SNL 12/09/06 - (H) Annette Bening (M) Gwen Stefani w/ Akon

[Goldberg74]

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/1757/snlbenningbw5.jpg

Believe it or not, this is Mrs. Beaty's first time hosting this program. I could have sworn that she's been on before, but I was wrong. But this is Gwen's second time by herself, and you can add two for the appearances with No Doubt.

Wasn't happy to see Nuni and Nuni in the promos, but oh well.

At least Annette Bening can be funny and is seasoned enough to memorize things.

<hr>

Season 32 so far...
09/30/06 - (H) Dane Cook (M) The Killers (http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=479224)
10/07/06 - (H) Jaime Pressly (M) Corinne Bailey Rae (http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=479986)
10/21/06 - (H) John C. Reilly (M) My Chemical Romance (http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=481279)
10/28/06 - (H) Hugh Laurie (M) Beck (http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=482040)
11/04/06 - The Best of Darrell Hammond (http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=482687)
11/11/06 - (H) Alec Baldwin (M) Christina Aguilera (http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=483254)
11/18/06 - (H) Chris Bridges (M) Ludacris (http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=483966)
12/02/06 - (H) Matthew Fox (M) Tenacious D (http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=485343)
12/09/06 - (H) Annette Bening (M) Gwen Stefani w/ Akon
12/16/06 - (H) Justin Timberlake (M) Justin Timberlake

[Goldberg74]

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/6822/snlfoxscorehj6.jpg

[vegasbaby]

Let me guess ... it will suck tonight.

[tommyp007]

I've got high hopes for this ep. I love me some Annette.

[LorenzoL]

I like Annette Benning but I'm not expecting much from the episode tonight.

[cdollaz]

What is Akon?

[Lunatikk]

What is Akon?

Wikipedia says:

Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born October 14, 1981),[1] also known simply as Akon, is a Grammy Award-nominated Hip-Hop and R&B singer. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri,[2] USA, lived in Dakar, Senegal until the age of seven, then moved back to the US, settling in Jersey City, New Jersey.[citation needed] He is the son of jazz percussionist Mor Thiam and speaks English, French, and Wolof.[3]. To date, Akon has released two albums, Trouble and Konvicted, each of which has produced huge smash single hits, primarily "Locked Up" (U.S. #8), "Lonely" (U.S. #4), "Smack That" (U.S. #2), and "I Wanna Love You" (U.S. #1). He has become well known for singing hooks.

[Goldberg74]

This is the song that Gwen and Akon did together: "Sweet Escape"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRgintq1fQM

... and the other song she'll prolly do is "Wind It Up"

[Abelkems]

Wikipedia says:

Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born October 14, 1981),[1] also known simply as Akon, is a Grammy Award-nominated Hip-Hop and R&B singer. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri,[2] USA, lived in Dakar, Senegal until the age of seven, then moved back to the US, settling in Jersey City, New Jersey.[citation needed] He is the son of jazz percussionist Mor Thiam and speaks English, French, and Wolof.[3]. To date, Akon has released two albums, Trouble and Konvicted, each of which has produced huge smash single hits, primarily "Locked Up" (U.S. #8), "Lonely" (U.S. #4), "Smack That" (U.S. #2), and "I Wanna Love You" (U.S. #1). He has become well known for singing hooks.

rotfl I can't believe that's his actual name. I had to look it up because I thought you were joking.

It reminds me of that story Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo

[Rockmjd23]

In a shocking twist, they went with a Bush opening! :eek:

[Patman]

"I smell bagels" Awesome Apocalypto spoof trailer.

[MrX]

Bening is terrible. She's stiff and can't take her eyes off the cards.

[achau9598]

does Gwen's belt buckle say "fuck" ?

[Rockmjd23]

wtf is gwen doing? :lol:

[Cardiff Giant]

yeah what's with the yoddling to marching band music? is she that musically irrelevant now that the only way she can get publicity is by being a complete joke?

[achau9598]

maybe it said "chick" ... I haven't watched SNL in a long time and I am suddenly remembering why

[TheBigDave]

I'm not sure if that was a skit or a song.

[skatefan20]

Bening is terrible. She's stiff and can't take her eyes off the cards.

