The CW's latest superhero spinoff Legends of Tomorrow, finally has a premiere date of Jan 21st and a new trailer. I dumped Arrow this season, so I wasn't planning to tune in for this one, but I have to admit, this trailer makes it look kinda cool. Maybe I'll have to check it out after all.
RECAP: SNL 11/21 "Matthew McConaughey"
Last night's Thanksgiving episode of SNL benefited from the very funny presence of Matthew McConaughey, and I mean that just in terms of the way he looks and acts. Matthew McConaughey just has a funny air to him, no matter what he's saying, no matter what he's doing. It really shows you how far a host can take this show. And Adele was fabulous of course.
COLD OPEN: Another Fox & Friends bit, with everybody freaking out about the Syrian refugees, and appearances from Kate's Debbie Wasserman-Schulz and Jay's hilarious Ben Carson. It's funny because of him mostly.
MONOLOGUE: Now this is interesting- Matthew (who will be Matt tonight for length reasons) comes out and does an actual monologue about the origin of his famous catchphrase, which of course came from Dazed and Confused. It's mostly just fun to see someone do something besides either stand-up or a song. Good on ya, Matty!
ADELE THANKSGIVING: This one's pretty funny- fights at the Thanksgiving dinner table are interrupted by the playing of Adele's "Hello," which turns everyone into wannabe lip synchers dressed in her clothes.
BLUES: A mild bit with Kenan leading a jazz group that Matt can't fit into, because all his lyrics are rich, white guy complaints. First example tonight of Matthew's delivery and deadpan face elevating everything he says to make you smile, even if it's not that funny.
BIO-PRINT MAN: And the best example of the night of that same thing- this should have been ridiculous, with Cecily introducing a 3D printed man (Matt) among Taran and Beck's normal human men, but Matt makes it by dancing oddly and half-smiling his way through it. Seriously, I don't think this sketch is actually written funny, but Matt's behavior can't not make you laugh.
STAR WARS SCREEN TESTS: A reel with celebrity impressions and cameos, including Emma Stone, Jon Hamm, Michael Buble (how could they not put them together?) and JJ Abrams and the new Star Wars actors in it too. It's just alright (notably, no Matt in this one).
UPDATE: Colin and Michael continue to try to force feed each other, well, each other, and at this point it's simply become fascinating to me to watch two people who clearly have nothing in common, none of the same sense of humor and would never speak to each other in real life, try to force a bond and sense of interaction and "banter" that doesn't exist. It's like a weird sociological experiment now. Vanessa shows up as her Disney channel audition kid to read adult news (she's done this before in a skit), and that's really the only other thing worth noting here.
SHOULD YOU CHIME IN ON THIS?: This skit has Kenan as a game show host asking three "idiots" (Aidy, Matt and Kyle) not to chime in on recent hot button issues. Matt is once again, funny just via the way he talks, but this skit feels weirdly hostile and overtly political. Whoever wrote it was obviously angry about this stuff lately (not that I can blame them).
RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED: Okay, I hate this skit. Taran and Cecily are back as the married couple and their weird southern guests, this time with Matt as a chef who breaks down offscreen. I really hate this one though, I wish they'd retire it.
AMTRAK: Odd last bit with Matt as a local citizen upset about the incoming Amtrak train- rests again on Matt's delivery and he boy does he deliver. He actually made this entire episode.
So that was it guys. I was supremely impressed with Matthew McConaughey, who had to have been their best host since what, Drake maybe? He was funny, quick and completely natural on the stage- bring him back sooner than 14 years later next time. And Adele was incredible with her two songs as well. I give tonight a B+ because of Mathew- easily the best of the season anyway. I'll be back in two weeks with Ryan Gosling's SNL debut, so tune in for that, and in the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Be full and happy!
Family Squabbles and Laughs in Full Trailer for 'Transparent' Season 2
The teaser landed last week and now we have the official trailer, which looks every bit as good as last season. The Emmy-winning series is actually returning on December 11th- I had thought it was the 4th, but apparently it was moved back a week.
Bobby Cannavale Takes a Trip in New Trailer for 'Vinyl'
Lots and lots of drugs in the new Vinyl trailer, promising a wild, behind the scenes look at the 70's music industry. I hope there's more to the show than just getting wasted though- it's not like we haven't seen plenty of that in movies set in this time period over the years.
Agent Carter is Back in the New Promo for Season 2
Agent Carter was a show I liked earlier this year, that I didn't think would be back, but it looks like ABC's giving it another shot, premiering Season 2 with a two hour episode on Jan 5th. Peggy Carter and Jarvis are back, this time for some adventures in Hollywood and I'm looking forward to it- it's actually the best network show based on a Marvel property that they've done.
