Aaaaahhhh! I can't wait for this!!! I may be the only person to geek out over a multi-part nature documentary, but when it's the sequel to 2006's Planet Earth, one of the best documentaries I've ever seen, I'm gonna be there on day one, people. Narrated once again by David Attenborough and with a score from Hans Zimmer, this is airing on the BBC next month.
RECAP: SNL 10/15 "Emily Blunt"
Oof. Emily Blunt has the unfortunate task of hosting a really terrible episode, as the writing staff fails again, but will probably, as usual, make some waves due to the ongoing Trump fiasco as he continues dragging the country through hell on his way to defeat. It’s not like Emily’s a bad host exactly, but she doesn’t leave much of a mark.
COLD OPEN: We start with the town hall debate, taking place in the wake of the Trump tape and the multiple accusations of sexual assault facing the orange asshole. The skit isn’t as good as the first debate one was, although they do get points for ridiculing the town hall questioners and showing Trump stalking Hillary around the stage like the shark from Jaws (all I think was missing was to have her whip around and spray him with mace).
MONOLOGUE: Emily comes out and leads a singalong of ‘C’mon, Get Happy’ with promises of fun, cookies and puppies handed out to random audience members. It’s fun.
ESCORTS: A terrible sketch where Emily and Leslie are weirdo, high priced escorts who have crazy demands for their clients (the two new guys whose names I have not learned yet- one of them is Mikey, but I don’t know who’s who). This isn’t funny at all, and yet again I can’t believe this skit is what they chose to start out with.
MELANIANADE: This will get the most attention, as Cecily co-wrote a dead on spoof of Beyonce’s ‘Sorry’ from Lemonade, with all the Trump women getting in on the action to diss the idiot in charge. Cecily’s Melania, Emily is Ivanka, Vanessa is Tiffany, Kate is KellyAnne, and Sasheer is Omarosa (lol). The funniest part to me was Beck’s cameo as Mike Pence, and Alec shows up at the end as Trump.
SHORT FILM FESTIVAL: A parody of a film festival Q&A, as the entire cast is involved in the pretentious short film starring Emily, leaving Vanessa as the sole audience member to ask everyone questions. I guess it makes a point about the annoying nature of some film festivals, but it’s not that funny and way too long.
CHONK: An ad for “average” size clothing for women intended to make everyone feel good, but advertising itself as “chonk,” which pisses off the models. It’s kinda okay, I guess, but the bar feels low tonight.
UPDATE: What else can we start with but multiple Trump jokes? If it’s any consolation this time, I think Jost and Che have had it and slam him hard on the many, many women he’s assaulted, as more seem to come forward every ten minutes. It’s starting to feel oppressive, and I can’t fucking wait for this nightmare election to be over. Kate comes on as the Russian peasant woman to comment on newly damaged US-Russian relations (she’s good), and Vanessa then does a bit as the Disney news kid, on all the assault stuff of course. Update may be the best part of the show today.
BURGER KING: And it’s followed by one of the worst skits the show has ever done. A party van pulls up to a drive thru and annoys Pete by having a different psycho greet him in every window of the vehicle and not order anything. I really can’t describe how awful (and long) this sketch is. Words fail me. It’s horrendous. NEVER bring this back, please.
THE SINK: A quick short with Emily doing a voiceover for a gaudy, weirdly shaped sink that feels out of place next to normal looking bathroom appliances. Odd, but at least there’s kind of a joke here, unlike the last one.
HONDA ROBOTS: A car exhibition that has Emily as one of two server robots who keep malfunctioning and annoying people in the crowd. Eh, this one’s lame, but Emily goes for it. I guess it’s not that bad, but it’s not hilarious either.
MELANIA MOMENTS: These are pretty solid, as in this one Melania fantasizes about having the maid replace her and “lie under Donald” so she can escape to the outside. Lol.