-Well, not all actors can work miracles and elevate this crappy material. The tired Two A-holes bit, that pre-recorded short. :rolleyes:

-Sampling The Sound of Music is outright goofy, but that is a ridiculously catchy song by Gwen.

[Patman]

I admit to laughing when the 2 a-holes were asked to take out their gum, and their jaws kept on smacking.

[Rockmjd23]

Damn, I was hoping tonight's episode would be Will Forte-less. He's simply not funny and never has been. Weekend update was actually decent for once until he ruined it as usual.

[Patman]

Bening just stares and stares at the cue cards. Sad.

[Brent L]

Surely these stares are just to add to the "character" in this scene. Right?

RIGHT?

[BadlyDrawnBoy]

Likes the Akon cd.

[cornflakeguy]

WHAT THE FRAK?!?!

They just reused the "3 stiffs in a bar" sketch. And I don't think it was a continuation of a series, it was a straight copying.

Best thing so far was Forte's Marriage Song w/picture cards.

Also, when did Gwen Stefani get b-cups?

[Ranger]

will forte was at his best as leatherman but i haven't seen that skit for a while.

p diddy cartoon was cute.

but the mel gibson trailer was the best tonight.

[Brent L]

"Hey Lorne, this skit is so horrible, ABORT, ABORT, ABORT!!!"

[Rockmjd23]

I think we just witnessed The Slaughter Rule on SNL.

[Brent L]

What a perfect ending to this episode.

rotfl

[Rockmjd23]

Did I miss it? Did they even do the whole host thanking the cast and audience thing?

[cornflakeguy]

Oh my God. This ep was just painful.

What happened with the lawyer sketch? If they find they are running long they just fade out and cut? Jeeez.

Bening was fine, I guess. But she had no reason to be there. When you have to reference a 6-7 year old movie to joke about her in, you know she's not famous enough right now.

I can NOT wait for the official DVD TALK SNL reviews to start pouring in on this Cat-tastrophe.

[Brent L]

She wasn't even just fine in my opinion, she was horrible. It's no wonder that she's never hosted SNL before. I wouldn't ever have her back.

[brizz]

Also, when did Gwen Stefani get b-cups?those were looking more like Cs...must have finally succumbed to the pressure. sad.

[MrX]

Also, when did Gwen Stefani get b-cups?
Probably when she had her kid

[Patman]

I blame her recent pregnancy as well, could still be nursing the lucky kid.

[brizz]

Bening just stares and stares at the cue cards. Sad.
she's really really bad.

[cornflakeguy]

Ah, I didn't know she had shot a baby out of her front-bottom baby shooter.

[lotsofdvds]

You know, re: that SNL Trailer Re-Cut. It's pretty sad that a once cutting edge show is now copying something that nerds have been doing in their basement for years. And all SNL did was add some subtitles.

[Charlie Goose]

Well, that was a pretty blah show. Nothing terrible, most just mediocre. Annette Bening wasn’t a great host. Her delivery was poor, and she never took her eyes off the cue cards once. She gets a C as host and the whole show gets a C+

President
I, along with almost everyone else, always groan when I see the presidential seal to start off the show. It usually means 5 minutes of dull, laughless comedy masquerading as political satire. This was no exception as Bush talks about the new book about Iraq. D-

Monologue
Audience members ask her about the negative portrayal of realtors from American Beauty. Is that really the best they could come up with? Mentioning a character from 5 years ago, that no one remembers was a realtor? Alec Baldwin shows up to remind us how awesome he is. B-

Apocalypto trailer
New subtitles say mean things about Jews. Fairly obvious and, by this point, worn out joke. C+

Good Morning I Hate This Town
Talk show hosts hate their town and everyone in it. Mildly funny. B

TV Funhouse
“Diddy’s Kiddies” Nothing much going on here. C-

Teacher
AB in love with a student. He dumps her, she sings. I’m not sure she even blinked during this skit. C

A-Holes Nativity
Two A-Holes as Mary & Joseph. Best one of the night. A-

Digital Short
A leftover from Matthew Fox last week, I presume, since he was in this. Something about a fast food manager with anger management issues. Not good. C-

Buyer Beware
Thompson and Rudolph as two old folks in a garage, warning others about scams. Performances were best part. B-

Weekend Update
Darrell Hammond on for what seemed like an hour as Al Gore. Forte singing a song about gay marriage. No really good jokes. C+