Bill Murray Plans His Party in 'A Very Murray Christmas' Trailer
I still don't know what exactly this movie, special, show or whatever it is, is doing, but seeing Bill Murray in anything kinda makes me smile, and since it was written by him and Sofia Coppola, hopefully it won't be too terrible. Their last collaboration was Lost in Translation after all, although this looks nothing like that film. It drops on Netflix on December 4th.
RECAP: SNL 11/14 "Elizabeth Banks"
SNL has the somber task of putting on a show the day after the tragic attacks in Paris, and they responded with a very moving and classy opening tribute from Cecily Strong. It may be the most memorable part of the episode though, as Elizabeth Banks gives it her all, but the skits, as usual, suffer from subpar writing.
COLD OPEN: A short, sweet and lovely tribute from Cecily to the people of Paris, both in English and in French (which she obviously speaks fluently). It strikes the perfect note on a sad day for the world.
MONOLOGUE: Elizabeth Banks (who I'm calling Liz, just because it's shorter) comes onstage for the first singing monologue in a while, as she decides to warble Flashdance, What a Feeling! while "directing" herself in camera shots as a nod to her burgeoning career as a director of the Pitch Perfect movies. It's alright, but the camera guy actually flubs some of the movements, funnily enough.
ARON'S LIST: An ad for Vanessa hiring handymen off a site that disperses registered sex offenders- this one's kinda amusing, one of the better ones of the night.
BLACK JEOPARDY: I wasn't a huge fan of this sketch the first time they did it- it's just Liz as the clueless white girl not getting the "black" clues, but there is a couple of good jabs at Bill Cosby and Tom Brady. And I also like the ending Tupac joke, but the skit is way too long.
FIRST TIME I GOT HORNY 2: Another music video from the girls, this one about the first celebs they felt that feeling "down there" for- it's funny, but I keep getting distracted by the fact that every celebrity is from the early to mid-90's, and not all these women are the same age, or the right age for that to match up. It just seems like they wanted to reference random 90's people like Hanson and the Menendez brothers.
STUDENT THEATRE SHOWCASE: Ugh. The artsy, faux outrage liberal students are back with their senseless performance art piece- this sketch has always been way too long and the joke is getting old now. I think I'm done with it. Like, forever. Don't bring it back, guys.
UPDATE: Lots of jokes about Trump, Jeb, Carson, Sanders- they can safely go after Trump now that he's not on the show, I guess. Pete comes on to do a bit on the transgender bathroom ballot issue in Texas, and that's okay; Kyle comes on as Bruce Chandling, which is painfully awful (man, never bring that character back); and then Kate as Olya again, which works, as always. Colin and Michael are just so bad at the forced banter though- they still need to be replaced and I'm not going to stop saying it.
ADVENTURES OF YOUNG BEN CARSON: This is sort of a weird way to go after all the recent Ben Carson lies, showing him as young guy in the 60's pretending to stab people- Jay is pretty funny as Carson himself, although to be fair, it’s not hard for anyone to do an impression of that guy. They ought to bring him on Update, probably.
THE BUREAU: Bobby is a walk-on extra for a TV cop show who didn't know he was going to be playing a pervert- it's a fairly mild bit and I almost forgot this skit even happened.
UBER FOR JEN: The once or twice a year skit from writer Mike O'Brien shows up tonight, as he plays an uber driver who ignores Liz's directions, then befriends her, then does it again to his next customer- it's slightly clever I guess.
GHETTO: Oof. This one's bad. Liz, Cecily, Sasheer and Vanessa are all elitist, upper class women with annoying vocal fry complaining about things being "ghetto," but Liz actually lives in the literal ghetto. I hate that voice. I can’t concentrate on anything else when I hear it.
So, that was it. It was a little below mediocre tonight, but Elizabeth Banks was game, although sometimes she blended into the skits so well that I forgot she was hosting- I guess she didn't exactly stand out completely. But this was probably better than last week, so I'll give it a C. Next time it's Matthew McConaughey and Adele, so hopefully they pull off a good Thanksgiving episode. See you guys then!
The Pfefferman Family is Back in Teaser for 'Transparent' Season 2
Yay- one of very favorite shows of last year is finally back for its second season, coming out December 4th on Amazon. Even the teaser makes me smile, as the nutty and dysfunctional Pfeffermans attempt and fail to come together for a wedding picture. Can't wait- if it's even half as good as it was last year it'll have no problem making my top ten list again.
Marvel's Jessica Jones is a Mess in the Latest Trailer
Jessica Jones is getting closer, guys. The season drops next Friday on Netflix, and the new trailer shows off more of Jessica, her anger and booze issues, David Tennant's Kilgrave, and Mike Colter's Luke Cage. I'm getting more excited with every new clip I see.
