SNL under-utilizes former all-stars in season premiere

The Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time-Players were back last night, with former cast member and current Parks and Recreation star Amy Poehler serving as host. Her return allowed for some fun cameos and overall joyful moments, even if the episode itself didn't serve up to its full potential.

After a cold open featuring some chuckle worthy if predictable jokes about Delaware Senate candidate and part-time witch Christine O'Donnell, Amy used her monlogue to express her nervousness about hosting and the stress dreams she had about the show. This segment brought out the who's-who of SNL of the last decade: Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon, Rachel Dratch and Justin Timberlake all taunted Amy during her "dream." It was clear that the cast and guests of the show were incredibly excited for Amy to return to the show, and this helped to create an incredibly supporting atmosphere throughout the episode.

While the episode itself was far from perfect, that supportive nature showed to the home audience, and even if I wasn't laughing at a sketch, I could tell that the cast was having fun just being with everyone. When Maya Rudolph reuninted with Amy for their "Bronx Beat" sketch (featuring Katy Perry's boobs clad in an Elmo T-shirt as a wink and a nod to her recent controversy), you could tell that the women were having great fun bringing them alive.

Seth Meyers seemed to enjoy having Amy at his side during "Weekend Update," and they had fun laughing at the awkward meeting of the real New York Governor David Paterson and Fred Armisen's clueless parody of him. I can't even recall many specific jokes and moments that made me laugh, yet, because of the electricity and chemistry Amy had with the cast and guests and the respect they had for her, it was a joy to watch.

Yet, while these moments were fun, I couldn't help but feel like there were many wasted opportunities in the show. I would have absolutely loved to have seen another installment of "the Barry Gibb Talk Show," the ridiculous and hilarious faux talk show with Jimmy and Justin. How often can you get both of them in the same room ... this should have been the highlight of the evening, but instead, it was woefully missed.



Now, I'm willing to recognize the fact that many, if not all of the special guests last night were last-minute additions, which is why they couldn't participate too much, especially in the pre-recorded Digital Short (which, unfortunately, featured Katy Perry attempting to sing), but it was still a shame they couldn't do more. A lot of talent was wasted.

And then, Katy Perry. I wish I could give her kudos for NOT lip syncing, but she was so terrible, screeching her way through every single note in her overplayed songs that it was unbearable. Listening to her perform truly made me cringe.


So, it wasn't the best SNL premiere, but it wasn't the worst. Let's hope next week's Bryan Cranston-hosted episode can improve on the formula. May I make a suggestion? Could Tracy Morgan make a guest appearance reading tweets from next week's musical guest, Kanye West? I love the SNL writers, but I don't know if they could write anything better than Kanye's genius tweets, and since many of his statements sound like something Tracy (both Morgan and his fictional 30 Rock character) would say, so this would be a wonderful inclusion.



Also, as a side, NBC-related note: in a brilliant act of karma, Jeff Zucker, the man who oversaw the collapse of NBC and played a major part in the Conan O'Brien debacle, has left NBC (before he could be fired by Comcast once they take over NBC ... his words, not mine). He complained how hard of a decision it was to leave the company he has worked for all of his adult life, much like Conan complained how hard it was that he was so mistreated by a company he worked at for much of his adult life. I enjoy schadenfreude.


What was everyone's favorite (or least favorite) moments from SNL? Thrilled about the latest corporate shakeup at NBC?

30 Rock and Community shine, while the Office phones it in

Thursday nights are traditionally the best night for television. It would have been so much better had NBC not pushed Parks and Recreation to midseason (which is something I won't harp on, since I have done that plenty already), but it is what it is.

And what it is is not what it used to be, at least when it comes to "the Office." Tonight's episode just proved that it is a shell of what it used to be and should have been put out to pasture. Keep in mind, this is coming from a die-hard fan of the show.

Last night's episode, "Nepotism," was easily the show's weakest season premiere and did not set the season off on a high note.

Here's a recap: The show left off last season with ... wait a second. The events in "Nepotism" had absolutely nothing to do with the events of the closing of season six. It's not known what came about after the printer recall. They made it such a major deal at the end of last season and it was dropped in this episode.