Monster
Child sees monster under bed, parents panic. Pretty funny as Forte & AB sob hysterically with fear. B+

Valtrex
Herpes med commercial we saw with Alec Baldwin. B

3 Stiffs in a bar
Although Wiig and Forte were good, this wasn't funny the first time around. C+

Cat Lawyer
For the cats who inherit money, these lawyers dangle cat toys and offer wounded birds for a settlement. Cute. B-

[Rockmjd23]

opening: standard laughless bad Bush imitation.:down:

monologue: real estate jokes about a movie bening made 7 years ago. How hip! Then for no reason the king o smug Alec Baldwin appears, presumably because it's the only place left he can get applause.:down:

Apocalypto spoof trailer: Looks like something someone would post on youtube. mild chuckles. :up:

I hate this town morning show: I guarantee you I hate this skit more than they hate the town.:down:

Tv Funhouse: Another great cartoon from Smigel, this time bashing P Diddy or whatever he goes by now. It got some good laughs from me.:up:

Teacher/student affair thing: Yet another boring skit turned into an even worse musical number. Whatever.:down:

Two assholes: The couple plays mary and joseph in a nativity play. This skit continues to be the only bright spot on SNL lately, plus Wiig is hot. "You look like Mrs. Brady" "This baby doesn't look like Santa.":lol::up:

Some fast food thing:I couldn't pay attention long enough for them to get to the point.:down:

Kenan and Mya doing something: yeah umm no.:down:

Weekend update: some funny jokes. Darrell Hammond is Al Gore, even moreso than Gore himself. I have to give them the thumbs up for once. Oh wait here comes Will Forte, nevermind. ;down:

monster under the bed: I found myself laughing when they pulled out the guns. :up:

Alec baldwin herpes commercial: Umm this looks familiar. If you recycle skits from not even a month ago, you don't deserve to be on the air.:down:

bar/club skit: I dont even know what the hell is going on here. :down:

last skit: They cut it off? uhh ok, well it sucked anyway :lol::down:

Final score: :down:

[nazz]

For some reason Chickenella really cracked me up. Otherwise this was even worse than usual. I should thank whoever pulled the plug at the end.

[seymouru]

American Beauty is actually over 7 years old. If Jeff Goldblum ever hosts again, look for hilarious Jurassic Park jokes.

[Matt.train]

Let me say this. I have always thought that Gwen was beautiful and loved no doubt, but that song was terrible and whatever she was wearing was truly god awful. I think that the beltbuckle said Gwen, but looked like F++K several times. It is also is interesting that a girl(woman) who cant dance is doing dance music.

MTB

[movieking]

It wasn't just American Beauty that the opening was making fun of. It was the fact that she's played a real estate agent in multiple movies. From wikipedia:

Bening played a real-estate agent in three different movies: Regarding Henry, American Beauty and What Planet Are You From?.

[Patman]

The only good thing about "What Planet Are You From?" was that it features a topless Judy Greer in it.

[LorenzoL]

The only thing that I liked about last night show was the TV Funhouse and for some reason, I like Akon CD.

[magiccmom]

Does anyone here watch Mad TV? I think that show is much more current and a lot funnier! I just dont catch any buzz on it at all, and wonder if anyone here watches one and Tivo's the other?

[Big Boy Laroux]

At least Annette Bening can be funny and is seasoned enough to memorize things.



wow, this couldn't have been further from what actually happened. she was AWFUL. probably the worst i can remember in terms of reading directly off the cue cards. even when she wasn't delivering the lines (other people were talking), she was still STARING at the cards. in EVERY sketch. horrible. and good lord! a monologue centered around american beauty? wow, really topical.

speaking of horrible, what the hell happened to gwen stefani? she's come a long way since no doubt. a long way down the highway of suckitude. geez...

a few funny moments. I actually like the a-holes. the apocalypto trailer was good. the cat lawyer thing was actually a little funny until it got mysteriously cut off. and the "monster under the bed" sketch was a good idea, but poorly executed at the end (like all SNL sketches). and i actually like forte for some reason, so his song was good (singing "um, ok, how did that get in there").

[Big Boy Laroux]

The only good thing about "What Planet Are You From?" was that it features a topless Judy Greer in it.


"take a good look at these, Michael, because you're never going to see them again!"

