even if the words are not set free, the pushing of those limits would provide at least some entertainment in the process.

The FCC as a government organization, should ideally be held up to the standards of the constitution and, more specifically the bill of rights. Still more specifically, they should be protecting, not inhibiting the usage of people's first amendment rights. If they want to claim obscenity on foul language on TV, I'd love to see them try to figure out what constitutes the "community" for a nationally broadcast television show.

...Then again, I'm just crazy hippy who loves him some comedy, what do I know?

-Nick

[Padistedor]

With Christopher Walken hosting, I was sure they would do a "continental" skit. I waited and waited through skit and commercial. I was clinging to my seat at the end of the show and when they came back from commercial they do a lame Larry King / Jimmy Carter bit. My heart sank! Nothing could have been more boring. What were they thinking at SNL? They thought doing a spoof on Top Chef would be funnier than a continental? Wow they got that wrong.

I like Christopher Walken but I couldn't help but stare at him staring at the cue cards all night. It was kind of distracting.

I chuckled at things here and there but I was disappointed with the show as a whole.

-Padi

[MaddAddams]

The FCC as a government organization, should ideally be held up to the standards of the constitution and, more specifically the bill of rights. Still more specifically, they should be protecting, not inhibiting the usage of people's first amendment rights. If they want to claim obscenity on foul language on TV, I'd love to see them try to figure out what constitutes the "community" for a nationally broadcast television show.

...Then again, I'm just crazy hippy who loves him some comedy, what do I know?

-Nick

I think far more worrisome about the FCC than the stronger censorship practices are the *greatly* loosened media ownership rights. There's like five gigantosyndicates that control a bizarrely huge portion of the airwaves, and the newspapers too. The whole FCC has been in Big Media's pocket since Michael Powell took over.

Oh, and there's a good reason we received no The Continental. Those sketches have always been written by Tom Davis, and he was not in town to write a sketch last week.

[Carlapalooza]

FCC lets you say god, and they let you say damn, but they don't let you say the GD. It's silly. Most radio stations do air edited versions of the song that blank it.
The GD has been said on SNL before, but only by accident. I remember Jimmy dropping it during the bar sketch with Jennifer Garner and I think Seth has stumbled and said it on update. But they're all cleaned up for the rerun. Apparently it'll corrupt our babies to say such foul language at midnight on Saturday :/
Anyways, just saying it's nothing new under the sun to be censoring that pairing.

I wish SNL would try to push the limits of what is allowed to be said on television again. It is because of SNL that it is okay to use the verb form of the word b!tch to a limited extent. Yet, there are so many words left which are simply considered taboo. I want to set those words free. And even if the words are not set free, the pushing of those limits would provide at least some entertainment in the process.
The FCC as a government organization, should ideally be held up to the standards of the constitution and, more specifically the bill of rights. Still more specifically, they should be protecting, not inhibiting the usage of people's first amendment rights. If they want to claim obscenity on foul language on TV, I'd love to see them try to figure out what constitutes the "community" for a nationally broadcast television show.
...Then again, I'm just crazy hippy who loves him some comedy, what do I know?
-Nick

The reason I thought it was odd is because the band censored themselves (I'm assuming to avoid any negative publicity). They are allowed to say GD on TV in the States though (The FCC has concluded that the words ""GD" and its variations are not actionable, citing precedent in which courts held that material, such as the phrase "GD it" uttered in anger, while offensive to some, is not legally profane for purposes of Section 1464"). It must be the cold weather up here in Canada that enables us to "chill-out" when it comes to censorship - we are all about the fundamental freedoms. Our magic hours here are between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. - you would not believe what we are allowed to say and show on regular cable TV between those hours (A little earlier even, depending on the individual case)(Pretty much any swears, soft porn, etc., with "viewer discretion advised" warnings) LOL!

[MaddAddams]

Technically, SNL airs during 'Safe Harbor' hours (10 PM - 6 AM) with much less stringent guidelines as to what can and cannot be said on air. I've yet to see a major broadcast network truly make use of the guideline though. Even Comedy Central (which is not under the FCC's domain, being a cable company) waits until 1 AM to air its 'Secret Stash' uncensored programming.

The other aspect of this is advertisers... networks are about making money and if a major advertiser decides the program its purchasing advertising on is objectionable, then it may pull its support. The GD (I'm selfcensoring because I prefer the euphemism to any censorship this board might automate onto me) is fairly offensive amongst the religious conservatives in the country, and the advertiser is worried that they won't be able to reach those audiences. Obviously, the completely ignored flipside to this is that if you have a popular show, regardless of the content, advertisers will come.

