Season 29 SNL – REVEALED
Episode 4: Kelly
Ripa/Outkast (11/1/03)
The Rating System:
4 Coneys – Best Ever
0 Coneys – Worst Ever
Totals:
0-10 Coneys – Garbage
11-20 Coneys – Needs Improvement
21-30 Coneys – Average
31-40 Coneys – Above Average
41-45 Coneys - Instant Classic
46+ Coneys - Unparalleled SNL Genius
Pre-show Comments (10/31/03):
Jason: There is one word to
describe Kelly Ripa - "annoying". I don't watch either one of her
shows simply because I can't stand her. I'm guessing this will be one of those
episodes where the host is hardly in any of the sketches. If so, we could be in
for a good show since random cast member sketches will likely be given more
time.
As for Outkast, I only know the hits. I do like the new video
with them running around in green suits though. I'm looking for them to break
the mold of Season 29's current musical guest slump.
Heather: Kelly Ripa. Voted onto the illustrious "must see" list in this week's Entertainment Weekly for her role in the new sitcom "Hope & Faith." Personally, I've never watched this show, so I have no idea about Ripa's capabilities as an actor or a comedian. I've caught her on "Regis and Kelly" a couple of times, but that was only through random channel surfing. She seems sweet and likeable, but I gotta say, Poehler's recent impressions of her is balls on as far as the annoyance factor goes. It'll be interesting to see how they handle the "Regis and Kelly" skit this week, cause you KNOW it will be on the show, with Ripa most likely dressed up as a random guest. All and all, this week's SNL is a total toss-up. Outkast, on the other hand, I'm sure will be fantastic.
Premise: The President updates on the War in Iraq
Jason: Whoa? Hammond as Bush? I wonder if Lorne thought that Parnell’s Bush last season was a little too inconsistent for a continued shot at a coveted standard cold opener?
The weird thing is that Hammond was one of the original choices for Bush last season after Will Ferrell left. Word has it he even made it to the dress rehearsal of the season opener last fall, but it bombed so badly it was cut for the live episode. Now I understand why Lorne made that call last year. This was simply horrible. Hammond was trying way to hard to format it like Clinton. Those smirks after punchlines seem just a little too familiar.
0 Coneys
Heather: Ok….hmmm. Hammond is the new Bush now. It’s no secret that I don’t care for Parnell’s impression of our President, so I was initially pleased to see Hammond taking his place. He’s been hilarious as Clinton and Cheney, so why not Bush? Well, while his impression seemed to be more accurate than Parnell, I don’t remember laughing once during this entire opener. Throughout, Hammond appeared to be either bored out of his mind or about to burst out laughing. It looks like we’re stuck with mediocre presidential skits, until next November anyways.
0 Coneys
Jason: No doubt the opening pregnancy joke was in response to Poehler’s dead on impressions.
To be honest, I was not really impressed with this monologue. I really feel like this kind of host/audience interaction bit has been used to death. Whenever there is one half of a duo or team hosting a show, there is a group of fans in the audience who thought they were getting the other guy. SNL writer Higgins’ part as the creepy guy who liked her on Dance Party USA was kind of funny, but the rest was just standard SNL copout monologue material. Give it a rest.
1 Coney
Heather: Great….another boring bit. Yes Ripa, we all know you’re a talk show host, so why do we need to see it here?? I did crack one smile when that random guy in the audience told Ripa he loved her new show, but then immediately came back with, “No, I’m just kidding.” Overall, though, this was about as unoriginal as you could get.
½ Coney
Premise: Shampoo that contains cocaine
Jason: This was OK, but the “ewh ewh” dance part
really bothered me for some reason. It got
a laugh simply because it followed a bad opening and monologue.
2 Coneys
Heather: Ok, this was pretty good. I particularly liked the part where Ripa freaks out and tells the guy to “get the fuck away” from her limo.
2 Coneys
4. Sketch: Live with Regis and Kelly
Premise: Spoof of the morning talk show
Jason: You knew this was coming. Nothing has changed since the last installment in May on the Adrien Brody episode. I’m actually just going to copy/paste a section of that review to prove it:
“…this sketch is also “business as usual” now. The two hosts come out, Kelly talks about babies, Regis asks Gellman about his weekend and then has to deal with Kelly not knowing his celebrity references.” - I guess this formula is still 100% intact.
Having the actual Ripa as a guest was a predictable twist and she actually looked more like LaToya Jackson than Angelina Jolie. Seeing Kattan back this soon was sort of depressing too.
1 Coney
Heather: Fortunately, this wasn’t too long of a sketch. For some reason, I still get a kick out of Poehler’s Ripa, although it seems to be less and less each time I see this. The real Ripa as Angelina Jolie was decent, but there was hardly any interaction between her and Poehler, which I would think would’ve been the real source of any comedy. It appeared that they were more interested in Kattan’s return as Gellman, which I admit did get an initial chuckle. Wouldn’t mind not seeing this sketch for the rest of the season though.
2 Coneys
5. Sketch: Access Hollywood
Premise: Spoof of the entertainment news show
Jason: I honestly do not know why Lorne brings Fallon’s Pat O’Brien back so much. It was funny the first time, but his lack to bring anything new to the character makes it as annoying as the voice he uses.