[TheMadMonk]

will forte was at his best as leatherman but i haven't seen that skit for a while.

You liked Will Forte best when he was Jimmy Fallon? Or are you referring to his appearance in leather during the Pelosi skit a few weeks ago?

Benning is a pretty lady, but was not a good host. But she didn't have any good material to work with, either.

Best bits of the night for me were the Diddy Cartoon and Apocalypto Trailer.

[tommyp007]

I gave up after Weekend Update. Not a single laugh. Well, maybe a tiny chuckle at the A-hole skit, but that's all.

[skatefan20]

Does anyone here watch Mad TV? I think that show is much more current and a lot funnier! I just dont catch any buzz on it at all, and wonder if anyone here watches one and Tivo's the other?

Like SNL, Mad TV is kind of on a downhill slope. The quality of the sketches and the cast members hasn't been that great the past recent seasons with the departure of some members.

But I do find it consistently funnier than SNL. There are always several bits I find LOL funny in every episode, making the show worth tuning into.

[Goldberg74]

Cold Open: Letters to Bush
What a great way to start out a show… another Bush sketch… yawn. However, I did get a kick out of what the 5-year-old wrote. D

Monologue
I’m one of the few that has never seen “American Beauty,” so I was lost… but I figured it out. Baldwin saved it for me. C

Apocalypto (Revised Trailer)
I chuckled. C

Good Morning! (I Hate This Town)
Said “ass” so much it got quite uncomfortable. Oh and Annette, stop reading the cue cards please. C

TV Funhouse: “Diddy’s Kiddies”
You know what… I still have no clue what Diddy does. F

Teacher/Student Relationship: The Musical (?)
Not sure what was dumber: the sketch itself or Samberg in the sketch. Oh, and as a reminder, Annette, please stop staring at the cue cards.

A-Holes at the Nativity
Wonderful sketch! Best of the night! Kids. Midgets. Little People. :lol: Getting them to look in the manger by put her PDA in it. :lol: The whole myrrh exchange. :lol: Loved it all. A+

Digital Short
Not a fan of fast food, let alone leftovers. F

Buyer Beware
I thought it was funny. Especially Maya’s retorts. B

Gwen Stefani: Wind It Up
Kudos to her actually singing the song and bouncing back from having the kid. I like this song and the sampling of "The Lonely Goatherd" and the ties to "Sound of Music." For those of you who were caught up with her belt buckle, it was two mirrored "G"s (like in the music video). A

Weekend Update
Al “Ozone” Gore and fart jokes. No wonder we are in trouble. C

Monster Under the Bed
I liked this sketch… except for Annette gazing unblinkingly at the cue cards! B

Valtrex
Didn’t understand it then. Don’t understand it now. ;)

Akon: "I Wanna Love You"
Looks like Gwen didn't want to do another song so they let Akon have one to himself. I would have rather have liked to hear "Locked Up" or "Smack That." F(ast forward)

Three Prudes walk into a Bar…
What a “mess.” (Except for the part about going to the bank and getting change for the juke box machine… Wiig is wonderful). Oh, what’s that… Annette’s staring at the cue cards again? Say it ain’t so. C

Cat Lawyers
I wish that they wouldn’t have cut it off so short, I was enjoying it. And Annette was finally comfortable enough to try to ignore the cue cards… B

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It was an okay ep for me. The material was alright, but Annette and her preoccupation with cue cards was too obvious. I'm gonna give the whole show a C and hope that Justin ends this year with a bang.

[Ranger]

You liked Will Forte best when he was Jimmy Fallon?
rotfl Now it makes sense why I haven't seen leather for a while. Dunoo why I got their names mixed up. Stupid me.

[IDrinkMolson]

'Jack Bauer is a pimp'.

[lotsofdvds]

Cold Open: Bush is an idiot, Iraq is a mess. Really? Except for Sudeikis doing camera takes when he would start reading his letters, this was a total bore and way too long.

Opening Credits: Don Pardo has some sort of fit trying to say the name Gwen Stefani.

Monologue: I guess this monologue was left over from 1999, because it's all American Beauty jokes. Alec Baldwin shows up because he lives in the building now. He saves the bit.