BRITISH BAKE-OFF: A spoof of the popular British reality show (which I have never seen, but I understand it’s a phenomenon in the UK), with Emily and Cecily as rude cockney contestants who don’t bake their cake right. It’s not that funny, to be honest. I think this must have been done as a nod to Emily, who’s probably a fan of the real show, but again, I have no idea what the references are, so it’s pretty much lost on me.
HAMPSTERS: Now this is an 11:55 skit alright. A totally off the wall spoof of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf set in a hampster cage, with Kate doing the Liz Taylor part in full hampster costume. I think this must have been Kate’s idea actually, and it’s SO weird that it almost kind of amuses me. Again, at least there’s something of a joke here.
So, this episode was really not good overall. It had the debate, it had another good Melania moment and it had the Lemonade spoof. Everything else was forgettable or really painful, and Emily didn’t elevate anything, unfortunately. I have to give it a D. I’ll be back next time with Tom Hanks, returning for his ninth hosting stint! See you guys then.
'The Affair' Returns for Season 3 in November
This is another one of my addictions that I'm looking forward to returning on November 20th. The second season was just as good, if not better than the first, so I'm excited for it to come back, even though more focus on Noah being in prison doesn't look all that intriguing (the juicy parts of this show is everything not involving the murder stuff). Still, this remains a highly addictive, absorbing soap opera that manages somehow, not to feel like one.
Season 3 of 'Black Mirror' Comes to Netflix
If you haven't watched this show, I urge you to check it out now. It's The Twilight Zone for the 21st century and dare I say it, just as good. Season 3 dropped on Netflix yesterday, so if you aren't being blocked from the website by cyberattacks, drop what you're doing and tune in. It's amazing.
RECAP: SNL 10/08 "Lin-Manuel Miranda"
Lin-Manuel Miranda, of Hamilton fame, comes over to SNL to host a subpar, kinda hit and miss episode, which is on the better side of things for this show, so, whatever. He’s a good performer anyway, and perfect for this kind of live, Broadway-esque stage show stuff, so if anything it’s cool that more people may actually get to know who he is because of this.
COLD OPEN: We start off with the VP debate that’s interrupted by breaking news of the infamous Trump Tape, the leaked video of Trump with Billy Bush behind the scenes of an Access Hollywood bus. I think we all know what was said on the tape by now, so we get to see Alec Baldwin’s Trump stammer and gross out Cecily as a CNN reporter, before cutting to Kate’s Hillary having a victory party and dancing to “Celebration,” which was predictable, but funny anyway. Baldwin’s Trump remains spot on while Hillary’s glee is contagious, so this one was a hit. SNL happened to be the first comedy show to get a crack at the tape, since it broke on a Friday afternoon, and they were obviously thrilled.
MONOLOGUE: Lin comes bounding down to break into a rendition of “My Shot” as he glides around backstage, which is very cool, as he takes his shot at Trump as well when coasting past the picture of him on the wall of past hosts (shudder).
CAMPGROUND: This one sucks, as Lin and Cecily are a couple who are faced with Kyle and Vanessa as another couple who keeps annoying them by breaking into terrible songs, like Footloose. It’s really, really bad, although Lin commits to it, as he does all night. Why was this the first sketch of the episode? That’s a bad sign.
CAST PARTY: A music video from the female cast members who are high schoolers flirting with the boys at an afterparty for their play, The Crucible. Eh. This one isn’t good either, but Lin’s little cameo kindamade me smile. The rest of it is crap.
SUBSTITUTE: Lin once again goes for it as hipster, wannabe cool substitute teacher for a bunch of high school kids who are over it and have seen all the cliches. It’s lame.
A DAY OFF WITH KELLYANNE CONWAY: A digital short with Kate as Trump’s psycho campaign manager, who keeps getting interrupted by having to constantly go on cable news to defend some new, ridiculous thing Trump said. Kate is funny here, so this one hits.