Censorship is not controlled via the FCC directly, NBC has its own censors that determine internally what it will or will not air, and tends to be more stringent as they'd rather avoid the costs and 'negative' publicity of a legal battle.

Previously, music acts have been known to selfcensor (as Panic! at the Disco did, or Korn's appearance) or play the song normal and be blanked by the NBC soundboard (Green Day's "American Idiot"). But the last time a band performed with the soundboard adding the blanks (System of a Down's "B.Y.O.B."), Daron Malakian took the opportunity to shout an extended, unplanned F-bomb for absolutely no reason whatsoever - maybe they have changed their policy in what the guests are allowed to do? Just postulating. Either way, Malakian acted like a baby.

[MaddAddams]

Can't seem to edit my last post, just wanted to state that the existence of previous instances where the phrase was cleaned up for later broadcast indicates that it is on NBC's 'forbidden' list, regardless of the phrase's legal status.

[nihobbs]

So busy lately... I know its late but here it is

Cold Open... Always political even if its not funny, I did not feel this was good enough to lead off the show, what about some weird opening with Walken getting ready before the show and have him tell the cast "doing the show is a piece of cake all the words are written out for you on these cards it s great..." Grade D

Monologue... Great. I loved the reactions from Walken answerin g his own questions Grade A

Grease: I thought it was good sketch (not skit for you new people) and yes Walken reads off the cards but that is his thing and I love it as opposed to when Deniro does it which comes off looking bad.. Walken still gets the delivery right Grade B

Away Party: Not bad at all. It had some good laughs and was one of those sketches that keeps building in the absurdity department which works great for a host like Walken. Grade B-

Laser Cats 3: I almost feel like not reviewing anymore Digi Shigies b/c they are all freakin awesome this one was no exception w/ so much background laughs you have to watch it over and again to really pick up on all the jokes.. I loved it when they flashed to Lorne and Senator Dodd wearing 3d glasses.. Grade A

Surprise party: Not a whole lot for wiig this week which is unusual but this was no doubt written for her.. I didn 't find it one of her best though Grade C

WU I am actually pleasantly surprised w/ how well the last few updates have been Grade B

Walken Reunion: not bad. it was cool to see everyone do there impression of Walken which is very hard to get down properly, I have been trying for years and still don't have it right, but it seemed like a lot of the impressions were more of impressions of another persons impression so it left me a little more wanting.. I thought the content of the sketch was good Grade B-

Googly Eyes; Hands Down my favorite: I loved the way Walken handled this and the concept was so original I laughed my @ss off. I've been wtching it again and again and I loved the part where he says my last thougth would be I always knew it was the ferns Grade A+

Top Chef: Nice take on these crazy cooking shows as of late, and no better host to do it with.. I think maybe they have had this sketch around for little bit waiting for the right host Grade B-

Larry King; Great sketch considering its time slot.. I thought Fred did a great job of making fun of Carters limitless supply of books Grade B-

Overall I enjoyed this show and it is right now one of my current favorites, not as good as Baldwins show last year but I put it right up there.. gotta run..

[cjg]

i'm pretty sure the good and bad side of every sketch has been seen so i'm just gonna say i loved the show. Liked the monolougue and laser cats and the plants and greased lighting.

On a side note, a ton has been said about walken reading off the cue cards. On the nbc site, his picture wasn't posted until really late in. Idk but maybe that means he was running behind show development wise or somthing? Idk. Who knows?

[DG3]

With Christopher Walken hosting, I was sure they would do a "continental" skit.

I like Christopher Walken but I couldn't help but stare at him staring at the cue cards all night.

That's why there wasn't a sketch. Remember, for 'The Continental', he's supposed to look into the camera the whole time for it to work. Maybe they rehearsed it, and Walken just wasn't in step.

[DG3]

Can't seem to edit my last post...

You only get a certain number of minutes to edit, then it's permanent.

[MaddAddams]

You only get a certain number of minutes to edit, then it's permanent.

That explains it. Too bad my connection timed out on my first attempt.

And again, The Continental was Tom Davis's baby.

[jimifloydrix]

i didn't like the music in the intro this episode. they tried to make it more "modern" or something, but it was much better the old way, with more instruments and more sax.
also in the end they take absolutely no time to do the song anymore.

the walken family reunion is hilarious.
of course it's all about the walken impressions more than the content, but still...

[jimifloydrix]

also in the end they take absolutely no time to do the song anymore.

sorry, not true. it's just in my country the credits last about 20 seconds.

[ComedyWriter]

Can't seem to edit my last post...

If you ever need something edited, just shoot me a PM and I'll be happy to take care of it for you. I'm only leaving this current instance unedited so that others know that I can do this for them.

It's just one of my many moderatorly duties that I perform.

-Nick