SNL Re-Cut Apocalypto Trailer: Wow. The once pioneering sketch comedy series has decided to copycat something that movie nerds have been doing in their basements for years now. Surprisingly, even with outthe power of a major network behind them, the nerds make better re-cut trailers. This was fine, but it really was just adding subtitles to an existing trailer. Not that hard.

Good Morning I Hate This Town: Seems to be an excuse to say "dumbass" as many times as possible. A waste of a good idea, but Kenan was good though. And it was short.

Saturday TV Funhouse - Diddy Kiddies: What does Diddy do? Good stuff.

Teacher / Student Sex: A teacher is in love with her idiot student. Bening stares at the cue cards the entire time and still manages to stumble through her lines. Wow, that was pointless.

Next Week: Justin Timberlake

Two A-Holes in a Live Nativity Scene: This bit may have run its course.

SNL Digital Short: Weird. Matthew Fox is in this, so it was most likely cut from last week's show. And although it has nothing to do with Lost, it ends with a Lost-style graphic saying Happy Holidays.

Buyer Beware: Low budget public access-ish show (that looks too good, especially in HD, to be a low budget public access show). Kinda pointless, but Kenan is always good for at least a chuckle.

Gwen Stefani "sings": I'm not so sure she's even singing whatever the hell this is.

Weekend Update: Most of the jokes were pretty good. Hammond shows up as Al Gore in a bit that goes nowhere. Kristen Wiig's segment was equally pointless. Will Forte and Fred Armisen sing a protest song about gay marriage. Forte sounds like Steve Martin here for some reason.

Monster: There's a monster in Amy Poehler's bedroom and her parents freak out. Bening stares at the cue cards again. I'm not really sure what her presence is even contributing to the show at this point. I'll give this a touch of credit for Will Forte's dedication to staying in character.

Valtrex Commercial: From the Alec Baldwin episode.

Three Sheltered People Go To Some Restaurant: Bening stares at the cue cards, which gets in the way of an otherwise oddly interesting sketch.

Akon: Akon raps in a purple sweater and the dude from Fishbone is playing keyboards and saying "Yep, yep, okay" into the mic during the song.

Law Firm for Cats: A commercial (done live) for cats who have inherited money. And then in the middle of the sketch it gets cut off (for time, I'm guessing). Ricky and Ron must have formatted the script in two hour pages this week.

Well, that was... something. I see no reason why Annette Bening was the host, as she contributed nothing memorable. Sloppy in places, painful in others. D+

[cornflakeguy]

Ricky and Ron must have formatted the script in two hour pages this week.

Wasn't it that they left Word in 40 sec per page sitcom format instead of 60 sec per page hour long format?

Ah...who cares.

[vegasbaby]

Why does anyone comment on this show anymore? Its completely unwatchable week in week out.

[Seantn]

For the amount of good vs bad that is put out, why do people keep watching? I know you guys give some skits B-, B+, C-, F, etc... But if any show has consistantly C grade skits, why watch at all?

[Goldberg74]

For the amount of good vs bad that is put out, why do people keep watching? I know you guys give some skits B-, B+, C-, F, etc... But if any show has consistantly C grade skits, why watch at all?
We're optimistic.

[Charlie Goose]

We're optimistic.
Amazingly enough, I still look forward to each new episode. It's like playing the lotto, there's a chance you might be a winner!

[Rogue588]

Monologue
Baldwin gets the A

A-Holes at the Nativity
Best skit of the night. Loved it. A+

Digital Short
Really no point to it, but it didn't bother me like other shorts have. C

Buyer Beware
Kenan and Maya made this skit. B

Gwen Stefani: Wind It Up
Gwen done lost her fucking mind. Did her son grab it on his way out? F-

Cat Lawyers
Predictable, but I chuckled once or twice. C

Everything else was c r a p and not work wasting my keystrokes.

[vegasbaby]

Amazingly enough, I still look forward to each new episode. It's like playing the lotto, there's a chance you might be a winner!

But, sadly, there's no chance.

[Rypro 525]

Akon: "I Wanna Love You"
Looks like Gwen didn't want to do another song so they let Akon have one to himself. I would have rather have liked to hear "Locked Up" or "Smack That." F(ast forward

Its funny, the original/real version of that song has Snoop Dogg (prob couldn't do it for fear of getting arrested) and the songs actuall title is "I Wanna Fuck You"

[GuessWho]

SNL makes the third time in about a month that Gwen sang Wind It Up on live tv (also American Music Awards & Billboard Music Awards)

The fact that she repeated it again and didn't sing a 2nd song on SNL at all makes me think that they don't have plans yet for the new CD's second single.