UPDATE: Pussy-gate continues unabated, as Colin and Michael go after Trump on the tape comments, again seizing on SNL’s chance to be the first to weigh in on this explosive story. Then Pete comes on and does one of his stand-up bits on balding, which is alright, and Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon show up as two “undecided” PA voters. This was obviously done to try to get Jimmy off the hook for his pathetic slobbering over Trump on the Tonight Show, and he doesn’t even do himself any favors by forgetting his lines and breaking through the whole skit. Dude, Tina tries to bail you out and you blow it? Whatever, The Tonight Show is dead to me after that anyway.
THE MUSIC MAN: A spoof of the musical that is trying to be some kind of commentary on the Wells Fargo situation with Lin as the con man banker. I appreciate the point, but the joke is a bit off in this one. Seems mostly like a chance to let everybody sing.
DIEGO CALLS HIS MOM: Pre-taped bit of Lin, who seems to be an exchange student who calls his mom from a pay phone in North Dakota, relaying the sights and sounds of the town he’s in, and how he appeared to fall in love with a guy. I don’t know if this one was even supposed to funny. Mostly odd.
STRANGER THINGS: A spoof of the Netflix hit that shows Lucas’s parents, who are horrified by their son hanging around with a sheriff and some weird white kids and weirder parents. What strikes me about this one is that because they got rid of Jay, Sasheer of all people has to play Lucas. This on top of using their new Hispanic cast member in the cold open to play a woman who was Asian, and once again the show is struggling with their way too white cast. And in response to this, Lorne of course hired two more white guys. Sigh. The more things change…
MELANIA MOMENTS: This looks like a weekly bit now, as Cecily’s Melania wakes up in fear of her replacement having been born somewhere in another country. Funny.
DEGREE OF VALOR: An old black and white war movie that sees Pete dying in Lin’s arms as he begs him to find his butt-plug in his house and hide it. Okay, this is kinda stupid but for some reason it made me chuckle a tiny bit.
So, that episode was very uneven, but I can count the stuff that made me smile at least. There was the opening, the monologue, the KellyAnne Conway skit, most of the beginning of Update for once, and the second Melania moment. Still, even though Lin wasn’t a bad host, there wasn’t anything that he shined in either, thanks to the writing. This episode frankly, owes the Trump implosion for anything in it working. I’ll give it a C. Next up we have Emily Blunt, as election season rolls interminably on.
RECAP: SNL 10/01 "Margot Robbie"
Well, SNL has returned in an election year, when it has always been its most relevant, and for the most part, if you tuned in to see the debate sketch (which never had a chance, frankly, of topping the real thing we witnessed this week), then you were probably not disappointed. It was a solid premiere overall, even with the introduction of three new cast members to replace the recent dismissal of Taran and Jay (which I still can’t really understand the reasons for- them, of all of this cast? Why, Lorne?).
COLD OPEN: As promised, the epic Trump vs. Hillary showdown, with newly minted Emmy winner Kate nailing a perfect Willy Wonka style somersault entrance for Hillary and Alec Baldwin taking over Trump duty from Darrell Hammond, which turns out to be the right choice, as Alec is able to bring the meanness and hostility that characterizes the Trump we’ve all, unfortunately, come to know over the last year, as opposed to the old, now outdated reality star personality. They skewer Trump for his appalling debate performance with nearly his own words and actions (I’m still reeling from the actual thing), while Kate does her Hillary schtick that she’s got down to a tee. It’s funny, but again, this election is so far beyond parody at this point, that nothing can top Trump’s actual behavior over the past week since getting slaughtered in this debate (Weekend Update doesn’t even try, as we’ll get to later).
MONOLOGUE: Suicide Squad’s Margot Robbie is here to host her first SNL, and she tries to a do a monologue where she “fact-checks” her own sentences, with various cast members getting in on all the lying action (I actually liked Leslie’s bit best here, funnily enough). It’s okay, I guess. I’m glad it’s not another singing one.