The only funny thing about this was Sanz as Mortimer Barnswallow – obesity coach. I love the voice he used and his eating tips were making Ripa really fight hard to hold in the laughter. Wouldn’t mind seeing this character brought back in his own sketch.
3 Coneys
Heather: Sanz. Where the hell did he pull that accent from?! It actually reminded me of something John Goodman would’ve come up with. Ripa was alright as Zellwegger, when of course she wasn’t laughing at Sanz! But Fallon. Ugh.
3 Coneys
Jason: Where is the other guy that I saw in the opening picture? What are those stickers doing on his face?
After I got past wondering about those two questions, I found myself sort of liking the song. I knew this tune from the video that seemed to always be on TV a month or so back. The DJ was really good and the dancers rivaled the silliness of Kylie’s back in 2002 with that Polaroid picture business.
3 Coneys
Heather: I LOVE this song, no matter how many times I hear it. I wasn’t expecting the whole dance routine, but this song is so silly that it definitely fit. I’m sure if anyone tuned in here, they would’ve probably thought this was a sketch!
4 Coneys
7. Weekend Update
Jason: This WU was not on the same level as the other three so far this season. There were some good jokes about The Price is Right announcer, Fey doing a Schwarzenegger voice and the new Levis featuring “front butt” technology. However, from there it sort of slipped into mediocrity. It is 2003! We do not need anymore George W. Bush/cocaine jokes. Follow it up with Drunk Girl and you’ve got me switching channels.
Sanz as Jimmy Buffett was funny for about two minutes, until you realized it was simply his Elton John character reworked into something else. I’m guessing Buffett does not run around calling people “bro bro” like every other Sanz character out there.
2 Coneys
Heather: Pretty average Weekend Update, with a few standouts being the Roy Recovery, the Levis front butt technology and Rod Roddey. But WHY…DAMNIT…WHY are we seeing Drunk Girl?! Although, I must confess that I did laugh pretty hard when Richards was crawling on the desk and then proceeded to fall off. By Fey’s reaction, it definitely did not seem planned.
Sanz was amusing as Jimmy Buffett, but mostly just because of the way he was playing guitar. I did not anticipate that bit going on for as long as it did though.
2 ½ Coneys
8.
Sketch: Environmental and Bovine
Research Center
Premise: A scientist must chose
between his career and wife
Jason: Finally Forte saves this episode from losing even more coneys. This sketch was good, but not as great as Forte’s other writings. The one joke fart premise is very old, but Forte’s straight face and goofy line delivery made it bearable.
3 Coneys
Heather: What a strange sketch!! Studying farts?! I couldn’t help but laugh at the cow farts mingling with the dramatic music. Add Forte’s “scientist” character, and this sketch was full of laughs.
3 Coneys
Premise: A psychic claims the ability to communicate with house pets
Jason: Another unfunny Maya sketch. What a surprise. Maya again played her typical character only this time in a pet setting. This sketch reeked of pet sketches past and relied too much on what the animal’s mannerisms are when being directly spoken to. I am really starting to believe that Maya thinks she is the child of Nora Dunn and Molly Shannon as well. Quit SNL Maya.
0 Coneys
Heather: One word: WORST!
0 Coneys
Jason: Now we are missing the guy from the first song. Am I missing the bit?
0 Coneys
Heather: I don’t like this song nearly as much as the first one, but it’s still a good tune.
2 Coneys
Jason: Very nice to see Poehler and Meyers working as a team again. It has been awhile. Although this was not as good as Jr. Detectives from Season 27, it was much better than “What’s the Rush” from last year.
Aside from Ripa’s very strange looking belly button, my only real complaint was how Fallon did his Pat O’Brien character twice in the same episode. I thought it was bad when this character showed up in back to back episodes last season, but twice in the same show? What gives?
2 Coneys
Heather: I didn’t find this at all humorous. I mostly found all of the play on words just plain annoying.
0 Coneys
16.
Sketch: Greenbriar County Animal
Rescue Shelter
Jason: This got laughs when I was watching the live episode (granted I had drank 6 or 7 beers in a few hours by that point), but watching it the second time a few days later changed my mind. Did this remind anyone else of Will Ferrell’s “Dissing Your Dog” from a few years back? Once you think about this sketch with that in mind, it sort of loses something. Is Parnell trying to be Ferrell? Between this and last season’s Merv the Perv, I’m starting to think “yes”.
However, in the context of this episode, this did manage to stand out just a tad.
2 Coneys
Heather: The only reason this sketch got any coneys was because I’m such a sucker for animals. Otherwise, it was completely unoriginal and frankly, quite stupid.
1 Coney
Closing Comments:
Jason: I have to say this is pretty much the quality of show I expected with a host like Kelly Ripa. She actually didn’t do a horrible job in her roles, it was weak sketches that hurt this one.
I know I usually write more here, but I can’t think of anything else to say. Ripa episode = some say forgettable.
19 out of 48
Heather: It’s a good thing I wasn’t looking forward to any memorable sketches, because this episode would’ve fallen way short. I must say though, Ripa did some pretty decent impressions, but there just wasn’t any real spark to any of the skits.
20 out of 48 Coneys