[lotsofdvds]

Wasn't it that they left Word in 40 sec per page sitcom format instead of 60 sec per page hour long format?
Yep, and the show ended up being short. That's why I said they must have formatted in a longer format, since the show ran long.

[lotsofdvds]

Amazingly enough, I still look forward to each new episode. It's like playing the lotto, there's a chance you might be a winner!
I might have to steal this for my site. :lol:

[El Scorcho]

For the amount of good vs bad that is put out, why do people keep watching? I know you guys give some skits B-, B+, C-, F, etc... But if any show has consistantly C grade skits, why watch at all?

We're in an abusive relationship where we get smacked around every week but keep reminding ourselves of the good days and hope that they'll come back someday.

[Detective Thorn]

We're in an abusive relationship where we get smacked around every week but keep reminding ourselves of the good days and hope that they'll come back someday.

I think that sums up the situation perfectly. I have been watching SNL regularly for at least 10-15 years now and I know it can be a great show.



Cold Opening:
I missed this because of a DVR malfunction. (I forgot to set it to record SNL)

Monologue:
This is the first time they have used the audience Q&A monologue bit in a while. The thing with the real estate agents was rather weak. Alec Baldwin pulls out the save at the last minute.

Apocalypto Trailer:
I liked the “I smell bagels line” at the end.

Good Morning: I Hate This Town:
Not a bad idea for a skit, but the execution was severely lacking

Diddy Kiddies:
What does Diddy do? The world may never know.

Teacher Seduction:
Bening seemed to be staring at cue cards during the entire skit. It was really distracting. The song at the end was bizarre and didn’t add anything to the skit.

Two A-Holes in a Live Nativity Scene:
I have never been fond of these characters. Jack Bauer is a pimp, but this was still a fairly weak skit. It was one of the better Two A-Holes skits though.

SNL Digital Short:
Since Matthew Fox is in it, it appears that this was filmed last week. The extra week didn’t help, since it was still awful.

Buyer Beware:
This one was just annoying.

Gwen Stefani:
This was a really odd song.

Weekend Update:
I thought that the gay marriage song would never end.

Monster Under the Bed:
I liked this one. I like when they take a simple idea and go way over the top with it.

Valtrex:
Reused bit from the Alec Baldwin episode.

3 Socially Incompetent People Visit a Bar:
I believe someone in the thread already pointed out that this was essentially a repeat of a skit from earlier in the season. Once again Bening seems to be glaring at the cue cards. It looks very odd since her character is having a conversation without ever looking at the other people. It is really very distracting.

Akon:
This seemed like fairly generic stuff.

Stanfield & Partlow:
Typical end of show awful skit, which is mercifully cut short for some unknown reason.

I would have to give Annette Bening an 'F' as host. She was simply terrible.
I did enjoy the Monster Under the Bed skit and Diddy Kiddies, but the rest was awful.

My Rating: D

[GuessWho]

DVR malfunction. (I forgot to set it to record SNL)
user malfunction

[Jadzia]

I finally finished watching this today. I think I enjoyed this much more than the rest of you all.

Cold Open:
Pretty bland Bush opener. Some of the letters to Bush were cute, but that's it. I really miss Forte's Bush. This new Bush impression has no discerning feature whatsoever, just bland.

Monologue:
The funny thing is, as soon as I saw Bening walk out I quoted American Beauty: "I am going to sell this house today!" My husband said,"Maybe they will make a real estate agent joke." I thought it would be too far-removed so it was pretty funny that that was what they built the whole monolgue around. Unlike others, I really enjoyed this since I found her over-the-top real estate agent in American Beauty to be a classic character.

Apocalypto Trailer:
I thought this was hilarious and very well done. I don't get the complaint that it has been done before since I don't think anyone else thought to put Mel Gibson's own words in real life as subtitles to his movie. Simple, yet very clever and funny.

Good Morning: I Hate This Town:
I thought Bening was great in this sketch, she really sold it and her acting was top-notch. She made me enjoy this. I wondered if this skit was orgininally written for Wiig, their deliveries are very similar, and they even look alike.