ACTION 9 NEWS: A local news spoof where the joke is that Kenan interviews an eyewitness couple where one of the new guys (I can’t distinguish between them in this episode, they look exactly the same to me) is a super nerd named Matt Shatt who’s married to Margot the bombshell and no one can believe it. It goes on too long, but it gets in a good moment where people make fun of Matt Shatt’s crocs & socks ensemble. Lol.
SEXY LIBRARIAN: Another “Margot is hot” premise that has the guys salivating over her sexy librarian until she strips down in slo mo to reveal she’s some sort of freak alien creature underneath who makes all their heads explode. It’s kind of like a digital short, but yeah, this was funny.
FAMILY FEUD: It’s Team Trump vs. Team Clinton, giving the cast a chance to show off more impersonations, like Kate as Trump’s psycho campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, Margot as Ivanka Trump, Darrell is back as Bill Clinton (his Bill impression is NOT dated), and Larry David returns for a couple more jokes as Bernie Sanders (does he live under the stage now?). My favorite jabs are at the Trump kids, as the new guys show up as Eric and Don Jr., and are referred to along with Ivanka as “children of the corn.” Nice.
UPDATE: Okay. So here’s the thing. Clearly (and hopefully), the show decided they would get Hillary back in the Update portion to make up for the skewering of Trump (yeah, because Kate’s Hillary impression is so flattering?), but idiots Che and Jost decide to go all in on the “both sides are equally bad” bullshit false equivalency that is harmful to democracy in the face of outright fascism, so these two assholes can go fuck themselves. Their privilege is showing. Take some tips from Samantha Bee as to what’s actually at stake right now, fuckwads. Nothing else happened with Trump this week aside from the debate? Really? You missed the psychopath’s antics since then? Otherwise, Cecily shows up as Cathy Anne, the annoying undecided voter (please NEVER bring her back), and Kenan does David Ortiz again. I don’t care, this was the worst part of the show. Jost and Che SUCK.
THE HUNCH BUNCH: This is some kind of weird, Scooby-Doo spoof that isn’t funny at all. Margot is the interferer who ruins the “episode” but it’s by far the worst of the night.
MELANIA MOMENTS: A 30-second skit that makes fun of Melania Trump’s brainless thoughts, as she wonders if people exist past the street on her block. Funny.
WOMEN’S ROUNDTABLE: Famous actresses Marion Cotillard (Cecily), Keira Knightley (Margot) and Lupita N’yongo (Sasheer) gather to discuss women in Hollywood, but this is basically a bit for Kate to portray a legendary made up actress who has weird stories from her days at MGM. She’s funny as always and this is the one that Margot can’t keep a straight face in, which is good.
MR. ROBOT: Leslie tracks down Pete as the star of Mr. Robot to find out who hacked her computer over the summer. The joke is good, since it takes on what really happened, and Pete is perfect for a Rami Malek spoof. I actually wish this went a bit longer. Should have been in the first half, not at the end.
So, yeah, a pretty good episode aside from an infuriating weekend update and a bad Scooby Doo skit, but Margot was good and everything else had at least a couple of laughs in it. Everyone tuned for the debate though, and I’m sure you got what you came for. I give it a B+. Next week it’s Lin-Manuel Miranda as host, so I’ll see you all then, as this interminable election season continues.
'Will & Grace' Cast Reunites for Election Themed Mini Episode
This is a surprise! The original cast of Will & Grace reunited in secret to film a ten minute scene about the 2016 election that came out a few days ago, and the funny thing was how easily each of them slipped back into their roles. All four stars famously received Emmys at some point for their roles on the show, only one of three sitcoms in history (the others being All in the Family and The Golden Girls) to pull that off, so it's cool to see they still got it.
Queen Elizabeth's Reign Begins in Netflix's 'The Crown'
Monarchs and history are catnip for me, so I'm kind of the target audience for a show like this. Toss in the fact that it's produced by Stephen Daldry and written by Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon), and it may be just that perfect British royalty spectacular that people love. Oh, and Claire Foy, who was fantastic as Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall, as Elizabeth II herself? How can this fail? The ten episode first season drops on November 4th. Count me in.