Anyway, suddenly, Dunder Mifflin hired an assistant, something they hadn't needed before (and where did they get that money to pay him?) and Michael hired his nephew to improve his strained family relations. He's your stereotypical douchebag that everyone else hates, and long story short, Michael ends up spanking (yes, spanking) him in front of the whole office, while his co-workers cheer him on. Really? The same people who would be frustrated by Michael's sexually explicit comments and mindless office pranks would cheer on such an awkward and inappropriate gesture? Sure, he was annoying, but I don't even think that would be an appropriate reaction from anyone - and I'm referring to both Michael's gesture and his subordinates' reactions.

Also, in a throwaway talking head, Jim mentioned that Dwight bought the office building. Wait, what. Why? What use would that have? Another question - what was with Dwight's water-filled backpack? Did it have a purpose? I know, it's Dwight, and very few things Dwight does often make sense, but even that seemed outrageously pointless. Can someone help this confused viewer out?

Overall, this episode had maybe one or two chuckle-worthy moments, but nothing to write home about. It's a shame that such a brilliant show has become so slapstick (no pun intended) and unfunny. I wasn't a fan of the cold opener, either. Why is that they have to constantly reference or parody viral Internet videos? Is this Tosh.0 now?



So, thank God for "Community" and "30 Rock." Both shows returned strong last night, especially "Community's" incredibly meta episode (Donald Glover/Troy campaigned to play Spiderman! So Troy wears Spiderman pajamas!). It followed up on last year's romantic drama by creating truly funny moments between Jeff and Britta, yet it also developed a nice satirical flair by making fun of CBS' latest attempt to seem cool, "$#*! My Dad Says" (look how cool they are ... swear words!). You know this is a fantastic episode when Betty White's role was the weakest part, and I mean nothing bad by saying that. She was brilliant and outrageous, especially performing Toto's "Africa" with Troy and Abed. Way to go, "Community," for utilizing her well.

"30 Rock" had some brilliant one-liners ("The Harry Potter theme park is a hit with both Anglophiles and pedophiles"). Matt Damon's previously one-dimensional character was given a funny backstory and made Ina Garten cool. It wasn't their absolute funniest episode and had some awkward plots (I have trouble believing Jenna would be such a brilliant and ruthless producer, even though she's a sociopath), but they did not let them take away from the enjoyment of the show.

"Outsourced," the show NBC bumped "Parks and Rec" for, was incredibly offense, both on a cultural sensitivity level and a "so unfunny it's 'Two and a Half Men'-bad" level. Sure, "Parks and Rec" was weak when it started and it overcame its pitfalls. But it didn't have the offensive premise and execution to overcome. I don't see it laughing.


To be honest, I think "the Office" is a lost cause and that's why Steve Carell has turned in his notice. I'm only watching out of habit, not hoping for quality. However, I do hope "Community" and "30 Rock" stay on their hot streak.

Agree, disagree? Have opinions about any other shows? Leave a comment!

MTV Video Music Awards are the definition of lackluster

Last week, I blogged about how Lady Gaga would make the VMAs great. Well, Gaga's impressive eight wins last night, including Video of the Year, did yield some highlights in the show, including her so-called "meat dress":



Sadly, the rest of the show was fairly boring. Gaga did not perform, which took away some of the mystique in the evening. Justin Bieber sounded off-key, and nearly every other performance involved Auto-Tune and lip syncing. Not to mention, they were fairly boring.

Was Taylor Swift's performance really necessary? I understand that it would have been awful for something like that to happen to her. However, I just feel as though it was completely tacky to compose and (poorly) perform such a maudlin song over something that, in the grand scheme of her career, didn't exactly hurt. I feel like a cover of Natalie Merchant's "Thank You" would have been more fitting, because Kanye West's interruption of her speech made everyone elicit an outrageous amount of sympathy for her. Then again, why fault her for believing the hype?

However, no matter whether one thought harping on the past was necessary it's difficult to argue that she didn't sound great. Which is what is sad about the VMAs and music as a whole: we complain that people lip sync and use AutoTune. But why do they do that? Because they sound like Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift. Minus the very talented and charismatic Florence and the Machine and Robyn, each performance was rather lacking.

Host Chelsea Handler wasn't give a whole lot to do, but when she was on stage, she had some good one-liners. I think Kanye West's Twitter account should have hosted the show.

Usually when it comes to late summer-early fall award shows, the Emmys are far superior to the VMAs. Last year with the travesty of Jon Cryer winning an Emmy and the overall boring nature of the presenters, the VMAs were quite entertaining. However, this year things went back to normal. MTV just can't capture the magic they used to have. The show wasn't terrible like June's Movie Awards, just boring.