Diddy Kiddies:
This was about the funniest thing I have seen on SNL all season. My husband & I had to keep running it back, we were laughing so hard. It was so spot on: all the hilarious "guest stars" in his videos, etc. I loved the bit about designing: looking at the clothes and saying "Yeah." Classic. :up:

Teacher Seduction:
This wasn't good. Bening went from being terrific in the first skit to staring at the cue cards in this one. The writing wasn't there.

Two A-Holes in a Live Nativity Scene:
I have never liked these skits before, but I thought this one was really funny. I liked the line about how the baby Jesus didn't look anything like Santa.

SNL Digital Short:
This was pretty pointless and unfunny.

Buyer Beware:
I really liked this one. Just the premise of two old black people doing a consumer show was funny to me. I loved the lines about the Nintendo Wii and they even mentioned Furbys. :lol: I also liked the stuff about membership stores like Sam's Club because I can see cheap old people complaining about paying to shop somewhere. Funny stuff.

Gwen Stefani:
I am not sure if I loved or hated this song, but I watched the entire thing straight through which is more than I do with most musical guests.

Weekend Update:
I thought all the Amy/Seth jokes were hilarious, but as usual all the guest segments stopped the momentum dead in its tracks.

Monster Under the Bed:
This was hilarious. The reactions of the parents, especially Forte was cracking me up. When the monster came out and sang a Xmas song at the end, I imagined the writers came up with this under pressure to do a "Xmas" themed skit a la Studio 60. :lol:

Valtrex:
Funny the first time around.

3 Socially Incompetent People Visit a Bar:
I couldn't believe how funny this was for an almost to the end sketch. I was laughing so hard, especially at the lines about them having sex at the end. "Making a mess" or whatever they called it. :lol: I thought this whole sketch was comedy gold.

Akon:
Eh. Confused that there was essentially two musical guests. Has that ever happened beofre?

Cat Lawyers:
I was really enjoying this one and disappointed that they cut it short. When Bening started waving that laser pointer around, I about lost it. You have to be a cat owner to appreciate some of that humor.

I actually think this was one of my favorite episodes of the season, behind the Alec Baldwin episode.

I give it a B+.

[movieking]

I actually enjoyed this episode, aside from Benings blatant card reading.

As for MadTV, I definitely find it funnier on a more consistent basis than SNL.

[Rockmjd23]

I give it a B+.
-eek-

[Ayre]

I am shocked.

This was the worst episode since .... since .... the previous one.

[seymouru]

But, sadly, there's no chance.The way to keep the audience hooked (to both SNL and the lotto) is intermittent reinforcement -- i.e., you have to win something, at least once in a while, or you give up completely. This year's $5 payout was the Alec Baldwin episode on 11/11/06. Unfortunately, that'll keep me buying tickets for a while longer. :)

Also, today's NY Times had this blurb (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/12/us/politics/12PBUSH.html) about Sudeikis replacing Forte as Bush:

Washington is watching closely to see whether President Bush will change much when he faces a new, Democratic Congress. But his character on “Saturday Night Live” already has. Previously played by Will Forte, Mr. Bush is now being played by Jason Sudeikis. Lorne Michaels, the NBC television show’s executive producer, said that where Mr. Forte played Mr. Bush as whiny and beleaguered, Mr. Sudeikis is playing him as having “absolute confidence and buoyancy.” But in a sign that the world is starting to look past Mr. Bush’s tenure, Mr. Michaels said he was freeing up Mr. Forte to play a new political role eventually: that of one of the 2008 contenders.

[bboisvert]

I haven't been a regular watcher for years, but I've actually watched 2 complete episodes this season. The good news is that the 1st one was Alec Bladwin. The bad news is that the 2nd one was this one.

That being said, I laughed at "Chickenella". That's it. That alone raises it to a D+. But just barely.



And, about Gwen Stefani... sampling The Lonely Goatherd for a dance tune? Potentially brilliant... I could really see that working. However, the end result? Not quite so brilliant. It just wasn't working for me.

Not to mention, didn't she recently sample If I Were a Rich Man for a tune? Not exactly breaking new musical ground there. Then again, I've been out of it since Led Zeppelin broke up, so I might not be the best person to ask. :)