whatevs.org presents...

"SNL - SEASON 31 REVEALED"

by Nummer and H-Bomb

Episode 5: Jason Lee / Foo Fighters (11/5/05)

CONEY RATING SYSTEM
= John Belushi
= Amy Poehler
= Tim Meadows
= Melanie Hutzel
= Charles Rocket
= Self-Explanatory

0-10 Coneys – Garbage
11-20 Coneys – Needs Improvement
21-30 Coneys – Average
31-40 Coneys – Above Average
41-50 Coneys - Instant Classic
51+ Coneys - Unparalleled Comic Genius

OAD = Original Air Date*

(*To be fair, coneys will be awarded the same as they were the first time they aired)

New featured player out of the blue!

Tonight’s episode marked the debut of Kirsten Wiig to the cast. Wiig is a former member of LA’s Groudlings comedy troupe and was also a cast member of Spike TV’s short lived “The Joe Schmo Show”. I’d be lying if I said I’d even heard of Joe Schmo until looking up Wiig online today, so it will be hard to judge her immediate impact on the show. Online rumors suggest Rudolph’s return from maternity leave may now be in question, so it will be interesting to monitor Kirsten’s impact over the next few episodes.

As predicted, tonight’s show proved to be the season’s best offering to date – but just barely. The funniest moments came courtesy of The Falconer’s return, Sanz’s “McNultys & Son Mustache Ridery” and the overall solid performances by Jason Lee. The episode also benefited from only two recurring sketches which opened the door for odd moments like “The Butt Pregnancy” and “Stachin” – even if “Butt Pregnancy” came just one episode after 10/22/05’s “Butt Cancer” ad.

By showing up in 8 or the show’s 14 segments, Jason Lee played the role of a very involved host which I’m still surprised ex-improv star Steve Carell didn’t really do. Hopefully “My Name is Earl” will continue to gain praise and open the door for Lee to become a recurring host.

Fourth time musical guests The Foo Fighters also delivered two perfect coneys scores with renditions of “DOA” and “Best of You”. They also proved you can be a musical guest this season and not play 2-10 year old songs (see Sheryl Crow and Franz Ferdinand).

Finally, a show that at least broke into the Above Average coney range. Jason Lee proved to be a worthy host with his obvious enthusiasm. I just wish that he could’ve demonstrated a little wider range of characters, as every one he played seemed to be only a slightly different version of himself. Nonetheless, his comedic talents and charisma were enough to overcome his lack of variety, especially in the face of some less than interesting material (Refurbishments and Soaking Wet Killer).

Besides being treated to a host with “one of the most powerful mustaches in television history,” we were also surprised with the unexpected debut of new featured player Kristen Wiig. It’s way too early to tell if she’ll really be a good addition to the cast or not, given her brief sketch appearances this episode, but I must admit it’s nice to see yet another fresh face on the show. And if this change means that perhaps Rudolph’s leave is more permanent than we once thought, I’m even more for Wiig’s arrival. Now if Lorne would only do the same with Hammond….

Host and newbie aside, the best moments of the night came courtesy of Lee’s monologue (loved the skateboarding bit), JJ Casuals (the shoes that look like feet!) and, of course, the return of Donald and Forte in The Falconer. Who knew that Donald hates being called “Don” by the Falconer? And Forte’s anguished face when looking at Donald’s picture was absolutely hilarious. Also noteworthy was Sanz’s “McNulty & Sons Mustache Rides,” during the Stachin’ sketch. I wasn’t too happy with Sanz’s complete lack of control by constantly breaking character during the entire skit, but the song that he screamed at the end in front of the waving American flag was best.

Finally, the very BEST parts of the evening were, by far, the Foo Fighters. They continued their SNL musical streak with two perfect coney performances, both of which were RECENT songs from their LATEST album. Go figure. Foos were hands down brills and it was good to see them land an episode that was actually somewhat worthy of their musical talents.

Although it was nice to see less recurring sketches, segments like “Refurbishments”, “Soaking Wet Killer” and “American Taser” were recycled ideas. “Refurbishments” was nothing more than the boring innuendo sketch seemingly rolled out every season. Instead of “Colonel Angus” or “Everyone loves my Schweaty Balls”, this time it was “I’m filling the crack with caulk”. Next!

“Soaking Wet Killer” was also nothing new. The first thing I thought about while watching it was Affleck’s “The Full Moon Killer” from the 3/13/04 episode. Something about people acting oblivious around a killer just doesn’t seem to go anywhere for me.

After coming off four episodes of minor screen time, Andy Samberg finally got to show his cards a bit more tonight. Unfortunately all it did was hint we may have already seen his full range. Every character he seems to play is some kind of smirking juvenile making it obvious he’s aimed squarely at the high school crowd. This worked for Sandler, and even Fallon in his early seasons, but Samberg needs to bring something new if he thinks people will fall for this angle yet again.

My only real complaint about this episode was that half of the sketches presented, although technically “new” material (except Hardball), were still quite unoriginal and rather uneventful. Hardball, at least for me, is dunzo. Hammonds can barely get a line out without flubbing it and now I can actually watch him reading the cue cards. Refurbishments gave us nothing more than the old “play on words” routine, this time using phrases like,” filling up the crack with caulk,” and “where can I get some black caulk?” Wow, that’s genius! And The Soaking Wet Killer once again relied on the idea of naïve people inadvertently giving out too much information to a criminal, although in the end, they get the last laugh. Boring, you guys.

And, seriously, what is up with the recent butt obsession, SNL? First the Butt Cancer Foundation and now Butt Pregnancies? Luckily, the skit wasn’t too horrible, but I think it’s pretty safe to say that it’s time to focus on something else. Remember, the 6 year olds should be in bed by the time 11:30pm roll around. It might not be a bad idea to come up with something, dare I say, a little more mature? It’s crazy, I know, but let’s give it a shot.

Lee was great with what they gave him, but the veterans in the cast once again proved they are out of tricks.

Great host and an even better musical guest. The sketch material is still falling a bit short despite efforts to break away from recurring trend from last season. Here’s still hoping for that turn-around we’ve been waiting to see happen for the last 3 seasons.

CONEY COUNT

1. Cold Opening: Hardball
Premise: Recurring parody of the political talk show

2. Monologue: Lee

3. Commercial Parody: JJ Casuals Premise: Shoes that look like feet that are endorsed by Jack Johnson

4. Sketch: Good Morning Meth
Premise: Talk show hosted by Crystal Meth addicts

5. Sketch: The Falconer
Premise: Recurring sketch about a man and falcon living in the woods

6. Commercial Parody: Thomas and Dobbins
Premise: Money management for lower income groups

7. Sketch: The Soaking Wet Killer
Premise: An oblivious couple picks up a hitchhiking killer

8. Sketch: Refurbishments
Premise: Home improvement show filled with innuendos

9. Music: Foo Fighters “DOA”

10. Weekend Update
Guests: Armisen, Hader, Thompson, Mitchell, Samberg

11. Sketch: The Butt Pregnancy
Premise: A woman gets pregnant in her butt

12. Sketch: Stachin’ Premise: Talk show about mustaches

13. Music: Foo Fighters “Best of You”

14. Commercial Parody: American Taser
Premise: Various models of tasers demonstrated

TOTALS

29.5 / 56 Coneys

31 / 56 Coneys