RECAP: SNL 11/07 "Donald Trump"
Well here we go. In the face of all the protests and boycotts, Donald Trump comes back to host SNL for the second time, and pretty much gives new meaning to the term "low energy." Frankly, it was no better or worse of an episode than usual though, at least by SNL standards.
COLD OPEN: Larry David is back as Bernie Sanders in the MSNBC democratic forum- he's good and funny, but boy that was fast. I guess he really liked his own impression of Sanders last time around.
MONOLOGUE: Trump comes out looking pained frankly, joking about his feuds and how he can take a joke, Taran and Darrell Hammond bring out their own Donald's- Darrell's is the superior. Larry David shouts that Trump's a racist from offstage, joking about the "bounty" for protesting live- well, the protests were legitimate, considering Trump's decision to actively stoke racism and xenophobia, even if it is all an act, so I'm not sure it's in particularly good taste to joke about it, but there 'ya go.
WHITE HOUSE 2018: Trump is president with Cecily as Melania, reveling in his success in all areas, also joking about how he can just make everything better by magic (odd thing to make fun of himself for if he's serious about trying to win). Ivanka shows up to brag about the White House interiors (to zero applause) and Beck appears as president of Mexico to bring a check for the Wall- this sketch is BAD, really bad. Oof. The audience is eerily silent in this one too- I guess the prospect of an actual Trump presidency is too frightening to giggle about, even in jest.
BAD GIRLS: The female cast members lead a video for bad girls doing mildly annoying things in public but bragging about their rebel nature- eh, kinda funny but goes on too long (no Trump in this- are they purposely trying to use him as little as possible?)
LIVE TWEETS: Trump "live tweets" a sketch where Cecily and Taran are at an Italian restaurant- he insults both of them on twitter, and Kate when she shows up as the restaurant owner. It's really not funny though, which is ironic, since Trump keeps tweeting about how not funny it is. They do go to a joke about Trump tweeting that Kenan is Kenyan and hiding his birth certificate, which is fucked up when you think about how Trump really DID that to Obama and it wasn't much of a joke then. Ick.
DRAKE: Jay mocks Drake's dance moves with a cameo by Ed Grimley! Hi Martin Short! Wish you were on the show- Trump dances here too for a second. It's kinda funny.
UPDATE: Jokes about Jeb Bush's dying campaign and Ben Carson being a liar; Michael jabs Trump hosting the show once, but hey, the show's still letting him host, dude- can't really hold your head up high on that one. Leslie's back as the relationship expert- real tired of that, while Che and Jost's new thing is to try harder to interact and make fun of each other- is that better for Update overall? I don't know- it still seems hostile to me. Drunk Uncle shows up as Trump's biggest fan- yay!- so it gets to end on a high note.
BAR BAND: Kenan leads a band performing in a bar (he likes these, doesn't he- it's reminiscent of What's Up With That), with Trump on the "laser harp," complaining about the long solos for each band member. Trump is really stiff and unfunny, no wonder they don't want to use him much. He's mostly just awkward in these skits.
MR.CROCKER: embarrassing family dinner with Beck playing music with himself singing and trying to get a record deal in front of his daughter's date- Trump is the music producer recruiting people for about three seconds. Weird.
SIA: They do a weird skit with Kenan as Toots, the last guy who was the music guest when Trump hosted in '04, needling Trump about giving him his number- why are they doing this? "Toots" tries to make him choose him as a running mate before Trump finally intros Sia. Odd.
PORN STARS: The show tries to go out on a high note with a classic that almost always works- this time the porn stars do a paid advertisement for Donald Trump for president in 2016, so they can live in his hotels. Vanessa and Cecily are still funny here, with Bobby coming on as Ronald McDonald Trump (his Trump is better than Taran's- why didn't they have him do the official Trump impression?). Then the real Trump shows up to NOT approve the message.
Okay, so now that it's over, my opinion is that this episode was in no way worse than a typical middling SNL episode, and anyone who says it's the worst thing they've ever done is only really saying it because they object to Trump hosting on moral grounds. They might be right there, and he certainly wasn't funny and appeared very awkward with the audience helping out as little as possible, but he was hardly onscreen and I liked exactly three skits- the porn stars, the Drake dancing, and Drunk Uncle. So I give it a C-. Maybe I should grade them lower for having him on in the first place, but there it is. Elizabeth Banks takes the stage next week, so hopefully the writing will be a little better for her. See you guys then!
Larry David didn't seem too jazzed about Donald Trump's appearance last night