Final 'Luke Cage' Trailer Ups the Action
Have you all finished binge-ing it yet? Apparently there were so many people watching the show when it premiered that Netflix suffered a power outage for more than two hours yesterday. I've only gotten the first episode down, but I'm hoping to be done by the end of the week. This final trailer for it might have been the best one yet.
Rami Malek is shocked at his Best Actor win for 'Mr. Robot'
2016 Emmy Winners: 'Game of Thrones' 'Veep' and 'People v. OJ Simpson' Win Top Awards
Rami Malek is shocked at his Best Actor win for 'Mr. Robot'
All of my series predictions came true, but if you watched the show you will know what my absolute favorite moment of the night was. That's right people, Tatiana Maslany WON!!!!!! After all these years on Orphan Black, she finally gets her Emmy and it was amazing! Not only that, but Rami Malek won for Mr. Robot, which means that the two lead acting winners in a drama series went to millennials who carry their bizarre, cult, ultra surreal and pulpy sci-fi shows entirely on their shoulders...which I think is the coolest thing I have ever seen the Emmys do. Never in a million years would I have thought those two shows would be taken seriously at an awards ceremony. All of that, plus the predictable yet deserved love for People v. OJ Simpson (including Sterling K. Brown, who I loved on that show) and Kate McKinnon for SNL!!! Yes, she did it, she becomes the first SNL-er was to win an acting Emmy since Dana Carvey in 1993 (and that was back when they still gave out the Individual Performance in a Variety Series award, which doesn't exist anymore). These were very possibly my favorite Emmy wins of all time, tonight.
2016 EMMY WINNERS
COMEDY
Kate McKinnon becomes the first SNL cast member in 23 years to win an Emmy
- Series: Veep
- Lead Actor: Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
- Lead Actress: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
- Supporting Actor: Louie Anderson, Baskets
- Supporting Actress: Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
- Writing: Master of None
- Directing: Transparent
DRAMA
Tatiana Maslany finally wins for playing more than 11 characters on 'Orphan Black'
- Series: Game of Thrones
- Lead Actor: Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
- Lead Actress: Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
- Supporting Actor: Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline
- Supporting Actress: Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
- Writing: Game of Thrones
- Directing: Game of Thrones
LIMITED/TV MOVIE
Sterling K. Brown helps 'People vs. OJ' complete the sweep in limited series
- Series: The People v. OJ Simpson
- Lead Actor: Courtney B. Vance, The People v. OJ Simpson
- Lead Actress: Sarah Paulson, The People v. OJ Simpson
- Supporting Actor: Sterling K. Brown, The People v. OJ Simpson
- Supporting Actress: Regina King, American Crime
- Writing: The People v. OJ Simpson
- Directing: The Night Manager
- TV Movie: Sherlock: The Abominable Bride
VARIETY/REALITY
- Talk Series: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
- Sketch Series: Key & Peele
- Reality-Competition Series: The Voice
- Writing for Variety Special: Patton Oswalt: Talking for Clapping
- Directing for Variety Special: Grease Live!
Some other very cool choices were things like Louie Anderson for Baskets (!), Key & Peele taking it home for their last season, Master of None winning for writing, and Patton Oswalt winning an Emmy, any Emmy for anything (love him). Emmys, you did good this year. Real good. I don't even care if I only went 11 for 19, because the actual winners were so terrific in the ones I missed. It makes up for the fact that The Americans was totally shut out, because now I feel more confident than ever that that show will come back while Game of Thrones is off the air next season, probably to clean up in the lead acting and series categories eventually in its own right. All is well in the TV world- the Academy is starting to pay some real attention.
All the lawyers took home the gold for 'OJ Simpson' as Sarah Paulson finally wins her first Emmy