Amy Poehler will host the SNL season premiere; NBC remains idiotic

It's once again time to highlight the failure of NBC.


Seth Meyers announced on his Twitter page that the Sept. 25 season premiere of Saturday Night Live would feature Amy Poehler as host and Katy Perry as the musical guest. Putting my strong dislike for Katy aside, the musical guest choice is a smart one, in the sense that "California Gurls" not only dominated the summer while SNL was off the air, but "Teenage Dream" is taking off now as well.

In terms of picking a quality host, I think SNL hit the nail on the head. Amy was one of SNL's standouts during this last decade and she is incredibly likable. Plus, I find it pretty impressive that she will be taking on such a daunting task less than two months after giving birth to son Abel.

However, due to NBC's moronic move to push her series, Parks and Recreation back to a midseason premiere, she will have virtually nothing to promote. SNL hosts should not be picked on the sole basis that they have an upcoming movie or TV show. However, it would have been a fantastic way to drum up publicity and buzz about Parks and Rec. The ratings for the show are dismal, likely because people wrote the show off after a sub-par season one. For the record, it is currently the funniest show on television; season two was hilarious.

Of course NBC did not know SNL would have Amy host, but that isn't the point. The point is that they took a now critically approved show with a low audience share and decided to push it to midseason, so that people would forget about it. Now, with Amy hosting, it's another wasted opportunity for them to promote their show.

On that note, maybe Amy could invite her husband, Will Arnett on the show (God, I hope this happens) so he could promote his new show, Running Wilde.


Also, in addition to Jane Lynch hosting on Oct. 9, fellow Emmy-winner Bryan Cranston will host the Oct. 2 episode. Given his background in comedy with Malcolm in the Middle and his hilarious interviews (such as his Daily Show clips), this should also be great.

Lady Gaga holds the key for VMA greatness

The MTV Video Music Awards air next week, and it will be interesting to see what spontaneous (see: Kanye West last year) or orchestrated (see: Madonna/Britney/Christina kissing in 2003) controversies will take place. Like the rest of the music industry, MTV is struggling and the VMAs are awarding something that is becoming increasingly rare and irrelevant on the network and the musical climate as a whole: music videos. Unless one is a night owl or has MTV Hits, the network's digital cable, 24-hour music video station, televised music videos are a rarity.

That's why MTV needs to rely on shocking moments to get people talking about the show. They need performances to remind people why the artists MTV shoves down viewers' throats are worthy. Normally, I find myself complaining about the VMAS; they're an award show I watch purely out of habit. Yet, last year's show was actually wonderful to watch. The Kanye/Taylor Swift debacle was a true shocking moment even MTV couldn't fathom happening. The performances, from my personal favorites, Green Day to even acts I'm not normally fans of (Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, for example) were strong.

However, the key moment for me? Lady Gaga. She was absolutely ridiculous and engrossing to watch. Her performance was so anticipated by fans and haters alike, curious to see what she would come up with. She certainly delivered.



This performance was off-the-wall and outrageous, and that's what made it so perfect for the VMAs. Yet, it also proved that she had talent, and that's why it was good for the VMAs, because it proved that not everything on MTV is awful. Personally, it made me a fan of hers, just because I was in awe of how ridiculous it was, yet it didn't feel as though she was trying to force controversy (like the aforementioned kiss).

At the moment, MTV does not have her performing or even appearing at this year's show. Without her, the show will lose a major power force. She is the most nominated artist of the night and anything she does will be so analyzed by the press and the office water cooler, it can help make the VMAs seem relevant. Without her, who will the big draw be? Rihanna? Justin Bieber? They certainly have their fair share of fans and haters, but they do not posses anywhere near the same public interest or controversial matter as someone like Gaga. Even someone formerly controversial like Eminem has become more mainstream.

Looking at Gaga's tour schedule, she has a break this weekend that would coincide perfectly with a VMA appearance; I hope MTV is just holding off on announcing her appearance to build hype. Because without her, they will really be missing out this year.


On a side note, I saw Lady Gaga in concert Saturday. It was such a spectacular party atmosphere, it was impossible not to walk away feeling good afterward. Yet, it also proved that she has legitimate talent beyond her costumes and crazy nature. Even though I was in the upper section of the Palace of Auburn Hills, it was great. My photos from the event are here. I'm not a great photographer, but I still got some good shots!